Don’t give up on Gruen
Fear not, Gruen fans. Dr Mumbo understands that despite speculation today that Russell Howcroft’s involvement in Ten’s Recipe To Riches could spell an end to his involvement in Gruen Planet, there’s little danger of that.
Similarly, despite the success of his Redesign My Brain documentary – and yesterday’s commissioning of a second series – Leo Burnett boss Todd Sampson will also go around again.
As for host Wil Anderson’s desire to concentrate on standup comedy, which leads to a “grim” outlook for Gruen according to today’s Tele, that’s not going to stand in the way of him hosting the show again, Dr Mumbo understands.
The only question is one of timing. With a new series of Gruen – one of the ABC’s top rating shows – not yet in production, Dr Mumbo wouldn’t be surprised it doesn’t turn up on air until early in 2015.
(If you’re missing the show, there’s a repeat on ABC2 tonight, as it happens.)
There could be a dual hosting job open for some pressure off wil. At one stage charlotte clausen was going to do radio with wil but that was trashed. This could be the new project wil spoke of last year
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I have an inside tip that the show will be moving to a completely online tv show independent of all networks including the abc. Most likely youtube exclusive as they can then make money off the ads and russell how croft can still remain part of the show.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if the delay in production is talks of wil dropping out. From what I hear he lives in LA with osher Ginsberg (Andrew G) and only comes to Australia for the melbourne international comedy festival. Charlie Pickering is the #1 contender at this stage as he has just quit the project and is looking for another hosting job
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Denton. Denton. Denton! I would love if Denton could come back! He would be able to replace russell or wil. I remember way back when… Money or the gun! Why not gruen?! I heard some rumours he had produced gruen planet etc so he already knows the show inside out and has a great presence on screen. I personally think the show will come back this year the ratings are as high as ever at the end of last season and is actually a show worth watching. Please!
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Hi Martin,
I suspect they’d not be keen to mess with such a successful format. Don’t forget it still rates (and more importantly, engages).
Hi Chantelle,
That doesn’t sound correct to me. Although the show is made by CJZ, I’m sure the ABC would have a say in the fate of the format and wouldn’t be willing to give it up. Russel can remain involved anyway. It seemed obvious when he took the gig as Ten GM that he’d negotiated to continue his involvement with Gruen.
Hi Peter,
I think Wil has been based in the US for parts of the year for some time now. I presume they’d time the production around his availability.
Hi Offal spokesman,
It’s more than “rumours” that Andrew Denton was involved. The show was created by Zapruder’s Other Films (now CJZ) and he was one of the co-creators. But it doesn’t look to me like there’s a vacancy.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Wil has hinted on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/officialwilanderson that this piece is accurate.
He’s linked to this article and said: “I can’t confirm or deny anything, but of all the commentary I have read, this one is the closest to making sense.”
So I take that to mean: Yes – he, Todd and Russel will be back. But it probably won’t be til next year.
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Todd has tweeted a link to this article, says it’s “spin free”.
https://twitter.com/toddsampsonOz/status/459177907445714944
Looks like Dr Mumbo is on the money.
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I saw Wil Anderson say on Facebook ‘ Good day to leave the country and avoid the awkward Gruen questions.’
I guess that means he is back in the United States.
He, Todd and Russell make an awesome threesome.
Go Gruen!
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Surely it should be Tod Sampson by now?
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On Will Anderson’s Facebook page he says “There is no way the show would continue without the original cast (at least from my perspective).”
So at least if the show is coming back we can rely on a top threesome which is all anyone can ask for! The chemistry is really great between those three gents. A lot of people say Todd and Russell hate one another but they are actually very close and Todd has even gone to visit Russell’s old school with him for some bonding.
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I listened to Wil on the Acme Comedy Club podcast and he talks about Gruen. Says they are taking a year off and will be back in 2015.
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Can i just say that the “offal Spokesperson” above, is in no way related to the original Offalspokesperson that you all know and love 🙂
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