Pig's Breakfast
| Company type | Television series |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television production |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne , Australia |
| Products | Children's television series |
Pig's Breakfast—also referred to as Off the Air—is an Australian children's comedy series with a science fiction theme, developed by Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson. The show was broadcast from 5 July 1999 through 22 October 2000.
Premise
The storyline follows two extraterrestrial students, Grob and Meeba, who accidentally crash their intergalactic school bus into Channel 9, an Earth-based television studio. Mistaking them for performers in elaborate costumes, a producer invites them to become hosts of a children's program, which subsequently experiences a surge in viewership. Meanwhile, siblings Rodney and Lucy Green uncover the aliens' real nature and assist them in safeguarding their secret as they work on fixing their bus to journey back home.
Main
- Eve Morey portraying Lucy Green
- Dean Measor as Plaaag Warrior
- Nicholas Russell in the role of Rodney Green
- Catherine Mack-Hancock playing Jessica
- Sally Cooper as Dee Davis
- Heath McIvor cast as Grob
- Jennifer Priest as Meeba
- George Kapiniaris providing the voice of Queegle
- Phillip Millar operating Queegle's puppetry
Guests
- Annie Jones appearing as Sue Green
- Ernie Gray in the role of Mr. Pratt
- Francis Greenslade as Martin Green
- Gary Files portraying Mr. Howard
- Geoff Paine cast as Malcolm Wilson
- Jeremy Hopkins playing Phillip Bailey
- Jeremy Kewley as Gavin Bailey
- Kate Gorman featured guest
- Lynda Gibson as Di Bailey
- Monica Maughan
- Paul Mercurio
- Peta Brady appearing as Nancy
- Rebecca Ritters in the role of Caz
- Sophie Heathcote
- Sullivan Stapleton
- Tania Lacy portraying Rebecca
- Terry Norris
Production
Initially envisioned by Shirrefs and Thomson in 1989, Pig's Breakfast began as a magazine-style concept centered on aliens landing on Earth to conduct interviews with humans. A decade later, this idea evolved into a sitcom format. Following a pitch, Channel 9 partnered with Southern Star to co-produce a total of 52 episodes without creating a pilot episode.
All studio sequences were shot at GTV-9’s Richmond studios located in Melbourne.
International broadcast
The program was also shown outside Australia, including on the United Kingdom’s ITV network via CITV and on Ireland’s RTÉ2 channel during The Den programming block.