ABC Comedy - Programs and Schedules

Catastrophe - Season 4

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From Thursday 18 April at 9:45pm

We re-join the couple after Rob’s (Rob Delaney) secret relapse to alcoholism ended in a dramatic car crash and forced confession to Sharon (Sharon Horgan), while Chris (Mark Bonnar) displayed an unexpected softer side towards Rob and an altogether less soft side to Fran’s (Ashley Jensen) obnoxious new boyfriend. Now, as Rob tries to head on the straight and narrow and Sharon does her best to support, “it’s like he’s on a crusade, but to somewhere boring and we all have to come”, will the couple navigate the relentless tsunami of life’s challenges, or see their relationship finally submerged by it all? With Rob potentially not the only one on the wrong side of the law, health issues, new religious dalliances, a “briefcase of vegetables” and ever-infuriating family members to contend with, what could possibly go wrong?

Canadian comedy Schitt’s Creek, which airs here on ABC Comedy, has been renewed for a sixth and final season.

ABC Comedy will start airing Season 4 from next Monday, replacing The Good Place.

ABC Comedy can’t show The Good Place season 3 yet?

There will be a report on 7.30 tonight.
EDIT: the report on Bluey can be seen here:

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Detectorists- Season 3

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From Friday 17 May at 9:45pm

Andy (Mackenzie Crook) and Lance (Toby Jones) are back with their trusty metal detectors and ready to take up the search for gold in a new series of the award-winning comedy.

But what are they really searching for? Happiness? Love? A place to belong?

No. They’re really searching for gold.

Dawn French: 30 Million Minutes

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Sunday 5 May at 9.10pm

Performing live in London’s West End, legendary and much-loved comic Dawn French delivers her first solo stand-up show.

Dawn has the stage to herself for the very first time. This time there is no Jennifer Saunders by Dawn’s side, no extravagant costumes, and no madcap characters to hide behind. This is as honest, moving and funny as stand-up gets.

Directed and designed by theatrical visionaries Michael Grandage and Lez Brotherston, Dawn Fr ench: 30 Million Minutes is comedy with a dramatic flourish. It tells the story of Dawn’s 30 million minutes on earth – and counting.

Dawn explores the most moving minutes in her life so far. Cancer scares, criticism from the press, her much-heralded comedy career and father’s suicide are all explored. Dawn also delves into her love life and discusses the end of her marriage to comedian Lenny Henry and the ‘love goggles’ she now wears in a happy new relationship.

In this personal and extraordinarily revealing show, Dawn opens up to her audience, tickles their funny bones and touches their hearts.

Inside No. 9 - Series 2

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From Tuesday 21 May at 9:50pm

The co-creators of The League of Gentlemen and Pyschoville invite you into six new No. 9s, as the multiaward-winning anthology of darkly comic tales returns.

An unlikely assemblage of travellers make a disconcerting discovery on a sleeper train through France. In 17th century England, a woman stands accused of witchcraft in a grossly prejudiced trial. A young woman’s life unravels as events seem to take place out of sequence and she is haunted by visions of an unknown man. These macabre tales and more await anyone who dares enter Inside No. 9.

From a support-line call centre where a well-meaning new recruit is tormented by a mysterious caller, to a grand Victorian villa in which layers peel back to reveal a chilling twist, each of these locations has its own secrets and
surprises in store. This black comedy has won two major international awards at the 2014 BANFF Rockies, as well as the 2015 RTS Award for Best Comedy Performance, shared by creators Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith.

A universally acclaimed hit with critics, the series showcases their darkly comic imagination and remarkable range, in six standalone episodes as different as they are inventive and funny.

State of the Union

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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.

Finding Joy

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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.

Bluey - Season 2

Bluey fetches a second series as the smash hit achieves over 75 million plays and counting

Cementing Bluey as the #1 series ever on ABC iview

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

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That’s huge.

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Bluey news

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.

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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.

KGB

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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?

Women on the Verge

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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.