Holey Moley (Australian TV series)

Last updated

Holey Moley
Genre
Created by Chris Culvenor
Presented by
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes11 (+2 specials)
Production
Executive producerMatt Apps
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time60—68 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Seven Network
Release1 February (2021-02-01) 
1 March 2021 (2021-03-01)

Holey Moley is an Australian reality game show based on the international U.S.-based Holey Moley format. Following the premise of the original version, the series features contestants competing against each other in a series of head-to-head, sudden-death matchups on a supersized miniature golf obstacle course. Greg Norman stars as the resident golf pro, alongside expert commentators Rob Riggle (who also appears on the American version) and Matt Shirvington, along with host and sideline correspondent Sonia Kruger.

Contents

The series premiered on 1 February 2021. [1] After the conclusion of the first season on 22 February 2021, a celebrity special Celebrity Holey Moley aired on 28 February 2021, with a kids special Holey Moley Junior following on 1 March 2021. [2]

Although the first episode launched with over one million viewers, the series ultimately garnered lower than expected ratings and was absent at the network's 2022 upfronts. [3] However Seven has yet to officially cancel the series. [3] [4] [5]

Format

Each regular episode sees eight contestants, paired off against each other, tackle a series of miniature golf holes which contain various obstacles and distractions in a two-round elimination tournament. The final three contestants (the winners from the second round, and the winner of a second-round losers' playoff) then compete in a final round, with the winner of the episode winning a plaid jacket and golden putter. They proceed to a grand final where they will compete for a $100,000 grand prize. [6]

In Holey Moley Junior the child contestants play the course while their adult parents take on the obstacles. In this version, the grand prize is a $10,000 golf shopping spree in addition to the plaid jacket and golden putter. [2]

Production

In October 2019, Seven Network announced it would be adapting the series in 2020, produced by Eureka Productions. [7] The adaptation had the working title of Mega Mini Golf, as "Holey Moley" was already the name of a themed restaurant chain in Australia. [8] By February 2020, Seven had secured the rights to the name Holey Moley and announced that professional golfer Greg Norman will be the series resident golf pro, with Rob Riggle and Brian ‘BT’ Taylor serving as commentators and Olympia Valance serving as sideline reporter. [9] [10] [11] Seven intended to premiere the show in August 2020, after the original date of the 2020 Summer Olympics. [12]

Filming for the series originally began in March 2020 in the United States at Sable Ranch in Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, California, where earlier in the year the second season of the American version of Holey Moley had completed filming. [8] The cast and crew consisted of over 500 people split between Seven Network and Eureka Productions staff, and 50 contestants were flown over from Australia to compete in the series. [12] However later that month, series production was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic after a crew member informed producers he had recently been in contact with someone who has since tested positive with coronavirus. [12] The shoot had also faced unexpected production delays due to bad weather. [12] In June 2020 it was announced that the show will restart filming on a set built in Australia, with an intended broadcast date in early 2021. [13] The series was initially casting for only adults, however in July 2020, casting reopened searching for kids aged 8 to 12, along with a parent or legal guardian. [14]

In October 2020, Sonia Kruger was confirmed as the host of the show. She also replaced Valance as sideline reporter, while Matt Shirvington replaced Brian Taylor as commentator due to his AFL commitments. [15] [16] [17] Filming for the series commenced in early October 2020 on a new custom built course in the suburb of Thornlands in Redland City, south-east of Brisbane. [18] 96 contestants participated in the two week shoot. [19] In addition to the regular episodes, two one-off special episodes (a celebrity special and an episode with children and their parents as contestants) were also filmed. [20]

The Thornlands Holey Moley set was intended to be reused for potential international adaptations from Germany, the UK and France, [19] and the return of the Australian version for a second season was initially hinged on the international adaptations using the set to financially justify another local season. [3] However due the pandemic and travel restrictions this did not eventuate before Eureka's contract for the site expired on 29 July 2023. [21] In addition, local residents have petitioned Redland City Council to find a new site for any further Holey Moley filming because they were kept awake until 4:00am by noise during filming of the series. [22]

Courses

The larger-than-life mini-golf course for the first season features supersized themed holes including: [23]

Episodes

Season 1 (2021)

No.TitleOriginal air dateAustralian viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1"1 February 2021 (2021-02-01)1,101,000 [24]
Holes featured are Dutch Courage, Polcano, Uranus, Parbeque, Putt the Plank, Slip N' Putt, The Distractor, and Fowl Play. Montana Strauss is declared the winner.
2"Episode 2"2 February 2021 (2021-02-02)820,000 [25]
Holes featured are Hole Number Two, Uranus, Fowl Play, Dutch Courage, Slip N' Putt, Surf N Turf, The Distractor, and Putter Ducky. Mark Duncan is declared the winner.
3"Episode 3"3 February 2021 (2021-02-03)627,000 [26]
Holes featured are Polcano, Slip N' Putt, Putt the Plank, Parbeque, Dragon's Breath, Hole Number Two, The Distractor, and Putter Ducky. Michelle Cowan is declared the winner.
4"Episode 4"7 February 2021 (2021-02-07)682,000 [27]
Holes featured are Polcano, Frankenputt, Uranus, Dutch Courage, Surf N Turf, Slip N' Putt, and Clowning Around. Amy Morris is declared the winner.
5"Episode 5"8 February 2021 (2021-02-08)606,000 [28]
Holes featured are Dutch Courage, Parbeque, Dragon's Breath, Fowl Play, Hole Number Two, Surf N Turf, The Distractor, and Frankenputt. Jayden Lawson is declared the winner.
6"Episode 6"9 February 2021 (2021-02-09)542,000 [29]
Holes featured are Slip N' Putt, Uranus, Hole Number Two, Dutch Courage, Dragon's Breath, Putt the Plank, The Distractor, and Fowl Play. Jesse Earnshaw is declared the winner.
7"Episode 7"14 February 2021 (2021-02-14)563,000 [30]
Holes featured are Dutch Courage, Hole Number Two, Putt the Plank, Polcano, Surf N Turf, Fowl Play, The Distractor, and Putter Ducky. Tom Knukel is declared the winner.
8"Episode 8"15 February 2021 (2021-02-15)521,000 [31]
Holes featured are Putt the Plank, Dutch Courage, Slip N' Putt, Parbeque, Hole Number Two, Uranus, and Fowl Play. Nik Papoutsis is declared the winner.
9"Episode 9"16 February 2021 (2021-02-16)490,000 [32]
Holes featured are Polcano, Dutch Courage, Nathan Parmenter, Parbeque, Hole Number Two, Uranus, The Distractor, and Putter Ducky. Teresa Toye is declared the winner.
10"Episode 10"21 February 2021 (2021-02-21)528,000 [33]
Holes featured are Polcano, Slip N' Putt, Dutch Courage, Putt the Plank, Dragon's Breath, Hole Number Two, The Distractor, and Fowl Play. Daniel Thusberg is declared the winner.
11"Grand Final"22 February 2021 (2021-02-22)561,000 [34]
Holes featured are Surf N Turf, Slip N' Putt, Uranus, Putter Ducky, The Distractor, Polcano, Clowning Around, Frankenputt, and The Tomb of Nefer–Tee–Tee. Mark Duncan is declared the winner.

Celebrity Holey Moley

The following celebrities competed in the Celebrity Holey Moley special which aired on 28 February 2021:

CelebrityKnown forResult
Barry Hall Retired AFL playerWinner
Steven Bradbury Olympic gold medalistFinalist
Mat Rogers Retired NRL playerFinalist
Erin Holland Beauty Queen
Angela ClancyFormer Big Brother contestant
Ali OetjenFormer Bachelorette contestant
Eden DallyFormer Love Island contestant
Denise Drysdale Entertainment iconRetired injured

Ratings

Season 1

No.TitleAir dateTimeslotOvernight ratingsConsolidated ratingsTotal
viewers
Ref(s)
ViewersRankViewersRank
1"Episode 1"1 February 2021Monday 7:30pm983,0003117,00011,101,000 [35] [24]
2"Episode 2"2 February 2021Tuesday 7:30pm737,000683,0005820,000 [36] [25]
3"Episode 3"3 February 2021Wednesday 7:30pm543,0001184,00010627,000 [37] [26]
4"Episode 4"7 February 2021Sunday 7:00pm629,000553,0004682,000 [38] [27]
5"Episode 5"8 February 2021Monday 7:30pm528,0001078,0008606,000 [39] [28]
6"Episode 6"9 February 2021Tuesday 7:30pm469,000974,0008542,000 [40] [29]
7"Episode 7"14 February 2021Sunday 7:00pm510,000753,0007563,000 [41] [30]
8"Episode 8"15 February 2021Monday 7:30pm468,0001253,00010521,000 [42] [31]
9"Episode 9"16 February 2021Tuesday 7:30pm436,0001354,00013490,000 [43] [32]
10"Episode 10"21 February 2021Sunday 7:00pm498,000730,0009528,000 [44] [33]
11"Grand Final"22 February 2021Monday 7:30pm491,0001170,00011561,000 [45] [34]

Specials

No.TitleAir dateTimeslotOvernight ratingsConsolidated ratingsTotal
viewers
Ref(s)
ViewersRankViewersRank
1"Celebrity Holey Moley"28 February 2021Sunday 7:00pm426,0001051,0009477,000 [46] [47]
2"Holey Moley Junior"1 March 2021Monday 7:30pm319,0002042,00019361,000 [48] [49]

Notable contestants

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