TV Week Logie Awards: 10 years ago

All Saints star Georgie Parker was awarded the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the 44th annual TV Week Logie Awards, held at Melbourne’s Crown Entertainment Complex on Sunday, 28 April 2002, and televised on the Nine Network.

It was Parker’s second Gold Logie, having also won the publicly-voted award the previous year.  She was presented with the award by Good Morning Australia host and four-time Gold Logie winner Bert Newton.

“This is a great personal thing for me, but it always reflects back to the show,” Parker told TV Week.  “Winning the Gold is exciting and weird at the same time.  I don’t really make myself accessible as a personality, so it’s interesting to get an award for Most Popular Personality.”

Her fellow nominees for the Gold Logie were Rove McManus (Rove Live), Ada Nicodemou (Home And Away), Libby Tanner (All Saints) and John Wood (Blue Heelers).

Comedian Wendy Harmer (pictured) was the host of the evening – the first female to ever host the Logies presentation solo – but as a number of other Logies hosts have found, it is one of the toughest gigs in television.  Reviews of Harmer’s performance were harsh to say the least, but even the host herself later accepted that it was not her finest work, as she told The Age in 2010:

''One of the things that happened to me was that I'd been doing radio in Sydney for so long that when I came down to talk to an audience who are in Melbourne doing TV, they basically said, 'What does she know about what we're doing?' And fair enough, in retrospect.''

''And here's the interesting dilemma. Where do you learn to do something like that? You only learn it in the doing of it.''

''Some of the advice I got from the producers was really bad. The funny part about it is that I think I would now know how to do it.''

As well as Parker’s Gold Logie it was a big year for All Saints, with the show also winning two Silver Logies – one for Most Popular Program and the other for Libby Tanner as Most Popular Actress.

After more than twenty years on television, dating back to classic soaps The Restless Years and Sons And Daughters, actor Peter Phelps from Stingers (Nine) collected the Logie the Most Popular Actor. “This is just fantastic… totally unexpected,” he told TV Week. “The Logie means people respect your work and that’s really the best thing you can possibly have as an actor.”

Network Ten’s drama series The Secret Life Of Us (cast pictured) also scored well with two Logies to its credit – Most Outstanding Drama Series and for Deborah Mailman as Most Outstanding Actress.  And with the Big Brother craze at the height of its popularity, the Network Ten show took out the Logie for Most Popular Reality Program.  As Big Brother conducted its live eviction shows on Sunday nights, the show’s host Gretel Killeen accepted the award via a live cross to the Big Brother set on the Gold Coast.

In accepting Rove Live’s award for Most Popular Light Entertainment Program, host and producer Rove McManus (pictured) dedicated the award to his “partner in life and partner in crime”, actor and TV presenter Belinda Emmett. 

Seven’s current affairs program Today Tonight had finally scored its first Logie for Most Popular Public Affairs Program – a category that its main rival A Current Affair had dominated since the category was launched in 1989, having lost out only once to Today Tonight’s predecessor Real Life.  “It’s testament to the fact that we’ve plugged away for so many years,” host Naomi Robson said.  “All the hard work has paid off.  I want to thank Seven for sticking with us.  There was a point a few years back where people were starting to say, ‘Are they going to make it?’ But here we are.”

Nine Network host Eddie McGuire (pictured) had his two shows, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and the AFL-based The Footy Show, win Most Popular Game Show and Most Popular Sports Program respectively. 

For SBS current affairs program Dateline it was a double celebration, with the show winning two awards for Most Outstanding Special Report In A Current Affairs Program.  Two stories, The Dirty War and See No Evil, were equal winners in the industry-voted category. 

ABC reporter Geoff Thompson was awarded Most Outstanding News Reporter and ABC News won Most Outstanding News Coverage for its reporting of events surrounding the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Veteran television journalist, producer and presenter Mike Willesee was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.  He was presented the award by his brother, fellow journalist Terry Willesee.

Adding to the glamour of Logies night in 2002 were performances by Colombian pop star Shakira, the legendary Sir Elton John and US trio Destiny’s Child.

Other international guests on the night included The Bold And The Beautiful star Ronn Moss and Frankie Muniz from sitcom Malcolm In The Middle.

Publicly-voted Awards:

Gold Logie – Most Popular Personality On Australian Television: Georgie Parker

Silver Logie – Most Popular Program: All Saints (Seven)
Silver Logie – Most Popular Actor: Peter Phelps (Stingers, Nine)
Silver Logie – Most Popular Actress: Libby Tanner (All Saints, Seven)

Most Popular New Male Talent: Ditch Davey (Blue Heelers, Seven)
Most Popular New Female Talent: Lisa Chappell (pictured) (McLeod’s Daughters, Nine)
Most Popular Lifestyle Program: Backyard Blitz (Nine)
Most Popular Light Entertainment Program: Rove Live (Ten)
Most Popular Reality Program: Big Brother (Ten)
Most Popular Game Show: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Nine)
Most Popular Sports Program: The Footy Show – AFL (Nine)
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: Today Tonight (Seven)

Industry-voted Awards:

TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall Of Fame: Mike Willesee (pictured)

Most Outstanding Actor: William McInnes (My Brother Jack, Ten)
Most Outstanding Actress: Deborah Mailman (The Secret Life Of Us, Ten)
Most Outstanding Drama Series: The Secret Life Of Us (Ten)
Most Outstanding Mini-Series/Telemovie: Changi (ABC)
Most Outstanding Children’s Program: Round The Twist (ABC)
Most Outstanding Comedy Program:  The Micallef Pogram (ABC)
Most Outstanding Sports Coverage: Bledisloe Cup (Seven)
Most Outstanding News Reporter: Geoff Thompson (ABC)
Most Outstanding News Coverage: ABC News
Most Outstanding Special Report In A Public Affairs Program: “The Dirty War” (Dateline, SBS) and “See No Evil” (Dateline, SBS).
Most Outstanding Documentary/Series: Australians At War (ABC)

Source: TV Week, 27 April 2002.  TV Week, 11 May 2002. The Age, 1 April 2010.

1992: January 18-24

Cover: Kevin Costner

Is Jennifer set to quit?
Tonight Live host and producer Steve Vizard has denied rumours that the show’s resident newsreader Jennifer Keyte will not be with the show when it returns for 1992, although he has conceded that she has not renewed her contract with the show.  “I can tell you she’ll be back,” he told TV Week.  And Seven Nightly News reporter Naomi Robson, who has filled in for Keyte on Tonight Live, denies suggestions that she will be Keyte’s replacement on the show.  “I don’t know where these stories come from.  There is no talk about it at the moment,” Robson said.  “Jennifer is well entrenched in both her jobs at Seven.”  Rumours over Keyte’s position have been sparked by her apparent concern that her appearances on the late night show are affecting her credibility as the main news anchor for Seven in Melbourne.  It is believed that she wants to concentrate on what is shaping up to be a fierce battle for early evening ratings this year with the launch of Seven’s new current affairs show, Real Life. 

The naked truth about Jeremy Sims
Chances star Jeremy Sims wants people to know that despite his character Alex’s readiness to strip off (as pictured, with co-star Annie Jones), in real life there is an intelligent head on those often bare shoulders and that he takes his job very seriously.  Sims has no desire to be a “personality” and as a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) wants to be taken seriously as an actor – adding that Chances presents some significant challenges.  “I’ve had to go into scenes after minimal rehearsal and put myself on the line,” he told TV Week.  “This means day in, day out, every week, in what is probably the most dramatic – if over-the-top – role on television.  I’m really grateful for the role of Alex.  It’s the only role I think I’d be happy doing on television in an ongoing soap.  I’m sure there are other guys who are happy doing their bits on Home And Away and E Street, but I would be bored out of my mind doing that stuff.”  Sims also responds to some of the jokes and send-ups made about the show and his frequent bouts of nudity.  “I’m fascinated that people still make such a big issue out of it.  People are puerile on the subject, you know.  Tits and bums are the most amazing subjects.  You can get endless publicity over the fact you show a part of your body on television,” he said.  “Apart from the political satire, Fast Forward is nearly all tits and bums jokes.  It’s all cheap innuendo, yet they can get away with it because they have the facade of being intelligent satire.  It is mostly just puerile, schoolboy humour.  I’m not saying I don’t laugh at it.”

Man of Meni talents!
Hard Copy reporter Meni Caroutas (pictured) will do anything for a story – even if it means crawling through Melbourne’s drains.  On a recent assignment, the policeman-turned-reporter joined the Cave Clan for a trip around a part of the metropolis few ever see.  “When I heard of the Cave Clan I thought it was just a bunch of kids, but they are all about 20 and well organised,” he said.  “They just do it for kicks, a bit of fun.  They get maps of the drains.  It’s all carefully planned.”  As a member of the NSW Police Force, Caroutas was an undercover detective but a set up saw him charged with theft of cash and amphetamines.  Even though he was exonerated and received a settlement, his career with the force was ruined.  Officially he is still a member of the NSW Police Force but is hoping to soon be discharged.  “I’m just a number at the moment,” he said.  “Hopefully all the paperwork will be processed soon.  I don’t consider myself a copper.”

Briefly…
Dinosaurs, a new US co-production between Jim Henson Productions and Walt Disney Television, is set to be Seven’s new weapon against long-running current affairs show 60 Minutes.  Not since The Comedy Company has a rival show managed to consistently knock 60 Minutes in the ratings – although Seven’s ALF and Ten’s The Simpsons had tried – but coupled with popular US sitcom Full House, Seven hopes Dinosaurs is a strong contender against the current affairs ratings giant.

GP star Brian Rooney might not be returning to the popular ABC drama when production resumes this year.  The 18-year-old, currently appearing in the stage production of Wizard Of Oz in Adelaide, will be taking on a leading role in the upcoming production of Neil Simon’s Lost In Yonkers but it is uncertain if he will be able to combine that commitment to production of GP.  “Hopefully, I can do both,” he told TV Week.  “I did that when I was doing Les Miserables and GP.  We might be able to work GP in.”

Former Brides Of Christ star Melissa Thomas is looking forward to making the move from Sydney to Melbourne for her new role as schoolgirl Lily Price in the upcoming Network Ten sitcom Late For School.  The 17-year-old has been the victim of an ongoing campaign of obscene phone calls and intruders at her home.  “It’s been pretty scary stuff,” she said, adding that the new job offer came at just the right time.  “I desperately needed some excuse to get away from Sydney.”  Late For School, which also stars Frankie J. Holden, Sarah Chadwick, Ross Higgins and Matthew Newton, is set to debut soon on Ten.

John Laws says…
”We are in for a heady year, it seems, on the current affairs front.  Even Ten is getting into the act, but I suspect it’s going to be trailing the field in the ratings with Mr Shame (though its much-criticised but entertaining beat-up series, Hard Copy, could well prove a ratings winner throughout 1992).  My prediction is that A Current Affair will maintain its momentum in the long haul, but its control of the important 6.30pm timeslot is no longer guaranteed.  Seven executives and Gerald Stone are, I’m told, supremely confident that their new product, Real Life, can knock off Jana (Wendt) and company.  If nothing else, the battle is going to be brutal and unrelenting.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne/Regional Victoria, January 18-24):
Saturday: There’s golf (Palm Meadows Cup) and lawn bowls (Qantas Jetabout International) on ABC, tennis (Australian Open) on Seven/Prime and cricket (Benson And Hedges World Series) on Nine/VIC TV.  With the cricket being held in Melbourne, regional network VIC TV has live evening coverage of the cricket, while Nine in Melbourne has a repeat of the 1983 movie BMX Bandits, the movie which launched the career of Nicole Kidman. 

Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Thunderball (Seven/Prime) and The Star Chamber (Nine/VIC TV) up against mini-series Bride Of Violence (Ten/SCN), while ABC presents Bruce Beresford’s production of the Richard Strauss opera Elektra for the State Opera of South Australia.

Monday:  Ten launches some major changes to its daytime and early evening line-up.  At 8.30am, Bert Newton (pictured) returns to TV as host of The Morning Show, presenting 90 minutes of entertainment and infomercials.  The new program replaces ‘Til Ten.  Ten also debuts US talk show Sally Jessy Raphael and moves Oprah Winfrey to an afternoon timeslot after a trial run in a late-night timeslot over the last few months.  However the biggest change is late in the afternoon, with the move of Ten Eyewitness News to the 5.00pm timeslot, followed by the debut of current affairs program Hinch at 6.00pm (following Derryn Hinch’s recent axing from the Seven Network).  At 6.30pm is American dating game Studs, followed by Neighbours at 7.00pm.  Regional network SCN breaks away from the Ten schedule in the early evening to run alternative programming: The New Candid Camera at 5.00pm, Neighbours at 5.30pm, Southern Cross News (Bendigo/Gippsland) and Studs (Albury/Shepparton/Ballarat) at 6.00pm, and then at 6.30pm Rob Gaylard (ex-GTV9) presents Southern Cross Eyewitness News, a half-hour bulletin of national news broadcast statewide, followed by a delayed broadcast of Hinch at 7.00pm before re-joining the Ten schedule.  Seven debuts its long-awaited current affairs program Real Life at 6.30pm, and after Home And Away presents the series return of A Country Practice.  Then in the wee small hours of the morning, at 4.00am, Ten resumes repeats of classic Australian drama Prisoner.

Tuesday:  After the late news, Ten/SCN debuts the new US drama series Dangerous Women, a production of the Australian Grundy organisation largely based on its former series Prisoner, with scripts and storylines in early episodes almost directly copied from the Australian original.

Thursday:  Seven/Prime starts a repeat of the popular 1981 mini-series A Town Like Alice, starring Bryan Brown, Helen Morse (both pictured) and Gordon Jackson.

Friday:  In the lead up to Australia Day, ABC presents the first of two nights of The Aussie Picture Show – a collection of films representing Australian life over the past 80 years.  Tonight’s line-up of films include Leisure, the 1977 Academy Award-winning animation depicting the world of work and leisure through history; Bingo, Bridesmaids And Braces, tracing the lives of three working-class women as they grow up over a 12-year period; This Is The ABC, a 20-minute review of the operations of the ABC in the 1950s; and the 1979 telemovie A Good Thing Going, starring Chris Haywood and Veronica Lang.

Source: TV Week (Victoria Country edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  18 January 1992.  Southdown Press

1991: December 28-January 3

The doctor’s lusty bedside manner!
Viewers of The Flying Doctors may be shocked by a lusty bedroom scene coming up in a future episode between Dr Guy Reid (David Reyne) and Penny Wellings (Sophie Lee).  The “fling” is the result of Penny’s boyfriend Steve (Paul Kelman) getting a local schoolteacher pregnant.  Penny turns to Guy for comfort and he exploits a “golden opportunity”.  “He’s the sort of man who lusts after all women, really,” Reyne told TV Week.  “Although he is in a relationship with Nurse Jackie Crane (Nikki Coghill), Guy has a wandering eye for Penny.”  Lee was initially surprised when she was presented with the script but feels the situation is a realistic one.  “It’s a daring episode but it’s the reality of what could happen in this situation in an outback town,” she said.  But with the future of The Flying Doctors in doubt the long-term repercussions of the affair may not be seen.  The episode is scheduled to go to air in February.

‘I’m fighting fit!’
Sale Of The Century co-host Jo Bailey has a bold announcement to make.  “I want people to know that I’m not about to drop dead,” she says.  The statement came after a recent magazine interview where she revealed that her family has a history of bowel cancer.  “People read the headline that went with the story and think I’ve got cancer.  I’d just like to clarify that I’m fighting fit… apart from being a bit stiff from water-skiing.” 

Overseas viewers lap up Kelly
Skippy may have been a popular television export but she looks like being trumped by an ex-police dog called Kelly.  Kelly is a six-year-old german shepherd and the title character from Network Ten children’s series, Kelly.  The first series of thirteen episodes has been sold to 31 countries and a second series is nearing completion.  Execute producer Jonathon Shiff says it’s a major triumph for children’s television in Australia.  “I’m thrilled about the reception the show has received overseas,” he said.  “One of our targets is to deliver high-quality shows for children.  There is still plenty of room for shows of Disney quality which has positive storylines and characters for children to model themselves on.”  The series also features child actors Charmaine Gorman and Alexander Kemp.

Briefly…
Fans of sitcom Acropolis Now will notice some changes with the fourth series of the show that is set to screen early in the new year – with the focus changing from “wog comedy” to broad family sitcom.  “We don’t want to do a show that’s just directed at a wog audience – we want to include everybody,” says George Kapiniaris (pictured), who plays Memo in the show.  “I’m sure it’s the best series we’ve made – and it’s the most mainstream one of all.  The jokes are broader and the characters are funnier.  Everyone is really keen to show Seven we’re serious about keeping the show going.” 

A new policeman is about to make an entrance into A Country Practice’s Wandin Valley.  Senior Constable Tom Newman (Jon Concannon, pictured) comes into town as the heir apparent to Frank Gilroy (Brian Wenzel) – and while producers won’t give much away, it appears that the new policeman’s arrival creates some resentment on Frank’s part.  Concannon has previously starred in mini-series Nancy Wake and All The Rivers Run II and in the ABC series House Rules.

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off
”While there is not a lot that’s worth watching on the small screen at the moment, other activities within the commercial networks have been almost frenzied.  It seems every other day brings an announcement of a new program or the demise of one, someone switching networks or being axed, or someone making a comeback.  In the past month we’ve had Nine planning its 5.30pm current affairs program in each city, and there’s a new frontman on Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show.  The network has been less forthcoming about its future participation in the Crawfords Australia series The Flying Doctors.  Derryn Hinch was dropped abruptly by Seven and picked up just as quickly by Ten.  Bert Newton and Jacki MacDonald (pictured) also will be at Ten in 1992 and the network is about to move the bulk of its Melbourne operations from Nunawading to South Yarra – much more accessible, upmarket and convenient for Ten’s owner, Westpac.  And Seven has been preparing for Real Life and the move of Home And Away to 7.00pm.  One rumour doing the rounds is that Nine has given the go-ahead to a new Saturday morning show called Saturday At Rick’s, two hours of music and madness to be made at Rick’s Cafe American at Warner Bros Movie World on the Gold Coast.”

John Laws says…
”It was a triumphant year for comedy.  Fast Forward slipped into another gear and proved itself, again, the most inventive and funniest Australian comedy product, leaving more experimental black comedy such as The Big Gig and DAAS Kapital in its wake.  All Together Now (pictured) and Hey Dad! were other comedy successes for the year.  Hey Dad! displays an amazing resilience, the standard of its scripts rarely flagging despite having been around for a long time by TV standards.  All Together Now struggled to establish itself, but it always had the look of a program that would manage to survive.  It has a strong, professional cast and its scripts and plots got better as the year wore on.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, December 28-January 3):
Saturday:  Seven crosses to Burswood Superdome, Perth, to start its live coverage of the Hopman Cup tennis.  ABC presents golf with live coverage of the Australian Ladies’ Masters from Palm Meadows, Gold Coast, and Nine has live coverage of the afternoon session of play in the cricket Second Test from the MCG.  Music video show Video Hits (Ten) presents the first part of its Top 100 songs of 1991 special.  In the evening, Seven presents a one-hour special, 1991: The Big Picture, covering the major news and sporting events that have taken place over the past year.

Sunday:  There’s more women’s golf on ABC, tennis on Seven and cricket on Nine, plus the second half of Video Hits’ Top 100 special.  After the news, Nine screens a World Vision special, The Silent Tragedy, featuring Bryan Brown, Rachel Ward, Liz Burch and Ian Leslie as they visit World Vision projects and disaster areas in the Third World.  Sunday night movies are The Sting (Seven) and Sweet Liberty (Ten), while Nine presents the first part of a repeat screening of mini-series The Lancaster Miller Affair, starring Nicholas Eadie and Kerry Mack.

Monday:  Seven debuts a new pre-schoolers program, The Book Place, produced from SAS7 in Adelaide. 

Tuesday (New Year’s Eve):  ABC screens the 1951 musical Show Boat before presenting Backchat – The Year In Review, followed by late news and then American football with Don Lane which sees ABC through into 1992.  Ten presents a special New Year’s Eve edition of Video Hits, starting at 10.35pm and continuing through to 1.50am, including a midnight countdown.  SBS continues its New Year’s Eve tradition of screening the German-made comedy skit, Dinner For One.

Wednesday:  Aussie ex-pat Clive James presents his review of the year, Clive James On ‘91, on ABC.

Thursday:  Nine’s telecast of the Third Test begins from Sydney.  Seven has live coverage of the evening session of the Hopman Cup, and Ten has a news special, Russia In Crisis, presented by Sydney newsreader Katrina Lee.

Friday:  A full day of tennis on Seven with live coverage of the Australian Men’s Hardcourt Championships from Adelaide during the day and the finals of the Hopman Cup from Perth in the evening. 

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  28 December 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: November 16-22

‘It hurts…’
The Flying Doctors and The Bugs Bunny Show star Sophie Lee (pictured) has hit out at critics accusing her of being offered fame based on looks rather than intelligence or ability, likening their comments to schoolyard taunts.  “Of course plenty of it hurts,” she told TV Week.  “If the comments are witty or well done, then you have respect for what that particular person is doing.  But often it’s coming from an empty-headed DJ and you find yourself asking, ‘Where’s the wit?’.  There’s an unusual situation to contend with in Australia.  When you begin to succeed, you have to put up with jealousy and sexism.  And the more successful you become, the more negative things people say.”  The daughter of academics, Lee received outstanding results in her high school certificate but decided against a tertiary education and entered the entertainment industry, starting with the local repertory company in Newcastle and then taking on modelling assignments which took her overseas.  Her first major TV appearance was in the telemovie Raw Silk before gaining the hosting role for The Bugs Bunny Show and the part of Penny Wellings in The Flying Doctors.

Two celebrations of Oz TV’s historic anniversary 
To celebrate this year’s milestone of 35 years of television, the Nine Network this week pays tribute to the small screen in a three-hour special, produced in co-operation with all the networks.  The special will feature segments devoted to various program genres – including Bert Newton making a return to television to present the quiz and game show segment, Olivia Newton-John presenting the tribute to children’s shows, Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum looking at the history of rock music on TV, and Kylie Mole (Maryanne Fahey) presenting the look at Australian TV comedy.  “Like, some of the shows in this special are so good like Aunty Jack and Norman Gunston and they were on telly when Mum was a kid, so they must be, like, from the 18th century,” Mole told TV Week.  Graham Kennedy, not seen on TV since hosting Graham Kennedy’s Funniest Home Video Show a year ago, will be presenting the tribute to variety shows.  Meanwhile, Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art has launched its own tribute to Australian television with the exhibition TV Times: 35 Years Of Television In Australia.  The exhibition includes a ‘Hall of Fame’ of some of Australia’s most famous stars, and a unique game show wheel which spins not prizes but old clips of game show winners and losers.

Just horsin’ around
On the eve of his return to TV – as above – Graham Kennedy (pictured) allowed TV Week to visit his country property in the NSW southern highlands, but as per Kennedy tradition, the interview still had to be carried out by fax.  The multiple Gold Logie winner is now based full-time at his 124 acre property with Dave and Sarah, his beloved clydesdale horses.  Kennedy told TV Week that Nine had offered him the opportunity to present another series of his Funniest Home Video Show after a successful run last year but he declined.  “I’ve reached a time in my life when I’m captivated by something for only a short time,” he said.  He also mentioned that his upcoming TV appearance is likely to be his last for a while, as he now sees himself as “just an Australian who lives in the country with horses”.  When asked if he would consider writing an autobiography, he responded, “Well, who else could write my autobiography?”

Briefly…
Former A Country Practice star Josephine Mitchell has joined E Street, playing the part of fashion designer Penny O’Brien.  “Forrest Redlich, the producer, has a lot of ideas for the future of E Street, and it’s nice to be one of them,” she told TV Week.  Meanwhile, actress Tammy MacIntosh has signed up for the second series of ABC’s Police Rescue, marking her return to TV following a brief stint on the Nine Network’s Chances.

Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show is going global as host Jacki MacDonald (pictured) links up with hosts of overseas versions of the show for a special international edition to screen this week.  “I can’t even begin to think what’s going to happen on the night,” she told TV Week. “I don’t speak French, German or Spanish, so I hope the hosts all speak English.  But there is no language barrier where humour is concerned.  Regardless of nationality, people enjoy a good laugh.”

As the Nine Network’s Sunday program celebrates a decade on air, host Jim Waley doesn’t take the credit for the show’s longevity.  “The difference between Sunday and every other news program on TV is we don’t have any tall poppies.  Everyone pulls together and that is the only reason we have survived,” he told TV Week. 

John Laws says…
”SBS’ eminently watchable The Movie Show celebrated its fifth birthday recently.  Not many TV shows can claim that many birthdays.  David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz have got the formula worked out to a nicety.  They’ve had some 225 programs to air and reviewed close to 1000 movies.  Like many other programs that work well, The Movie Show succeeds because it keeps the action tight and flowing.  The hosts don’t preach and they never pull a punch when it comes to crunching a bad movie, and that’s exactly how it should be.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, November 16-22):
Saturday:  Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) presents its second Hollywood-based special, with guest stars Madonna, Rita Rudner, Alison Porter, Christina Applegate and Richard Crenna.  This week’s contestants on Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune (Seven) are Brian Wenzel, Agro, Fat Cat and performer Maria Venuti.

Sunday:  The Nine Network televises the annual Rock Eisteddfod, featuring performances of secondary school students from around Australia, hosted by Steven Jacobs and Jane Hall.  Ten crosses to Bondi Beach for the Iron Man Super Series.  Sunday night movies are Nuns On The Run (Seven) and Legal Eagles (Ten), up against the Australian Opera production of Carmen (ABC) and the Nine Network’s three-hour special 35 Years Of Television, featuring Graham Kennedy, Bert Newton, Jana Wendt, Mike Willesee, Ray Martin, Craig McLachlan, John Waters, Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, Brian Henderson, Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Mole (Maryanne Fahey), Max Walker and David Lyle.

Monday: In Col’n Carpenter (Ten), Colin (Kim Gyngell) discovers he has a copy of a very rare Phantom comic.  Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum presents a half-hour special on Nine, Michael Jackson – Dangerous, previewing the pop star’s new video Black And White.  ABC’s Four Corners and Media Watch present their final editions for 1991.

Tuesday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Esme (Joyce Jacobs) gets her just rewards after she thinks she is being investigated by ASIO.  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Amanda Keller presents a two-part report on stress – looking at its effects on elderly people and pregnant women.  Former The Flying Doctors star Liz Burch guest stars in Chances (Nine).

Wednesday:  Couchman Over Australia (ABC) presents its final show for 1991.

Thursday:  Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s Wilbur Wilde (pictured) guest stars in The Flying Doctors as a lovable, irresistible musician who lures the Coopers Crossing locals to an outback feast when a wedding is cancelled and the gourmet food is up for grabs.  In E Street (Ten), Joey Valentine (Lorry D’Ercole) is caught up in a rock’n’roll duel.  ABC debuts a new documentary series, The First Australians – the first episode looking at the Watson family of Mt Anderson Station in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Friday:  Rock star Jimmy Barnes is this week’s guest on Burke’s Backyard (Nine).  Seven crosses to the State Sports Centre, Homebush, for the World Amateur Boxing Championships final – with 54 countries competing in the competition, Australia is represented by five NSW boxers, five from Queensland and one from Tasmania.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  16 November 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: October 26-November 1

Cover: (near right) Ryan Clark (Home And Away), Matthew Krok (Hey Dad!); (far right) Natalie McCurry (Chances); (bottom) Julie McGregor (Hey Dad!), Georgie Parker (A Country Practice), Emily Symons (Home And Away)

Jimmy and John to rock AMAs!
Rock legends Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham will perform a duet at the upcoming Australian Music Awards presentation.  The live performance follows the release of their upcoming single, a remake of the Sixties song Something Is Wrong With My Baby.  The Australian Music Awards will be held at Melbourne’s World Congress Centre late in November and will be broadcast via Network Ten.

Hey Hey it’s Hollywood!
The Nine Network’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday will mark its 20th anniversary with two shows beamed live from the Hollywood studios of Warner Bros.  A team of 25 cast and crew will head to California for the shows to go to air on November 9 and 16.  The Hollywood production followed the success of the show’s recent special edition presented from Warner Bros Movieworld on the Gold Coast.  “The only snag was money,” host and co-producer Daryl Somers told TV Week.  “We’re ecstatic that the deal has come off, with the support of Movieworld, Village Roadshow, Qantas and Warner.”  Although the Hollywood specials of Hey Hey It’s Saturday are for Australian audiences only, Somers has been asked to contribute some segments to a US program.

Fast Forward salutes Captain Bligh
The Fast Forward team is set to go into production with its first sitcom project.  A pilot of the concept, based on the life of Captain William Bligh, is likely to be produced later this year.  The concept was created by Steve Vizard and Peter Moon but it is unclear at this stage which cast members of Fast Forward will feature in the pilot.  “The cast generally enjoy doing Fast Forward, but they are anxious to go in new directions,” Andrew Knight, Vizard’s partner in Artists Services, told TV Week.  “I have no doubt they are the best comic performers in the country, but unless you give them new ideas, they’ll go stale.”  Knight also said that it was likely that Fast Forward would be back only in a reduced form in 1992.

Briefly…
Former Home And Away cast member Alex Papps has returned to the series for a four-week guest role.  Since leaving the series he has worked on The Flying Doctors, appeared in two productions for the Melbourne Theatre Company and featured in a Christmas pantomime in the UK.  But Papps (pictured with co-star Nicolle Dickson) has warned that his character, Frank, is back as a changed man.  “Frank is a bad boy… a very bad boy,” he said.  “He’s spent the last two years in New York with Roo (played by Justine Clarke), and their relationship has slowly deteriorated.  She loved the New York hype.  He was not happy there.”

A group of Seven Network personalities have grouped together for a recording project.  Michael Horrocks (Video Smash Hits), Georgie Parker (A Country Practice), Emily Symons (Home And Away), Julie McGregor (Hey Dad!) and Christopher Truswell (ex-Hey Dad!) have each recorded their own solo tracks which will be compiled into an album under the name Farm House.  “I think it will appeal to our mums!,” Horrocks said.  “We chose songs that older people would remember but with a beat younger people would enjoy.”  The first single from the album, Parker’s version of These Boots Are Made For Walkin’, is due to be released this week.

Nine’s music maestro Geoff Harvey has landed a guest role in The Flying Doctors, marking his acting debut.  In mock seriousness, Harvey is confident his role of French chef Jason Slark will lead to an international career in television, stage and film.  “I can only assume that I’ll be forced to stop doing Midday as soon as people see me in The Flying Doctors.  I’m sure I’ll be off to the US to look at a few projects,” Harvey said.  “Ray (Martin) doesn’t speak to me as much as he used to… I believe he’s jealous.”

Production is well underway on Lift Off, the $10.3 million series being produced by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation.  Scheduled to appear on ABC next May, the series has already been sold overseas.

John Laws says…
”Australians are becoming – like viewers in other countries – more and more disposed to “bare knuckle” television.  Take the case of Ten’s Hard Copy, a program that happily plumbs any depths to exploit tragedy.  Recently in its chronic desperation to serve up blood and guts (anyone’s), Hard Copy revived a long-forgotten murder case from the Fifties and attempted to link it with the fictional Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter serial killer in Silence Of The Lambs.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, October 26-November 1):
Saturday:  SBS presents the Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders Sports Awards, hosted by Les Murray.  Nine has a day of cricket with the FAI Cup Final.  Contestants on Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune (Seven) are Paul McNamee, Peter McNamara and Neal Fraser.

Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Summer School (Seven), Tango And Cash (Nine) and Tank (Ten).

Monday:  In Col’n Carpenter (Ten), Mrs Fuller (Anne Phelan) rents out a room at Colin’s (Kim Gyngell) place to a down-and-out ex-TV star – without telling Colin.  Bert Newton and Fred Parslow guest star in the episode.

Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), William (Michael Craig) gets dragged into a court case and discovers that the law is a game where everyone gets muddled and battered.  In All Together Now (Nine), Thomas (Steven Jacobs) is convinced he is the only remaining virgin in his school.

Wednesday:  ABC presents a special, Everybody – Smoking, taking a look at the personal, cultural, political and economic aspects of a drug claimed to be the world’s cheapest status symbol.  The program is hosted by Trisha Goddard.  In Neighbours (Ten), Ramsay Street is in for a shock when the Mangel house is auctioned.

Thursday:  In The Flying Doctors (Nine), Geoff’s (Robert Grubb) plans to open a new French restaurant in Coopers Crossing go awry when the new French chef (played by Geoff Harvey, pictured with regular cast member Sarah Chadwick) is injured in a plane accident.

Friday:  In Home And Away (Seven), living in a caravan puts strain on Nick (Bruce Roberts) and Lou’s (Dee Smart) relationship.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  26 October 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: August 31-September 6

Steve’s fast women!
Ask Steve Vizard about “his girls”, Fast Forward comediennes Gina Riley, Marg Downey, Magda Szubanski and Jane Turner (pictured as their Fast Forward alter egos Kerri-Anne Kennel, the SBS lady, Pixie Anne Wheatley and Sveta), and all you’ll hear is praise… well, almost.  “Frankly, if I can come clean, I carry the lot of them.  I’m the talent,” he says, with the trademark Vizard modesty.  “Take away their incredible acting ability, their comedic skills, their looks and their personalities, and they’re nothing… these girls are nothing!” 

Angry network dumps Rowena!
Gold Logie winner Rowena Wallace (pictured) has sparked a furore with the producers of Home And Away after making comments to a newspaper that derided her upcoming role in the Seven Network soap.  Wallace, who won the Gold Logie for her role as nasty Patricia Hamilton in Sons And Daughters, was cast to play Julia Bowman, the mother of a young girl dying of leukaemia in a storyline to air on Home And Away early next year.  But in a story published by Sydney’s Telegraph Mirror, Wallace was less than enthused about the role.  “I’m playing somebody’s mother.  It doesn’t really matter whose mother, does it?  She’s dying of leukaemia and I’m there crying a lot, I suppose.  I can see it now,” she told the paper.  “But I’m doing Home And Away for the money.  It’s a nice little earner until Christmas, and then I can go off and do the World Vision thing, you see.”  Although there is a signed contract for Wallace’s upcoming role, Seven has advised her management that her services are no longer required and the two parties are currently negotiating an outcome.  But a spokesperson for Seven has told TV Week, “the role is being re-cast and Rowena will not be doing it.”

E Street wipeout!
A major cast upheaval is headed for Network Ten’s E Street – with four cast members being written out, two former cast members returning, and question marks over three others.  By the end of the year cast members Joan Sydney, Graham Harvey, Julieanne Newbould (pictured) and teenager Daniel Knight will be gone.  Producer Forrest Redlich is currently negotiating with Marcus Graham, Alyssa-Jane Cook and Kate Raison, whose contracts are up for renewal.  “It’s a pretty good bet Marcus will be out.  I’m talking to him about another project,” Redlich told TV Week.  “If Marcus, Kate and A-J go, they’ll be on air until March.”  Meanwhile, Vic Rooney and Kelley Abbey will return to the series, and Diane Craig will take over the role of Dr Elly Fielding from former cast member Penny Cook.

Briefly…
Irish actress Brenda Fricker (pictured) has told TV Week that she was on the verge of collapse while filming the ABC mini-series Brides Of Christ, with long hours in a nun’s habit in temperatures of up to 40 degrees.  “The heat killed me and with the humidity I just couldn’t breathe,” she said.  “I don’t like heat and four months was too long away from home.  Although they did everything to make me feel at home at the place I was staying, it wasn’t home.  I also got very ill.  I went to a doctor and he said I was suffering from chronic fatigue.  He said that I needed a long break.  He said I would probably ignore his advice but, if I did, I would end up in hospital.”

Bert Newton and John Blackman have spoken to TV Week about what has been a frustrating year for both of them in terms of radio.  It is a year since Blackman and Wilbur Wilde were dumped from 3UZ’s breakfast program, and Newton (pictured) has reflected on a year that saw his failed attempt to launch an entertainment-based format on 3AK as well as an unsuccessful bid for the licence of 3XY.  “Radio is dead for me in this town at present,” Newton said.  “I’ve done my best to pick it up, but I feel I have run my race.”  Meanwhile, Blackman has had some discussions with KZFM but not confident of any return to radio in the short term.  “The phone is still deadly silent,” he said.  “Radio’s the thing that’s in my blood, and it’s terribly frustrating for me not to be a part of it.”

Kate Fitzpatrick (pictured) is soon to make a guest appearance in Nine’s Chances as a former brothel madam involved in the untimely death of a prominent figure.  “She’s a great character and introducing guest stars is a good way for the show to go,” she said.

John Laws says…
”The idea of ‘resting’ from his late-night show and installing temporary replacements is something Steve Vizard has perfected this year.  The star of Seven’s Tonight Live is sometimes missing from the limelight and replaced by various personalities, some of whom have appeared before as his guests.  Vizard’s recent stand-in host, the British comedian and comedy writer Ben Elton, made such a marvellous fist of the job that I dare say there were many viewers wishing he could be around all year.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, August 31-September 6):
Saturday:  The Choirboys and The Cockroaches are guest performers on this week’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine).

Sunday:  Sunday night movies are The Name Of The Rose (Seven) and Old Gringo (Nine) up against Ten’s re-run of mini-series Come In Spinner, a series originally aired on ABC.

Monday:  In Col’n Carpenter (Ten), Colin (Kim Gyngell) is jailed for a crime he didn’t commit and fights to prove his innocence.  In A Country Practice (Seven), Kate (Michelle Pettigrove) is caught in the middle of old rivalries between Harry (Andrew Blackman) and his brother Rick (John Adam).

Tuesday:  Gary Sweet (pictured with Rebecca Gibney) guest stars in All Together Now (Nine), playing the role of a sleazy fashion buyer.  Beyond 2000 (Seven) reports on the controversial abortion drug RU486, and a device which could enable us to control our dreams.  Henri Szeps and Miles Buchanan guest star in GP (ABC).

Wednesday:  ABC debuts mini-series Brides Of Christ, a six-part series set in Australia during a decade of radical upheaval in our society and in the Catholic Church, starring Josephine Byrnes, Kym Wilson, Lisa Hensley, Brenda Fricker and Naomi Watts.

Thursday:  In The Flying Doctors (Nine), rumours are sparked in Coopers Crossing when Guy (David Reyne) and Jackie (Nikki Coghill) spend the night alone after being stranded in a desolate Outback hut.

Friday:  Movie host Bill Collins is the celebrity guest on this week’s Burke’s Backyard (Seven).

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  31 August 1991.  Southdown Press

Laurie Oakes for Logies’ Hall of Fame

The Nine Network’s political editor Laurie Oakes is to be inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame when the annual awards presentation takes place early next month.

With a background in radio and newspaper reporting, Oakes made his television debut in the 1970s on the Willesee At Seven program.  He later became political correspondent for the Ten Network before joining the Nine Network in the mid-1980s.

At Nine, Oakes regularly led the media’s news agenda with his weekly political interviews on the Sunday program.  Even after the demise of Sunday in 2008, Oakes continued to present his interviews on its successor programs Sunday Morning News and Weekend Today.

Earlier this month, Oakes announced that after 26 years he was stepping back from his Sunday morning commitments but will continue to report for Nine.

The Hall of Fame Logie is the third major award for Oakes in recent times.  He was also recently awarded the Gold Walkley and the Graham Perkin Journalist of the Year, following his breaking of significant stories during the recent Federal Election campaign.

The TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame was initiated in 1984 as a means of recognition of those who have made an outstanding or sustained contribution to the Australian television industry, either on screen or behind the cameras.  Past recipients have included Hector Crawford, Paul Hogan, Reg Grundy, Johnny Young, James Davern, Bert Newton, Don Lane, Graham Kennedy, Maurie Fields, Bruce Gyngell, Michael Willesee, Mike Walsh, Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Sam Chisholm, Steve Irwin, Brian Naylor, Bill Collins and Bryan Brown.  Long-running programs Four Corners, Neighbours and Play School have also been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The 53rd annual TV Week Logie Awards will be held at Melbourne’s Crown Casino on Sunday 1 May.  The awards presentation will be hosted by Shane Bourne and broadcast via the Nine Network.

Source: The Australian, Ninemsn

1991: March 9-15

Bob pops the question!
For more than two years the romance between Dr Elly Fielding (Penny Cook) and Reverend Bob Brown (Tony Martin, pictured near right with Cook) in E Street has been an on-again off-again affair.  But this week in the Ten Network soap, Bob finally proposes – but Elly doesn’t accept straight away.  “She doesn’t say yes immediately, but she doesn’t say no,” Cook told TV Week. 

It’s no Sale!
Tony Barber has denied that there is more to his shock resignation from hosting Nine’s Sale Of The Century as industry rumours have suggested.  Barber insists that the resignation was to escape his “quiz show host” label, having also hosted Temptation, Great Temptation, Name That Tune and Family Feud before 11 years on Sale Of The Century, and also to recover from a hip operation.  Rumours persist within the industry, however, that his resignation was due to the network denying certain demands in renewing his contract.  And although Seven claims that Barber’s management have approached them about coming across, he has denied any discussions have taken place with Seven and Ten, citing his commitment to his Nine contract which expires later this month.  The timing of Barber’s announcement may have also come at an awkward time.  Just days before the announcement, in an interview pre-recorded for Nine’s In Melbourne Today and In Sydney Today chat shows, Barber was asked about his future at Sale to which he replied, “I can see myself doing it when I am 65 or 70.”   No decision has been made as to a successor for Barber on Sale Of The Century, although Denis Walter, Bert Newton and Daryl Somers appear to be possibilities.

Marcus comes home to play a ratbag
Taking a break after a busy year, actor Marcus Graham (pictured) was in Los Angeles when he was offered a two-year contract with daytime soap General Hospital – an offer any number of actors would jump at.  But he said no.  Despite enormous pressure to sign (“98 per cent of everyone I met in the US said I should do it”) he felt it was the wrong thing to do.  “They wanted me to sign a two-year contract.  I was prepared to do one year, but I couldn’t do two, I couldn’t,” Graham told TV Week.  “I think you’d have a very low self-esteem after doing that show for a while.  They shoot an hour a day and you read your lines off cue cards.  It would kill me.  It’s like selling all your dreams and aspirations for thousands of US dollars and getting recognised in supermarkets.  It’s just not worth it.”  Graham was more enthusiastic in signing up for the Seven Network’s four-hour mini-series Ratbag Hero which debuts this week.  Graham plays ‘Unc’ (Bob), the roguish uncle of Mick (Cameron Nugent), the ‘ratbag hero’ of the show’s title.  “Unc is scruffy, a bit of a larrikin.  He is caught between being an adult and a kid.  He is childlike and loves fun,” Graham said.

Briefly…
Hollywood actress Angie Dickinson, best known from TV’s Policewoman series, will be a special guest at this year’s TV Week Logie Awards, taking place this week in Melbourne.  Also on the overseas guest list are Peggy Lipton and Michael Ontkean from the new US series Twin Peaks, now showing on Network Ten.

British-born comedienne Annette Law, whose celebrity impressions won her the ‘Red Faces’ talent quest on Hey Hey It’s Saturday and subsequently led to a career on the comedy circuit, is now heading back to the UK to start in a new BBC sketch comedy series, My Dog’s Got No Nose.  “I believe it’s the British equivalent to the old American show Laugh-In,” Law told TV Week.

Actor Gary Sweet’s proposed role as a reporter for Nine’s Midday With Ray Martin is now looking doubtful after he made a guest appearance on the daytime show to promote his new ABC series Police Rescue.  It happens that Police Rescue is scheduled directly up against Nine’s new drama Chances and the appearance has angered Nine Network executives.

John Laws says…
”Why did SBS scrap its Tonight current affairs show – and replace it with an almost identical program under another name?  This is exactly what has happened, though the program purveyors at SBS will, no doubt, deny it and claim that Dateline is a different concept from Tonight.  But there’s hardly a scrap of difference.  It has the same presenter, Pria Viswalingam, and has retained its capable “finance reporter” Jane Hutcheon, who continues to do exactly what she did so well on the Tonight program.  The official line is that Dateline comprises “the resources of Tonight, Asia Report and the weekly Dateline” and has “shorter, pithier reports” (whatever that means).  So there you have it – two well-established programs are skittled.  Now you see them, now you don’t.  One hour of current affairs becomes 30 minutes of current affairs.”

Program Highlights (March 9-15):
Sunday:  Seven’s afternoon includes live coverage of the Moomba Masters water-skiing from Melbourne’s Yarra River, followed by live coverage of the Australian Touring Car Championships from Symmons Plains, Tasmania.  After Seven Nightly News, Seven screens the first of the two-part children’s mini-series Ratbag Hero, starring Cameron Nugent (pictured), Elaine Smith, Peter Fisher, Marcus Graham, Gus Mercurio and Simon Chilvers.  Sunday night movies are Beaches (Seven), Scarface (Nine) and The Golden Child (Ten).  Nine then crosses to Trinidad for the One Day International between Australia and the West Indies.  Ten debuts a new late-night sports program, Sports Week, hosted by Eddie McGuire and Stephen Quartermain.

Monday:  ABC debuts its new rural affairs program Landline, screening every weekday.  ABC and Seven in Melbourne both present a direct telecast of the annual Moomba street procession.

Tuesday:  In All Together Now (Nine), Thomas (Steven Jacobs) and Anna (Jane Hall) come home drunk and Tracy (Rebecca Gibney) suspects it is Bobby’s (Jon English) influence that has caused it.  Tina Bursill, Serge Lazareff and Dorothy St Heaps are guest stars in ABC’s drama GP.

Wednesday: Prime Minister Bob Hawke is the guest speaker at the National Press Club Luncheon, broadcast on ABC. 

Thursday:  Former E Street star Paul Kelman enters Nine’s The Flying Doctors as Steve McCauley, who found out he was adopted and hitches a ride to Coopers Crossing, undecided on whether or not to tell his mother about their true relationship.

Friday:  Daryl Somers (pictured) hosts the 33rd annual TV Week Logie Awards from Melbourne’s World Congress Centre and broadcast nationally through the Nine Network.  It is triple Gold Logie winner Somers’ second time as host of the event.  This year will also see the launch of two new Logie award categories – the Most Popular Male and Most Popular Female Comedy Personality – in recognition of the rise in Australian-produced comedy on television.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  9 March 1991.  Southdown Press.

1991: February 2-8

Welcome to my nightmare!
A Country Practice marks its 800th episode with a horrifying leap into the future.  In the episodes to screen next week, Lucy Tyler (Georgie Parker, pictured) experiences a nightmare triggered by the arrival of a film crew in Wandin Valley for production of a post-holocaust movie.  In the dream, Wandin Valley has suffered a nuclear attack and Lucy finds the town and surrounds have been destroyed and her fellow Wandin Valley residents all haggard and suffering radioactive illness.  “It’s quite a philosophical episode, in that we had to try and not get too idealistic about the environment issues,” Parker told TV Week.  “We had to make it digestible, and I think that we managed to do that.”

Tammy’s in love… and nervous!
”My first scene is sex.  I’ve never done anything like that before… I was petrified,” says Tammy MacIntosh (pictured), formerly of The Flying Doctors, describing her arrival into Nine’s adults-only drama Chances.  MacIntosh plays Mandy Foster, assistant and lover of advertising executive Alex Taylor (Jeremy Sims).  “I tell you it feels strange when you have your own love life and you’re there kissing someone else,” she says.  MacIntosh was offered a two-year contract for Chances, to play another role, but was reluctant to commit to another long-running series and opted for the short-term role of Mandy Foster instead.  “I’ve learnt I get all tied up when I do a long series. I get bored, then I go a bit mad,” she says.

Greg’s new date is not just a pretty face!
Meet Greg Evans’ new perfect match, Nicky Buckley (pictured).  The 25-year-old Melbourne model beat 140 other hopefuls to be the hostess of Blind Date, the revival of the show previously known as Perfect Match.  Buckley has worked in the UK and the United States and last year was a model on Sale Of The Century.  But she is more than just a pretty face.  She has studied economics and accounting at university, speaks French, is learning to play the piano and is keen to take up Italian and Italian history this year.  “She is a delightful girl, so amiable and friendly,” Evans told TV Week.  “I think we’re going to get along famously.”  Blind Date begins this week on Network Ten.

Briefly…
Bert Newton (pictured) is set to re-enter Melbourne’s radio market with plans to “lease” ailing radio station 3AK from the station’s owner Peter Corso.  Newton, entering the new venture with business partner Tony Aloi, is set to present the morning shift on the station but has yet to announce who will occupy the other slots in the new-look station, which is currently broadcasting in Italian to few listeners.  It is Newton’s second chance at building a radio station, having previously been in charge of former station 3DB.

Former Young Talent Time and Neighbours cast member Mark Stevens takes on a new image in a guest role as a heavy-metal rocker in Nine’s new comedy series All Together Now.    “My character is a real punk with shoulder-length hair and a studded leather jacket,” he told TV Week. 

Despite studying classical ballet for sixteen years, Sonia Todd is out to prove that she is as good as the boys in the upcoming action series Police Rescue for ABC.  “All the writers and 10 of the directors for the series are men,” Todd (pictured, with co-star Gary Sweet) told TV Week.  “It was a constant battle to let them know I was capable of the action work.”

 

John Laws says…
”SBS television programmers must know something the rest of us don’t.  They must have top-secret information that scattered around Australia are tens of thousands of Russians or Russian-speaking people, all desperately anxious to catch up on the news each day from the dear old motherland.  Why else would our independent broadcaster spend money and time on screening the Russian news program Vremya each weekday at 2.00pm?  This cold whiff of brain-deadening television screens in Russian (without subtitles!) for some 40 minutes and you don’t have to speak the Moscow lingo to quickly realise that it’s little more than tedious communist propaganda.  So what’s the reasoning behind it?  If SBS was showing the nightly news program from Greece or Italy I could understand it.  But Russia!?  There is a further silly side to the whole fiasco.  SBS goes to air with Vremya at 2.00pm – then closes down again when the program finishes!  It returns to begin the “real” programs an hour and 20 minutes later.”

Program Highlights (February 2-8):
Saturday:  Tony Johnston and newcomer Nerida Leishman (pictured) host the return of Nine’s early morning Cartoon Company.  Afternoon sport includes the Davis Cup tennis from Perth on Seven and the Fifth Test cricket from Perth on Nine.

Sunday:  The AFL pre-season Foster’s Cup kicks off with Fitzroy versus Carlton, live on Seven.  Nine has Day Three of the Fifth Test from Perth and Ten crosses to Queensland for the Ironman Super Series.  Sunday night movies are Infidelity (Seven), Shakedown On The Sunset Strip (Nine) and The Chocolate War (Ten).

Monday:  Network Ten’s Good Morning Australia launches a revamped look, with Kerri-Anne Kennerley joined by new co-host Tim Webster.  Also joining the show this year are newsreader Anne Fulwood, weather presenter Shannon Dolan and science whiz Dr Karl Kruszelnicki.  The morning show now has a lighter, brighter format with more emphasis on entertainment, consumer affairs, recreation, health and sport.  Later in the day Ten launches its new 5.30pm game show, Let’s Make A Deal with Vince Sorrenti, followed by Ten Eyewitness News and then the debut of Blind Date, with Greg Evans and Nicky Buckley.  Late night programs Tonight Live With Steve Vizard (Seven) and Robbo’s World Tonight (Nine) return for another year.

Tuesday:  Seven’s popular science and technology show Beyond 2000 begins another year.  In Nine’s new drama series Chances, Connie’s (Deborah Kennedy) long-lost husband re-appears on the scene – is he after a reconciliation or a slice of the family’s recent lottery win?

Wednesday:  Seven presents live coverage of the Foster’s Cup match between Footscray and Hawthorn, from VFL Park in Melbourne. 

Thursday:  In E Street, Reverend Bob (Tony Martin, pictured with Penny Cook) shocks everyone with the announcement that he is leaving Westside as his blossoming relationship with Dr Elly Fielding (Cook) appears to have stalled as she looks set to have patched things up with her estranged husband David (Noel Hodda).  ABC presents the final edition of Aboriginal affairs program Blackout. 

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 2 February 1991. Southdown Press.