Where’s Carrie and Waleed? The first overseas version of The Project debuts in New Zealand

WHERE’S Carrie, what happened to Waleed? The Project has had a makeover and despite the same set and music, it’s very different.

IF YOU’RE still reeling from last week’s airing of Bunnings’ first UK advert, you may want to sit down because another Australian staple is heading overseas.

On first glance it looks like The Project we know and around 700,000 Aussies love every weeknight.

The music’s the same, the blue set looks familiar — the show has even seen Pete Helliar behind the desk.

But that’s not Carrie Bickmore presiding and he certainly isn’t Waleed Aly.

On Monday night, the first international version of Channel 10s current affairs show took to the screens. Its first overseas outing is to New Zealand.

Replacing Carrie, Waleed and Pete are Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan and comedian Josh Thomson.

Probably wouldn’t catch Waleed Aly doing a song and dance for The Project. Unlike the presenters of the The Project NZ. (L-R: Jesse Mulligan, Kanoa Lloyd and Josh Thomson.)

In the weeks leading up to the first show, Kiwis had been subjected to a frankly bizarre set of promos for the show where the presenters sing and dance through a park uttering such classic lines such as “it’s a show in the know” and “it’s a punchy summary of all the headlines”.

It’s also very definitely pronounced “Proj-ect” not the more Aussie “Pro-ject”.

But odd ads notwithstanding, the show has to work with New Zealand TV network Three churning through shows in its prime time 7pm slot — none of them connecting with viewers.

Dr Vincent O’Donnell at Melbourne’s RMIT University is an expert on TV formats. He told news.com.au it was always a risky move exporting a cherished TV show.

Whether The Project NZ is an export triumph or an over-the-ditch disaster will rely less on the set and graphics and more on whether the hosts gel as well as their Australian counterparts.

“It’s success will come down very much as to how they can present factual, good reporting, humour and quirky observations.”

The verdict after just one outing was mostly positive: as the show top-trended on Twitter in New Zealand, Kiwis were seemingly prepared to give the show time after a solid performance, and forgiving a few first-show stumbles.

They even forgave those odd ads. Viewer Tony Kruger summed it up: “So I thought #theprojectnz was pretty good, despite the ads leading up to the premiere trying their hardest to put me off,” he Tweeted.

So I thought #theprojectnz was pretty good, despite the ads leading up to the premiere trying their hardest to put me off.

— Tony Kuriger (@TMKuriger) February 20, 2017

Thomson stumbled over the wording of his first joke, but was bailed out by none other than comedian and producer Rove McManus, who was guest host and seemingly there, critics observed, to steer the newbies through the format which he owns.

“Josh’s first joke, everybody”, McManus said, to applause.

One viewer loved the show, but wonder’s how it will go when McManus isn’t on-screen.

“I like Rove well enough but I’ll be interested to see how they make show their own once he’s not dominating,” tweeted Luke Goode.

I like Rove well enough but I'll be interested to see how they make show their own once he's not dominating #TheProjectNZ

— Luke Goode (@LukeGoode) February 20, 2017

The show hit its stride with the mix of quirky yarmns and slick pre-records, Australian audiences have become used to in the Aussie offering, before a another glitch,: they introduced a new story, but cut to footage of an earlier one.

So who are the Carrie, Waleed and Pete of The Kiwi Project?

Kanoa Lloyd — The Kiwi Carrie

Kanoa Lloyd from The Project NZ.

Carrie Bickmore — The Project Australia.

TV Three has high hopes for Lloyd, calling her “a brilliant news reporter, with “undeniable warmth and charm”.

She was most recently a weather reporter before heading to The Project.

Lloyd has been doing the hard yards, batting off criticism the new show will be too light and fluffy.

“I understand the eye roll. But it doesn’t mean if I’ve clicked on that Kardashian story, that I’ve depleted some brain cells. I’m still going to care about health and education and the state of global politics ... it’s treating the audience as smart enough that they can consume both of those things,” she told theNew Zealand Herald.

In the past, Lloyd has also had to stare down online outrage for peppering her weather reports with Maori, for instance sometimes referring to New Zealand as “Aotearoa”. But she has hit back saying “racism is real” in a tweet.

She had at least one big fan during the debut show, viewer Martin Hale tweeting f”fore every minute I watched ... I got a little more smitten”.

For every minute I watched @TheProject_NZ I got a little more smitten with @KanoaLloyd & now we are husband & wife #notreally #TheProjectNZ

— Martin Hale (@tellyboxnz) February 20, 2017

Jesse Mulligan — The Kiwi Waleed

Jesse Mulligan — The Project NZ.

Waleed Aly — The Project Australia.

Trained as a lawyer, Mulligan turned to stand-up comedy, eventually becoming a writer and the host of his own daily afternoon national music radio show. He is not throwing all his eggs in The Project basket and intends to continue with his radio show.

Despite lacking a news background, or Aly’s academic CV, he is being cast as the more serious of the three.

“Kanoa and Josh are a dream team,” Mr Mulligan says of his co-hosts.

“Kanoa brings brilliant and diverse broadcast experience, with an undeniable star quality. Josh might be the funniest person in New Zealand, but he’s also pure chaos. I think 7pm could use some chaos.”

Josh Thomson — The Kiwi Pete

Josh Thomson — The Project NZ.

Pete Hellier — The Project Australia.

“Josh is going to be interesting,” remarked Dr O’Donnell. “He looks like a wild man, he looks wilder than Pete Hellier.”

This may have been awkward when the comedian-turned-actor had to interview Hellier during the show’s live rehearsals.

“It’s a daily live show where I can say stupid things to the nation and it’ll be too late for the editors to cut it out,” Thomson told Newshub.

BUT WILL IT WORK?

Unlike some exported TV formats, which adapt themselves to local tastes, Dr O’Donnell, said The Project NZ was — in look and feel — lock stock and barrel, the true blue version.

“There are four key elements that give the show The Project brand.

“The first is the title, the second is the tag line ‘News Delivered Differently’, the third is the set and they are exactly the same, and of course you have three characters, three personalities.”

Australia has a rich history of successfully exporting TV with revered TV producer Reg Grundy sending game shows as well as soaps like Sons and Daughters and Neighbours far across the globe.

More recently, Australia took drab UK cooking show MasterChef and pepped it up to such an extent the Brits bought the new version back again. My Kitchen Rules has also been an overseas money spinner for Channel 7.

So will The Project NZ bring in the dollars for comedian and producer Rove McManus who owns the format?.

It’s not a given and there are definite cultural differences between the two countries. But shows like drama 800 Words, filmed in New Zealand with an Australian lead actor, have worked on both sides of the Tasman.

“I hope it can because The Project reaches out to an audience that doesn’t talk about politics,” said Dr O’Donnell.

“While The Project has a distinct format, there’s nothing radical about a TV talk show and it works in almost any country but it will depend on the quality fop the people talking”.

Certainly there’s no one on the show with the gravitas of Aly. But if Mulligan can channel former host Charlie Pickering and pull off stirring monologues on the issues of the day it’s possible the NZ show could grab the headlines as much as it reports on them.

Word has it Thomson’s sometimes surreal anecdotes could bring a different flavour to the Kiwi show.

But it’ll be the relationship between Josh, Justin and Kanoa that will be the clincher. “It’s all about chemistry, some folks have it and some don’t,” said Dr O’Donnell.

Will Kanoa and Jesse have the chemistry of Carrie and Waleed. Picture: Mark Dadswell

“The Project NZ will succeed or fail on the strength of the personalities, not the appearance of the show”.

The producers will be revealed at one review.

The New Zealand Herald’s Calum Henderson watched a rehearsal and said he expected to hate the show and had already dreamt up his scathing headline: “The Project ? More like The Reject .”

But after seeing the run through he reconsidered. “I can’t do it. It’d be too big a lie. Instead all I have is a prophecy: in the future, Three’s 7pm current affairs show is actually bloody good.”

Rove, Carrie, Waleed and Pete may have some serious competition just three hours off the Australian coast.

[e-mail]