''The Project'' was a New Zealand current affairs show hosted by Jesse Mulligan,

Kanoa Lloyd Kanoa Lloyd (born December 1986) is a television and radio presenter from New Zealand. Lloyd was born in Gisborne to Ngāti Porou whānau, and grew up in Dunedin. Biography In 2009, Lloyd joined the presenting team on after school show '' ...

, and

Jeremy Corbett Jeremy Corbett (born 1962 in Westport, New Zealand) is a radio and television host and comedian from New Zealand. Biography Corbett was born in 1962. He was born in Westport and grew up in Palmerston North. He also lived in Perth, Australia ...

with rotating guest panelists. It aired at 7 pm weeknights on

Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

. The programme was officially cancelled on 26 October 2023, and its last episode aired on 1 December 2023.

Format

The show's format was purchased from

Roving Enterprises Roving Enterprises Pty Ltd is an Australian television production company, owned by television presenter, producer and comedian Rove McManus and his business partner Craig Campbell and managed by General Manager Kevin Whyte. The company is respon ...

and was the same as that of the Australian version, '' The Project'', which airs on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

. It presented light and topical current affairs content as well as comedy from recent news stories. It was filmed and broadcast live in front of a studio audience. Each presenter filled a different role on the programme: the anchor ( Jesse Mulligan), the newsreader (

) and the comedian (

). They were usually joined by a guest presenter who was typically a well-known New Zealander, such as a journalist, comedian or politician, or an international guest. Jaquie Brown filled that role regularly on Fridays. All the presenters introduced and voiced over magazine-style current affairs stories and discussed the day's events. Episodes were thirty minutes, but were sixty minutes on Fridays from the show's 2017 launch until the end of 2019. The guest presenter and live audience were briefly discontinued during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Presenters

Backup presenters

* As anchor ** Jon Bridges ** Michael Wesley-Smith **

Wallace Chapman Wallace Leslie Chapman (born 1969) is a New Zealand radio and television host. Early life Chapman attended Nelson College from 1982 to 1986.''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition Career He began his broadcasting career ...

** Patrick Gower ** Ryan Bridge ** Nadine Higgins * As newsreader ** Nadine Higgins (née Chalmers-Ross) **

Mike McRoberts Mike McRoberts (born 1966) is a New Zealand television journalist and news anchor. He presented ''Newshub Live at 6pm'' on Three from 2005 until its last broadcast on 5 July 2024. McRoberts is the Te Ao Māori Editor at the National Business R ...

** Ali Mau ** Isobel Ewing **

** Kate Rodger ** Laura Tupou * As comedian **

Ben Hurley Ben Hurley is a stand-up comedian from New Zealand. Hurley started his comedy career in Wellington as resident host of The Wellington Comedy Club. After winning the Billy T Award he moved to London and worked on the comedy circuit there between ...

Peter Helliar Pete Jason Matthew Helliar (born 16 June 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, television, radio presenter, writer, producer and director. He is best known for his work on television as a former regular co-host of '' The Project'' on Network ...

** Jeremy Elwood ** Rhys Mathewson ** Dai Henwood ** Josh Thomson **

Rose Matafeo Rose Matafeo (; born 25 February 1992) is a New Zealand comedian, actress and TV presenter. She was a writer and performer on the New Zealand late-night comedy sketch show '' Funny Girls''. In 2018, she won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best S ...

** Melanie Bracewell ** Urzila Carlson ** Justine Smith **

Rove McManus John Henry Michael 'Rove' McManus (born 21 January 1974) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, producer and media personality who has received three Gold Logie awards. He was the host of the eponymous variety show '' Rove ...

** Guy Williams **

Heath Franklin Heath Franklin (born 23 December 1980) is an Australian comedic performer, improviser and writer. Career Franklin has appeared on ''The Ronnie Johns Half Hour'' sketch comedy show, ABC TV's ''Spicks and Specks (TV series), Spicks and Specks'', ...

(as Chopper) **

Jono Pryor Jonathan Richard Pryor is an American-born New Zealand radio, television personality, and actor, best known as the co-host of '' Jono and Ben''. Pryor worked for The Rock radio station for over 15 years, before moving to The Edge in 2017 to co ...

** Tony Lyall ** Paul Ego ** Jaquie Brown ** Pax Assadi

History

Season 1 (2017)

The first television advertisement for the show was released in early February and promoted the show as "not the same old song and dance". The program launched on 20 February 2017 with hosts Jesse Mulligan, Kanoa Lloyd, and Josh Thomson, and guest host

, and became the number 1 trend on Twitter during its timeslot. Fill-in hosts throughout the first season include

, Jeremy Elwood, Rhys Mathewson, and Dai Henwood for Josh Thomson, Jon Bridges, Michael Wesley-Smith and

for Jesse Mulligan, and Nadine Higgins (née Chalmers-Ross) for Kanoa Lloyd. On Monday through Thursday, episodes aired for half an hour, and on Friday, for a whole hour. On 5 June 2017, RadioLive ceased simulcasting ''The Project''. The season ended on 15 December 2017, having aired 212 episodes.

Season 2 (2018)

The second season of ''The Project'' debuted on 15 January 2018, three weeks earlier than its competitor, ''

Seven Sharp ''Seven Sharp'' is a half-hour-long New Zealand current affairs programme produced by TVNZ. The programme was created after the discontinuation of '' Close Up''. It broadcasts at 7 pm (straight after '' 1 News at Six'') every weekday on T ...

''. On 16 March 2018, Josh Thomson left his position as panelist on ''The Project'', although he "will continue to contribute to ''The Project'', and will join Jesse and Kanoa on the desk regularly." His position was filled by Jeremy Corbett, who had usually been the fourth host on Monday nights. On 18 May 2018, Francesca Avent and Toby Gilsenan got married live on ''The Project'', with Jaquie Brown officiating, as a culmination of the show's week-long celebration of the

wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was held on Saturday 19 May 2018 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The groom is a member of the British royal family; the bride is American and previously worked as an a ...

. The season ended on 14 December 2018, having aired 238 episodes.

Season 3 (2019)

The third season of ''The Project'' debuted on 21 January 2019, with Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...

's partner

Clarke Gayford Clarke Timothy Gayford (born October 1976) is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster, presenter of the fishing documentary show ''Fish of the Day''. He is the husband of Jacinda Ardern, who served as prime minister of New Zealand from Oct ...

as the fourth host. On 15 March, they had no fourth host or live studio audience as they covered the

Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...

. On 17 April, there was no episode, because Three was airing the You Are Us/Aroha Nui concert live from Christchurch. There was also no episodes on 19 April or 22 April for Good Friday and Easter Monday. The season ended on 13 December 2019, having aired 232 episodes.

Season 4 (2020)

The fourth season of ''The Project'' debuted on 20 January 2020. The Friday episodes were reduced to half an hour. On 17 February, they aired at 6:30pm due to a network outage at Newshub, which forced Three to re-air the 4:30pm bulletin at 6pm, and meant that they didn't have an autocue. Due to the

, the show stopped having an audience from 16 March, and from 23 March, it stopped having a rotating guest panelist, changing to a three-host format. A physically distanced studio audience returned on 18 May. A full studio audience and rotating guest panelist returned on 8 June, with Patrick Gower being the first. On 12 August, with Auckland returning to Alert Level 3, the show stopped having an audience and reverted to the three-host format. When Auckland returned to Alert Level "2.5" on 31 August, a fourth host returned and a physically distanced audience was added. The season ended on 11 December 2020, having aired 233 episodes.

Season 5 (2021)

The fifth season of ''The Project'' debuted on 18 January 2021. The rotating guest panelist was removed from 15 to 17 February 2021 and again from 1 to 5 March 2021, while Auckland was in Alert Level 3. On 27 May, Urzila Carlson was scheduled to be the guest host, but had to self-isolate before the episode began. , 116 episodes have been aired.

Ending

On 26 October 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ confirmed they had commenced discussions to discontinue ''The Project'' by December 2023, citing changes in audience behaviour. The final episode aired on 1 December 2023.

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Project (New Zealand TV programme), The 2017 New Zealand television series debuts 2023 New Zealand television series endings 2020s New Zealand television series New Zealand English-language television shows New Zealand comedy television series New Zealand television news shows New Zealand television series based on Australian television series New Zealand television talk shows Three (TV channel) original programming