Fresh Blood is an Australian television comedyanthology series that began airing in May 2016 on ABC. The comedies screened in the series are seen as possible pilots for a full TV series.[1]
The Fresh Blood initiative began in 2013 to find the next generation of comedy performers and producers. Initially, 24 projects received a budget to produce three, 2-5 minute short form comedy sketches to premiere on the ABC's streaming service ABC iview in 2014. Fresh Blood attracted more than 900,000 plays on iview.[2] The Best of Fresh Blood screened in 2017 on ABC Comedy.[3] Five of the teams who submitted sketches proceeded to the second stage and filmed an episode as a pilot for a potential full comedy series. In the third and final stage, the best pilot was awarded a series commission.
From Fresh Blood Pilot Season in 2018, Why Are You Like This and Koala Man were awarded series commissions. The former premiered in 2021 on ABC TV Plus.,[5] whilst the latter premiered on Disney Plus in Australia and on Hulu in America in January 2023.
Why Are You Like This follows the adventures of best friends Penny and Mia and their housemate Austin, socially conscious twenty-somethings who navigate the uncertainties of emerging adulthood.
Koala Man is an animated comedy from Michael Cusack about Kevin, a suburban dad stuck in a dull job at the council, who at night is a superhero clad in a koala mask.
The Angus Project follows the story of Angus, an aspiring sports journalist with cerebral palsy, who employs his hopeless best friend Nina, a failing uni student, to be his carer.
Be Your Own Boss follows the story of small business owners who were offered free rent within an arcade seven years earlier. The program is now up for renewal and the business must prove their worth to the community to remain.
