Round the Twist: A 'belly' big upset!

Title:

Round the Twist: A 'belly' big upset!

NFSA ID

646321

Year

1989

Summary

Pete (Sam Vandenberg) and Rabbit (Stuart Atkin) are competing in a highly competitive spaghetti-eating contest, skilfully hosted by Tiger (Cameron Nugent). Gribble Junior (Lachlan Jeffrey) uses the remote control to help Rabbit eat multiple bowls of spaghetti but he eats too much with predictable consequences. In the confusion, Pete gets the remote control, looks at the suffering Rabbit, and then presses rewind. It’s payback time! Summary by Annemaree O'Brien.

CURATOR'S NOTES

This is one of the gloriously yucky moments in Round the Twist. The scene captures the irreverence of the series with a beautifully timed mix of slapstick and taboo humour. Camera work and editing are used to build up the tension, cutting from character to character in the lead up to the pay-off at the end. It’s funny when 27 bowls of spaghetti are vomited onto the audience but then Pete picks up the remote control! The audience is left to anticipate the horror of this stunning final action.

Round the Twist synopsis

Chaos reigns after a bolt of lightning hits the Twist family’s video remote control – it now works on people! Unfortunately Gribble Junior (Lachlan Jeffrey) gets hold of it and Pete (Sam Vandenberg) is desperately trying to get it back. Meanwhile, training is in earnest for the great spaghetti-eating contest. The remote control is used by Gribble to cheat in the competition.

Round the Twist curator's notes

This is a clever, very funny episode, based on a simple ‘What if…’ idea. There is loads of silly slapstick, and a spectacular dose of yuck at the end.

Round the Twist Series One first went to air in August 1990 on the Seven Network.

Notes by Annemaree O'Brien