Hi 5 (Australian TV series)

Format

Hi-5 is a variety-style series for pre-schoolers which features music as an integral part of its premise. Aimed at 2-8 year olds, the series incorporates educational trends with a pop music appeal, using song and movement to capture the attention of children. The series employs central themes of exploration and discovery, providing children with an opportunity for a "sensitive exploration of their world". Featuring five performers, the cast are intended to act as older siblings of viewers, rather than adults teaching children. The series encourages children to "take a joyous and active part in life", with active participation encouraged. Together, the presenters are known as Hi-5, and perform songs as a group as well as presenting individual segments. All segments are integrated with music as a tool to highlight the key concepts of each episode.

Each episode features each cast member present their own individual segment, which is modelled towards a particular learning style, based on Howard Gardner's Theory of multiple intelligences (which recognises that each child learns in a different way). The use of multiple segments is also designed to hold the attention span of young children. Shapes in Space focuses on visual and spatial awareness, with the presenter exploring shapes, colour and everyday materials such as boxes and playdough. Musicality is explored through the Making Music segment, with an emphasis on pitch, rhythm, beat, melody, and using a variety of real and pretend instruments. The presenter of Body Move encourages children to participate in movement and dance, developing physical coordination and motor development. Linguistics and aural skills are at the centre of the Word Play segment, featuring a puppet named Chatterbox who assists in the discovery of language through stories and rhymes. Puzzles and Patterns has a focus on logical thinking and mathematics, with a puppet named Jup Jup used as a tool for the presenter to complete puzzles or solve problems.

The final segment in which the cast comes together is entitled Sharing Stories, where a story is told to explore interpersonal relationships and emotions. The episodes are bookended with a Song of the Week; a pop-style feature song which corresponds with the weekly theme and sets an educational topic for the week's episodes.

Original series

Revived series

Conception

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) developed the series as preschool entertainment. The name of the series was derived from the high five gesture.

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. Harris strove to incorporate items of current interest to engage with the children and keep them interested in the show. 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. The creators believed pre-schoolers have matured beyond programs such as Here's Humphrey.

The series was pitched to the Nine Network through Harris and Graeme-Evans' joint independent production company, Kids Like Us. A pilot was filmed in mid-1998, which was shown to a test audience. No changes to the format were made after this test. After being commissioned, the first full series began production in October. 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 in April 1999. 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. The first series was produced for US$20,000 to US$30,000 for each episode.

Development

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. By 2005, a studio audience for the songs of the week filming would typically consist of 200 children, and one episode would cost an estimated AU$50,000 to produce. The 300th episode of Hi-5 was celebrated in 2005. Harris stated that by 2007, "Hi-5 [was] still evolving and maintaining its relevance and freshness".

The Hi-5 brand was purchased by the Nine Network, along with production company Southern Star, in March 2008. The change of production company saw Harris and Graeme-Evans end their involvement with the franchise, which was placed under the direction of Martin Hersov and Cathy Payne, also Nine and Southern Star executives.

Nine committed to five new series of Hi-5 in 2009 with a new generation cast, to be aired until 2013. However, only three of these planned series were produced. The eleventh series debuted on 31 August 2009. Hersov and Payne said "We're very excited to be launching the next phase of Hi-5. 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. The 500th episode of Hi-5 was celebrated in 2010 during the twelfth series. By this series, Price stated the producers aimed to recreate the success of the earlier episodes by "captur[ing] that earlier innocence". The thirteenth and final series of the original Hi-5 premiered on 17 October 2011, in which series recognised the rich musical history of the program by reintroducing classic songs of the week to a new generation of fans.

Cancellation

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 ongoing financial difficulties. 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 with a refreshed appeal. The new series was produced independently from Nine and aired on Nick Jr. from 2013 to 2016.

Revival

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. Executive producer Julie Greene stated "we’re really excited to be working with Nine to develop a reinvigorated Hi-5 show". The revival would feature a new cast and set, but retain the original team of producers and writers. After auditions were held in November 2016, the new cast was revealed in December. The series will begin production in January 2017 and premiere on Go! Kids in April.

Educational theory

Hi-5 was designed by educational experts to appeal to contemporary, "media-literate" children by relating to their world. The series has been described as "for the kids of today". The cast are presented as older siblings to the children, educating the audience in a fun and entertaining way, through "play based learning", rather than appearing as adults who are teaching them. The educational theories of the series are disguised with music and entertainment, with the multiple layers of the show catering for a wide range of ages in the audience, while being primarily aimed at those aged 2–8. Harris intended for the themes promoted to be accessible so that the series would appeal universally, as she believed children were essentially the same around the world. The real-life messages of the show are reinforced in an entertaining way.

Harris and Graeme-Evans based the series around an underlying educational structure, primarily using Howard Gardner's Theory of multiple intelligences. It is recognised that each child learns in a different way, and each cast member has a specific segment within the show which targets a different aspect of learning, ranging from logical-mathematical thinking to a focus on linguistic skills, to cater to a child's individual learning approach. Harris observed that most viewers had a favourite cast member, believing that children generally "respond more favourably to the presenter who models the learning style they prefer". The skills of pre-numeracy and pre-literacy are a focus of the educational theory, to prepare children for learning at school, while also encouraging self-confidence and expression. According to the show's website, Hi-5 also uses Piaget's theory of cognitive development, providing a learning experience that promotes individual growth.

Music and movement play a large part integrating the elements of Hi-5 together, with music reinforcing the central ideas which the series presents, while also being entertaining. Physical interaction is encouraged, and heavily featured to make the show relatively fast paced, originally to replicate the energy of contemporary music videos. Dancing is featured, with a focus on movements that increase the integration between the left and right sides of the brain.

Viewership

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. Hi-5 averaged a national audience of 223,000 in 1999, which was a 32.2% increase on Humphrey. The program generated debate about what is considered appropriate television for children.

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.

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

Critical reception

Hi-5 was described by US magazine Kidscreen as a "combination of Spice Girls-esque musical performances and Sesame Street educational content". The cast's performance was described by Sally Murphy of Aussiereviews.com as "bright, full of music and catchy tunes," 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." Ball credited their appeal to the members being positive role models.

Broadcast

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. The TV series had a successful premiere in the UK in early 2003. Initially, Harris expected that the series would become formatted into international versions, however was so confident with the original cast that the Australian series was sold overseas instead. The original Hi-5 series debuted in the US for the first time in 2014, premiering on KCET.

Home media

Compilation home media releases of Hi-5 are distributed on VHS and DVD in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment.

Music

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. The group also toured around Sydney in their first year. Throughout the early years, Hi-5 won five consecutive ARIA Awards for Best Children's Album, had their albums receive multiple sale accreditations, while four releases reached the top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart. 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.

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. 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). He had previously worked with Harris as a composer on Bananas in Pyjamas; and had individually worked in Australian theatre. He was originally approached by the creators with the task of writing top ten songs for an age range of 2–6. Harris stated that of the group, the music itself has the ability to stand alone, describing them as "a part of Australia's music history."

Spin-off series

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.

International versions

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 Channel, also being nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2005, 2006, and 2007. A UK series aired on Cartoonito in 2008. 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, due to the group's success there.

Logie Awards

The TV Week Logie Awards are the annual Australian television industry awards. Hi-5 won a total of three Logie Awards, two for Most Outstanding Children's Program, and one for Most Outstanding Children's Preschool Program (a rare category).