Ten announces new Working Dog show The Cheap Seats

Ten has announced that Have You Been Paying Attention? (HYBPA) creators Working Dog will produce a brand new television program called The Cheap Seats.

The program will act as a companion piece to HYBPA, and will air each Tuesday with comedians and Working Dog regulars Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald as hosts.

Bracewell has moved to Australia for the show, revealing on Twitter: “The cat is out of the bag! The reason I’ve moved to Australia is that Tim and I are hosting a brand new TV show on @Channel10AU!

“It’s called The Cheap Seats and it’s a look back on the week in news (except we don’t have to adhere to journalistic guidelines).”

The Cheap Seats promises to be a comic look back on the week at was, covering major and not-so-major news stories, as “a Reader’s Digest of world events for a generation who simply don’t want to read.”

“If it was broadcast, released, published, viewed, shared, clicked on, or simply trending for 30-seconds, then it’s likely to be a part of The Cheap Seats,” Network Ten said.

Ten has also dropped a trailer for the program, which will air on Tuesday 20 July for the first time.

The show has been commissioned off the back of the long-running success of Monday night comedy quiz show Have You Been Paying Attention? which is now in its ninth season.

HYBPA has frequently topped OzTam’s overnight ratings among entertainment programs so far in 2021 despite not airing in a primetime slot. It is also Working Dog’s second format to be commissioned in international markets, with the rights having been sold in New Zealand and Cyprus.

Working Dog previously sold its Thank God You’re Here format in the US, UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, Norway, Israel, and Denmark.

Working Dog Productions was formed by Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy, Tom Gleisner and Michael Hirsh in 1993.