Hi-5 (Australian TV series)

Original cast, 2006 L–R: Nathan Foley, Charli Robinson, Kellie Crawford, Kathleen de Leon Jones and Tim Harding.

Hi-5 was created in 1998 by television producer Helena Harris, who had worked on Bananas in Pyjamas. She and co-producer Posie Graeme-Evans (The Miraculous Mellops, Mirror, Mirror)[9][10] developed the series as preschool entertainment.[1] The name of the series was derived from the high five gesture.[11]

Harris stated that her inspiration for Hi-5 came partly from living in England, where she realised that children are the same around the world, and expected the show would appeal universally, with accessible themes such as family and animals.[1] Harris strove to incorporate items of current interest to engage with the children and keep them interested in the show.[12] The creators saw the need for "life-affirming" television for rapidly maturing preschoolers, and found that most children learned from shows which incorporated movement and song.[13] The creators believed pre-schoolers have matured beyond programs such as Here's Humphrey.[5][13]

The series was pitched to the Nine Network through Harris and Graeme-Evans' joint independent production company, Kids Like Us. It was picked up by the network within days of being pitched, and officially ordered after two weeks.[14] Harris stated that the network's enthusiasm for the show emanated from the executives' young children.[14][15] A pilot was filmed in mid-1998,[16] which was shown to a test audience. No changes were made to the format after the test.[17] After being commissioned, the first full series began production in October, and had concluded by December.[16][18] The Nine Network initially signed a co-venture with Kids Like Us to produce two 45-episode series of the show and the first went to air on Nine on 12 April 1999.[13][19][15][20] Hi-5 was granted a P classification, deeming it specifically designed to meet the needs and interests of pre-schoolers and allowing it to be broadcast on the Nine Network with a 30-minute runtime commercial-free.[21] The first series was produced for US$20,000 to US$30,000 for each episode.[18] A fashion line for children, based on the costuming featured on the program, was released alongside the premiere of the show.[20] Graeme-Evans only served as a co-producer for the first two series.[22]

Hi-5 received a total of three Logie Television Awards, two for Most Outstanding Children's Program in 2000 and 2001 and one for Most Outstanding Children's Preschool Program in 2004.[23][24][25] In 2005, it was stated that one episode would cost an estimated A$50,000 to produce, and that a feature film was in early development.[26] The 300th episode of Hi-5 was celebrated in 2005.[26] Harris stated that by 2007, "Hi-5 [was] still evolving and maintaining its relevance and freshness".[27] Nine reportedly signed a two-year deal with the producers in 2007.[28] The Hi-5 brand was purchased by the Nine Network, along with production company Southern Star, in March 2008, from previous owners Harris and Graeme-Evans.[29] Robinson recalled that she had tried to depart from the programme after eight years but producers convinced her stay, and that the following years working on the show were her favourite.[30]

Stevie Nicholson, Surry Hills, November 2011

Nine committed to five new series of Hi-5 in 2009 with a new generation cast, to be aired until 2013.[31] However, only three of these planned series were produced. The eleventh series debuted on 31 August 2009.[32] Brand directors Martin Hersov and Cathy Payne said "we're very excited to be launching the next phase of Hi-5".[31] Of the cast change, executive producer Noel Price stated that Hi-5 was designed so that its popularity would not solely rely on the appeal of cast members as individuals.[33] The 500th episode of Hi-5 was celebrated in 2010 during the twelfth series.[34] By this series, Price stated the producers aimed to recreate the success of the earlier episodes by "captur[ing] that earlier innocence".[33] The thirteenth and final series of the original Hi-5 premiered on 17 October 2011, in which the program's musical history was recognised by reintroducing previous songs to a new generation of fans.[35]

In June 2012 the Nine Network announced that the Hi-5 brand has been sold in its entirety to Asian equity group, Asiasons, following Nine's reported financial difficulties.[8][36][37] Hi-5 would no longer be produced by Nine and therefore the thirteenth series became the last. A spin-off series entitled Hi-5 House was created under new management to continue the Hi-5 concept. The new series was produced independently from Nine and aired on Nick Jr. from 2013 to 2016.[8][38]

The Nine Network renewed its partnership with the Hi-5 franchise in October 2016 and announced its plans to revive Hi-5 with a new cast in 2017.[38] Executive producer Julie Greene stated "we're really excited to be working with Nine to develop a reinvigorated Hi-5 show".[2] The revival would feature a new cast and set, but retain the original team of producers and writers.[38] CEO of Nine Entertainment, Hugh Marks, revealed his role in the program's reintroduction, citing his belief that the series would still be relevant in an updated climate, while expecting significantly lower viewership.[39] After auditions were held in November 2016, the new cast was revealed in December.[40][41] The series began production in January 2017 and premiered on Nine's multichannel, 9Go!, on 15 May.[7][42] A second series of the revival was planned for 2018, before filming was halted and the Australian production office was closed.[43][44][45]

• Kellie Crawford (Series 1–10)
• Kathleen de Leon Jones (Series 1–8)[note 1]
• Nathan Foley (Series 1–10)
• Tim Harding (Series 1–9)
• Charli Robinson (Series 1–10)
• Sun Park (Series 9–10)
• Stevie Nicholson (Series 10–13)
• Lauren Brant (Series 11–13)
• Casey Burgess (Series 11–13)
• Fely Irvine (Series 11–13)
• Tim Maddren (Series 11–13)

• Courtney Clarke (Series 1)
• Shay Clifford (Series 1)
• Lachie Dearing (Series 1)
• Joe Kalou (Series 1)
• Bailey Spalding (Series 1)

The first series of Hi-5 was broadcast in 1999 and quadrupled the ratings and audience share in its timeslot, previously occupied by programs including Here's Humphrey.[13] Hi-5 averaged a national audience of 223,000 in 1999, which was a 32.2% increase on Humphrey.[13] The first four weeks of broadcast achieved an average of 231,000 viewers.[20]

Hi-5's highest rating episode in 2001 was watched by 96,000 children aged 0–14. In 2005, Hi-5 was one of the top ten children's programs (classified C or P) on commercial television in the 0–14 age group. Its average audience was 60,000 in this bracket. It was the highest rating P program in the 0–4 age group, receiving an average viewership of 39,000.[54]

Hi-5 was consistently the highest rating program on Disney Junior Asia from its premiere in 2012 until 2016.[55]

In Australia, the premiere run of the Hi-5 revival in 2017 averaged a viewership of 10,000.[56]

The series received generally positive reviews. Hi-5 was described by US magazine Kidscreen as a "combination of Spice Girls-esque musical performances and Sesame Street educational content".[18] The cast's performance was described by Sally Murphy of Aussiereviews.com as "bright, full of music and catchy tunes,"[57] with the original line-up praised by the website's Magdalena Ball for their "consistent camaraderie, [and] varied and well coordinated talent as singers, performers, and dancers."[58] Ball credited their appeal to the members being positive role models.[59]

The program has generated debate about what is considered appropriate television for children. In a 2011 survey by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM), Hi-5 was identified by parents as a "controversial program", eliciting both positive and negative evaluations about its quality.[60] Some surveyed parents expressed concern that the clothes and costuming of the cast was inappropriate for a young audience, and labelled it as "premature sexualisation".[60] However, in 2002, Harris stated that the producers were very careful about addressing body image issues and keeping the cast "concealed", believing Hi-5 helped to influence appropriate fashion in young people.[61]

Joly Herman of Common Sense Media questioned the quality and consistency of the program's educational material, noting the use of music as "arbitrary".[62] On the contrary, a sample of parents in the ACCM survey praised Hi-5, listing it as an example of a musical program which is not "coupled with commercialism".[60]

The first series of Hi-5 was sold to New Zealand and Singapore. In 2000, there were expression of interests from Britain, Canada, Germany, Israel and South Africa.[13] The TV series had a successful premiere in the UK in early 2003.[1][63] Initially, Harris expected that the series would become formatted into international versions, however, she was so confident with the original cast that the Australian series was sold overseas instead.[1] On pay-TV in Australia, Hi-5 premiered on Nick Jr. in 2003.[64] The programme debuted in the US for the first time in 2014, with episodes featuring the original cast premiering on KCET.[65]

The 2017 revival series was released on online streaming service Stan on 1 October 2017.[66]

Compilation home video releases of Hi-5 have been distributed on VHS and DVD in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment.[67]

With the television series using music as an integral part of its concept, the cast of the series became a recognised musical group for children outside of the show. The debut album of the group, Jump and Jive with Hi-5, corresponded with the first series of the show and was released in September 1999 by Sony Music, reaching No. 33 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[68] The group performed at venues such as the Newcastle Civic Theatre in their first year.[4] Hi-5 won five consecutive ARIA Awards for Best Children's Album, their albums received multiple sale accreditations, and four releases reached the top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[68][69] The group also toured nationally every year, with sell-out national tours of their early stage shows, in venues such as the Sydney Opera House.[13] In 2001, the group members said they did not expect that Hi-5 would become so successful; Robinson explained it was not until they went on tour that they realised their popularity.[70]

The music of the show has a distinguishable pop music sound, being described as "pop for kids" by Crawford in 2001 and Foley in 2004.[70][71] Chris Harriott is the primary composer of the show, having written thousands of Hi-5 songs (including feature songs of the week and shorter songlets) thus creating a sense of musical consistency. Graeme-Evans and Harriott had worked together when he scored the theme for the teen drama series, Mirror, Mirror (1995).[10] He had previously worked with Harris as a composer on Bananas in Pyjamas; and had individually worked in Australian theatre.[51][72][73] He was originally approached by the creators with the task of writing top ten songs for an age range of 2–6.[51] Robinson said members were encouraged to write their own music for the group, and as of 2015, she was still receiving occasional royalty cheques for her work.[30]

In 2013, a spin-off series entitled Hi-5 House was created under new management to continue the Hi-5 concept with a refreshed appeal. The new series remained similar to the original concept, but featured a new setting; a house in which the cast members would live and present the show. The Nine Network were not involved in the follow-up series. The series premiered on Nick Jr. on 4 November 2013, and ran until 2016.[8]

The international appeal of Hi-5 has led to successful local versions of the television series. In 2002, an American Hi-5 series was created, airing from 2003 to 2006 on TLC and Discovery Kids, also being nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2005, 2006, and 2007.[74][75] A UK series aired on Cartoonito in 2008.[76][77] After Hi-5's sale in 2012, there was a return to licensing international versions of the program. A Latin American series entitled Hi-5 Fiesta aired from 2014 to 2016 on Discovery Kids, followed by a local version for the Philippines airing over 2015 and 2016, and the debut of an Indonesian series in 2017.[78][79][80]