Sunday 19 May at 9:15 - 11:15pm - full series broadcast
State of the Union follows Tom and Louise, played by Chris O’Dowd and Rosamund Pike, who meet in a pub immediately before their weekly marital therapy session. With each successive session we piece together how their lives were, what drew them together and what has started to pull them apart. In State Of The Union, writer Nick Hornby explores the complexities of marriage with his inimitable honesty and humour.
From Thursday 30 May at 10.15pm
Joy is perfectly happy with her life. It’s neat and tidy and just how she likes it. Sure, her long-term boyfriend, Aidan, has left her, but Joy is fine with it. She’s certainly not suffering from heartbreak and stress-induced incontinence like canine Aidan. Things are totally fine the way they are… That is until Joy unwittingly lands herself a new job filling in for Ireland’s most-beloved vlogger, Flora the Happy Hunter. This unwanted promotion throws Joy firmly out of her OCD level of control and forces her to deal with a world she has put great effort into avoiding; one full of oversharing, boundary breaking, messy housemates, one-night stands, and full-contact wrestling; all in the name of learning about the crazy, uncomfortable and new-age methods people use to find… well joy.
Families across Australia have asked for more Bluey, and we’re happy to announce more is on the way! Created by Joe Brumm, Bluey is produced by the Emmy® award-winning Ludo Studio for ABC KIDS and is co-commissioned by ABC Children’s and BBC Studios. Financed in association with Screen Australia, Bluey is proudly 100% created, written, animated and post produced in Brisbane Queensland, Australia, with funding from The Queensland Government through Screen Queensland and the Australian Government.
The second series of Bluey will continue to celebrate our distinctively Australian family and the role of imaginative play in shaping children’s lives. Bluey will play fun and elaborate new games with her sister Bingo; Chilli’s relationship with her girls will be further explored as she juggles work and family life; Bandit returns with his wry sense of humour; and we’ll meet more of Bluey and Bingo’s family and friends.
This true-blue Australian series is created by creator/showrunner Joe Brumm ( Charlie and Lola ), Emmy® awarding-winning executive producers Charlie Aspinwall and Daley Pearson ( Doodles, #7DaysLater ), producer Sam Moor ( CBeebies ), and supervising director Richard Jeffery ( Tinga Tinga Tales ). The series will be executive produced by Libbie Doherty, Acting ABC Head of Children’s Television, and Henrietta Hurford-Jones, Director of Children’s Content for BBC Studios.
“The first series was a massive effort from our talented and dedicated young team. We’ve all been amazed and overwhelmed by how Australians have taken Bluey into their hearts and we’re totally stoked to be making another fifty-two brand new episodes,” said Charlie Aspinwall, Bluey Executive Producer.
“The phenomenal success of Bluey is a testament to the incredible creative vision of the Ludo team and we can’t wait to share the new adventures in series two with Australian kids and their families” said Libbie Doherty, Acting ABC Head of Children’s Television. “Australians – young and old, with kids and without kids have embraced Bluey, Bingo, Chilli and Bandit, and ABC KIDS is thrilled to be able to offer them more of this warm and funny series next year.”
“Bluey is a series with huge heart, warmth and humour that offers a modern and authentic look at family life – and it has taken Australia by storm. The response from global clients has also been phenomenal and we think it will be embraced by audiences worldwide. We can’t wait to introduce the world to this Blue Heeler family who will clearly resonate everywhere,” said Henrietta Hurford-Jones, Director of Children’s Content at BBC Studios.
Sally Caplan, Head of Content at Screen Australia, said, “Bluey is a phenomenon and it’s been a long time since a local children’s show has made such an impact. The incredible success of series one is a testament to Ludo Studio’s ability to create uniquely Australian content with universal appeal that resonates with children and their parents. Screen Australia is committed to supporting inventive and authentic children’s programming like this, and I can’t wait to see what Bluey and her family get up to in the second series.”
“The second series of Bluey will allow Ludo Studio to continue to grow their animation studio, create 40 jobs in Queensland and inject close to $6 million into the local economy,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. “The Queensland Government, through Screen Queensland, is very proud to be one of the many partners supporting the growth of Ludo Studio, and the creation of this Queensland story, showcasing our beautiful landmarks and lifestyle to global audiences young and old.”
Following parents’ daily requests for Bluey merchandise, families will soon be able to read about Bluey’s adventures as BBC Studios has joined forces with Penguin Random House to bring out three books which will be available in stores before Christmas 2019.
The second series of Bluey will comprise of 52 x 7-minute episodes, with production commencing later this month. Series two will make its television debut on ABC KIDS and ABC KIDS iview in 2020.
Production credit: Bluey series 2 is a Ludo Studio production for ABC KIDS. Principal production investment from BBC Studios, in association with Screen Australia. Post Production, Digital and Visual Effects work undertaken in Queensland, Australia with funding from The Queensland Government through Screen Queensland and the Australian Government.
Key data points:
- The fun-loving Blue Heeler family continues to be on high rotation in Australian homes, with the combined total of 75 million program plays, well and truly cementing the series as the #1 series ever on ABC iview*
- The series has also been a runaway success on TV and is currently the #1 Australian children’s series of 2019 on metro broadcast TV in Australia
- With over 55 million program plays in 2019 so far , Bluey smashed its own 2018 ABC iview record of 21 million program plays
- A co-viewing hit on ABC KIDS, the 25 new episodes achieved an incredible Total People average audience of 230,000 across the five metro cities; a 74% share among children 0-4 (up +7.3 pts on the timeslot average), and 18% metro total TV share among Total People (+4.7 pts on the timeslot average)*
*Source: Webtrends, OzTAM VPM ‘Begin Event’ data.
** Source: OzTAM (5 City Metro) Consolidated to 7 if between 7 and 28 days from broadcast, or Consolidated 28 if 28 days from broadcast
That’s huge.
The first two series will premiere internationally on Disney Junior from late 2019 and the upcoming streaming service Disney+ in all territories outside Australia, New Zealand and Greater China.
Why a separate distribution deal for Greater China and a separate toy making deal for whole of Asia?
Maybe they had already struck up a separate deal with Greater China.
Sunday 7 July on iview and Monday 8 July from 10.30pm Weeknights
Set in Perth’s notorious KGB (Koondoola, Girrawheen, Balga), the series follows two rookie Indigenous detectives, tough guy Jack (Clarence Ryan) and gentle giant Nigel (Bjorn Stewart), as they deal with the chaos of their new jobs, nononsense boss (Genevieve Morris), work rivals, drug dealers and suspects who consistently turn out to be family. Despite battling their own insecurities at every turn, and the fact that Jack bullied Nigel in high school, these two might just turn out to be KGB’s finest detectives. KGB also stars Aaron McGrath, Mark Coles Smith and Jesse Phillips.
Stream all episodes from Sunday 7 July at 7am on ABC iview and watch late night on ABC COMEDY from Monday 8 July.
Episode 1 – Monday 8 July at 11:35pm on ABC COMEDY
Episode 2 – Tuesday 9 July at 10:45pm on ABC COMEDY
Episode 3 – Wednesday 10 July at 10:55pm on ABC COMEDY
Episode 4 – Thursday 11 July at 10:40pm on ABC COMEDY
Episode 5 – Friday 12 July at 10:45pm on ABC COMEDY
Apparently, they 5 x 4min episodes.
Why not just screen them together in one half hour slot?
From Thursday 18 July at 9.50pm
Women on the Verge is a six-part comedy drama set in Dublin that follows the lives of three women in their 30s, played by Kerry Condon, Nina Sosanya and Eileen Walsh. Whilst everyone else is settling down, married with kids, and increasingly in control of their lives, Laura, Katie and Alison seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Women on the Verge follows these flawed and complex friends as they navigate the challenges of life, love and relationships.
Created by Sharon Horgan and Lorna Martin, and adapted from Martin’s critically acclaimed comic memoir ‘Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown’, which was in turn based on her much loved Grazia column Conversations with My Therapist, the show has been described as a frank, hilarious and often shocking love letter to women who haven’t ticked all the boxes and whose lives are a bit messier and a bit more complicated than they ever thought they’d be.
From Monday 29 July at 9am daily on ABC KIDS and ABC KIDS iview
Celebrity guests on the 49th season of Sesame Street include Tiffany Haddish, Keegan Michael Key, Blake Lively, Chance the Rapper, Amanda Seyfried, Zoe Kravitz, Questlove, Bill Nye, and Solange Knowles!
The 49th season of the iconic children’s show Sesame Street will explore a “Learning Through Play” curriculum that models how kids can build school readiness skills as they try out different roles during play. In line with the new curriculum, the season will start with a new special that puts a madcap spin on the familiar pretend-playing different careers. Also new this season is “Abby’s Amazing Adventures,” a recurring animated segment starring Abby Cadabby that shows how girls – and boys, and fairies-in-training! – can take charge of their own journeys.
Underscoring the power of guided pretend-play, this season’s episodes illustrate how kids can get more out of playtime with a little bit of planning and gentle guidance. Each week, the Sesame Street gang pretend to be bus drivers, chefs, directors, veterinarians, and more, complete with homemade props and scenery made from household objects. Simple career-oriented play is common among
children, but when helpful adults empower kids to create their own plans, a game of “restaurant” or “train” can turn into an opportunity to foster both academic and social-emotional skills.“Children learn best through play because they are actively engaged in joyful and meaningful activities that can be also be socially interactive and iterative,” said Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, SVP Content and Curriculum, Sesame Workshop. "It is through their play that kids learn to collaborate, self-regulate, communicate, and empathize with peers, motivated by their own interests and curiosities.”
By building on a common pattern of pretend play, this year’s curriculum will help children develop critical life skills and imagine new paths for themselves in a safe environment. Whether they’re building a school bus out of cardboard boxes or creating their own newspaper about life on Sesame Street, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby and friends model how – with a little help! – children can start to see themselves in exciting futures while having fun together.
The concept of “Learning through Play” is whimsically interpreted in the season’s new primetime special, with special guests Blake Lively and Amanda Seyfreid. “When You Wish Upon a Pickle” follows the adventure when a wishing machine appears on Sesame Street and the magical pickle inside starts granting wishes! (Elmo finds out what it’s like to run Hooper’s Store, Cookie Monster’s wish for more cookies goes awry, Abby Cadabby teams up with her favourite storybook detective, and more, until an unlikely – and grouchy! – hero restores order to the neighboirhood.) Individual episodes throughout the season also celebrate the role-playing theme, with the gang learning about scientific inquiry with Bill Nye, exploring the library with Zoe Kravitz, playing the drums with Questlove, and more.
Also new this season is “Abby’s Amazing Adventures,” a recurring animated segment starring Abby Cadabby. In each episode, Abby and her stepbrother Rudy travel beyond Sesame Street to solve problems in fantastical new places with the help of a magical basket. Together, they complete “missions” like traveling deep under the sea to photograph a rare fish, visiting an active volcano as scientists to find lava rocks, and even blasting into space as astronauts to fix a space station. Led by Sesame Street’s curious and determined fairy-in-training, “Abby’s Amazing Adventures” serves as a valuable example of young girls thinking big and imagining exciting futures for themselves. “‘Abby’s Amazing Adventures’ continues a decades-long tradition of great animation on Sesame Street,” said Ben Lehmann, Executive Producer of Sesame Street. “Viewers will follow Abby and Rudy on magical adventures as they take on the roles of veterinarians, photographers, recyclers and more. This short series is the first to be produced entirely at Sesame Workshop, by our in-house animation team.”
Although not reported by us, Giggle And Hoot has celebrated its 10th birthday a while ago and aired a series of “live” Giggle Party segments done from the set on 24 June.
Giggle & Hoot aired its first episode in June 2009? TBH I actually thought that show launched much later in the year (around the time the “ABC For Kids on 2” block launched on ABC2, coinciding with the launch of ABC3) but am always happy to be corrected with any misconceptions! 
Yeah, I think you’re right. They had Rollercoaster on the main channel (ABC1) in 2009, with just straight childrens programs on ABC2, but I don’t think it ran all day back then. This was before the launch of ABC3.
This is just what I recall, not 100% sure!
According to Jimmy Rees management bio:
Maybe the ABC recorded the first episodes in June 2009 but they didn’t get to air until December?
Monday 15 July at 8.00pm
This year ABC COMEDY is broadcasting Australia’s prestigious live theatre and entertainment night of nights - the 19th annual Helpmann Awards LIVE, on Monday, 15 July at 8pm.
Hosted by the dynamic duo of Susie Youssef and Mitchell Butel, with special guest presenters Kate Miller-Heidke & Keir Nuttall, Paul Kelly, Greta Bradman and James Egglestone, the 90-minute program will be live from the Arts Centre, Melbourne.
The Helpmann Awards recognise distinguished achievement and excellence across Australia’s vibrant live performance industry.
This year’s nominees include Anne Edmonds, Barrie Kosky, Elaine Crombie, Felix Reibl, Hannah Gadsby, Kate Mulvany, Kylie Minogue, Paula Arundell, Tim Minchin, Tina Arena, Ursula Yovich and Wayne Blair to name a few.
Musician and singer songwriter Kev Carmody will be presented with the industry’s highest
accolade - the 2019 JC Williamson Award.The show will include performances by Electric Fields, Bangarra Dance Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Victorian Opera, Silvie Paladino and Brent Hill and the kids from School of Rock.
The awards will encore on ABC + ABC I iview on Sunday, 21 July at 10pm.
