Paws for thought: Colin leaves ABC a-counting its losses

Colin From Accounts is one of ­Australia’s biggest global television hits in decades. The story of a guy, a girl and a wee disabled dog, how on earth did the ABC let this puppy go?

Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall from Colin From Accounts. Picture: Peter Brew-Bevan/Binge

Colin From Accounts is one of ­Australia’s biggest global television hits in decades.

It’s the story of a guy, a girl and a wee disabled dog who brings them together and shows them they’re made for each other.

The Binge hit is shown in 100 countries around the world.

It has scooped up at the Venice TV Awards, the European Broadcasting Union’s Rose d’Or awards, London’s C21 International Awards, and – true to the comedy’s daggy spirit – it had major wins at Australia’s Logie Awards.

So how on earth did the ABC let this puppy go?

After chucking it some development money, the ABC passed on husband-and-wife team Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer’s slacker sitcom.

“Ultimately, the feedback was, ‘Sorry, but you’re two straight white people’,” Brammall jokingly told The Weekend Australian Magazine.

Dyer was quick to emphasise that “we need diversity on screen” – a sentiment that has become a mantra in today’s entertainment landscape.

But has there ever been a more perfect illustration of how the once-noble pursuit of inclusivity has devolved into a clumsy and myopic box-ticking exercise? When asked why, after allocating the Colin From Accounts development money, it was passed on, a spokesperson for the ABC said: “There are many reasons why a program might receive development funding but not be commissioned. It’s not unusual in the screen industry.

“The ABC has a very strong track record in commissioning award-winning and popular comedies that have been successful with audiences, including Utopia, Fisk, Rosehaven, Upper Middle Bogan, Black Comedy, The Moodys, and Frayed.”

There’s commissioning a show that has been “successful with ­audiences”, and then there’s ­making a bona-fide hit. One is a lot sexier than the other.

Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall with “Colin From Accounts”. Picture: Peter Brew-Bevan/Binge

It’s not a great look, either, that many of the comedies name-checked first screened more than half a decade ago.

Over at Netflix, it has just been announced that the international teen comedy Heartbreak High – a smart, silly, upbeat portrayal of young, progressive kids – has been renewed for a third season.

And Prime Video spent last year celebrating the success of their rip-snorting Tasmania-set comedy Deadloch, which hit the top 10 in 165 countries.

There’s bad luck for the ABC on the international front too – its sci-fi gem for 61 years, Doctor Who, has left it for Disney+.

Perhaps the ABC’s latest big comedy investment, White Fever, a comedy about a Korean-Australian adoptee, will be a winner.

At least they have Bluey. Just not the global rights (they’re Disney’s) after the ABC was outbid – or the merchandising, which went to the BBC to onsell, and may have delivered hundreds of millions to Australian taxpayers.

As Colin From Accounts gears up for its second season debut on Binge, Brammall’s summation of the ABC’s snub is a perfect epitaph: “Hindsight, dumb move.”