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Why Peter Helliar allowed HOW TO STAY MARRIED S2 to premiere online

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In this wide-ranging interview Peter Helliar talks about How to Stay Married, no audience for THE PROJECT and how COVID-19 is hurting the stand-up community.

The following is a transcript from an interview with Peter Helliar which took place on The Ben, Rob & Robbo Show.

Rob McKnight:

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Peter, I’ve got to say how thrilled must you be to have a season two of this show, which is just being so universally loved.

Peter Helliar:

Oh, thank you. But yes, we’re stoked. To be honest, to get one season of a half hour scripted comedy narrative on a commercial network felt amazing. So to get a season two we were thrilled with, because I think it’s great to have Australian comedy on the commercial network, the ABC have definitely shouldered the burden for way too long. Hopefully this is the start of more locally made comedy.

Rob McKnight:

I hope so too, although in this environment it’s very tough, isn’t it? With all the restrictions in place and all the productions being shut down, you must feel blessed that you got the series done and dusted before this pandemic kicked in.

Peter Helliar:

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Absolutely. We would like to have done the second season earlier to be honest, but my schedule is a bit full-on and we didn’t want to rush into it as far as the writing and we wanted to get it right. But you’re absolutely right. Thank God we did because I reckon if we had of been disrupted, it would’ve felt like maybe too far from the first series. Possibly, maybe not, but yes. Thank God we did. And now we can potentially use this time to develop a third season.

Rob McKnight:

Right.

Peter Helliar:

So we’re hopefully ready to go once we come out of this.

https://www.facebook.com/BRRshow/videos/598477444209519/

Rob McKnight:

Have 10 already started talking to you about a possible third season?

Peter Helliar:

Only very casually, but I know the numbers on 10 Play have been great and I guess they’ll merge those with the numbers we get when we go to air and those discussions will be had. But I don’t think anyone’s talking too far into the future about production at the moment.

Rob McKnight:

It’s just hard to know.

Peter Helliar:

[crosstalk 00:02:16] yes, everyone’s just heads down and hands on deck when we can and hopefully we get through this, and I’m sure we will. The fact is content is going to be needed at the end of this.

Rob McKnight:

Absolutely. How do you feel about the fact that the series two has premiered on 10 Play before broadcast? Because obviously traditionally it’s the other way round, but there is a whole new playing field happening online with streaming services and the catch-up services. How does it feel being on the catch-up service before broadcast?

Peter Helliar:

Rob, if 10 came to me a few months ago and said, “We want to launch on 10 Play before we go on air.”, I would have said, “No thanks.” [crosstalk 00:03:01] That wouldn’t have been something I would have been excited about. We had a strategy, we’re excited about being on… The first season, the first three episodes were on during the ratings period and then we were no longer in the ratings period. So we’d lost some of our lead-ins like The Bachelor, and Have You Been Paying Attention for the encore.

Peter Helliar:

Then we had a few time changes, which is not helpful as you know. We were really excited about having a really solid time, maybe mid year to be on air for the eight weeks, and then Channel 10 a few weeks ago came to me on a Friday and said, “Would you consider putting it on 10 Play? There’s a lot of people at home. Obviously there’s [inaudible 00:03:49] on television at the moment.” And to be honest, it came down for me… I’m not on the front line of the fight against Coronavirus, that’s the medical workers and-

Rob McKnight:

[crosstalk 00:04:03] understand.

Peter Helliar:

[inaudible 00:04:08] But as a comedian, the one thing I can do is provide content to help in a very small way, help people navigate this weird time. And if you’re sitting on a eight part locally made comedy series that’s ready to go, it made sense to put it out in the world. So we did that and it’s going great on 10 Play, and the feedback’s been fantastic. And I think potentially it could be something that we see more often, that you launch on the streaming service and then go to air. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Rob McKnight:

It’s a time of experimentation and that’s a great thing. And let’s be honest, we need to see more of those flashback wigs and more of those would be great.

Peter Helliar:

And [inaudible 00:04:55] storylines.

Rob McKnight:

Yes, what I want to do is the opening scene of season two spoke to me so much as a father.

Peter Helliar:

Yes. Every storyline that we cover has come from either my experiences, certainly everything that’s in the show I think I’ve experienced. But also we have a great writers’ room, a development room. Everything you see has come from a very real place. There’s an episode which I’m particularly fond of where Greg tries to make a friend, there’s a new dad at school and he’s Spanish, and he’s really cool and Greg’s really excited [inaudible 00:05:39] him. He’s real excited about making a new adult friend, but then Em doesn’t quite get along with his wife and that makes it awkward. And I’ve been in that situation where you think, “Oh, there’s a new friend.” But the wives don’t get along. [crosstalk 00:05:48]

Rob McKnight:

Yeah. I think we’ve all been there.

Peter Helliar:

There’s a storyline about our oldest daughter sexting. There is an episode where I’m supposed to be at home waiting for the NBN. Yes, I think we’ve tapped into things that people go through and sometimes they’re big things and there’s certainly, this series, a more emotional storyline involving Em. She gets an opportunity at work that puts her in Greg’s firing line eventually. And then there’s little things like forgetting that you’re supposed to be dressing up for book week today. The book week parade’s going to be on, and the flurry of… The panic that sets in after that.

Rob McKnight:

Been there. Mate, let’s talk about the Coronavirus just for a moment. As a comedian, standup’s a big part of your world. How are your mates in the industry coping without that ability to be performing and making a living?

Peter Helliar:

Yes, it’s really tough. I’m extraordinarily lucky to be in [inaudible 00:06:59] position I am [inaudible 00:06:59] I can still go and do The Project. I can talk about that I’m lucky, and I get to do all these things and I can have fun at home by providing content and whether it’s being on Instagram or doing [inaudible 00:07:16] on Instagram again just for fun. But I’ve got mates who would have done a tour this year and it would have been 50%, 60% of what they earned or even higher in some instances. So putting aside the mental health angle of just needing that release, comedians, we do this because we’ve got a need to do it. And for it to hit right in festival season [crosstalk 00:07:50]

Rob McKnight:

[crosstalk 00:07:50] international company festival. [crosstalk 00:07:53] big loss.

Peter Helliar:

Yes, absolutely. And the money that would have been outlaid already for publicity and all the things you need to do, it’s huge. I really worry, and the government have not announced a single thing for the arts community. As Tony Burke has pointed that the arts industry, whether it be comedians, or musicians, they’re the first to put their hand up when you need to raise money for your school or for the Bushfire Relief-

Rob McKnight:

That’s a very good point.

Peter Helliar:

… They’re there to help out and I feel like we’ve really been left in the lurch. When people think about the arts industry, I think they think about art that you hang on walls, but art is… It’s TV. It’s comedy, it’s movies, it’s books. Try getting through quarantine without art in your life, and then consider that this government has not helped out at all. [inaudible 00:08:52] I think the government’s done a really good job navigating this crisis, but I would love to see something announced that could help artists.

Rob McKnight:

It would be good, wouldn’t it? Because as you say, we’re all turning to streaming services and television at the moment. So we’re consuming that art content, but we’re not actually helping the people who are providing that content.

Peter Helliar:

Absolutely.

Rob McKnight:

Now, Mate, the project has done great guns during this crisis. It’s ratings are up big time, but it must be weird doing it without a studio audience. Again, that feeding off that live studio audience.

Peter Helliar:

Yes. When they told me, Rob, I was like, “But how does the show work?” And obviously it affects myself and Tommy Little and the comedians, Susie Youssef, who come on the show [inaudible 00:09:43] can operate without an audience. I was concerned, but I must say, really quickly it became quite fine and quite comfortable. Because we are still trying to keep the balance of having some fun, but also obviously reporting what’s going on. Often [inaudible 00:10:07] can be a bit grim, but what it’s meant is that we’re not necessarily responding and reacting to the audience in a good way. We’re not being navigated by the fact that they might clap or they might laugh. Sometimes if you get a laugh you would know the tendency is to that get [inaudible 00:10:27] move on to the next thing. What we’re finding, we’re having better conversations in many ways because we’re not playing to that. It’s almost like a dinner party conversation.

Rob McKnight:

That’s interesting. Yes, okay because that is… You get that laugh. A line producer, I’ve done the exact same thing, will say, “All right, that’s a great out. Move on.” So that’s very interesting that it’s changed your on-air conversations.

Peter Helliar:

Absolutely. And it’s probably bought us another two minutes in… Because you clap on the way back from an ad break, you clap out on that break, you have laughter [crosstalk 00:11:01]

Rob McKnight:

Do you want the audience back?

Peter Helliar:

No, well I do. And I think, I think [inaudible 00:11:08] would probably love to have the audience back because they do make a great difference, but I think there’ll be lessons we take out of this period that we make sure we remember when life goes back to normal.

Rob McKnight:

I think that’s for everyone. Peter, the show starts on Tuesday. I can’t wait to watch it again. Thank you very much for being on The Ben, Rob & Robbo Show.

Peter Helliar:

My absolute pleasure.

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Robert McKnight
Robert McKnighthttps://tvblackbox.com.au/robert-mcknight/
"Leading TV commentator" - The Daily Telegraph | "Known for his impeccable sources in the TV industry" - The Daily Mail | "Always first with the correct info" - Beau Ryan | Robert McKnight is a highly regarded Australian Television Producer having worked at SEVEN, NINE and TEN during his 30 years in the industry. Currently Rob can be seen every fortnight on THE MORNING SHOW (7) and heard on NIGHTS WITH JOHN STANLEY (2GB/4BC). He is also a producer on 7 NEWS SPOTLIGHT.
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