Rosehaven's magic formula is making a big deal out of small things

Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor return as Emma and Daniel for a fourth season of their ABC comedy, Rosehaven.Credit:

Rosehaven

Series return ★★★½

Wednesday (July 8), 9pm, ABC

Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor are proud of the fact that their Tasmanian sitcom, Rosehaven, is largely concerned with the inconsequential.

“The original premise of the show was just us talking shit,” says Pacquola. “It turns out you need story and characters and setting, but every season it seems like it’s more and more just us messing around. Our favourite episodes are the ones where very little happens. We like that, in a world where a lot of big issues and things happen, in our show it’s the smaller the better. We really enjoy making a big deal out of tiny things,” says Pacquola.

“The best compliment I’ve ever gotten for the show is someone said, ‘It’s what I put on when I’m hungover’,” says McGregor. “That’s really lovely, that it gives people the same comfort as eating a lasagna.”

Sticking with what ain’t broke, this fourth season makes the most of small dilemmas. In the first episode, that’s an unopened parcel addressed to a previous tenant that arrives at the real estate agency run by Daniel (McGregor), Emma (Pacquola) and Daniel’s mum Barbara (Kris McQuade). Others include a rabbit, misspent ice-cream money, and a creepy painting on the bedroom wall of a rental property. But this isn’t entirely a sitcom about nothing. While the pair sweats the small stuff, themes of professional competition and romantic rejection also play out.

“This is the first season where Daniel gets rejected,” McGregor explains. “We noticed in the first three seasons that we were always writing characters that liked us, so we thought we should probably write some that didn’t. As Daniel tries to get back into dating, he gets rejected quite a lot. I have a lot of material to draw from.”

Like their alter egos, Pacquola and McGregor are forever debating the ordinary, a habit that helps when they’re required to film an extra scene that doesn’t interfere with the storyline when episodes run short. But what can seem easy improvisation on screen is the result of an intense regime uncommon in Australian television comedy. After Pacquola and McGregor finish their second draft of an episode, there’s a “table read” with other comedians and actors. Then another comedian is hired to “punch up” the script with a “joke pass” – the suggestion of gags. Then, the episode is read before a random test audience of about 50 people (see comedy.com.au).

“It’s the most fun part for us,” says Pacquola. “Particularly if there’s a joke that’s a tie between whether we think it’s funny or not. It’s always such a big decider to put it in front of an audience and see where the joke is. Also, because we spend so much time with the scripts, it can take a bit of the fun out of them, so putting them in front of an audience makes them breathe and gets us excited about filming it. I know most writers would rather die than put anything out there until it’s finished, whereas the stand-up comedy way of working is, you polish it through this process. So we wouldn’t do it any other way.”

The mutual mild irritation that forms the basis of Emma and Daniel’s friendship is very much a part of the duo’s working relationship. “Big arguments” over creative differences are common.

“If we can’t agree on a line, whoever has to say it gets the final say,” says McGregor. “We recorded a friendship video a while ago, which is just us saying, ‘You guys need to calm down and work it out’. So if we ever have a massive blowout, we have to watch that video and be reminded. But I can’t find that video.”