The Cheap Seats

News entertainment Australian TV series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cheap Seats is an Australian comedy panel television show on Network 10, which premiered on 20 July 2021.^[1] The Cheap Seats features selected clips of the previous week's news and television shows accompanied with humorous commentary delivered by the hosts, Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald.^[2]^[3]^[4] The show returned for a second season on 26 April 2022,^[5]^[6] and a third season on 9 May 2023.^[7]^[8]^[9] Season 4 premiered on 30 April 2024,^[10] and season 5 premiered on 29 April 2025.^[11]

GenreComedy

Written by

Presented by

Melanie Bracewell
Tim McDonald

Starring

Mel Tracina

Quick facts Genre, Written by ...

The Cheap Seats
Genre	Comedy
Written by	Melanie Bracewell Tim McDonald
Presented by	Melanie Bracewell Tim McDonald
Starring	Mel Tracina
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	125
Production
Executive producers	Debra Herman Michael Hirsh Rob Sitch Tom Gleisner Santo Cilauro
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	60 minutes (including commercials)
Production company	Working Dog Productions
Original release
Network	Network 10
Release	20 July 2021 (2021-07-20) – present
Related
Have You Been Paying Attention?

Hosts

The Cheap Seats is hosted by Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald.^[2]^[3] Segments are co-hosted by presenters including Mel Tracina on entertainment and Titus O'Reily on sport, however since May 2023, O'Reily left the show for other projects and hasn't been replaced with different guests doing the sport segment instead.^[12]^[13]

Recurring segments

Entertainment: Mel Tracina talks about events which occurred in entertainment during the week.
Sport: Rotating guests, formerly including correspondent Titus O'Reily, talk about events that occurred in sport during the week.
Across the Ditch: Unusual news from New Zealand mainly presented by Bracewell.
Archipelago of Love Islands: Tracina shares the funniest moments from versions of various island dating shows, such as Love Island, FBoy Island and Stranded on Honeymoon Island.
What's on What's on in the Warehouse: The hosts comment on out of context clips from the show What's on in the Warehouse, created by Australian pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse to promote its products.
Pacific Update Update: The hosts comment on clips from the TVNZ news show, Pacific Update.
Crop This!: Unusual tidbits from the world of gardening, usually featuring reports by Seven News reporter Penny McKinlay.
Mel's Markets: Bracewell shows funny news relating to the financial market.
Timfomercials: McDonald shows clips on different infomercials showed out of context.
Pencil It In: The hosts highlight strange and unusual events taking place across Australia
Crime Time: Lighthearted and funny clips of minor crimes across Australia.
House of Bracewellness: Bracewell shows clips from the Seven Network lifestyle show, House of Wellness.
Reporter of the Week: Introduced in 2023, Bracewell and McDonald recognise a reporter who has been funny, surprising, or overly dedicated in the past week.
Regional Roundup: The hosts highlight unusual news and events that are taking place in regional towns around Australia.

Episodes

More information Season, Episodes ...

Season	Episodes	Originally released
Season	Episodes	First released	Last released
1	19	20 July 2021 (2021-07-20)	23 November 2021 (2021-11-23)
2	30	26 April 2022 (2022-04-26)	15 November 2022 (2022-11-15)
3	30	9 May 2023 (2023-05-09)	28 November 2023 (2023-11-28)
4	30	30 April 2024 (2024-04-30)	19 November 2024 (2024-11-19)
5	30	29 April 2025 (2025-04-29)	18 November 2025 (2025-11-18)
6	TBA	21 April 2026 (2026-04-21)	TBA

Season 1 (2021)

More information No. overall, No. in season ...

No. overall	No. in season	Guest(s)	Original release date	Australian viewers
1	1	Natasha Exelby	20 July 2021 (2021-07-20)	460,000^[14]
2	2	Angella Dravid	27 July 2021 (2021-07-27)	286,000^[15]
3	3	Josh Earl & Ruby Tui	3 August 2021 (2021-08-03)	255,000^[16]
4	4	Harry Garside	10 August 2021 (2021-08-10)	313,000^[17]
5	5	Rachel Fairburn & Kez McGee	17 August 2021 (2021-08-17)	325,000^[18]
6	6	Urzila Carlson	24 August 2021 (2021-08-24)	321,000^[19]
7	7	Dilruk Jayasinha	31 August 2021 (2021-08-31)	348,000^[20]
8	8	Marie Chandler & Lloyd Langford	7 September 2021 (2021-09-07)	305,000^[21]
9	9	Osher Günsberg	14 September 2021 (2021-09-14)	324,000^[22]
10	10	Chas Licciardello	21 September 2021 (2021-09-21)	358,000^[23]
11	11	Dave Hughes	28 September 2021 (2021-09-28)	326,000^[24]
12	12	Lana Murphy & Tony Martin	5 October 2021 (2021-10-05)	370,000^[25]
13	13	Nina Oyama & Nath Valvo	12 October 2021 (2021-10-12)	330,000^[26]
14	14	Chloë McCardel & Nate Byrne	19 October 2021 (2021-10-19)	368,000^[27]
15	15	Archie Thompson	26 October 2021 (2021-10-26)	358,000^[28]
16	16	Naomi Higgins	2 November 2021 (2021-11-02)	402,000^[29]
17	17	Laura McGoldrick	9 November 2021 (2021-11-09)	391,000^[30]
18	18	Myf Warhurst	16 November 2021 (2021-11-16)	358,000^[31]
19	19	Natasha Exelby	23 November 2021 (2021-11-23)	361,000^[32]

Season 2 (2022)

More information No. overall, No. in season ...

No. overall	No. in season	Guest(s)	Original release date	Australian viewers
20	1	Nath Valvo	26 April 2022 (2022-04-26)	342,000^[33]
21	2	Denise Scott & Jarrod James Bingham	3 May 2022 (2022-05-03)	340,000^[34]
22	3	Dilruk Jayasinha	10 May 2022 (2022-05-10)	360,000^[35]
23	4	Ash London	17 May 2022 (2022-05-17)	378,000^[36]
24	5	Alex Dyson	24 May 2022 (2022-05-24)	325,000^[37]
25	6	Archie Thompson	31 May 2022 (2022-05-31)	360,000^[38]
26	7	Adam Bandt	7 June 2022 (2022-06-07)	394,000^[39]
27	8	Ryan Moloney	14 June 2022 (2022-06-14)	383,000^[40]
28	9	Tony Martin	21 June 2022 (2022-06-21)	429,000^[41]
29	10	Gen Fricker	28 June 2022 (2022-06-28)	414,000^[42]
30	11	Costa Georgiadis	5 July 2022 (2022-07-05)	387,000^[43]
Note: Emma Holland replaced Tim McDonald as host.
31	12	Felicity Ward	12 July 2022 (2022-07-12)	396,000^[44]
32	13	Matt Agnew	19 July 2022 (2022-07-19)	396,000^[45]
33	14	Karla Lopez	26 July 2022 (2022-07-26)	395,000^[46]
34	15	Nicole Livingstone	2 August 2022 (2022-08-02)	357,000^[47]
35	16	Maeve Plouffe & Sam Garlepp	9 August 2022 (2022-08-09)	387,000^[48]
36	17	Abbie Chatfield & Sam Garlepp	16 August 2022 (2022-08-16)	386,000^[49]
37	18	Ray O'Leary & Shane "Stone Cold" Van Styn	23 August 2022 (2022-08-23)	357,000^[50]
38	19	Osher Günsberg	30 August 2022 (2022-08-30)	268,000^[51]
39	20	Myf Warhurst & Beth Lee-Crowther	6 September 2022 (2022-09-06)	290,000^[52]
40	21	Nazeem Hussain	13 September 2022 (2022-09-13)	332,000^[53]
41	22	–	20 September 2022 (2022-09-20)	291,000^[54]
42	23	Jonathan Van Ness	27 September 2022 (2022-09-27)	301,000^[55]
43	24	Concetta Caristo & Adam Rozenbachs	4 October 2022 (2022-10-04)	330,000^[56]
44	25	Adam Rozenbachs & Daniel Doody	11 October 2022 (2022-10-11)	332,000^[57]
45	26	Bill Bailey & Jo Weston	18 October 2022 (2022-10-18)	319,000^[58]
46	27	Rob Mills	25 October 2022 (2022-10-25)	318,000^[59]
47	28	Michael Hing	1 November 2022 (2022-11-01)	338,000^[60]
48	29	Dane Simpson	8 November 2022 (2022-11-08)	324,000^[61]
49	30	Sam Pang	15 November 2022 (2022-11-15)	343,000^[62]

Season 3 (2023)

More information No. overall, No. in season ...

No. overall	No. in season	Guest(s)	Original release date	Australian viewers
50	1	Sheldon Riley	9 May 2023 (2023-05-09)	365,000^[63]
51	2	Mel Buttle	16 May 2023 (2023-05-16)	399,000^[64]
52	3	Miguel Maestre	23 May 2023 (2023-05-23)	384,000^[65]
Titus O’Reilly presented as sports correspondent for the last time, he wasn’t replaced and rotating guests, comedians or the hosts presented the sports segment since then.
53	4	Gina Chick, Archie Thompson	30 May 2023 (2023-05-30)	388,000^[66]
Archie Thompson
54	5	Susie Youssef	6 June 2023 (2023-06-06)	379,000^[67]
Sports segment: James Colley
55	6	Celia Pacquola	13 June 2023 (2023-06-13)	395,000^[68]
Sports segment: Ed Kavalee
56	7	Santo Cilauro & Natalie Tran	20 June 2023 (2023-06-20)	351,000^[69]
Sports segment: Georgie Tunny
57	8	Bridget Hustwaite	27 June 2023 (2023-06-27)	357,000^[70]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
58	9	Tom Cashman	4 July 2023 (2023-07-04)	375,000^[71]
Sports segment: Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann
59	10	Robert Irwin & Zachary Ruane	11 July 2023 (2023-07-11)	340,000^[72]
60	11	David Craig & Barbie cast (Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig, Issa Rae & America Ferrera)	18 July 2023 (2023-07-18)	352,000^[73]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
61	12	Aesha Scott	25 July 2023 (2023-07-25)	328,000^[74]
Sports segment: Ben Lomas
62	13	Matt Agnew, Damien Fleming	1 August 2023 (2023-08-01)	386,000^[75]
Note: Emma Holland replaced Melanie Bracewell as host of episodes 12 and 13 due to the latter performing at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, however Bracewell made a cameo appearance in episode 13 via satellite.
63	14	Tara Rushton & Jo Weston	8 August 2023 (2023-08-08)	265,000^[76]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
64	15	Annie Louie & Amy Chapman	15 August 2023 (2023-08-15)	317,000^[77]
65	16	Adam Liaw & Miguel Maestre	22 August 2023 (2023-08-22)	282,000^[78]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
66	17	Chas Licciardello	29 August 2023 (2023-08-29)	293,000^[79]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
67	18	Leigh Sales	5 September 2023 (2023-09-05)	340,000^[80]
Sports segment: Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann
68	19	Ray O'Leary	12 September 2023 (2023-09-12)	330,000^[81]
Sports segment: Georgie Tunny
69	20	Anthony Albanese & Concetta Caristo	19 September 2023 (2023-09-19)	306,000^[82]
70	21	Nath Valvo	26 September 2023 (2023-09-26)	325,000^[83]
Note: Emma Holland replaced Tim McDonald as host; Sports segment: Ed Kavalee
71	22	Dylan Alcott	3 October 2023 (2023-10-03)	310,000^[84]
Note: Emma Holland replaced Tim McDonald as host; Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
72	23	Costa Georgiadis	10 October 2023 (2023-10-10)	291,000^[85]
Sports segment: Lizzy Hoo
73	24	Rhys Nicholson	17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)	335,000^[86]
Sports segment: Max Rushden
74	25	Murray Cook &Lydia Lassila	24 October 2023 (2023-10-24)	371,000^[87]
75	26	Cameron James	31 October 2023 (2023-10-31)	350,000^[88]
Sports segment: Merrick Watts
76	27	Phil Wang & Catherine Cohen	7 November 2023 (2023-11-07)	368,000^[89]
77	28	Richard Osman	14 November 2023 (2023-11-14)	348,000^[90]
78	29	Anna Polyviou	21 November 2023 (2023-11-21)	339,000^[91]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbach
79	30	Andy Lee	28 November 2023 (2023-11-28)	350,000^[92]

Season 4 (2024)

More information No. overall, No. in season ...

No. overall	No. in season	Guest(s)	Original release date	Australian viewers
80	1	Joel Creasey	30 April 2024 (2024-04-30)	450,000^[93]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
81	2	Bron Lewis	7 May 2024 (2024-05-07)	465,000^[94]
Sports segment: Bianca Chatfield
82	3	Poh Ling Yeow	14 May 2024 (2024-05-14)	508,000^[95]
Sports segment: Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann
83	4	Andrea Crothers	21 May 2024 (2024-05-21)	492,000^[96]
Sports segment: Merrick Watts
84	5	Myf Warhurst	28 May 2024 (2024-05-28)	532,000^[97]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
85	6	Jimmy Barnes	4 June 2024 (2024-06-04)	540,000^[98]
Sports segment: Tara Rushton
86	7	Jenny Tian	11 June 2024 (2024-06-11)	489,000^[99]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
87	8	Alexa Leary & Damien Fleming	18 June 2024 (2024-06-18)	534,000^[100]
88	9	Luke McGregor	25 June 2024 (2024-06-25)	531,000^[101]
Sports segment: Georgie Tunny
89	10	Tony Armstrong	2 July 2024 (2024-07-02)	499,000^[102]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
90	11	Anna Meares & Lana Walters	9 July 2024 (2024-07-09)	448,000^[103]
91	12	Miguel Maestre	16 July 2024 (2024-07-16)	461,000^[104]
Sports segment: Ben Lomas
92	13	Urvi Majumdar	23 July 2024 (2024-07-23)	448,000^[105]
Sports segment: Broden Kelly
93	14	Angela Bishop & Emily Seebohm	30 July 2024 (2024-07-30)	303,000^[106]
Note: Mel Tracina replaced Melanie Bracewell as co-host; Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
94	15	Steven Quartermain & Nicolette Minister	6 August 2024 (2024-08-06)	293,000^[107]
Note: Mel Tracina replaced Melanie Bracewell as co-host; Sports segment: Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann
95	16	Ray Martin & Andrea Crothers	13 August 2024 (2024-08-13)	466,000^[108]
Note: Georgie Tunny replaced Melanie Bracewell as co-host.
96	17	Hamish Blake, Nina Kennedy & Matthew Denny	20 August 2024 (2024-08-20)	442,000^[109]
Note: Julia Zemiro replaced Melanie Bracewell as co-host.
97	18	Larry Emdur & Bron Lewis	27 August 2024 (2024-08-27)	462,000^[110]
Note: Celia Pacquola replaced Melanie Bracewell as co-host; Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
98	19	Ray O'Leary & Sharyn Ghidella	3 September 2024 (2024-09-03)	399,000^[111]
99	20	Daria Saville	10 September 2024 (2024-09-10)	462,000^[112]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
100	21	Allan Raskall	17 September 2024 (2024-09-17)	416,000^[113]
101	22	Tim Minchin	24 September 2024 (2024-09-24)	422,000^[114]
Sports segment: Broden Kelly
102	23	Romesh Ranganathan	1 October 2024 (2024-10-01)	431,000^[115]
Sports segment: Lavender Baj
103	24	David M. Green	8 October 2024 (2024-10-08)	420,000^[116]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
104	25	Andrea Crothers	15 October 2024 (2024-10-15)	429,000^[117]
Sports segment: Bobby Macumber
105	26	Bill Bailey	22 October 2024 (2024-10-22)	393,000^[118]
106	27	Stephen Fry & Saya Sakakibara	29 October 2024 (2024-10-29)	472,000^[119]
107	28	Eric Idle	5 November 2024 (2024-11-05)	403,000^[120]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
108	29	Merrick Watts	12 November 2024 (2024-11-12)	397,000^[121]
109	30	Tom Gleisner & Louise Mahler	19 November 2024 (2024-11-19)	436,000^[122]

Season 5 (2025)

More information No. overall, No. in season ...

No. overall	No. in season	Guest(s)	Original release date	Australian viewers
110	1	Anne Edmonds	29 April 2025 (2025-04-29)	475,000^[123]
Sports segment: Chloe Petts
111	2	Santo Cilauro, Mike Goldstein	6 May 2025 (2025-05-06)	481,000^[124]
112	3	Antony Green, Danny Estrin	13 May 2025 (2025-05-13)	489,000^[125]
113	4	Celya AB	20 May 2025 (2025-05-20)	469,000^[126]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
114	5	Danny and Michael Philippou, Jamie Durie	27 May 2025 (2025-05-27)	458,000^[127]
Sports segment: Luke Rocca
115	6	George Kapiniaris, Andy Allen, Emma Holland	3 June 2025 (2025-06-03)	490,000^[128]
116	7	Eddie Perfect	10 June 2025 (2025-06-10)	504,000^[129]
Sports segment: Alex Ward
117	8	Joanne Ciconte, Guy Montgomery	17 June 2025 (2025-06-17)	479,000^[130]
118	9	Demi Adejuyigbe	24 June 2025 (2025-06-24)	452,000^[131]
Sports segment: Abbey Gelmi
119	10	Lisa Millar	1 July 2025 (2025-07-01)	477,000^[132]
Sports segment: Dave Thornton
120	11	Takashi Wakasugi	8 July 2025 (2025-07-08)	493,000^[133]
Sports segment: Broden Kelly
121	12	Ray O'Leary, Steph Baumgartel	15 July 2025 (2025-07-15)	516,000^[134]
Sports segment: Abbey Gelmi
122	13	Lana Walters	22 July 2025 (2025-07-22)	502,000^[135]
Sports segment: Peter Helliar
123	14	Lynne McGranger	29 July 2025 (2025-07-29)	509,000^[136]
Sports segment: Ben Lomas
124	15	Sandra Sully, Jo Weston	5 August 2025 (2025-08-05)	509,000^[137]
125	16	Miguel Maestre	12 August 2025 (2025-08-12)	403,000^[138]
Note: Nath Valvo replaced Tim McDonald as co-host; Sports segment: Georgie Tunny
126	17	Bianca Chatfield	19 August 2025 (2025-08-19)	441,000^[139]
Sports segment: Andrea Crothers
127	18	Nevaeh-Lea Benton	26 August 2025 (2025-08-26)	407,000^[140]
Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
128	19	Alexei Toliopoulos	2 September 2025 (2025-09-02)	467,000^[141]
Sports segment: Abbey Gelmi
129	20	Matt Keenan, Hannah Ferguson	9 September 2025 (2025-09-09)	445,000^[142]
130	21	Angela Bishop, Sam Garlepp, Craig Maher	16 September 2025 (2025-09-16)	450,000^[143]
Note: Mel Tracina replaced Melanie Bracewell as co-host
131	22	Nikki Webster, Chris Koehler	23 September 2025 (2025-09-23)	429,000^[144]
Sports segment: Peter Helliar; Note: Mel Tracina replaced Melanie Bracewell as co-host
132	23	Peter Murphy, Tom Walker	30 September 2025 (2025-09-30)	411,000^[145]
133	24	Rob Beckett	7 October 2025 (2025-10-07)	442,000^[146]
134	25	Rove McManus, Marcos Ambrose, Tabitha Ambrose	14 October 2025 (2025-10-14)	488,000^[147]
135	26	Geraldine Hickey	21 October 2025 (2025-10-21)	385,000^[148]
136	27	Ben Elton, Rob Thomas, Ryan Shelton	28 October 2025 (2025-10-28)	404,000^[149]
137	28	Julia Zemiro	4 November 2025 (2025-11-04)	389,000^[150]
Note: Carlo Ritchie replaced Tim McDonald as co-host; Sports segment: Adam Rozenbachs
138	29	Reggie Watts	11 November 2025 (2025-11-11)	477,000^[151]
Note: Carlo Ritchie replaced Tim McDonald; Sports segment: Abbey Gelmi
139	30	Anthony Albanese, Nevaeh-Lea Benton	18 November 2025 (2025-11-18)	436,000^[152]

Season 6 (2026)

More information No. overall, No. in season ...

No. overall	No. in season	Guest(s)	Original release date	Australian viewers
140	1	Denise Scott, Emmanuel Sonubi	21 April 2026 (2026-04-21)	TBD
141	2	Celia Pacquola, Josh Jack	28 April 2026 (2026-04-28)	TBD

Awards and nominations

More information Year, Award ...


Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2022	Logie Awards of 2022	Most Popular New Talent	Melanie Bracewell	Nominated	^[153]
2022	Logie Awards of 2022	Most Popular Comedy Program	The Cheap Seats	Nominated	^[153]
2023	Logie Awards of 2023	Most Outstanding Entertainment Program	The Cheap Seats	Won	^[154]

The Cheap Seats

Hosts

Recurring segments

Episodes

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Season 3 (2023)

Season 4 (2024)

Season 5 (2025)

Season 6 (2026)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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