'Spicks And Specks' To Return In 2024, 'Take 5 With Zan Rowe' Renewed For Season Three

Good news for people who enjoy music-based programs on their television screens, as the ABC has announced the return of the beloved music quiz show Spicks And Specks and renewed Take 5 With Zan Rowe for a third season.

As Concrete Playground reports, after taking a break in 2023, Spicks And Specks will return in 2024, once again led by Myf Warhurst, Adam Hills and Alan Brough. Hills shared the news about the show’s return on Instagram this morning, teasing series eleven with the caption: “Guess who’s back? Back again. We are back. Tell a friend. Spicks and Specks returns to the ABC in 2024.”

In a 2022 interview with The Music, Hills spoke about the new seasons of Spicks And Specks, which returned in 2020, commenting on the staying power of the show.

“It means it keeps finding a new generation of fans,” Hills explained. “Even when my kids were little, they'd watch In The Night Garden, and then they'd ask if they could stay up to watch daddy on Spicks And Specks. It's pretty hard to say ‘no’ to that.

“When we first started making Spicks And Specks, musicians got really nervous around the time of the game we called ‘Substitute’, where you have to sing words from a book, but to a well-known song. And the musicians used to hate it because they were like, ‘Well, this isn't my song. I feel awkward.’

“Whereas now, we're getting people in their early 20s coming on, and they're like, ‘Oh, I used to do this in my bedroom when I was seven, at parties. I know exactly how to play ‘Substitute’.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adam Hills (@adamhillscomedy)

In addition to the great news about one beloved series, another has been renewed: Take 5 With Zan Rowe, the show based on Rowe’s Double J podcast of the same name, has hosted the likes of Keith Urban, Missy Higgins, Jimmy Barnes, Noel Gallagher, Natalie Imbruglia and more as she gives each artist a theme and asks them to choose five songs based on the subject. It’s a program that goes beyond music chats with tons of heart.

Announcing the show’s renewal on Facebook yesterday, Rowe wrote, “Exciting news… Take 5 is back for season 3 in 2024.

“I’m so stoked to bring even more of these beautiful conversations to ABC TV + iview. Thank you for all of your support & love for this show. It’s a dream come true to bring it you.”

In a feature entitled Why Zan Rowe's Take 5 Is What The Music Industry Needs Right Now, The Music’s Stephen Green called the series a “thoroughly modern TV show that understands its audience.

“On the surface of it, it’s a simple interview program,” Green continued. “Parkinson did it for years. But the nuances of Take Five creates an experience that not just lets you into the world of the artist but lets you into the mysterious world of listening to music and not just bopping along to Taylor Swift while waiting for Kyle and Jackie O to return from the break. Really listening.

“Rowe does it in such a way that it is inviting. We’re not snobs here. We’re inviting you to experience the joy that WE feel when you put the needle on an important record. We’re not telling you you SHOULD love it; we’re showing you the experience you can have when you find YOUR song.”

2024 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the ABC.