Television
Hugh Marks’ past meets present in new ABC commission
The ABC’s decision to commissionCrime Night!, a new comedic true crime panel show hosted by Julia Zemiro, has raised some eyebrows.
See, the show is produced by Dreamchaser, the company co-founded by the broadcaster’s very own managing director, Hugh Marks.
Keeping up?
Well, as Mark Di Stefano reports in The Australian Financial Review, it’s the first ABC project to be publicly announced since Marks took the helm in 2023, and the optics don’t look good.
Social Media
YouTube ban debate pits creators against eSafety chief
The eSafety Commissioner is standing firm on her advice not to give YouTube a hall pass from the proposed under-16s social media ban, arguing it’s where the youngest users are most exposed to harmful content.
According to new research from Julie Inman Grant’s office, 76% of Aussie kids aged 10 to 15 use YouTube, and more than a third of them say that’s where they’ve seen or heard stuff that’s potentially damaging.
But, as Josh Taylor writes in The Guardian Australia, creators, unsurprisingly, aren’t thrilled.
Search engines face mandatory age checks under new online rules
Australia is pushing ahead with sweeping age verification rules, and search engines like Google and Bing are the next targets.
As Ange Lavoipierre details on abc.net.au, changes were quietly introduced at the end of June that forced platforms to verify the ages of logged-in users as part of a broader push to keep kids away from harmful content.
TikTok shakes up Aussie leadership as age ban fight looms
TikTok is hunting for a new head of public policy in Australia just as the platform braces for Labor’s proposed under-16s social media ban.
And, as John Buckley writes in Capital Brief, the timing is no accident.
With sweeping age restrictions set to land in December, the company is in the middle of a local leadership reshuffle and looking to bolster its influence in Canberra.
Legal
ABC staff knock back pay rise tied to strike freeze
ABC management floated a 3% pay bump in exchange for a 12-month strike ban, hoping to keep things smooth as enterprise bargaining kicks off again.
Only issue? Union members didn’t bite.
In fact, as Daanyal Saeed details in Crikey, they rejected the offer unanimously, making it clear that trading away industrial action for a modest early raise was a non-starter.
Former MKR contestant faces fresh sex abuse charges
A former My Kitchen Rules contestant is facing serious legal trouble, with a new 21-count indictment filed in Queensland.
As Kevin Perry reports in TV Blackbox, Claudean Bernadette Uamaki-Mu, who appeared on the 2023 season of the Seven reality show with her husband as the “married battlers,” has been charged with multiple sex abuse-related offences.
The indictment includes 12 counts of rape, six counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent treatment of children.
Gregg Wallace threatens legal action over MasterChef sacking
Gregg Wallace is gearing up to sue the BBC and MasterChef UK producers Banijay, claiming he was axed from the long-running cooking show due to discrimination tied to his recent autism diagnosis.
According to Anita Singh and Robert Mendick in The Sydney Morning Herald, his legal team argues that producers were aware of his condition for years and failed to support him, only to now cut ties over behaviour he says was misunderstood banter.
Wallace denies any serious wrongdoing.
Publishing
Helen Garner teams up for true crime take on mushroom murder trial
Literary heavyweight Helen Garner is breaking her lone-wolf habit to co-write The Mushroom Tapes, a book about the Erin Patterson murder trial.
As Rosemary Neill writes in The Australian, Garner will be joining forces with acclaimed true crime authors Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, Garner will explore the case that shocked Australia and lit up headlines worldwide.
Text Publishing revealed the trio tracked every twist of the courtroom drama in Morwell, even bunking down in the Latrobe Valley to swap notes and unpack the bigger themes: revenge, marriage, money, and, yes, mushrooms.
Entertainment
Neighbours cast reflect on final day of filming with fans
After nearly 40 years, Neighbours has wrapped production at its long-time Nunawading studios, leaving cast and crew feeling a mix of gratitude and deep sadness.
The cast and crew spoke with David Knox from TV Tonight (who will also be live blogging the final day), opening up about the emotional weight of saying goodbye to a show that’s been an Aussie TV staple for decades.
Larry David teams up with Obamas for sketch show
Larry David is back on HBO, this time joining forces with Barack and Michelle Obama for a new sketch series celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
As AP’s entertainment writer Andrew Dalton details, The Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld co-creator will executive produce, write and star in six half-hour episodes produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground company.
Gotta admit, it sounds pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Scrubs reboot gets green light at ABC with original stars returning
ABC has officially ordered a Scrubs reboot, set to hit screens in the 2025-2026 season.
As Joe Otterson writes in Variety, Zach Braff is back as JD, joined by Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke, with whispers that more familiar faces will rejoin the hospital comedy’s revival.
The new series will follow JD and Turk navigating a very different Sacred Heart hospital: new interns, new challenges, but the same classic bromance at its core.