The Chaser hits big time in 2007

Comedy team's arrest makes ratings skyrocket

By PAUL CHAI

'The Chaser'

ABC comedy team the Chaser could not have predicted just how big a year 2007 would turn out to be for them.

The troupe -- known for their on-air political stunts -- hit the big time during last year's APEC Summit in Sydney. After proclamations by the government as to how airtight security was (after all, U.S. President George W. Bush was in attendance), the Chaser -- with a car draped in Canadian flags and one of its team dressed as Osama bin Laden -- breezed through several security checkpoints before being discovered; they were subsequently arrested and charged.

The publicity that followed saw ratings skyrocket for the group's skein "The Chaser's War on Everything"; rumors grow of a move from the pubcaster to a commercial broadcaster and eventually a live national tour, "The Chaser's Age of Terror Variety Hour" -- all this and the very real possibility that they would end up with jail time. But on April 28, they all were able to breath a sigh of relief as all charges were dropped, leaving the team to contemplate their next on-air move.