Sam Pang has revealed which TV shows and celebrities he’s planning to mock during his opening monologue at the Logies.
Pang is set to host the ceremony this Sunday night, which will be the first time in 11 years that the Logies has had a proper host.
Speaking to news.com.au, Pang said there will be a few jokes about Married At First Sight, adding: “They’ll be respectfully acknowledged”.
Also in the firing line is David ‘Kochie’ Koch, who is set to attend the ceremony at The Star.
“He’s just retired after 21 years, so I’d like to pay a proper tribute to him,” Pang teased.
Hamish Blake should also prepare himself to be the butt of a few jokes, the host revealed.
“He’s the reigning Gold Logie winner, so he’ll probably get a mention,” Pang said.
Pang was asked to host the Logies about two months ago and he reached out to some of his showbiz mates for their advice before accepting the offer.
“I sought the counsel of some very close confidants,” he said. “I spoke to Santo Cilauro, I spoke to Glenn Robbins, Rob Sitch, Kitty Flanagan … and they all said, ‘don’t do it!’ But I ran my own race and decided to do it anyway.”
After accepting the offer, Pang immediately got to work and started developing his monologue.
“I started solo and then realised that it needed jokes, so then I brought in a team,” he said.
“There’s a wonderful team of funny people, much more funny than me … and it’s a meritocracy, the funniest joke wins, so hopefully I don’t stuff them up.”
Pang tested out some of his Logies material recently at a secret gig at the Basement Comedy Club in Melbourne.
“It was nice to say the stuff out loud and see what works and what doesn’t,” he told news.com.au.
When asked if he ditched any of the gags after that gig, Pang joked: “Yeah, about three quarters of them”.
Hosting the Logies has been a bruising experience for some in the past.
Gretel Killeen, whose 2009 hosting effort was widely panned, later said about the pile-on: “I can think of no other way of describing it: It killed me. It absolutely killed that person who had existed up until then.”
Wendy Harmer also received unfavourable reviews when she hosted in 2002.
In an interview in 2010, Harmer told the SMH: “I can understand why anyone would be horrified (to host), it’s got the potential to be a real … not a career killer, but it can be pretty full-on, pretty savage stuff (if you fail).”
As for Pang though, he doesn’t seem too fazed about putting himself out there so publicly.
“The room is full of the wonderfully talented people of our industry and I think they do want to have a good time, so hopefully that’s what happens … and if it doesn’t, well, life will go on, maybe not mine (laughs).”
The Logies will air this Sunday, July 30, on Channel 7. The red carpet starts from 7pm before Sam Pang takes the stage to host the ceremony live from 7.30pm.