The Front Bar

''The Front Bar'' (formerly ''Friday Front Bar'') is an Australian Football League-based talk show that airs on the Seven Network. The show is hosted by journalist Andy Maher and comedians Mick Molloy and Sam Pang.

Hosts

* Regular
** Andy Maher, journalist and Carlton supporter
** Mick Molloy, comedian and Richmond supporter
** Sam Pang, comedian and Carlton supporter
* Semi-regular
** Andy Lee, comedian and Carlton supporter
** Ryan Fitzgerald, retired Sydney and Adelaide player and Adelaide supporter
** Santo Cilauro, comedian, writer, filmmaker and Collingwood supporter
** Titus O’Reily, comedian, writer, broadcaster and Melbourne supporter
** Mark Knight, '' Herald Sun'' editorial cartoonist and AFL premiership poster creator
** Marty Sheargold, comedian and North Melbourne supporter
** Luke Darcy, Channel 7/Triple M commentator and Western Bulldogs supporter and retired player
** Matthew Richardson, Channel 7/3AW commentator and Richmond supporter and retired player

History

The show, which airs from March to September during the AFL season, launched in 2015 as an online-only show on the official AFL website, AFL.com.au, although Molloy and Maher had previously worked together on ''Before the Game''. In 2016, the Seven Network picked up the show, with episodes being split into two versions, with snippets of the show being uploaded to AFL.com.au on Friday afternoon and the full version of the program airing after the Friday night match on the Seven Network in the traditional AFL states and on 7mate in New South Wales and Queensland. Episodes were filmed at the All Nations Hotel in Richmond in the first two seasons of the show.

In 2017, the show was renamed to ''The Front Bar'' and extended to a one-hour studio-based format airing on Thursday nights occasionally airing after Thursday night match when played during the season. In April, the show moved timeslots from 9:30pm to 8:30pm to go head-to-head with the Nine Network's long-running ''The Footy Show''. The series is produced by Front Bar Entertainment, a group operated by Molloy, with episodes generally featuring the hosts and special guests drinking Carlton Draught beer as they discuss the week's topics in a light hearted way. To date, the guest pool has included Kevin Bartlett, Brian Taylor and Jason Dunstall. In 2019, they also welcomed Garry Lyon as a guest, which was significant since he had been a longtime co-host of ''The Footy Show'', and in similar fashion later welcomed Billy Brownless as a guest in 2022.

In 2018, during the AFL offseason, the show made editions of the show centered on the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Later that same year, they also did specials that included nods to the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and in November that year a Melbourne Cup version of the show ahead of the 2018 Melbourne Cup. In 2019, their Grand Final show was held at the Hotel Esplanade in St Kilda and included AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan as a guest and Picket Palace as the house band. In November also in 2019, two episodes aired ahead of the Australian cricket season, this continued the following year also two episodes.

The show consistently beat ''The Footy Show'' in the ratings beginning in the latter half of the 2017 season and continuing until Nine Network axed ''The Footy Show'' in 2019.

In 2022, the show received its first Logie Awards nomination as it was nominated for the Logie Award for Most Popular Panel or Current Affairs Program.

See also

* List of Australian television series
* List of longest-running Australian television series

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Front Bar, The
Seven Network original programming
2015 Australian television series debuts
Australian rules football television series
English-language television shows