The presenters and crew of light current affairs programme Seven Sharp were relieved this afternoon to turn up for work and be told that they would still be going to air for at least another week.
“Good news everybody!” said executive producer Raewyn Rasch as she walked onto the set. “We’re still going to air tonight, and we’ll be making TV at least until Friday.”
A collective cheer erupted from the studio, with some members of the camera crew crying as they heard the news.
“Oh god, I was sure I was gone this week,” said cameraman Alan Woodhouse, struggling to compose himself. “We work on a knife’s edge here. We really do.”
Host Jesse Mulligan said it was “just incredible” that they could keep going “all these weeks” without being cancelled.
“I think it just shows you the commitment of the people who work day in, day out on this programme,” he said. “I imagine it must be hard to get through one day, let alone the six months we’ve managed to survive.”
Supervising producer Mauricio Olmedo-Perez said it was important that Seven Sharp stay on the air, as it was a valuable outlet for comedians who couldn’t find work anywhere else.
“You really do have to wonder what they’d do without this programme,” he said.
He added that he would be taking the show’s crew out for dinner tonight so they could celebrate yet another lack of cancellation, saying it was important to celebrate “every week,” because it could always be “the last time we get to.”
Meanwhile, at TV3 Studios the mood was much less jubilant, with producers of competing show Campbell Live being chastised for not selling enough Mazdas.