31 QUESTIONS

Moderator Anthony McCormack, host David M Green and scorekepper Sophie Loughran
Moderator Anthony McCormack, host David M Green and scorekepper Sophie Loughran

The third season of everyone’s favourite, low budget TV game show premieres tonight and Jake Freeman looks for answers.

It’s a typical Thursday evening at RMITV’s Swanston Street studio and a new episode of 31 Questions will be shot over the next 2 hours. Comedian and warm-up person Michael Connell entertains the audience as they take their seat and glance around the studio thinking the usual, “Wow, it’s smaller in here than it looks on TV” thought before the cameras roll.

At 8:15 PM, host and co – creator David M. Green bounces onto the set, flashing his boyish grin and wearing his trademark brown jacket saturated with questions marks. He’s greeted by rapturous applause. Score keeper Sophie Loughran closely follows and receives a warm reception. Moderator Anthony McCormack is last to enter with the audience booing him like the Collingwood cheer squad does to the umpire.

“The TV game show all the cool kids are ignoring!” parodies iconic programs such as Sale of the Century and Jeopardy. 31 Questions is smart and funny and it returns with a new set, new segments, new contestants and more laughs. Each week, contestants battle it out to win points. There’s the trivia knowledge round, the “guess what the people are saying on the street round”, and the movie round. Contestants are in the running for “some fabulous prizes”, like a David M. Green toaster, with David’s smiling face popping out of the slot, a David M. Green mirror with David’s smiling face on both sides. Don’t get me started on the David M. Green GPS.

31 Questions began on Channel 31 in 2012, after two unsuccessful attempts at RMITV as David jokingly explained to me. “Pitching to RMITV and Channel 31 was challenging because although my hand-eye coordination is quite good, my knowledge of the rules of baseball is extremely limited.” David started his comedy career competing at Raw Comedy, an Australian competition for emerging stand-up comedians. After moving to Melbourne from Adelaide in 2010, Green completed a Graduate Diploma in Journalism at RMIT University. David works as a panel operator for Crocmedia and in 2014 joined the writing team for Shaun Michalffe’s Mad as Hell show on the ABC.

Green recalls the then Program Manager of RMITV sending him a scathing email in 2011, after the pilot was filmed, saying, amongst other things, that the show would never go to air. The email was printed and framed and since the show’s debut, sits on the shelf behind Anthony’s desk. “Obviously that experience was very tough and the show almost died but I knew we had something so I just didn’t take no for an answer,” David says.

Sporting a nineteenth century style beard, wearing mismatching ties and vests, Anthony McCormack makes the perfect sidekick. He sits at the moderator’s desk with the ‘rule’ book religiously by his side. “Because I came into the role at such a late stage I had almost no scripted lines. It was wonderful. All my jokes were off the cuff and came from a very honest place. When asked to describe his role, McCormack said this: “The Moderator is everything that is awful about people. He’s there to make sure the contestants follow the rules but the only rules he seems to care about enforcing are the unfair ones. He’s bureaucratic, ignorant and inhumane. He will break the rules in order to enforce the rules. He’s a rule-enforcing sociopath.”

31 Questions employs up to seven writers, including David and Anthony who come up new material every week.  “The great thing about writing comedy for David is he knows it back to front,” producer and comedy writer Dean Watson tells me, “If he says something is funny, it is.”

By the end of this season, there will have been 31 episodes recorded. The show has up to twenty five people working on it. There is a real sense of family on set, says Dean.

When asked about the future of the show and if it’s going to a commercial network, Watson says “We’re already talking with some producers about the future of the show. We’re open to all offers.” Anthony: “Does that mean we’re heading to the ABC next? I could only dare to dream!” And David? “I must go. I’m waiting for a very important phone call.”

The third season of 31 Questions premieres tonight on TVS at 8:30 PM. Do you know the answers?