| The Librarians | |
|---|---|
 The Librarians title card | |
| Genre | Situation comedy |
| Created by | Wayne Hope Robyn Butler |
| Directed by | Wayne Hope Tony Martin |
| Starring | Robyn Butler Roz Hammond Heidi Arena Stephen Ballantyne Keith Brockett Bob Franklin Wayne Hope Nicole Nabout Kym Gyngell Josh Lawson |
| Opening theme | "A Night in Tunisia" byDizzy Gillespie |
| Composer | James Black |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Production company | Gristmill |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC TV |
| Release | 31 October 2007 (2007-10-31) – 1 December 2010 (2010-12-01) |
The Librarians is an Australian television comedy series which premiered on 31 October 2007 onABC TV. In theRepublic of Ireland, the show aired onRTÉ Two. The series is produced and written byRobyn Butler andWayne Hope who are also the principal cast members. Hope is also the series' director. The first series comprised six half-hour episodes. The second series with another six episodes began airing on 5 August 2009 and was filmed at theRoyal Melbourne Showgrounds.
The series centres on the trials and tribulations of Frances O'Brien, a devoutlyCatholic, sexless, inept, humorless, blithely racist, self-important and insensitive HeadLibrarian. Her life unravels when she is forced to employ her ex-best friend, Christine Grimwood – now a petty drug dealer who needs a character reference – as the Children's Librarian. Frances must do all she can to contain her menacing past and concentrate on the biggest event of the library calendar – Book Week.
Filming on a third and final series took place in early 2010[1] and aired onABC1 later that year.The theme music forThe Librarians is an upbeat variation on the popular jazz tune "A Night in Tunisia" byDizzy Gillespie.
The Librarians was ratedM in New Zealand for offensive language, sexual references and drug use.
| Episode | Title | Original airdate | Viewers | Nightly rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Should old Acquaintance be Forgot?" | 31 October 2007 | 1292000[2] | 5 |
| 2 | "Repeat Offender" | 7 November 2007 | 1084000[3] | 14 |
| 3 | "4 Kilos to Book Week" | 14 November 2007 | 1006000[4] | N/A |
| 4 | "Unholy Matrimony" | 21 November 2007 | 1040000[5] | 13 |
| 5 | "Amnesty" | 28 November 2007 | 988000[6] | 12 |
| 6 | "And Nothing but the Truth" | 5 December 2007 | 1001000[7] | 10 |
| Episode | Title | Original airdate | Viewers | Nightly rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Just Returned" | 5 August 2009 | 1053000[8] | 11 |
| 2 | "This Little Piggy" | 12 August 2009 | 1028000[9] | 13 |
| 3 | "Cut to the Quick" | 19 August 2009 | 843000[10] | 19 |
| 4 | "Romeos And Juliets" | 26 August 2009 | 877000[11] | 17 |
| 5 | "Deliverance" | 2 September 2009 | 827000[12] | 16 |
| 6 | "My Rock" | 9 September 2009 | 936000[13] | 15 |
| Episode | Title | Original airdate | Viewers | Consolidated Viewers | Nightly rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Mother Pearl" | 13 October 2010 | 726000 | 788215 | 15 |
| 2 | "Quid Pro Quo" | 20 October 2010 | 541000 | 596098 | 26 |
| 3 | "Tsukiji" | 27 October 2010 | 595000 | 661706 | 25 |
| 4 | "Dark Before Dawn" | 3 November 2010 | 582000 | 642233 | 20 |
| 5 | "Kerching Kerching" | 10 November 2010 | 572000 | 615530 | 24 |
| 6 | "Milk, Not Cheese, Moon" | 17 November 2010 | 534000 | 564685 | 25 |
| 7 | "Pearl of Wisdom" | 24 November 2010 | 489000 | 520072 | 25 |
| 8 | "Power and the Passion" | 1 December 2010 | 658000 | 710174 | 19 |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Series | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Performance in a Television Comedy | Robyn Butler | Series 2 | Nominated | [14] |
| 2011 | Equity Awards | Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Cast | — | Won | [15] |
| The Librarians | ||
| Set details | Special features | |
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| Release date | ||
| Region 4 5 December 2007 | ||
| The Librarians Series 2 | ||
| Set details | Special features | |
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| Release date | ||
| Region 4 1 October 2009 (Series 1&2 Blu-ray also released) | ||