ABC Upfronts 2027: It’s All Downhill From Here

The ABC announced their upcoming slate for 2027 earlier this week and fans of fresh comedy have nothing to get excited about. That’s right: there are no new comedies lined up for next year. Guess they thought we got too much of a good thing this year. And by “good thing”, we do not mean Dog Park, which is one of the returning shows for some reason.

Here’s the official announcement. Remember when the ABC had an actual comedy department? They’d rather you didn’t.

ABC Media Showcase 2027 highlights include:

SCREEN – SCRIPTED

Familiar faces and screen icons lead the ABC’s 2027 scripted slate across drama and comedy.

Crime takes centre stage in a run of new original dramas. Fortitude Valley investigates a decades old cold case that becomes unexpectedly personal, starring Hunter Page-Lochard, Kat Stewart, Nathalie Morris and Rupert Everett, while Rebecca Gibney, Morgana O’Reilly and Philip Lynch headline buddy-cop series Rural Crime Unit, solving unexpected crimes and highlighting the idiosyncrasies of rural life.

Tim Ayliffe’s best-selling novel is adapted for screen in John Bailey – The Enemy Within, starring David Lyons, David Harewood, Anthony LaPaglia and Yael Stone, in which journalist John Bailey and CIA agent Ronnie Johnson must lure an unexpected enemy out of the shadows.

Darkly comic thriller Help Me!, starring Kate Box and Sarah Peirse, follows a reluctant mother-daughter duo who unite to save a woman in need, and Hugo Weaving leads as a brilliant but disgraced barrister in The Great White.

Pilli Sisters P.I., starring Tasma Walton and Ursula Yovich, follows Marlee and May, the somewhat-famous Indigenous private investigators of the West, whose ancestor-given talents make them a formidable team, until fresh leads in the disappearance of their younger brother, Michael, threaten to break the case wide open.

Australia’s favourite lady in brown is back, with Kitty Flanagan returning for a fourth season of Fisk, the award-winning comedy that has become one of the ABC’s most beloved shows.

Returning favourites bring the drama and the laughs. Logie-winning Dog Park returns for a second season, starring Leon Ford and Celia Pacquola, Return to Paradise is back for a fourth season, and Sam Pang leads the laughs again in the second season of Ground Up, the comedy about the creation of Tasmania’s AFL team.

SCREEN – ENTERTAINMENT

The ABC’s entertainment favourites return in 2027, with big laughs, sharp minds and plenty of familiar faces.

Tom Gleeson is back to hand out the big brass mug on Hard Quiz, while Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee returns to put contestants’ spelling to the test. Spicks & Specks returns to test the nation’s music knowledge, and brand-new seasons of The Weekly and Gruen are on the way.

Comedy gets a double dose, with Urzila and Tonight at the Museum back for their second seasons.

That Blackfella Show, Australia’s first-ever First Nations variety program, returns for a more laughs, live music and unforgettable blak entertainment, with Australian music royalty Jessica Mauboy back as host.

After its successful return to screens this year, Race Around The World is back for another season with Zan Rowe and John Safran, sending a new crop of young, creative Australians across the globe.

And for the first time in four years, You Can’t Ask That returns to the ABC. The award-winning series asks the questions Australians might be thinking but would never dare to ask, with the courage and candour of the people who answer them.

Excited about a year with absolutely no surprises? To be fair, claiming Tonight at the Museum is “comedy” was a bit of a shock. “Comedy gets a double dose”? Of what – the plague? And why is murder mystery series Return to Paradise lumped in with the comedy shows?

Sure, it’s great to have Fisk back. Fun fact we probably should mention more often: the ABC really did not want Fisk when it was first pitched to them. Also pitched to them and rejected: Colin From Accounts. Which would have vanished without trace after one season on the ABC so you know, swings and roundabouts.

But otherwise, this is the kind of “steady as she goes” line up that the ABC cannot afford when it comes to comedy. It takes time and effort and commitment to create a winner like Fisk; the pay off is clearly worth it. Deciding to give up on new shows after a year because Dog Park is good enough to keep around is the kind of kak-handed management decision that… yeah, we’ve come to expect from the ABC.

But if Separated at Birth and Bad Company aren’t coming back this year (and Fisk is), shouldn’t that mean there’s at least one sitcom slot free for something new and original? Hopefully the ABC still have a couple of comedy announcements up their sleeve.

Though let’s be honest, they’ve probably given that slot to another rural murder show, they’ve only got five of them next year.

There is one upside to all this: after this year there may be, just may be, a chance that Austin is finally gone for good.