[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_hamster_wheel.jpg]]

''The Hamster Wheel'' is an Australian satirical news and current affairs show produced and broadcast by the Creator/AustralianBroadcastingCorporation, starting in 2012 and hosted by comedians Andrew Hansen, Dominic Knight, Chas Licciardello, Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel, and Chris Taylor, collectively known as Creator/TheChaser.

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!!''The Hamster Wheel'' provides examples of:

* AxCrazy: Chas.
* ButtMonkey: Current affairs shows (to use the term very loosely) ''Today Tonight'' and ''A Current Affair'' provide endless amounts of material.
* CreditsGag: after some observations on ''The 7:30 Report'' solution to a not-quite-long-enough program.
* CuteKitten: Politics ''With Cats'' Somewhat sadly, that's actually probably the best way to teach people about politics now.
* DeadpanSnarker: Everyone. All the time.
%%* ExcuseQuestion
%%* ExpospeakGag
%%* FanDisservice
* GagSub: North Korea mourns.
* GodwinsLaw: referenced whenever someone declares something to be the worst thing ever. Complete with Andrew Hansen in a Hitler costume and a computer-game screen advising how many seconds into the skit the reference took place. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekyvof4KHUw&list=UUuayGfyniMALgXa0aFxErAQ 21 seconds!]]
* HypocriticalHumor: One of the "outrages" in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekyvof4KHUw&list=UUuayGfyniMALgXa0aFxErAQ this clip]] is comedians making [[BlackComedy "inappropriate" jokes]]. After the headline "Craig Reucassel apologises for insulting Bali victims", "+ is a scrawny gap-toothed prick" is added in.
* LargeHam: Chas excels in this.
* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: Parodied with obituaries of people who are still alive. Including the head of the ABC, the Federal Leader of the Opposition and the ''sitting Prime Minister''. The first few were prefaced by one of the team supposedly discovering an tweet [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated reporting said person's death]], and the obituary would be retracted the following week. By the fourth episode of the series, they stopped bothering.
%%* NewsParody
* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: From a segment about weather in the media:
-->'''Alan Wilkie''': Hang on there, why can't we just have a qualfied meteorologist simply explaining the forecast?
-->'''Andrew''': Well you could Alan - or, you could hire a trampolining dwarf!
-->(cue clip from ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britain%27s_Bounciest_Weather Britain's Bounciest Weather]]'', accompanied by the caption, "Yes, this IS a real weather report. We swear.")
* StylisticSuck: The Making of Politics With Cats, probably to appease complainers. Averted with the caption at the end, which claimed that "6387 cats were harmed during the making of this series."
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