John Safran: The Lost Pilot was aired last night on ABC1.After more than a decade in the ABC vaults, the dust was blown off the old reel to reel (alright, maybe it's not that old) and was shown to the masses - except that it was aired at 10:05pm - which isn't exactly prime-time. I don't know what the programmers were thinking putting it on that late, let alone keeping this little treasure under wraps for so long. It is grade-A Safran in all his biting-sarcasm-glory.
It also has the now infamous "Paxton V's Martin" scene where Safran and Shane Paxton confront Ray Martin outside his home in a current-affairs-style ambush. When Ray Martin released his autobiography earlier this year he was still banging on about the incident (and still showed some decided ill-will toward Safran), but to be honest I don't know why he's holding a grudge - the only thing that made him look like an arse was him acting like an arse.
Not to mention the fact that the segment with Martin is probably the least interesting on the pilot. The show is altogether hilarious - particularly John's maniacal monologue berating documentary film makers and his Dalai Llama short-film dancing.
Safran (and co-writer Michelle Bennett) did a brilliant job of the pilot, it's hard to believe it didn't get to air. As Jules Morrow (The Chaser) pointed out on Twitter last night, the ABC's 1998 Annual Report states that comedy for that year was "stretching the boundaries" - Jules thinks, and I agree; not enough.
You can still catch it on ABC's iView - it's well worth a watch. The DVD will be on sale from January 7 next year.
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