If you watched Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell, you got more than you bargained for.
The unexpected moment came as Micallef was interviewing comedian Francis Greenslade who was in character as defamation expert ‘Plonk McGrundle’.
When talking about ABC’s rules on censorship, a completely naked man appears in the scene announcing that ABC’s Ita Buttrose “wants to wind the segment up now”.
Viewers were left stunned that full-frontal nudity was allowed in an 8:30pm time slot. However, the program did come with an M-rating and nudity warning.
Did a completely naked man just walk onto the set of #madashell?
— Dr Louise Pemberton (@Louise_pem) June 2, 2021
Was that a naked man? #MadAsHell
— Gareth (@liquidparanoia) June 2, 2021
There was a naked man on #MadAsHell tonight
Did you notice??
Plus an excellent discussion of defamation law
— Dr Sally (PhD)🐨🐨🐀 (@slsandpet) June 2, 2021
Can we get that nude man back again?
…never mind, I'll catch it on iView. 🤣 #MadAsHell— Adele K Thomas (@AdeleKThomas) June 2, 2021
While many were amused by the scene, others didn’t see the humour, with conservative Christian organisation FamilyVoice Australia slamming the show, stating: “Despite the episode’s rating as M, with a warning for coarse language and nudity, it does nothing for families with children watching the show in good faith and expecting a standard of viewing that is acceptable to all mum and dads.”
Shaun Micallef shared the statement, joking: “Frankly, I agree with them”.
Frankly, I agree with them. pic.twitter.com/O4xcQfy4bD
— Shaun Micallef (@shaunmicallef) June 3, 2021
It’s safe to say that none of us expected it!
