Roy and HG are an Australian comedy duo, comprising Greig Pickhaver in the role of "H. G. Nelson" and John Doyle as "'Rampaging' Roy Slaven". Their act is an affectionate but irreverent parody of Australia's obsession with sport. Their characters are based on stereotypes in sports journalism: Nelson the excitable announcer, and Slaven the retired sportsman turned expert commentator. In his 1996 book Petrol, Bait, Ammo & Ice, Pickhaver summarised the duo's comedic style as "making the serious trivial and the trivial serious".
The duo's long-running triple j radio program This Sporting Life was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2013,[1] and the This Sporting Life 30th anniversary retrospective collection won the ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release in 2016.[2]
Since March 2020, Roy and HG's weekly show Bludging on the Blindside airs on Saturday afternoons on ABC Sport, ABC Local Radio, the ABC Listen app, as well as podcast platforms.
It was reported in July 2021 that Roy & HG would host Dodging Armageddon, a daily podcast for ABC Radio with an Olympics theme, which was broadcast throughout the XXXII Olympiad’s competitions.[3]
Radio
triple j
Doyle and Pickhaver wrote and hosted the live, improvised, and satirical radio program This Sporting Life on triple J from 1986 to 2008.[4] They also broadcast annual live commentaries of the NRL and AFLGrand Finals (dubbed the Festival of the Boot, Parts I and II) and the Melbourne Cup. Commentaries for all three matches of rugby league's annual State of Origin series are also broadcast (main article: Roy and HG's State of Origin commentary), and they have also broadcast live commentaries of other major events, including the Bicentennial celebrations on 26 January 1988 and the 2007 Australian federal election (Indecision 07). They also provided a half-hour coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics every weekday under the guise of the Golden Ring Show.
At conclusion, 'This Sporting Life' held the record as the longest-running program in the history of triple j.[5]
Triple M
Starting 12 January 2009, the duo presented the drive-time program The Life on the Triple M network,[6] on Mondays and Fridays. In 2011, 'The Life' show was cut to Fridays only,[7] with the last episode broadcast on 25 November 2011. 'Roy & HG's Mardi Gras of Medals' – their coverage of the Rio Olympic Games – was broadcast on Triple M in August 2016.[8]
A weekly program, 'The Sporting Probe with Roy & HG' commenced broadcast in January 2017 and ran for two years until December 2018. The show aired from 10:00 am to midday on Saturday in 2017, and in the same timeslot on Sunday in 2018. All episodes are available as a podcast.[9]
Macquarie Sports Radio
In 2019, Roy and HG presented Just Short of a Length on the Macquarie Sports Radio network.[10]Nine Radio have not renewed programming contacts for 2020 and beyond with Roy and HG after dropping the unpopular Macquarie Sports Radio branded talk format and returning to a music format for their Sydney 2UE, Melbourne 3EE aka Magic 1278, and Brisbane 4BH assets. All three stations reverting to their original historical station ID call signs.
ABC Radio
Between 2012 and 2016, Roy and HG resumed their Festival Of The Boot AFL and NRL grand final commentaries on ABC NewsRadio.[citation needed]
In March 2020, Roy and HG returned to ABC Sport to present a new weekly Saturday afternoon show entitled Bludging on the Blindside. The show is broadcast on ABC Sport digital radio and the ABC Listen app, and broadcast on ABC Local Radio in NSW, ACT and QLD. All episodes are available on podcast platforms and the ABC listen app soon after initial broadcast.[11]
In July 2021, it was announced that Roy and HG will be presenting a daily Olympic games podcast for ABC Radio, entitled 'Dodging Armageddon'.[3]
In July 2024, it was announced that Roy and HG would be presenting a show titled People, Medals and Cheese on ABC Local Radio on weekdays and RN in the afternoon and on the ABC Listen app for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.[12]
Television
ABC
After several years on radio, Roy and HG transferred the radio show's format to a series of ABC television shows, including Blah Blah Blah (1988) (where they were only seen in silhouette),[13]This Sporting Life (1993–94),[13] the Logie award-winning Club Buggery (1995–97) and its successor The Channel Nine Show (1998), Planet Norwich (1998; made in the UK) and The Memphis Trousers Half Hour (2005; taped in Sydney but performed as if broadcast from the United States).
UK
In 1997, the duo featured in an ad campaign for Foster's Lager in the United Kingdom, featuring the recurring tagline, "Tickle it, you wrigglers!". Their British profile increased, they subsequently appeared as recurring guests on the 1998 BBC one series, "The Ben Elton Show" a stand up / variety show fronted by Elton, but also featuring the return of Ronnie Corbett's 'armchair monologue' in a regular slot, and a different musical guest each week.
Seven Network
After transferring to the commercial Seven Network in the late 1990s, they presented Win Roy & H.G.'s Money (2000), an unsuccessful adaptation of the US hit Win Ben Stein's Money. They later succeeded with higher-rating shows The Monday Dump and The Nation Dumps.
Roy and H.G.'s sport shows were filmed in front of a live studio audience, segments including discussion between the two characters, interview with athletic guests and pre-recorded sports commentary. The humour of the duo's sports commentary came from their mock-serious tone which belied the innuendo and invented terminology that they used to describe the on-screen action. The pair would state fictitious "facts" about the competitors' occupations, histories and personalities. Roy & H.G. would also describe fictitious aspects of the competition venues, such as the so-called "Gobbler's Gulch" section of the Salt Lake City luge track.[15]
Roy and HG were not selected by Channel Seven to cover the Beijing Olympics because of security concerns and the belief by Channel Seven management that the style of their coverage – going to air live following a day's events – would not have suited Australian audiences given Australia's time zones.[16] Instead, a daily radio programme, The Golden Ring Show, was broadcast on triple j, with Roy styled as "Crouching Tiger" and H.G. as "the Hidden Dragon".
The Memphis Trousers Half Hour
In 2005, they presented The Memphis Trousers Half Hour, a TV show they claimed was recorded in different American cities such as Baltimore or Albuquerque, ensuring that 'Australia is the flavour of the month, every month'. The show screened weekly on the ABC on Saturday nights and was named after an incident in which former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser lost his trousers in a Memphis hotel.
The show, seemingly filmed in the United States, was in fact filmed entirely in Sydney. The format was a parody of American talk shows and pretended to present Americans with new 'facts' about Australia.
^ ab"Roy & HG to release the best of This Sporting Life". Double J. 26 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2019. It's the longest running show in the station's history and ratty old cassette recordings (and podcasts in later years) of the shows are still beloved by so many.
^"triple j presenters: Hello & Goodbye" (Press release). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2009. It's goodbye and good luck to HG Nelson (Greig Pickhaver) and "Rampaging" Roy Slaven (John Doyle). The pair has decided to head off to the world of commercial radio after 22 years of presenting the superb This Sporting Life (Sundays 2pm). Roy and HG have produced some amazing radio during their time on triple j. Who could forget their 'Festival Of The Boot', 'Golden Ring Show', coverage of the 2007 Federal election 'Indecision 07' or their insatiable ability to make the serious trivial and the trivial serious. Linda Bracken expressed her sadness at Roy and HG's departure "They are more than a radio program, they have become their own radio comedy genre. It's been a joy and a privilege to work with them. They will be missed but we wish them all the best for the future".
^"Bruce McAvaney and Roy & HG back for ABC Radio's Olympic coverage". 15 July 2024. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024 – via radioinfo.com.au. No Olympics feels complete without Roy & HG too. This time it's People, Medals and Cheese which will air Monday to Friday at 11am on ABC Radio, and 2pm on RN and as a podcast on ABC listen. The pair will meander their way through the top stories of the day, analysing the big and the small, then the brie and gruyere.
^ abMorfesse, Luke (27 September 1993). "This 'sophisticated' life". Canberra Times. Vol. 68, no. 23, 349. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. p. 32. Retrieved 15 May 2019 – via Trove.
^"1991 ARIA Awards Winners". Australian Recording Industry Association. 1991. Nominees for Best Comedy Release. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
^"1990 ARIA Awards Winners". Australian Recording Industry Association. 1991. Nominees for Best Comedy Release. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
^"2004 Logies nominations". The Age. 16 April 2004. Most Popular Sports Program. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2009. The Cream with Roy & HG
^"2016 ARIA Awards Winners". Australian Recording Industry Association. 2016. Best Comedy Release. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
^Doyle ('Slaven'), John ('Roy'); Greig Pickhaver ('H. G. Nelson'); Todd Abbott C; Olin Bromley (2000). The dream with Roy and H. G: the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Sydney, N.S.W.: Warner Vision Australia [distributor]. pp. 7 hrs., 12 mins.