Fans praise return of iconic comedy series Thank God You’re Here: 'Brilliant'

The highly-anticipated reboot of Thank God You’re Here finally returned to screens on Wednesday night, 14 years on from when the improvisational comedy series last aired in Australia.

Comedian Celia Pacquola serves as the host for the revamped show, taking over from Shane Bourne who fronted the first four seasons between 2006 and 2009.

According to Network 10, the show is 'TV's biggest comedy launch since 2019', with 943,000 viewers.

Wednesday night’s premiere featured an array of returning and first-time guest stars, including Julia Zemiro, Urzila Carlson, Aaron Chen and Mark Bonanno.

The episode marked Julia’s ninth appearance on the show, having competed in every season since it launched, and her fourth win.

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Neighbours actor Ryan Moloney and Dancing With The Stars judge Todd McKenney also made cameo appearances in the episode, playing themselves in various scenarios.

Meanwhile, two-time competitor Glenn Robbins featured as the guest judge and awarded an honourable mention, dishonourable mention, encouragement award and disencouragement award to the four performers.

'Absolutely lived up to my ridiculously high hopes'

While there were plenty of doubts surrounding the reboot, with viewers questioning whether the new series would be just as funny and iconic as the original, the premiere episode received overwhelming praise from fans on social media.

“Australian Comedy TV is back in a big way,” one person tweeted. “@TGYHOfficial is so exciting because it really feels like a 2023 version. It's a bit weirder, a bit riskier, and a bit darker. Great to see some of the old cast back too.”

“That was such a good episode I was laughing the whole time,” another added, while a third wrote, “Absolutely lived up to my ridiculously high hopes, bring on next week!”.

“What a brilliant show! I haven’t laughed so hard in ages. Can’t wait for next week’s episode,” someone else replied, followed by a different user who shared, “Didn't realise how much I missed this show!”.

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“Wonderful return to form of #TGYH!” another fan said. “All the performers were spot on. Keeping the classic Hoodoo Gurus theme tune, and having Glenn Robbins as the judge were definitely the highlights. It's like the show never left, and it still remains fresh!”

The new series airs every Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10, with next week’s episode featuring returning player Fifi Box and first-timers Lloyd Langford, Geraldine Hickey and Luke McGregor.

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