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Australia

Although there have only been a few long-running Australian -made sitcoms, many US and UK sitcoms have been successful in Australia. Sitcoms are a staple of the government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In the 1970s and 1980s many UK sitcoms also screened on the Seven Network. By 1986, UK comedies Bless This House and Are You Being Served? had been re-screened several times by ABC Television, and were then acquired and screened, in prime time, by the Seven Network.

In 1981, Daily at Dawn was the first Australian comedy series to feature a regular gay character (Terry Bader as journalist Leslie).

In 1987, Mother and Son was the winner of the Television Drama Award, presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

In 2007, Kath & Kim ' s first episode of Series 4 attracted an Australian audience of 2.521 million nationally. This was the highest ever rating for a first episode, in the history of Australian television, until the series premiere of Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities in 2009, which garnered 2.58 million viewers.

In 2013, Please Like Me received an invitation to screen at the Series Mania Television Festival in Paris, was praised by critics and garnered numerous awards and nominations.

Also in 2013, At Home With Julia was criticized by several social commentators, as inappropriately disrespectful to the office of the Prime Minister. The show nevertheless proved very popular with both television audiences and critics — becoming the most watched Australian scripted comedy series of 201. It was nominated at the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for Best Television Comedy Series.