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Showbiz columnist Adam Zwar toiled for more than a decade at Melbourne tabloid the Sunday Herald Sun, working on his acting and writing ambitions between interviews with Shania Twain and Matthew McConaughey.

Now the star of Wilfred has parlayed his ridiculous adventures in celebrity journalism — Sting threatened him, Billy Idol threw his tape recorder out a window — into eight 30-minute episodes of rolled-gold comedy with Lowdown.

This is a great show to just sit down and enjoy. Crikey readers might glean a bit more from the symbiotic celebrity/journalist relationship, but everyone will be taken with Zwar’s winning personality and expertly drawn characters like Ashley Zukerman as a cool broadsheet journalist.

There’s a dash of Frontline about the show as Zwar’s celebrity gossip hound Alex Burchill hurtles around town interviewing some thinly veiled portrayals of Hollywood stars. You don’t need to be an NW junkie to get the jokes, as their lives and his desire for a touch of their fame collide each week.

An excellent supporting cast including Beth Buchanan, Paul Denny and Dailan Evans have built rounded characters with their own stories — and gags — to tell. Anna Jennings-Edquist is particularly awesome in episode two, which screens tonight.

As if the awkward exchanges in the hotel room interviews aren’t scary enough, the mood inside the Sunday Sun is terrifyingly authentic for modern journos. The editor, played by Kim Gyngell, sacks Walkley winners and “streamlines” the gardening pages.

“Should I be worried?” Burchill asks. “No, because you’re going to get … an exclusive with one of rock and roll’s most enduring rooters.”

So he does, with narrator Geoffrey Rush filling in the blanks.

If you want to catch the first episode, it’s available on the ABC website. However it isn’t essential viewing — just tune in tonight and get ready to smile. Give it a go.

The details: Lowdown is on ABC1 at 9.00pm tonight; 8:30pm tomorrow on ABC2. The premiere episode is on iView.