A sketch comedy that sends up television shows, many of them reality staples, sounds like a scripted Gogglebox that shoots fish in a barrel. But Greg Larsen, one-eighth of the creative team behind Seven’s We Interrupt This Broadcast, says finding the funny in the already absurd isn’t that easy.

“When you’re watching The Masked Singer and everyone’s on their feet screaming at a toilet brush, it’s difficult to come up with something funnier than that,” says the comedian, whose work includes ABC sketch series Fancy Boy and roles in NBC’s Young Rock and Stan series The Tourist.

“We would watch these shows and try and think of funny things, and then suddenly, the thing that we thought of would happen on screen. I was watching SAS Australia, and trying to think of something crazy and extreme that the host, Ant Middleton, could do, like just set the guests on fire. And then that happened! He was like, ‘You know what? I’m setting you all on fire!’ and they literally got set on fire and had to run into a river … I think we came up with cleverer ways of making fun of the shows and not striking for the immediate gag.”

The SAS skits succeed in elevating the absurdity, as do spoofs of Love Island, MasterChef, The Amazing Race, Border Security and Married At First Sight. The slate includes parodies of Gardening Australia, Stranger Things, Squid Game, and a droll take on You Can’t Ask That. Scenes typically last no longer than 90 seconds, making for rapid-fire laughs for short attention spans.

“We’re all glued to TikTok and social media, so having things that are bite-sized is really cool,” says Larsen. “It’s also a way of cutting out the fat. We didn’t want any sketch to outstay its welcome.”

Larsen credits Seven with taking a punt on a genre that has so far failed to emulate the success and longevity of Fast Forward and Full Frontal.

“I think [networks] are really risk averse,” he says. “Maybe it’s because they’re worried that streaming services are taking over. But when I go to comedy festivals, I see so many amazing new comics selling out shows and winning awards, and then they all go overseas because no one wants to give them a job in Australia. That’s why I love shows like this, because it is giving all these performers work and putting us up the front.”

The ensemble features Mad as Hell’s Christie Whelan Browne, actor and writer Adele Vuko, Black Comedy’s Bjorn Stewart, comedians Michelle Brasier and Bridie Connell, plus actors Duncan Fellows (The Letdown) and Ben Russell (who co-hosts The Grub podcast with Larsen and Anne Edmonds). Guests include Virginia Gay (in a lovely poke at Antiques Roadshow), Nina Oyama, and Aunty Donna’s Broden Kelly.