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The final Gruen?

Is Gruen back for 2012? Wil Anderson reckons a return all depends on timing.

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Is this week the last ever Gruen?

ABC reveals its 2012 programming next week, although Wil Anderson isn’t attending due to a corporate gig booked.

But on his Facebook page, a fan asked Wil “Is the show being renewed by the ABC for 2012? Or is tomorrow’s episode of Gruen the final episode?”

Anderson replied, “We don’t make up our minds on new seasons until we finish the current one. I am sure everyone would like to do it again, but it will all depend on timing…”

This fits with the non-commital answer Anderson told TV Tonight at the top of the Gruen Planet season.

“I don’t mean to say it definitely won’t be happening. We just don’t look that far ahead. We’ll see how Planet goes and maybe in 8 weeks we’ll say ‘Well that was f***ing fun for 4 years, it was really good to be part of it.’ Or maybe we’ll go ‘Great we’ve just started this incredible journey where we have this whole new world we can explore in the same format,'” he said.

Russel Howcroft is attending the ABC launch which is cause for optimism.

So read into that what you Wil…

Fingers crossed the show returns as Gruen Planet with Transfer now a bit superfluous.

Here’s the synopsis for the season finale:

It’s that time of the year again where we say goodbye.. however before we do Wil Anderson, Russel Howcroft (Y&R Group) and Todd Sampson (Leo Burnett) are joined by Liquid Ideas PR Stuart Gregor (remember “Casual Russel”?) and a familiar Gruen family member, social commentator and author Jane Caro.

On The Renovators this week, we play a few holes with Brand Tiger Woods. Two years after the sex scandal that ruined his marriage, even after five major sponsors walked away, Tiger is still the highest paid sportsman in the world. And even though he isn’t winning, he’s just announced new deals with Rolex and sports nutrition company Fuse. His visit to Australia last week saw him attend Shane Warne’s new club opening at Crown. A smart PR move?

Religious ads are not that rare on TV anymore. The Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists run campaigns. And not long ago a bunch of Christian churches promoted Brand Jesus. But no-one’s tried to sell us Islam. Until now… On How Do You Sell, we take a look at the MyPeace Ads that have been on Australian screens these last few weeks, mainly during breakfast television. With research suggesting that Australians are more concerned about Islam than climate change and boat people, MyPeace, a group of second generation Aussie Muslims, is trying to change our perception.

On the last The Pitch for the season, our challenge revolves around Christmas, the holy day of consumerism, a time when rampant spending depletes the planet’s precious resources. On behalf of a very special client, we’ve asked our agencies for an ad that will convince Aussies to give Christmas the flick.
OBM Vs It’s The Thought That Counts.

Oh and before we leave, we can’t forget this year’s quest to find the Worst Product Of All Time. It’s been an arduous trek across the jagged peaks of human stupidity. 16 weeks after we began, the votes have been tallied and we can announce the winner of the Gruen Golden Steak Knives.

9pm Wednesday on ABC1.

16 Responses

  4. Gruen Planet was awful, I hope if the show is renewed it’s not in the same vein as that.
    Gruen Transfer was fantastic, but probably gone as far as it can, and Gruen Nation was an excellent election time show.

    I think the most fun Gruen has been for a while was with Adam Ferrier the consumer psychologist. Something down his alley would be totally worth watching

  6. Here’s an idea that should get a reaction. How about a new panel and new host? Wait for “the show wouldn’t exist without Russel, Todd and Wil” posts. Yes it would, and yes it could. That’ll make the contract renewal meetings interesting. Perhaps if Wil comes back, he can stop nodding like a toy dog in a car window whenever anyone else is talking. Or is that his way of trying to think up a “witty” to shut the others up? Frankly, what makes Gruen Planet interesting are the guest panelists. The old guard are all looking a bit jaded, and a bit out of their depth discussing non-advertising.

  9. Gruen 101, and the later 201 specialising in Social Media and T-Shirts has told me that this is a good strategy.

    1. Don’t commit to more Gruen.
    2. Get people talking about Gruen and demanding it stay.
    3. Return to the screens earlier than expected and with less saturated fat.
    4. Diversify product but maintain product branding.

    Don’t make me switch to your competitors 🙂

  11. Considering Spicks is at its end and Gruen has rated above 1.1m every week for the past few months, it’s fairly obvious the ABC will move heaven and earth to ensure the program has a place in 2012. A lot of talk about nothing really.

  14. they played this ‘it might not be back’ game last year too!

    Clearly a move by the ABC to make all the fans get worried, its obviously going to be back, its one of their most popular shows.

  15. The 1st episode was a tad weak (discussing what Federal Labor should do seemed to veer the show off into political territory which came over a bit awkward) but they’ve since hit their stride and with some excellent guest panelists I’ve been really enjoying Gruen Planet. Here’s hoping for a return next year.

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