- Source: Pizza (TV series)
Fat Pizza (simply known as Pizza, titled Fat Pizza: Back in Business from season six onwards) is an Australian comedy television series created by Paul Fenech.
The series premiered on SBS on 24 April 2000 where it aired for its first five seasons between 2000 and 2007 before moving to 7mate for its sixth and seventh seasons, in 2019 and 2021, respectively. The series has a spin-off feature length film, Fat Pizza, released in 2003, and a best-of highlights video and DVD that featured previously unreleased footage and a schoolies exposé, released in 2004. In addition to this, a theatre show entitled "Fat Pizza", starring several characters from the show, toured the Australian east coast. In 2014, the storyline of the series was combined with that of Housos to create the motion picture Fat Pizza vs. Housos. The film was shown in Australian cinemas from 27 November 2014.
Through some ironic and self-conscious references, Pizza involves themes of ethnicity and stereotypes (similar to Acropolis Now), cars, sex, illicit drugs and violence to produce its dark humour. The television program is noted for its frequent cameo appearances of numerous Australian celebrities of all varieties, including actors, comedians, professional athletes and other public figures.
History and development
Pizza began in the early 1990s as a black-and-white short film entitled Pizza Man created by Paul Fenech, in which he starred as the eponymous pizza man. In 1995, the short film won third place in the Tropfest film festival.
The subsequent television series Pizza was written and directed by Paul Fenech, who portrays the protagonist of the series, pizza deliveryman Pauly. In a few of the episodes, Pauly breaks the fourth wall and as Paul Fenech, the self-described "fil-um maker",[sic] presents featurettes that reveal the history of the series, often in a tongue-in-cheek or parody manner. It was first broadcast on the SBS network in 2000 until the fifth season in 2007. The half-hour program was part of the SBS Monday comedy slot, noted for its offbeat comedy shows including South Park and John Safran.
The Fat Pizza feature film was released in 2003 and the second Fat Pizza vs. Housos in 2014, also featured characters from another Paul Fenech comedy series Housos.
Season 4 saw the shop move locations from Greenacre to Station Street, Fairfield Heights, NSW. This season also coincided with the addition of new cast members to the main Fat Pizza crew. The start of season 5 once again saw the store move locations, this time to a small shopping complex situated on Canberra Street, St Johns Park, NSW where it remained till the end of the series before its subsequent reboot of the series in 2019 which began season 6.
In August 2019, it was announced the series would be returning for a new season on Seven Network's multichannel 7mate, titled Fat Pizza: Back In Business. The season premiered on 5 November 2019. On 29 January 2020, it was announced that Fat Pizza: Back in Business had been renewed for another season. The season renewal was officially confirmed at Seven's Upfronts in October 2020, and premiered on 8 September 2021.
Synopsis
The show focuses on the activities of Pauly and his fellow co-workers, as they deliver pizzas for "Fat Pizza", the Sydney-based pizzeria of Bobo Gigliotti, whose slogan is "they're big and they're cheesy".
Throughout the series, the dangers of pizza delivery are exemplified by encounters with aliens, killer kangaroos, bikies, bogans, petty criminals, muggers, drug dealers, addicts and/or cartels, dominatrices, celebrities, the CIA, ASIO, Australian Border Force, the Australian Taxation Office, the New South Wales Police Force, the National Rugby League, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Army, Arab and Asian terrorists, organised crime gangs and even evil Satanic forces that conspire to bring about the end of the world. In spite of this, the characters remain unfazed and unsurprised, and they persist in their dead-end, below-minimum-wage job, which pays A$2.00 per hour.
Cast
= Main
== Supporting
== Employees at Fat Pizza
== Minor / recurring
== Guests (partial)
=Characters (by season)
Series overview
Episodes
= Series 1 (2000)
== Series 2 (2001)
== Series 3 (2003)
== Series 4 (2005)
== Series 5 (2007)
== Series 6 (2019)
== Series 7 (2021)
== Special series
=Pizza Live (2004)
Pizza: Special Deliveries (2004)
The DaVinci Cup (2006)
World Record Pizza (2007)
= Specials
=A Real Slice of Pizza (2001)
Stage show (2016)
Feature films
= Fat Pizza (2003)
== Fat Pizza vs. Housos (2014)
=Other appearances
Fat Pizza: Sex, Drugs, Raps and Phones (2000): A single disc comedy album featuring sketches about Pauly, Sleek and Bobo. The album also features numerous rap songs performed by Paul Nakad (Sleek).
Slices of Pizza: Live on Stage: A live stage show that toured Australia during the series early run, featuring many of the shows performers.
Fat Pizza Fully Prank'd (20 November 2006): Shock Records WRXXX01. A compilation album of material from the banned "Fat Pizza Radio Show" and "Fat Pizza" soundtrack.
Awards and nominations
Logie Award
2001: Most Outstanding Comedy Program (nominated)
2002: Most Outstanding Comedy Program (nominated)
2004: Most Outstanding Comedy Program (nominated)
2005: Most Outstanding Comedy Program (nominated)
Australian Comedy Awards
2003: Outstanding Australian TV Comedy – character based (nominated)
Australian Screen Sound Guild
2004: Best Achievement in Sound for a Television Program (won, for episode "School Pizza")
Filming location
In Season 1, the internal and external shots of the Fat Pizza restaurant were filmed at 322 Pacific Highway, Lane Cove. The restaurant used for filming in Seasons 2 and 3, as well as the Fat Pizza movie and live shows, was at 67 Hume Highway, Chullora. The Chullora and Lane Cove shops had actually operated as pizzerias; the Lane Cove shop still operated until 2016 (Now demolished and rebuilt as apartments) and the Chullora shop operated as a pizzeria between 2000 and 2009, but as of 2013 it had been sold and the interior stripped completely. It was re-opened as "Kyoja Dumpling" a Vietnamese dumpling take away shop but was not profitable and by 2017 the shop was empty once again. In 2006 parts of the series were filmed at the Babel Restaurant in Fairfield Heights before moving to St Johns Park in 2007.
Some episodes were also in other parts of Australia. The cast also went to Bangkok, Thailand, Mumbai, India, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Los Angeles, United States, Las Vegas, United States, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Rome, Italy, Naples, Italy, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Malta and Paris, France.
See also
Fat Pizza vs. Housos
Swift and Shift Couriers
Housos
Bogan Hunters
List of Australian television series
References
External links
Pizza at the Australian Television Information Archive
Pizza at IMDb (2000–2007 show)
IMDb Fat Pizza: Back in Business TV Series (2019– )
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