Sitcom heads down under

Rose Matafeo’s forthcoming sitcom Starstuck has been sold to Australia and her native New Zealand.

Commissioned by BBC Three  in the UK and HBO Max in the US, the comedy stars Matafeo as a millennial in London juggling two dead-end jobs – who accidentally sleeps with a film star. 

Now the six half-hour episodes have been picked up by ABC and TVNZ.

The ABC’s head of comedy, Rick Kalowski, said: ‘ABC is thrilled to be the Australian home of Rose Matafeo’s delightful Starstruck.  

‘Already huge fans of her stand-up, and having worked with Rose on other ABC series, we loved her script, and her pilot even more.  We’re incredibly excited to help bring Rose’s truly special talent to audiences around the world.’

Andrew Shaw, deputy director of content at TVNZ added: ‘Rose Matafeo is one of New Zealand’s favourite comedians. She’s brilliantly funny, incredibly witty and we can’t wait to have her back on TVNZ with this exciting new show. We love seeing homegrown talent on the world stage.’

Starstruck – first revealed by Chortle in March – is made by Avalon and directed by Karen Maine, who wrote the 2014 abortion comedy film Obvious Child starring comedian Jenny Slate as a pregnant stand-up.

When the commission was confirmed in August, Matafeo said: ‘I’m thrilled we get to make it, otherwise it would’ve technically just been a creepy fan fiction script that I submitted to the national broadcaster. The team we’ve brought together for this series are absolute dreamboats and I’m super excited to be working with them.’

Matafeo has also been developing a BBC Three sketch show, Party Time, with Lolly Adefope and Emma Sidi.

Produced by: Avalon Television
Commissioned by: Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning at the BBC and Fiona Campbell, Controller of BBC Three
Commissioning editor for the BBC: Gregor Sharp
Executive producers: Rose Matafeo, Jon Thoday, Richard Allen-Turner and Rob Aslett.

Published: 14 Oct 2019