ABC’s music quiz show Spicks & Specks won’t be returning to TV screens next year, with the popular show set to take a 2023 hiatus.
As reported by TV Tonight, an ABC spokesperson confirmed the news on Wednesday (November 30), saying: “It will be back but we haven’t got a broadcast date — it won’t be 2023.”
The spokesperson didn’t offer a reason behind the hiatus, but there is speculation it may be due to host Adam Hills’ busy schedule, which includes hosting UK programme The Last Leg and touring as a sell-out, stand-up comedian.
Since debuting in 2005, Spicks and Specks has played a recurrent role in ABC programming. The show went off the air in 2011 after a seven-season run, later returning for a number of special episodes and a short-lived 2014 remake, hosted by Josh Earl and featuring Ella Hooper and Adam Richard as team captains.
Original cast members Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough returned to the programme for new seasons in 2021 and 2022, with The Teskey Brothers, Alice Skye, G Flip, Vika and Linda, Missy Higgins, Nazeem Hussain, Luke McGregor and more appearing as guests.
Speaking to NME last year, Hills shared what it was like to work on reviving the show during a period of COVID-19 restrictions. “The hurdles were immense,” he said. “We couldn’t book any guests from outside of Melbourne… Anyone that managed to make a TV show during lockdown deserves a medal.”
The final episode of the 2022 season aired in October, featuring Denise Scott, Timomatic, Sam Taunton and Brooke McClymont.