The Project is an Australian television show which covers current affairs in a talk show format and features a panel of hosts. The show was previously known as The 7PM Project and airs on weeknights across Australia. The show is aired on Network 10 and is produced by Roving Enterprises.
The show is currently hosted by Waleed Aly, Carrie Bickmore and Peter Helliar. On weekdays the show is hosted by Lisa Wilkinson, Hamish Macdonald and Tommy Little. The show also features a number of rotating guest panellists. The one hour show was formerly in a half-hour format and first premiered in 2009.
The show is aired live in the Eastern states. The show id filmed at the Network 10 studio at The Como Centre, South Yarra, Melbourne. The Sunday night version of the show is filled in Pyrmont, Sydney. T
he content and comedy acts on The Project are all drawn from recent news stories and sometimes offer alternative perspectives on mainstream media opinions. The show runs for a total of 51 weeks each year. It takes a brief break during the Christmas and New Year period.
The show has won a number of accoldated and awards during it’s time, and hosts Carrie Bickmore and Waleed Aly have both won Gold Logie’s.
What is the format of the show?
The program runs as a talk show format with regular hosts Waleed Aly, Carrie Bickmore, Peter Helliar and Lisa Wilkinson discussing current events and delivering segments about recent news. The show has featured a number of guest panellists of the years, include Steve Price, Meshel Laurie, Susie Youssef, Gretel Killeen, Fifi Box and many more. The main content of the show often involves discussion and sometimes involves live crosses. Special guest of a celebrity nature often make appearances on the show.
The Project Season 1
The Project first aired in July 2009. The show’s live broadcast was from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm on weeknights. The show promos featured music samples from Hello and The Cat Empire. The first episode of the show featured MasterChef winner Julie Goodwin, as well as an interview wih Sienna Miller and Rachel Nichols. In the first season Ruby Rose and James Mathison made guest appearances in the show. During the summer of 2009 the episode of the show were extended to an hour during the week to help raise the profile of the show. The show was also repeated last at night. The show also got a small revamp in late 2009. The show was given more of a summer feel, moving it away from feeling like a ‘late night’ show. In February 2010 the late night repeat of the show was cancelled.
The Project Season 2
The second season of the show featured a return to the darker visuals from the early part of season one. In 2010 Carrie Bickmore and Charlie Pickering received a Logie nomination for Most Popular Female and Male talent. The show was also renewed for a further year in June 2010. The shows first year anniversary was celebrated by Kitty Flanagan and Steve Price, as well as MasterChef evictee Alvin Quah. The show also featured five holiday episodes which were titled ‘The Holiday Project’. The episodes featured Charlie Pickering and Dave Hughes reviewing some of the segments from earlier in the year.
The Project Season 3
The show returned for a third season in 2011, however due to the unfortunate death of Carrie Bickmore’s husband, she was not present on the show for the month of January. Bickmore returned to the show in February. The show managed to score an exclusive interview with US actor Charlie Sheen who was dealing with a highly publicised breakdown following the termination of his Two and Half Men contract. The airing of the interview took place at the same time as the raiding of Sheen’s house, by coincidence. During the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton the Network aired special royal wedding covering on the show, calling it ‘The Wedding Project’. The special episode received lacklustre ratings. In June 2011 the show had ‘St Kilda School girl’ Kim Duthie on the show. The segment made headlines due to an off-air comment that she had lied about everything; the comment was aired live during the episode. In July politicians joined the panel for an episode, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Members of the public were also brought in for an episode to discuss current events. The show also featured an episode commemorating the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. The show was moved to a new 6:30 pm time slot in October.
The Project Season 4
In 2012 a half hour version of the show was added to Sundays at 6 pm. The show also added a weather update segment.
On Valentine’s Day the show aired an episode where Magda Szubanski came out as gay on the show. There was also an episode that discussed Kony 2012. The show was nominated as the most popular Light Entertainment Program during the 2012 Logie Awards. Carrie Bickmore was also nominated for a Gold Logie award. In June 2012 the show featured Carrie Underwood and Katy Perry on the panel.
Later Carrie Bickmore became emotional during a segment about a Queensland mother who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and whose son was completing a bucket list on her behalf. Later that year Will Ferrel and Julia Gillard interacted via video chat on the show. Carrie Bickmore’s mispronunciation of Qantas during a live broadcast went viral on Youtube. The program won numerous awards in 2012.
The Project Season 5
The show began season 5 before the new year, this was the first time show was broadcast before a new year had started. The show aired a special on the Queensland floods. The show was nominated for three Logies Awards in 2013 and Carrie Bickmore was again nominated for her part on the show. In April the show featured a controversial interview with erratic Sex Pistols star John Lyndon, who behaved bizarrely on air. Lyndon verbally attacked Bickmore on air, telling her she was a ‘dreadfully loud bird’. The panel accused him of being sexist and the interview was eventually ended after he became increasingly aggressive.
A May episode saw Carrie Bickmore become emotional when talking about a potential cure for brain cancer, as he husband had died from the illness in 2010. Late in the year Melanie Brown was forced to cancel an appearance because Channel 7 was threatening legal action due to her still being under contract with them. Will Ferrel made an appearance later I November as Ron Burgundy to promote Anchorman 2.
The Project Season 6
In 2014, new host Peter Helliar madehis first appearance on the show and Charlie Pickering announced that he was leaving. The show courted controversy after Kitty Flanagan said that Santa Claus didn’t exist. Waleed Aly was also announced as a permanent host on the show.
The Project Season 7
The show got a new set in season 7 and Waleed Aly went on air to attack ISIS.
The Project Season 8
The eighth season of the show aired in 2016.
The Project Season 9
The 2017 season of The Project featured the first Sunday night episodes of the show since 2012. Lisa Wilkinson was announced as a host in October 2017.
The Project Season 10
Season ten of the show aired in 2018.
The Project Season 11
The eleventh season of the show premiered in 2019.