The Dream with Roy and H.G. (2000) User Reviews

Hilariously funny send-up of the 2000 Olympics

[grantss · 9/10 · 20 April 2023]

Sports commentators Roy Slaven and HG Nelson provide daily "commentary" on the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. A send-up of proceedings, Roy and HG poke fun at some of the aspects of the events, provide alternative commentary and introduce their own events and mascots.

Hilariously funny. Roy and HG, played by comedians John Doyle and Greg Pickhaver respectively, provide a great antidote to the seriousness of Olympic sport, doing so in wonderfully disarming and non-malicious fashion. Some of the routines and commentary need to be seen to be believed.

The unscripted nature of the show adds to the charm and banter.

New Zealand Medal Tally -- "0"

[SwatchDog · 21 November 2000]

If any Aussie hadn't heard of this delightful satirical narrative of the Sydney 2000 Olympic games he or she has obviously been living in a shell secluded away from the real world that was for that time, Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Roy and HG observed, analysed and made fun of the Olympic games in more ways that one. Noone will forget their hilarious remarks regarding the distressed facial expressions of gymnast Svetlana. Or their continual reminder of New Zealands medal tally ("0"). Haha - not to mention their delightful coverage of the weightlifter who dropped the weights on her head. And I agree - What's the use selling an Olympic Umbrella if you can't take the "bloody things" into the stadium.

I agree with the other commenter - it was the best show on aussie TV for those weeks. It's a shame they couldn't cover the Paralympics - but then again, that might be a tad in bad taste.

Here's to hoping they cover Athens 2004,

10/10 !

The Greatest Show on Earth for two weeks!

[RJ-21 · 10/10 · 4 November 2000]

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games were amazing. Everyone except NBC had a great time, and about four days into the whole thing, people noticed that after coverage of the actual Games finished on Channel 7, Roy and HG were doing their thing for the other two hours of the day. As Australians, we knew them, knew their humour and how they worked. Foreigners in town for the Games were shocked as to how two complete `unknowns' dared to make fun of the IOC, and present its own anarchic Olympic Mascot, Fatso the Fat-arsed Wombat. As anyone who was there will remember, Fatso (The Battler's Prince) became a celebrity. Athletes smuggled him around so they could hold him on the podium as they received their medal. Gary Hall Jr was seen pouring beer down his throat. He dived off the platform and sank straight to the bottom. And when the time came to auction him off, he went for over $80,000 and now rests in Channel 7's Hall of Fame. But back to the actual show. Roy and HG pulled no punches in making fun of everything. Drug scandals, falls in gymnastics, the sheer stupidity of greco-roman wrestling, and fencing's incomprehensible rules. They even made fun of the whole pin craze, with the special Fatso pins, that were worth so much (no one is allowed to make another) They were a huge success, with everyone wanting a ticket to the live presentation. Unless you were an athlete, in which case you wanted to be on it. The studio was the hottest place in the world. It's strange - before the Olympics, John Clarke's series on ABC (`The Games') was seen as the best commentary on what was going to be a huge disaster. The Dream came on, with a terrific idea, that the whole thing was going to be great. They were right, and were THE huge success story of Sydney 2000. Channel 7 had better release a video set. It'll sell like hotcakes. It was simply, the best thing on TV for two weeks, and is now only a memory. It's strange - people miss the Games, because they were so much fun, but we all remember the Dream.

Inspired lunacy

[taipan-1 · 21 October 2002]

If you were trying to work at night, as I was, during the Olympics in Sydney absolutely nothing got done while Roy and HG were on the TV.

Every sacred cow of the Olympics was attacked and lampooned, Roy, at his belligerent best, taking on all comers, especially the Australian Olympic Committee, and athletes getting themselves into all sorts of jams trying to avoid agreeing with Roy's more outrageous suggestions and ideas. Do yourself a favour, gets the videos. Looking back the boys said some really outrageous and clever stuff. It's still fresh, even in replay

a whole new perspective of gymnastics

[newung · 29 July 2001]

This show that kept 19 million Australians, and countless others, awake until 1 in the morning was by far the best part of the Olympic coverage.

Rampaging Roy Slaven and H.G Nelson, along with Fatso the Big-Arsed Wombat (The Battler's Prince) spent the two weeks of the Olympics providing us with the best commentary of all, and this usually meant the less seen sports (Table Tennis springs to mind with the commentary of H.G consisting of 'Ping' or 'Pong')

However, the most outstanding part of the coverage was their commentary of the gymnastics. Overnight, terms such as 'crazy date', 'party date', 'flat bag', 'close the doors', and everyones fave, 'Hello Boys!' became household catchphrases.

And the other great part of the show was the 'rejected' songs written by everyday Australians that weren't used in the Opening Ceremony. My personal favourite, 'Go you Good thing' only managed to come in 3rd place, but was by far the best.

If it wasnt for this show, the Olympic coverage would have become dull quickly (i would spend the next day bagging channel 7, but most people already know how bad they were anyway.)

Thank You, Roy and H.G

• Go you good thing, go and go in hard