| At Home with Julia | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Starring |
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| Country of origin | Australia |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Carol Hughes |
| Production company | Quail Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC1 |
| Release | 7 September (2011-09-07) – 28 September 2011 (2011-09-28) |
At Home with Julia is a four-part Australian sitcom television series, created and written by Amanda Bishop, Rick Kalowski and Phil Lloyd, which debuted on 7 September 2011 on ABC1. A re-run of the series aired on ABC2 in April 2012. The series ran in syndication in the United States on the Vibrant TV Network.
The series depicts a fictional representation of the relationship between Julia Gillard, the actual Prime Minister of Australia (played by Amanda Bishop), and Gillard's real-life partner, Tim Mathieson (played by Phil Lloyd). Fictionalised versions of actual Australian politicians and media personalities are portrayed throughout the series. Much of the action takes place at The Lodge, the Prime Minister's official residence in the national capital of Canberra.
Although the first episode was received either relatively well or neutrally by the media, many critics responded negatively to the series' end. Some saw At Home with Julia as defying previous boundaries in political satire and political parody, with its emphasis on a female politician's personal life rather than her politics and public life.[1] In particular, the media, viewers, and politicians were scandalised by the notorious "flag scene" from Episode 3 ("The Leaker")—in which the Prime Minister and partner Tim Mathieson were depicted apparently naked and post-coital under the Australian flag.[2]
The series was a 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards nominee for Best Television Comedy Series.[3] Criticised by several social commentators as inappropriately disrespectful to the office of Prime Minister,[4] the show nevertheless proved very popular both with television audiences – becoming the most watched Australian scripted comedy series of 2011[5] – and with television critics.[6] According to media reports, international versions of the series were in development in the United Kingdom and Europe.[7] None of these shows were commissioned.
The series was sold to the United States for broadcast in 2012 and can be viewed on Hulu.[8]
In February 2013, the notorious "flag sex-scene" from Episode 3 ("The Leaker") was featured in the ABC1 series Shock Horror Aunty!, a compilation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's most controversial broadcast comedy incidents.
A second series was not produced due to the uncertainty regarding the real Gillard's tenure as Prime Minister.[9] Amanda Bishop did reprise the role of Gillard for Wednesday Night Fever, however the real Gillard was ousted as Labor Party leader and thus Prime Minister just prior to the show's debut on ABC1.[10]
In an atmosphere of budgetary cuts to the ABC and severe criticism of its use of political satire, no follow-up series has been produced about Tony Abbott, or any subsequent Prime Minister.[11]
| Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original Air Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Date Night" | Erin White | Amanda Bishop, Rick Kalowski & Phil Lloyd | 7 September 2011 (2011-09-07) | |
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Australian Prime Minister (PM) Julia Gillard's life is hectic, although much of her time is taken up trying to politely hang up on Paul Keating, a former PM from her Australian Labor Party, who keeps phoning her with unsolicited advice. The life of Julia's non-celebrity partner, Tim Mathieson, is anything but hectic; he fills in time by running household errands for the PM's official residence—The Lodge—since staff cover all the gardening and house-cleaning. Julia and Tim try to reserve space on the calendar to be alone together, but their "date night" keeps getting rescheduled, this time because Julia has to invite three independent members of the Australian House of Representatives (Bob Katter, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott) to the Lodge for dinner, to discuss their demand to prohibit imported food. Problem is, the Lodge's beer fridge is filled with imported beer, and the local butcher only stocks (very expensive) imported meat. Meanwhile some neighbourhood kids get hold of a gun which a member of the PM's security team, parked in the street, had placed on the car dashboard so he could sleep more comfortably.
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| 2 | "Code Ranga" | Erin White | Amanda Bishop, Rick Kalowski & Phil Lloyd | 14 September 2011 (2011-09-14) | |
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Tim is to cut Julia's hair at a local school to promote an apprenticeships program for Muslim youths. When Tim borrows Julia's car to drive to the school, her security team follows it thinking she is driving. Meanwhile Julia is trapped in the bathroom when the handle breaks, although she manages to climb out a window and hail a cab driven by Afghan refugee Aarif who gets lost amongst Canberra's numerous roundabouts. When it is realised that the Prime Minister is missing, Tim is grilled by a hard-nosed federal police agent who is still wracked with guilt regarding his failures in the 1967 disappearance of then Prime Minister Harold Holt.
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| 3 | "The Leaker" | Erin White | Amanda Bishop, Rick Kalowski & Phil Lloyd | 21 September 2011 (2011-09-21) | |
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Julia and Tim plan a big announcement at Tim's birthday but have a catastrophic misunderstanding over what it is. Julia is also convinced her Minister for Foreign Affairs, and previous PM, Kevin Rudd has been leaking information.
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| 4 | "Citizens' Assembly" | Erin White | Amanda Bishop, Rick Kalowski & Phil Lloyd | 28 September 2011 (2011-09-28) | |
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Tim and Julia have split up, but are trying to keep it from the media. Julia tries to sound more refined on Alan Jones' radio show, but later loses her voice due to the stress of losing Tim. Julia's predecessor as PM, Kevin Rudd, kindly offers to take her place on the TV talk show Q&A.
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| No. | Title | Air date | Timeslot | Overnight ratings | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewers | Rank | |||||
| 1 | Date Night | 7 September 2011 | Wednesday 9:30 pm – 10:00 pm | 1,179,687 | 6 | [13] |
| 2 | Code Ranga | 14 September 2011 | Wednesday 9:30 pm – 10:00 pm | 1,044,108 | 11 | [14] |
| 3 | The Leaker | 21 September 2011 | Wednesday 9:30 pm – 10:00 pm | 903,731 | 11 | [15] |
| 4 | Citizens' Assembly | 28 September 2011 | Wednesday 9:30 pm – 10:00 pm | 751,000 | 18 | [16] |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | AACTA Awards | Best Television Comedy Series |
Rick Kalowski, Greg Quail & Carol Hughes
|
Nominated | [3] |
| Equity Awards | Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Amanda Bishop, Phil Lloyd, Peter Carmody, Michael Denkha, Craig McLachlan, Georgina Naidu, Al Dukes, Paul McCarthy, Jonathan Biggins, Jim Russell, Drew Forsythe, Joel Barker, Jack Dawes, Jack Versace, Pavarotti the Dog | Won | [17] | |
| AWGIE Awards | Outstanding Comedy Writing – Situation or Narrative: Episode 1 ("Date Night") | Nominated | [18] | ||
| AWGIE Awards | Outstanding Comedy Writing – Situation or Narrative: Episode 3 ("The Leaker") | Nominated | [18] |
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