A popular American sitcom will end after nine seasons.

Starting in 2018, Housemates earnt acclaim for its relatable plots, humour, and chemistry between the main characters.

Though as the show wore on, those strengths became weaknesses: the relatable plots become tired and cliched, the humour was more reliant on marketing-friendly catchphrases and driven by an annoying laugh track, and the chemistry started to wane as the main cast became movie stars with different levels of fame.

Housemates‘ created Matt Partridge thought he’d be sad when the cancellation news came in December last year, but he was surprisingly relieved.

“I knew we were in trouble when we were writing season eight and were starting to recycle plots from earlier seasons. It wasn’t intentional, but you only have so many ideas. And our plan to bring back popular side characters was criticised as ‘cynical nostalgia bait’. Part of me wanted to get to 10 seasons, but we would have been running on fumes by then,” said Partridge. “Though I can’t argue about the fading chemistry. The main cast has had less time and interest for us as their movie careers kicked off. When they’re not shooting, they’re talking with their agents or studying scripts for their next movie. You can’t blame them for wanting to make the most of their opportunities.”

Since receiving the news (with the final episode of season nine airing in May), Partridge has spent a lot of time thinking about his next project.

“Some of the secondary actors are starting an official rewatch podcast and invited me to be on it, but I need a clean start. I’ve been working on some book ideas that I may pursue once I finally have some free time.”

Though the show’s commercial TV network is doing its best to keep the show’s popularity up, showing old episodes at 7pm every weeknight and a special Housemates Night on Wednesdays: three old episodes (7pm, 7:30pm, 8pm) a new episode (8:30pm), and an ‘adults only’ episode (9pm).

Partridge hopes the show will be revisited with fonder eyes when it eventually moves to streaming services.

“The ratings are falling now because fans are bored of it, but give them a few years to get nostalgic about the show, and then they can binge it through streaming and remember why they loved it in the first place.”

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A veteran Australian rock band has reunited – to positive feedback so far.

Horses Love Humans was one of the biggest Australian bands from 1989 to 2003, releasing six albums, three live albums/DVD, and were compared to other veteran rock bands like Cold Chisel, Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith.

The band were happy to drop out of the limelight after splitting in 2003, until they attended a mutual friend’s wedding in 2024.

“We hadn’t seen each other for ages and was surprised how easily the old rhythm returned,” said lead signer David Lemons. “We left on good terms but naturally drifted towards our families and other commitments, so we all lost touch.”

“But the real spark came when the cover band played. They weren’t very good, so we started singing along at our table and coming up with different ideas to make the crappy songs better. There was a spark there and we all felt it.”

Horses have spent the last year jamming in secret, being careful not to let anyone know of their intentions to reunite.

“We didn’t want to tell anyone as we wanted to see how we’d go after 20 years. If it didn’t work out, then we’d go our different ways again and it wouldn’t be a big deal. But the more we practiced, the more comfortable we felt. After a few months, we thought we could make a go of this.”

To test the waters, Lemons released a three-song Horses EP through his social media accounts.

“I was worried that the new songs would sink, but the EP did well.”

Horses officially announced their return in late 2025, starting with a short tour of regional Australia.

And the buzz has been good so far.

To quote a review of their late December show in Newcastle: “It was clear from the opening songs that this wasn’t a cynical reunion cash grab. The chemistry was still there between the five of them, Lemons still sounded like we remembered, the EP songs were well-received, and the fans danced to all the classics.”

Lemons wanted to reward their fans from regional Australia with the first tour, but is already planning a major stadium tour later this year.

“We’re starting to get excited. Once we get the bigger tour done, we’ll get cracking on a new album and promote that as we head into summer.”

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An introverted pop singer’s new album is a love letter to being alone.

Kate Dawson, who has released three albums since 2019, has decided to change perceptions about spending time by yourself.

“I’m sick of the majority of pop and rock songs telling people that being alone is a bad thing! And being lonely doesn’t mean you’re miserable.”

Titled Me Time! the lead single “The difference between being ‘alone’ and ‘lonely'” has been doing well on Spotify and other streaming services. For the music video (which is approaching 500,000 views on YouTube), Dawson set up multiple cameras at home to document her perfect “innie day”.

“Most pop singers have to be extroverted to get through the months of touring and the media commitments and I’ve learnt to wear that mask when I need to. But I know this album will show my fans the real me!”

Me Time! has 10 songs all about the joy of being alone, with other songs including: “A date with myself”, “Sleeping alone”, and “I can do this myself”.

As part of the album campaign, Dawson has spoken how she dealt with her natural introversion while trying to build a career.

“I was never going to compete with the popular and bubbly girls at school, and that introversion helped as I ignored parties to write songs in my room on weekends. I had naturally long hair, so I used to hide behind that when I would sing. If I concentrated on singing and playing the guitar, I felt safe and didn’t notice all the people looking at me.”

Though dealing with the media circus after her debut album was a challenge.

“Doing the same type of interviews over and over was torture and I used to get snappy at the end of a long day as my social battery ran out. But my wonderful manager recognised this and knew when to pull the pin, let me recharge, and come back tomorrow.”

Dawson hopes that revealing her introvert’s journey will encourage her fans to do the same.

“I’ve already had some lovely messages from fans who said they finally felt understood after listening to the ‘The difference…’ That means the world to me and hopefully more and more of my fans open up and live how they want to, not how an extroverted-biased society expects them to.”

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