As unbelievable as it might seem, last night marked The Project’s 2000th episode. The show launched back in 2009, named The 7pm Project, and over its eight years it’s changed A LOT – in fact, a lot more than we realised.
To celebrate the milestone, Channel 10 shared the below throwback images from the show’s very first episode – and, as one commenter notes, the changes are commendable. It’s refreshing to see that the current line-up offers more analytical clout than the original comedian-dominated panel, and is decidedly more diverse (we’d love to see more women though!).
Carrie Bickmore is the only remaining original panelist, and has – as well as her co-host Waleed Aly – won a Gold Logie for her efforts.
While she’s at ease behind the desk now, those first few weeks were a very different story. “Before the first episode I remember wondering if my body would automatically tell me to keep breathing because I was so stressed out that I thought that I might actually have a panic attack or a heart attack live on air,” Bickmore told news.com.au today.
“The only thing I remember is when the show ended, breathing out and hearing Dave Hughes say, ‘well, I think I just ended my career.’ I remember thinking, ‘shit, if Dave Hughes is saying that then what hope have I got?”
