Returning: Gruen

You want it, you got it. Gruen returns to ABC at 8.30pm Wednesday August 3, replacing Mad as Hell.

Wil Anderson, Russel Howcroft and Todd Sampson, plus a team of new and familiar faces, are back to deconstruct the advertising landscape.

“Nine years after thinking ‘we really hope this oddball panel show survives its first week’, Gruen returns as one of the ABC’s best and most beloved programs. It’s a delight to welcome the team back. May they continue to call bullshit on the cynical messaging that surrounds us,” said ABC’s Head of Entertainment Jon Casimir.

Host Wil Anderson says, “Yes we missed the election, but knowing Australia we will have another one by the end of the series.”

This year the show will also be on air during the Olympics, but whilst it will presumably include coverage of the marketing around the Games, won’t be devoted to the event.

Expect to see our panel of experts tackle topical local and international stories, as well as marketing and spin from the sublime to the ridiculous, to the utterly everyday. No topic is too big or small, too stupid or too serious to escape the Gruen treatment.

Fan favourite The Pitch returns as Australia’s top creative agencies battle it out over the thorniest briefs we can throw at them.

In its many incarnations since it debuted in 2008: The Gruen Transfer, Gruen Planet, Gruen Nation, and Gruen Sweat – the show, produced by CJZ, has garnered various awards: the 2010 AFI Award for Best Light Entertainment Program; the 2012 AACTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Program; the Rose d’Or in 2013; and this year, the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Entertainment program.

Gruen: the show that unashamedly puts ads on the ABC, returns Wednesday August 3rd at 8:30pm.