How Tom Gleeson changed the Logies forever
He controversially waded into last year’s Logies competition and influenced the outcome, angering many. Yet Tom Gleeson says he doesn’t have any regrets — and even has some advice on how to get yourself nominated.
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In two weeks’ time there is a very real chance that comedian Tom Gleeson will join an illustrious list of Australian TV legends such as Graham Kennedy, Bert Newton and Lisa McCune, whose widespread and enduring popularity with audiences earned them that elusive Gold Logie.
Thanks to some serious campaigning that would make a political party jealous, Gleeson — host of the Hard Chat segments on the ABC’s The Weekly With Charlie Pickerin g and its game-show spin-off Hard Quiz — is currently the bookies’ favourite ahead of big names like Amanda Keller, Waleed Aly and Rodger Corser.
And given he has made his mark by asking celebrities brutally tough questions right to their face, it is only fair that Stellar put the question to Gleeson: could he be the most unlikely — and perhaps even least deserving — person ever to be nominated for television’s top award?
“Some people have referred to me as the most random, but I think out of all the people who were nominated for the Gold this year, I do host the show that rates the most,” Gleeson boasts playfully, in turn proposing that fellow nominees such as Gardening Australia host Costa Georgiadis and Sunrise weatherman Sam Mac are less credible.
“I mean, Costa is an imposter, definitely. And if Sam Mac gets it, that would be a travesty. He’s a weatherman. He travels around the country telling people what temperature it is. I’ve got a f*cking app in my phone that does that!”
Gleeson may have a point. When this year’s motley crew of contenders was unveiled, column inches from journalists and tweets from the public proved widespread surprise, if not outright disdain.
But as he correctly points out, Hard Quiz is the country’s top-rating game show, averaging 750,000 viewers every week.
And in his defence, his campaign to win — Google #Gleeson4Gold for the latest — is not predicated on ratings or critical praise.
Instead, and for a second year in a row, Gleeson seems to be making a mockery of the whole shebang — and when Stellar shares the theory to Gleeson, he’s all too eager to agree.
“The idea of winning the Gold Logie is so preposterous that I have to have it,” he argues. “It is so stupid, and it makes me laugh so much, that it makes me want it.”
The 45-year-old father of two got his first taste of Gold Logie glory last year when he championed former Family Feud host Grant Denyer’s campaign, exploiting the absurdity that Denyer had been nominated after his show was axed due to poor ratings by mounting his own social media push on his behalf.
But when Denyer went on to beat favourites like Tracy Grimshaw and Keller, in particular after a year that had seen the #MeToo movement take hold, not everyone was laughing.
Russell Crowe, for instance, tweeted that Gleeson had “derailed” the awards and robbed Grimshaw of her “career-defining moment”.
Upon reflection, now double nominee Gleeson (he’s also up for Most Popular Presenter) says, “I have no regrets — but I did hijack it. It’s an award for the most popular person on TV and it’s been decided by the general public voting.
“If you can convince people to vote, it’s perfectly legitimate. For years people have complained about the Logies being rigged, so I thought why not be open about it, and have fun with it?”
Not long ago, Patti Newton weighed in on the debate, saying that Gold Logie nominees should be “on shows that we know, love and have seen”.
Gleeson has a simple solution: if people want a fairer way to determine the most popular person on TV for a given year, “You get the Bureau of Statistics to do it and I can tell you who will win — it will be a rugby league player who was playing in the State of Origin. Because that’s the most watched event of the year.”
Until the rules governing who does or does not get a Gold Logie nod change, Gleeson’s happy to campaign hard for himself, even if it means (falsely) announcing he’d quit Hard Quiz just days before the nominations were unveiled.
His argument for pulling the stunt? “Last year proved you can only win if you don’t have a show.”
Jokes aside, the fact Gleeson is within arm’s reach of the goal isn’t a surprise to those who know his background.
The fourth of five children raised in the town of Gunnedah in rural NSW, he has a knack for running a campaign — credit his namesake and grandfather Thomas Patrick Gleeson, who was a politician in the NSW upper house.
Gleeson says he has always been passionate about politics but never dreamed of following in his grandfather’s footsteps — simply because it pays less than what he earns now.
“The Logies give me a chance to live out my fantasies. I can campaign shamelessly, and in the end, it all doesn’t really matter.”
Gleeson sharpened his wit at The University of Sydney, where he completed a Bachelor of Science while doing stand-up on the side; TV host Pickering, who has known Gleeson since those early days, believes his friend’s comedic talent outside the classroom was a natural outgrowth of a brain that took so easily to maths inside.
“It’s like he’s got a V12 engine on him,” Pickering tells Stellar. “He can process a lot of information fast. He’s very methodical.”
Gleeson has worked steadily since his first gig in 1996, back when his dream was to headline the Sydney Comedy Store.
“Before I did stand-up, I was in a band for four or five years,” says Gleeson. “First time I did stand-up I felt, ‘This is what it feels like to actually be good at music.’ Something just clicked.”
He’s now regarded as one of the country’s best stand-up comedians, is a frequent face and voice across TV and radio, and is in the middle of a national comedy tour called Joy.
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It’s an impressive entertainment CV for someone who started out studying pharmacy, although Gleeson jokes he still lives like someone who works as a chemist. “I’ve got a wife, two kids, live in country Victoria and drive a Volvo.”
But this ability to make fun of himself pales in comparison to the mincemeat he makes of celebrities on the Hard Chat segment that changed the trajectory of his career.
He’s gone viral thanks to clips that include withering assessments of those in his eyeline.
He asked Jessica Mauboy if she was the only person to do Eurovision in order to lower their profile, and queried Anthony Callea what it is like to be a ventriloquist’s doll come to life.
The genesis for the segment was a 2010 gig at which he spotted former AFL player Warwick Capper in the audience.
“I realised if I just did my comedy bit it was not going to work,” says Gleeson. “I had to show him I’m in charge. At the time it was November, and a lot of the men in the pub had moustaches on. I said, ‘I forgot it was Movember; I just thought Capper was making a second porno.’
“The room erupted and I realised there was power to the fact I’d said the joke to his face while making eye contact. I thought, if there is a way I could get this on TV, that would be dynamite.”
He initially had to convince talent to take part when the segment began airing in 2016; today they’re lining up for takedowns because they understand Australian audiences appreciate people who can laugh at themselves.
Gleeson counts Mauboy and Sophie Monk among his favourite interviews, found PR maven Roxy Jacenko difficult because he doesn’t really care about her, and is desperate to get Richard Wilkins.
“I’ve asked him five times,” he reveals. “I just feel there would be a lot of material.”
The segment’s success led to the creation of Hard Quiz, where Gleeson again takes the mickey, this time out of game-show contestants.
Pickering, who produces the show, says there are plans to grow the franchise, proving that even if Gleeson winning a Gold Logie might be the ultimate punchline, it doesn’t mean he’s not deserving.
“He hosts a popular show which covers a wide demographic and he does a job that no-one in the country could,” says Pickering.
“At the same time, he’s reminding us to not take things too seriously. I love the Logies, but winning a Gold Logie is not going to change the world. It’s good to remind some people of that.”
And if he doesn’t take the prize, Gleeson says Keller should — because she’s the only one of his fellow nominees who has appeared on Hard Chat.
“Amanda has a good sense of humour, but I do think I pissed her off last year,” he says. “When I saw her afterwards she said, ‘You arsehole! You’ve ruined this for me!’ I think she finds me both funny and annoying, which, to be honest, is my speciality. In fact, that should be on the headstone after I die: Funny... and annoying.”
Tom Gleeson will perform his show Joy in Canberra, Darwin and Sydney in August. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.
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