“It’s one of my great disasters”

It’s not often a TV exec will own up to the one that go away, but ABC Head of Comedy Rick Kalowski regrets saying turning down No Activity.

The Patrick Brammell and Darren Gilshenan stake-out comedy instead found a home at Stan.

Speaking at the Screen Forever conference last week, Kalowski said, “It’s one of my great disasters. I passed on No Activity.

“Plainly, the wrong decision. There were reasons. It probably looks like sheer madness. It was not total madness. But it was clearly a total and utter f*** up.

“I had a feeling that as good as it was it might never get a big enough audience for us to justify doing it.”

Produced by Jungle, the series went on to spawn a US adaptation for CBS All Access, with Will Ferrell as an executive producer.

“It’s had such a huge reputation at Stan, and is clearly an exceptional show,” he continued. “Not only for its longevity but the fact it has been remade in the United States. The nature of the format is such that you can attract all these amazing people who might not commit to a series but can come in for a few days.

“It was an incredible drivers for Stan. It’s absolutely one of my big disasters.”

Season 3 of the US No Activity airs from Thursday, 21 November on Stan.