Out Takes

3 Jun 2025

“Number 96′ with Andrew Mercado and ‘The Karamazovs’ with Anna Brenner

For this Out Takes, we had two fantastic interviews to bring you that celebrated the return of an iconic groundbreaking Australian television series 53 years after it debuted, and a new US independent film that updates Dostoevsky’s final novel into a contemporary queer tale of family drama that is part murder mystery, part spiritual quest.

First up, thanks to Australian streaming platform Brollie, TV’s most notorious address, NUMBER 96, made its return this May to our screens after 53 years. Launched to much fanfare in 1972, the trailblazing soap opera was the #1 rated show of 1973 and 1974, taking home eight Logie Awards for its iconic, groundbreaking characters and storylines. Set in an inner-city apartment building in Sydney, NUMBER 96 peeled back the walls of suburbia to reveal a bold, unfiltered look at Australian life in the 1970s, introducing shocked audiences to taboo subjects that had never been on TV before, with lashings of sex, nudity, diversity, and queerness. With all of the available episodes coming to streaming for the first time ever, we can thank a dedicated bunch of folks for making this happen including our special guest, Andrew Mercado. He has been a regular on our screens since his days as a VJ on Channel V in the late 90’s and is well known for his commentary as an expert in television and pop culture so who better to talk to about the very camp and very queer legacy of Number 96.

Our second special guest was Anna Brenner, the Brooklyn based queer writer/director who makes her feature film debut with ‘The Karamazovs’ which is available to watch now via VOD. Working with a primarily LGBTQ+ team on this award-winning film, this story begins with the long-estranged Karamazov siblings returning home to become reacquainted with both their dying father and each other. But when the unkind and spiteful patriarch is found murdered, they must finally face the truth about their family’s dark past… and each other.