Gotta Be Done - A Bluey Podcast

Did you know it took nearly two years from Ludo Studio putting finishing touches on The Sign, to actually getting that biggest ever Bluey episode onto our screens?? So really, the fact that Kate and Mary interviewed Bluey creator Joe Brumm after the The Sign dropped on Sunday, and now you're getting the episode on Wednesday - pretty quick turnaround!  Joe is back in the wagon to talk through his favourite ever Bluey episode, the only one that has involved every single member of the incredible production team, and the one that ripped out our hearts, ran them through a few rollercoasters, then cradled them back to where they belong.  Hear how Meg Washington's stunning Lazarus Drug came into the episode (and helped shape the ending), why Joe wrestled with who gets to be happy (fictional characters, definitely), a long history animating Dunk Island/ Ulysses butterflies (and following signs), and even a surprise in store next...   Oh and in case you missed the signs, this conversation has SPOILERS! The Sign and Ghostbasket are streaming now on ABC iView and globally on Disney+ and are glorious. ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

So Gotta Be Done has been missing in your podcast feed for a bit (and you better believe Mary and Kate are missing it too!) But of course they haven't stopped talking about Bluey in any/every other aspect of their lives, and for this special crossover, Mary talks about Bluey A LOT. Thank you TONTS host Claire Tonti for sharing the mic, over to her to explain! In a very special episode of TONTS. I deep dive into the wonderful world of Bluey podcast with Bluey expert and podcast host Mary Bolling. Mary is a journalist, mum and kids culture enthusiast, and one half of the Gotta Be Done podcast, deep-diving Australian juggernaut Bluey (and parenting, pop culture and everything else!) since 2019. In typical TONTS. and Bluey fashion we talk about the themes in Bluey that so closely match our own experiences. Two mums deep diving into the highs and lows of parenting, grief, loss, miscarriage, the power of story and the vital role of play and silliness. What a joy!   You can find more from Mary Bolling on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/marytbolling/ and listen to her and co-host Kate McMahon on Gotta Be Done here https://www.blueypod.com   Head to https://www.clairetonti.com for more awesome episodes, and follow her on Insta at https://www.instagram.com/clairetonti/ and https://www.instagram.com/tontspod 

It's not often an episode of Gotte Be Done has required reading... but when there's three developmental scientists putting Bluey under the microscope, then of course we're all diving in!  Mary's joined in the wagon by Dr Molly Scott, Research Scientist in Playful Learning at Temple University, Aria Gastón-Panthaki, Research Coordinator for Children's Development at Harvard University, and Doug Piper, PhD candidate in psychology at Georgetown University. The play-hard trio recently penned a research piece, Bluey teaches children and parents alike about how play supports creativity and other life lessons (lime lessons??), and on the podcast share their own journeys to Bluey, favourite bits of Bluey brain science, and whether Bluey is inspiring a new generation of more thoughtful, playful parents... (spoiler alert, hopefully?!) Thanks team for sharing your brilliant insights, and thanks Bluey for everything you're teaching us!  ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Gotta Be Done's been on a break, but Mary and Kate just couldn't keep mum for BLUEY FEST! (For international types, that's the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's celebration of five years since Bluey launched... and the top 100 episodes as voted by Australia!) So, the girls have got the somewhat-broken-down wagon back together, for a lap through the trials of trying to pick top five episodes, the delights of being in a Bluey book (Where's Bluey? At Christmas), and what's ahead for the rest of season three...  .. and also, what should we see in (new 28-minute Bluey ep in 2024) The Sign?? ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Recently listener Matthew in London emailed Gotta Be Done to ask when the Pizza Girls recap was coming. And Mary and Kate laughed because they'd totally recorded that back in February 2023... and then stopped laughing, because Mary had forgotten to release it.  So, strap yourselves in kid, for all the late-summer reminiscing, fresh-new-year-misty-eyed-ness... and Muffin dropping the clutch and drifting her way to glory.  Is Pizza Girls the unofficial sequel to Bedroom, and do families need to hold onto every item ever that has a story? (Well Marie Kondo has given up on tidying, you know...) Plus, February Kate and Mary excitedly preview the now well-and-truly out Dance Mode album (and they're still excited six months on!) Oh, and... Yeah I want garlic bread!  ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Yep, Gotta Be Done is still talking about Cricket... in this second-half recap, and in Mary and Kate's for real life generally! More music, more obscure cricketenalia, more Rusty love, and the tightrope walk of encouraging your kids without overwhelming them (that Rusty's Dad makes look easy!) Plus, a good guess at when Australia might see the last of Season 3's new episodes... if Gotta Be Done is right, it will be so spooky!  ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

It's more than a year since Bluey creator Joe Brumm told Gotta Be Done a cricket episode was coming... which is even longer than the average game of cricket!  Kate (vessel of cricketing knowledge) and Mary (cricketing knowledge vacuum) explore the whys and wherefores of the deeply weird (but supremely strategic) game of cricket. And how the never-ending, convoluted, global obsession impacts a childhood - theirs, their children's, and theirs again as parents of children! Plus, slips, gullies, silly-mids, fruit and pies - and not the kind you get at tea break!  (Speaking of tea break, this recap gets one! Stay tuned for Gotta Be Done does Cricket II next week!)   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

So Gotta Be Done isn't here to call out annoying habits - but if Smoochy Kiss goes there, do Mary and Kate maybe kind of have to?! From what (on earth) Bandit's doing in his first scene, to best kitchen weaponry that's not too weapony (and how saucepan lids pre-date shields, actually?!), crimes against laundry sinks, boxes big enough for grown-ups, inversion and flipping the chase (music), and whether it's toughening up or softening up that makes a relationship work.  In short, it's just another day in the Heeler household/ Blueyverse/ Gotta Be Done... works for us!  Oh, and courtesy of the Bluey magazine... what's the stinkiest planet?? Jokes aside, it takes some serious analysis! ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Gotta Be Done is back after a break, and redeeming oneself is the theme of this recap - in all the ways. Morning, Wendy! Memories of mud piles and doubts about overly-clean modern life (is Insta to blame??), and is that dirt under fingernails, or potential neural connections?  Oh, and what IS a chow chow? Well if a dog and a lion had a very adorable baby... that's Wendy and Judo!   Also, parents modelling to children is a big theme of Dirt - but hang on, has Bluey been modelling to everyone all along?! Du-du-du-dirt!  ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

CONTENT WARNING: In this episode, Mary and Kate talk pregnancy loss, infertility, and grief... and life in lockdown, because this is a 2020 throwback. It can get heavy.    Bluey is known for tackling big issues - and in 2023 we know there's definitely a miscarriage storyline in The Show. (Back then and now, there's still plenty of hope, hilarity and happiness to take from this gorgeous episode too.) And in these overwhelming times (i.e, all times!), who doesn't need a helpful checklist on hand?   While this trip down memory lane takes Gotta Be Done deep into July 2020 feelings, it gets happy again, via Aussie power pop memory lane, as we compare episode notes with Lenka's The Show! Also, exactly when are jacarandas meant to be blooming?! (Thanks for sticking with a weightier episode of Gotta Be Done. It was a tough one to record - but as usual and of course, the show must go on.)  Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US!   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Content warning: This episode of Gotta Be Done covers topics around fertility, pregnancy loss and grief.  Onesies broke hearts and healed them again, and Mary and Kate wade into "the messy middle" to work out how.  In summary: Families are hard, children who have complaints about the presents they receive are annoying but predictable, incredible Australian actor Rose Byrne (who plays Brandy!) is lovely (even if she's not who we think she is!) And, two years on, the moving miscarriage storyline in Bluey episode The Show is finally confirmed, thanks to the beautiful book Hard to Bear by Isabelle Odeberg.  Yep, we're all crying, but are we okay? We will be.  Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US!   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Gotta Be Done loves doing the slow crawl past a garage sale, and Granny Mobile brings more Bluey delights than a giant bargain table!  Mary and Kate talk the endless possibilities for types of grannies (nobody puts granny in a corner!), the Muffin redemption arc (can toddlers really grow out of their tantrums?!), and weapon-of-mass-destruction qualities of a Glomesh handbag.  Plus the historical details/ The Crown facts captured by royal wedding plates (spoiler alert, they hated each other), why Bizet is perfect Muffin mood (Joff Bush says: "deliciously grouchy!"), and more of the glorious garage sale treasures.  Also, MY HIPS HURT!  Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US!   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

It's the episode that launched a thousand hot takes, and Gotta Be Done is finally here with a slightly reheated one! Kate and Mary recorded their Exercise recap before ABC and Ludo re-released an updated episode, then recorded more again after the fact - so get ready for many, many thoughts about the challenges of exercising, the niceness (or otherwise) of bosses, and the fact that kids really do copy everything we do.   So, let's play more lawn table tennis! Nice shot!  Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US!   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Gotta Be Done has confessions to go with Turtle Boy - Mary and Kate have both let their kids take lost toys home. Can this episode undo the damage? Lucky the childhood magic of a park never changes (captured by Rafferty Amor)!  Also, are all kids shows either preachy or mindless violence? (No, some have songs about physics and structural engineering!) Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US!   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

He's the all-knowing and all-seeing Series Director of Bluey, and Richard Jeffery has all the panicked 4am wake-ups to prove it! Rich/ Rich J from the Fairytale 80s montage/ Mackenzie's Dad/ RichWOW jumps in the Gotta Be Done wagon to share his Bluey origin story, what director life actually involves, and the true state of Aussie-Kiwi relations behind the scenes at Ludo Studio ("we don't jump on sheep Mackenzie!")  Plus favourite scenes, favourite character, favourite episode - and just how long it took to make Sleepytime as magical as it is, plus all the series secrets Rich was desperate to include in Behind Bluey. Thanks so much Rich and keep up the amazing work!  Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US!   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

"Finally I've got an outlet for what I'm really good at, that is: singing like a cat." There's no shortage of surprises on the new Bluey album Dance Mode out worldwide TODAY - and Joff Bush's feline finesse is high on the list!  Bluey music legends Joff (famously the voice of Cat Squad) and Jazz D'Arcy (famously the singer/songwriter behind Rain/Boldly in the Pretend) jump in the Gotta Be Done wagon to talk through their new album highlights, reveal Bluey secrets (OMG the voice of Chattermax!) and get Kate and Mary even more euphoric about this glorious album! Plus the battle for an extra beat, the almost-impossible task of narrowing down tracks, hints about new projects, and just the musical mayhem that is Jazz and Joff - make sure you're following them for more! (And they've promised us a Bluey album 3!) Thanks Joff and Jazz!   Plus (geddit?!) thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US!   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

How's it goin', salad dodgers?! Whether you've been dodging salad or not, you might want to know why that's a shout-out to the original Bluey pilot (now leaked!) - and Gotta Be Done wouldn't mind advice on ending the salad dodging by obstinate kiddos, also? Puppets has bigger issues than salad to dodge though - and of course Mary and Kate dive straight in! From voicing your children's toys to who's pulling whose strings, and what makes life a lie (or otherwise, hopefully?!), Unicorse is triggering all the big questions. (And just triggering full stop! Aaaaaand why should I care?!) Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US! ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

She's played keepy uppy on the stage of Madison Square Garden, floated down Sixth Avenue, and beamed into millions of homes around the globe on the daily - but strap yourselves in kids, Bluey's only getting bigger! And trying to wrangle the worldwide juggernaut and unstoppable tsunami of Bluey partnership requests is BBC Head of Brands and Licensing (ANZ), Kate O'Connor.  BBC Kate jumps in the Gotta Be Done wagon with Kate and Mary, and shares the couldn't-stop-watching awe of her first Bluey binge, the behind-the-scenes of taking Bluey to New York, and why travelling with the Ludo family is a bit like being in a Bluey episode!   Plus the process behind Bluey being on anything from lunchboxes, to muesli bars to cricket bats... but maybe not EVERYTHING. (Bluey tarot cards, anyone??) And what a new mum buried in Bluey can absorb into parenting, too.  With new Bluey dropping in Australia on ABC TV from THIS SUNDAY, get the goss on what's next for our incredible blue girl/ dog.   ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

It's the Heeler history we all need to believe in, and Gotta Be Done is fact-checking and fetishising every glorious 80s moment!  From montages to hazy memories, violent consequences of jinxes and whether child discipline should be depicted for historical purposes, Mary and Kate have a fairytale's worth of half-baked theories.   Also, this Fairytale poster by Bluey animator Mark Paterson, art director Costa Kassab's reimagining of little Bandit and Chilli, and the sun, the moon, the prickles, the princess, and everything!  ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

So it's ONE MONTH until the new Bluey album lands - who likes to Dance Mode?! (And second single, the Rain score WITH JAZZ D'ARCY'S LYRICS is dropping on streaming services TODAY, make sure you are following Bluey to hear it!)  Of course Gotta Be Done can't wait to talk about piece of musical gloriousness (out globally 21 April 2023!), but while we wait, we're going back in time to when we deep-dived the original Bluey the Album - with the original Aussie blokes Bluey recap podcast, The Hammerbarn Project! Back in July 2022, Frank, Marty and Brendan jumped in the wagon with Kate and Mary for fun and frenetic crossover chat - from the life hacks that the tunes provide parents, to Beatles connection buried in the bridge, and whether the kids albums of our Australian childhoods survive the test of time. Oh it's musical mayhem, and it's so much fun!  Make sure you're following The Hammerbarn Project on Insta, Facebook and Twitter and dive into their back catalogue to get across all the Hammerbarn awesomeness! (And if you're wondering why the fever-pitch talkfest suddenly flatlines - it's because there was enough fervour for two episodes! Listen to part two here.)  ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too! Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.