1992: June 7-13

Cover: Tom Cruise

Shirl crashes out
When she decided to leave A Country Practice after more than ten years, Gold Logie winner Lorrae Desmond conceded that her character Shirley Gilroy had to be killed off but insisted that the death not be depicted on screen.  “You don’t get divorced in Wandin Valley,” she told TV Week.  “So for me to leave the series, Shirl had to die.  I didn’t want to do a Molly (Anne Tenney) – the long, lingering leukaemia bit, because I hate to upset children.  I like children.  The last thing I wanted them to see was Shirley laughing.”  The last viewers will see of Shirley will be farewelling her husband Frank (Brian Wenzel) from a taxi as she departs for the airport for a light aircraft flight to Brisbane.  Viewers will not see the plane crash that follows, killing all on board. 

Ian keeps an eye out for clues
With his new murder mystery show Cluedo about to debut, and with a second series already given the green light, as well as three sitcom projects in production or development – Let The Blood Run Free, Newlyweds and Bingles – Ian McFadyen is one of the busiest people in television. “Cluedo is not a quiz show,” he told TV Week. “It’s a game show, but a different kind of game show. It’s not based on how loud you can scream or how much jelly you can tip on each other.” It’s also a busy time for Andrew Daddo, who plays the role of Professor Plum in Cluedo, as he’s also scored a major role in the upcoming $3.7 million children’s series Round The Twist. “It’s been a bit tough to work the production schedules out because there will be some overlap,” Daddo said. “When Round The Twist came up, I jumped at it. But I’m also rapt that Cluedo is going again.”

Return engagement!
Neighbours stars Tom Oliver and Anne Charleston are engaged to be married in the long-running series – and it’s not the first time the pair have played a married couple on screen.  Back in 1968 they played husband and wife (pictured) in an ABC drama, The Shifting Heart.  “It was a TV adaptation of a play on the ABC,” Oliver told TV Week.  “It was a marvellous play and it was the first time Anne and I worked together.”  However, the on-screen union in Neighbours could be short lived, as Charleston contemplates the possibility of a life away from Ramsay Street when her contract expires later in the year.  “Seven and a half years is a long time.  But you just never know,” she told TV Week.  “It depends how you’re feeling at the time.”

Briefly…
There could be changes afoot for Network Ten dramas Neighbours and E Street, with network managing director Gary Rice putting the pressure on Neighbours’ producers Grundy Television to improve the show’s falling ratings, and expressing concern about E Street whose future is currently up for negotiation.  TV Week suspects an upheaval for both shows, with Neighbours to be shifted to 7.30pm and E Street re-worked into a half-hour format at 8.00pm, five nights a week.

The cast of Nine’s steamy drama Chances have partied to celebrate the completion of 100 episodes.  Meanwhile, the series has welcomed a new cast member as Steven Whittaker (pictured) plays the part of Sean Becker, a friend of Alex’s (Jeremy Sims) who is set to threaten his corporate position.  Whittaker, who recently starred in mini-series Good Vibrations, contemplated having to tackle Chances’ steamy sex scenes.  “I gave it a great deal of thought but in the end it was some of those elements which were actually attractive,” he told TV Week.  “Would I prefer it to be mundane, dealing with slices of suburban life, or slightly off the wall, verging towards the bizarre?  In the end, that’s what made my mind up.  That’s where I’d rather be.  The potential is there for quite a bit of bed wandering, but at the moment there is more appetite than action!”

The life of controversial radio and television personality Mary Hardy (pictured) is being portrayed in a stage production, Mary Lives!, written by her brother, Frank Hardy.  Starring Maryanne Fahey in the lead role, the play also features Bartholomew John and Ron Challinor, both of whom were close friends and former colleagues of Hardy, who died in 1985.  “She was tremendously influential at the time, creating an awareness of me not only on the Penthouse Club, but on her radio program as well,” John told TV Week.  “Mary wasn’t just a female comic,” said Challinor, who was a writer for Penthouse Club in the 1970s.  “She sang, she danced, she told gags and she had great timing.  If she had done in the US what she did here she would have been a huge star.”

SBS is set to mark the 40th anniversary of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with a controversial British documentary, Queen Or Country?  The special, originally screened on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, raises the question of whether the royals abuse their public position for personal gain – looking at 10 cases where the line may have been blurred.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Taking an old, tried and true board game such as Cluedo and adapting it to television sounds easy.  But obviously it wasn’t that easy at all, even for Crawford Action Time, a partnership between this country’s most prolific drama producer, Crawfords Australia, and British-based game show producers Action Time.  From initial impressions, the television version of Cluedo is a touch unsatisfying, right down to the fact that the smartest guy in the audience isn’t even asked how he reached his conclusion, and nor are we told how long it took him.  And perhaps it’s the “how long” factor that is most important here – not for solving the whodunit, but for the television program itself.  Versions of Cluedo produced by Action Time for other countries run only half an hour, not the full hour (less commercial breaks, of course) the show has been given here.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, June 7-13):
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Betsy’s Wedding (Seven), Robocop 2 (Nine) and Born On The Fourth Of July (Ten).  After the movie, Nine crosses to Paris for the final of the French Open.

Monday:  ABC launches a new afternoon game show, Vidiot, hosted by Eden Gaha.  In A Country Practice (Seven), Wandin Valley residents react when AIDS sufferer Max Blair (Felix Williamson) returns to be with his sister Trish (Linden Wilkinson) before he dies.  Healthy Wealthy And Wise (Ten) takes a tour of scenic Byron Bay.

Tuesday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Frank Gilroy (Brian Wenzel) receives news that his wife Shirley (Lorrae Desmond) has died in a plane crash.  In GP (ABC), William (Michael Craig) is shocked to find that his old friend Geraldine (Jennifer Claire), for whom he has developed a romantic interest, is passively committing suicide.  Beyond 2000 (Seven) presents a special edition from the International Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Wednesday:  The Nine Network presents the first episode of murder mystery game show Cluedo, featuring host Ian McFadyen and guest star Rod Mullinar as the show’s first ‘victim’.  Seven presents a rerun of the British documentary Elizabeth R (originally shown on ABC), documenting a year in the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession to the British throne.

Thursday:  SBS presents early morning (3.00am) coverage of the opening ceremony of the Euro 92 soccer championships, live from Sweden, followed by the first match – Sweden versus France.  SBS’ coverage of Euro 92 continues over 17 days, with live coverage overnight and highlights packages shown the following evening. 

Friday:  Seven crosses to Sydney for live coverage of the Rugby League First Test – Australia versus Great Britain – with commentators Graham Hughes, Pat Welsh, Wally Lewis and Michael O’Connor.

Saturday:  Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) presents a special edition from Warner Bros Movie World on the Gold Coast, as the theme park celebrates its first birthday.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  6 June 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: May 24-30

Cover: Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown)

Living in the Seventies
Despite the Seventies being the era of ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’, All Together Now star Jon English confesses that he can look back on that era without too much embarrassment, insisting that he never played up to the image of a high-profile actor-singer during that period.  “I was never into that sex and drugs thing, to tell you the truth,” he told TV Week.  “In the bulk of the Seventies I was appearing in the theatre eight times a week (in Jesus Christ Superstar).  I watched everything in that era from the edge of the stage.”  Meanwhile English’s co-star Rebecca Gibney admits that as a teenager in the that era (“14 trying to be 25”, she said) she was a big fan of the rock performer.  “I wrote to Jon once but he never replied,” she said.  “I loved his music, had his albums and went to his concerts.”  The Nine Network sitcom has adopted a retro theme for this week’s episode as the show’s characters stage a Seventies-style “sit-in” while re-living the Woodstock era.

Long-distance romance?
They might be rivals in children’s television and working in different cities, but Melbourne-based Saturday At Rick’s co-host Lochie Daddo and Brisbane-based Saturday Disney’s Sofie Formica (pictured) are denying reports that they are romantically linked.  “Just good friends,” Daddo told TV Week.  “I ended up doing a pilot for an afternoon show in Brisbane for Ten.  We went out for dinner one night.  It was like a blind date.  The next four or five weeks, for some reason or another, I was up there nearly every weekend for work.  So I saw a lot of Sofie.  We are still very good friends.”  Daddo has recently joined Saturday At Rick’s following his first professional acting role in an episode of All Together Now.  “As a result of All Together Now, I was a guest on Rick’s,” he said.  “Then they said, ‘Do you want to do the show?’.“  Meanwhile, Formica has recently returned from Turkey where she was an Australian delegate at the European Broadcasting Union’s international workshop for children’s television presenters, and has since started a new role as host of Seven’s children’s quiz show Now You See It.

The hair of the wog!
Acropolis Now’s self-styled beauty queen Effie (Mary Coustas, pictured near right) and friend Sophie (Sheryl Munks) have decided that the cafe’s resident career woman Suzanna Martin (Nicki Wendt, far right) is in dire need of assistance.  “Suzanna looks like the ‘before’ lady on the shampoo commercial,” Effie told TV Week.  “She’s got very fine hairs.  I want to give her a good root perm, which will stuff up her hairs for five years.”

Briefly…
Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s Daryl Somers has been busy working on two additional projects.  The first is a series of one-hour specials, The Best (And Worst) Of Red Faces, highlighting some of the acts to have appeared on the mock talent quest segment since it started back in the early 1980s.  “It’s been a huge job for everyone involved, endeavouring to find every segment ever done – the oldest piece dates back to 1982,” he told TV Week.  The second project is a movie to star the team from Hey Hey It’s Saturday, to be filmed in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Late last year, Home And Away star Dee Smart (pictured) described working on the series as being like a prison sentence.  (“It feels like I’ve been there for years,” she said at the time)  Now it seems her desire to be written out of the show will be realised with producer Andrew Howie agreeing to let her go in July.  Her departure could lead to some challenging times for the soap, which recently celebrated 1000 episodes, with co-stars Nicolle Dickson and Bruce Roberts also contemplating leaving.

E Street’s Brooke ‘Mikey’ Anderson has been dumped from the series 10 weeks before her contract was due to expire.  The young star, who had been in the series since it started three years ago, has already starting filming a guest role in rival series A Country Practice.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”It wasn’t until the Seven Network ran Blackadder back-to-back with Fast Forward that the Rowan Atkinson series gained anything more than a cult following in this country.  Unfortunately, the series was long gone before an audience large enough to be commercially viable had starting lamenting it.  The ABC, however, grabbed the rub-off advantage and screened the first series of the more recent Atkinson creation, Mr Bean.  Be warned.  A second Bean series is now set to premiere.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 24-30):
Sunday:  Actor, dancer and choreographer Paul Mercurio and colleague Kim Walker are guests on this week’s Sunday Afternoon With Peter Ross (ABC).  Network Ten presents the second series final on New Faces With Bert Newton, while Nine’s Our World documentary series features Adventure Bound with Alby Mangels.  Anne Phelan is a guest star on comedy series Late For School (Ten).  Sunday night movies are Masquerade (Seven), The Freshman (Nine) and Voices Within: The Lives Of Truddi Chase (Ten).  ABC’s late night series Compass features the story of religious academic John Hull, who documented his experiences as his sight gradually deteriorated from the age of 17 to middle-age when he became completely blind.

Monday:  This week’s Six Pack (SBS) feature is Loulla, a story set in the 1950s of the arrival of an unexpectedly glamorous proxy bride from Greece to a rural backwater in Australia, starring Lenita Vangellis.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Amanda Keller tastes the grain that could feed the Third World, while Tracey Curro investigates the treatment that’s forcing cancer to mature.  Seven later presents a delayed telecast of the AFL State Of Origin match between Victoria and Western Australia from the MCG.  In Chances (Nine), Bambi Shute’s (Abigail, pictured) sex show is a hit.  ABC presents the series return of comedy DAAS Kapital, featuring the Doug Anthony All-Stars.

Wednesday:  ABC presents The Comedy Festival Debate: Is Laughter Better Than Sex? – featuring Michael Corton, Brett Jones, Steve Crabb, Jane Clifton, Andrew Denton and H. G. Nelson and chaired by Campbell McComas.  The first of three one-hour specials of The Best (And Worst) Of Red Faces appears on Nine.

Thursday:  In Nine’s new travel series Getaway, Rebecca Harris tours the Blue Mountains on a Harley Davidson, David Reyne goes diving at Dunk Island and guest reporter, former Sale Of The Century hostess Delvene Delaney presents a tour of Byron Bay.

Friday:  John Waters (pictured) hosts ABC’s new ten-part series The Bush’s Australian Sheepdog Challenge.  Late night sport includes delayed coverage of the Winfield Rugby League Cup (Nine) and the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge (Ten).

Saturday:  Nine begins its coverage of the French Open tennis, live from Roland Garros Centre, Paris, with commentators John Newcombe, Tony Trabert and Betsy Nagelson.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  23 May 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: May 10-16

‘I want to go home!’
Neighbours star Melissa Bell has said there was one simple reason for her controversial move from Melbourne to Network Ten’s other soap E Street, which is based in Sydney.  “The main reason I am going home is to be close to my family,” she told TV Week.  “I’ve missed them so much.  My last phone bill was more than $1000.. Telecom must love me!”  Moving to Sydney will also bring Bell (pictured with new co-star Bruce Samazan) closer to Jason Redlich, son of E Street producer Forrest Redlich, although she stresses that while they are good friends they are not romantically linked as previous reports have suggested.  “He is a special friend and I missed him, too.”  Her pending departure from Neighbours has thrown storylines into a spin, particularly as producers had planned a major romance between her character Lucy Robinson and Brad Willis (Scott Michaelson).  But despite feeling homesick in Melbourne, Bell has acknowledged her time in Neighbours as a very positive experience.  “If it wasn’t for Neighbours, I wouldn’t be where I am and have the exposure it’s given me.  Everyone made me feel so welcome.  I’ve really loved working with Anne Haddy and Alan Dale especially.  I’m going back to Sydney with so much experience, work-wise and personally.  Moving to Melbourne has made me a better, stronger person.”

Rachel gets a taste of the outback
British-born actress Rachel Ward, wife of Australian actor Bryan Brown, is a special guest reporter in this week’s debut of Nine’s new travel show Getaway.  Ward and her two children, Matilda and Rosie, embarked on a two-day trek in the Alice Springs area as a feature report on the new series.  “The idea of the harsh, red centre full of rock and desert seems so much part of the Australian tradition.  I wanted the girls to experience it,” said Ward, who also found she didn’t mind eating witchetty grubs but wasn’t so keen on the kangaroo tail. 

Hey, happy birthday!
Seven Network sitcom Hey Dad! is celebrating a milestone 200 episodes, but one of the show’s original cast members, teenager Sarah Monahan (pictured) admits there has been a downside.  “It was hard to keep friends at school.  They seemed to have the attitude, ‘Hey you weren’t here’, so you can get left out of everything.  In years five and six, I was going to school only two-and-a-half days a week, so the kids would really hassle me,” she said.

Briefly…
ABC’s travel series Holiday, which gained a popular following on Saturday nights up against ratings giant Hey Hey It’s Saturday, is now set to take on the even more competitive Sunday 7.30pm timeslot, up against 60 Minutes, Full House, Dinosaurs, The Simpsons and Late For School.

Home And Away star Bruce Roberts (pictured) is believed to be planning to quit the series when his contract runs out later this year.  The young star, who plays policeman Nick Parrish, isn’t happy working on the show and is keen to move on.

Speculation continues that former Good Morning Australia co-host Kerri-Anne Kennerley could be set to jump ship from Network Ten to either the Seven or Nine networks.  Network executives David Leckie from Nine and Glen Kinging from Seven are said to have been trying to contact Kennerley while she was overseas recently.

Play School’s popular characters Bananas In Pyjamas have been given their own series.  The bananas, B1 and B2, will soon feature in a series of 40 five-minute episodes to screen in the 3.55pm weekday timeslot (between Sesame Street and Play School) from July.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here:
”I have seen only one program in the series, but congratulations to the Australian Children’s Television Foundation on Lift Off, now screening on ABC.  This is dazzling kids’ entertainment centred on many an educational and environmental message, and the sheer creativity behind it all is – to use a word popular among the age group at which it is aimed – awesome.  If you don’t get a chance to watch it with your kids – or anyone’s kids – first time around, it is to be rescheduled later in a timeslot more accessible to more people.”

”Having bleated last week about the fragmented scheduling of the British series The Darling Buds Of May, it is now my duty to report that the series will be seen on HSV7 in Melbourne on Saturday nights from this week.  The series is already screening in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 10-16):
Sunday:  ABC presents early morning coverage (from 4.45am) of the first race in the America’s Cup, live from San Diego, USA – with subsequent races covered early on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  Sunday night movies are Driving Miss Daisy (Seven), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (Nine) and Lock Up (Ten), up against SBS’ delayed telecast of the Eurovision Song Contest from Malmo, Sweden.

Monday:  This week’s Six Pack (SBS) feature is Piccolo Mondo – starring Peta Toppano, Victoria Longley, Denise Scott and Angelo D’Angelo – a comedy drama about three women who meet for lunch at an upmarket Italian restaurant to talk about marriage, infidelity and betrayal.

Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), William (Michael Craig) and Nick (guest star Paul Chubb, pictured), a morgue attendant, play a trick on a brash young medical student – but Nick is a little on edge and confides to William that he’s preoccupied with a personal problem – he’s impotent – but his girlfriend Alice (Wendy Strehlow, pictured) can’t understand why he won’t spend the night with her.  On Nine’s Chances, ‘70s sex symbol Abigail makes her series debut as outrageous sex therapist Bambi Shute, who enlists the help of advertising executive Angela (Patsy Stephen) to help her launch a new TV show, The Sex Show.  Logie-winning actress Tracy Mann guest stars in Nine’s All Together Now, appearing as an ex-girlfriend and singer from Bobby’s (Jon English) wild past.

Wednesday:  ABC presents the first instalment of two-part mini-series Children Of The Dragon – starring Bob Peck, Linda Cropper (pictured), Gary Sweet, Lily Chen and Wan Thye Leiw – set against the tumultuous events of China’s Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.

Thursday:  In Acropolis Now (Seven), pretending to be deaf, Jim (Nick Giannopoulos) overhears the others plotting to kill him.  Nine debuts its new travel series Getaway, featuring reporters Jeff Watson (formerly of Beyond 2000), David Reyne (The Flying Doctors), Anna McMahon (Eyewitness News, Brisbane With Anna McMahon) and Rebecca Harris with guest reporter, actress Rachel Ward.

Friday:  Late night sports coverage includes delayed coverage of the Winfield Cup (Nine) and the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge (Ten).

Saturday:  Ten crosses to the Melbourne Glasshouse for live coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge match between the North Melbourne Giants and the Canberra Cannons.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  9 May 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: April 26-May 2

Sale stars in sitcom
Sale Of The Century’s Glenn Ridge and Jo Bailey are soon to be seen as guest stars in the Nine Network sitcom All Together Now. In the episode to screen this week, Anna (Jane Hall, pictured with Bailey) wins a spot on the popular quiz show. But Bailey is playing down her acting debut. “I wouldn’t exactly classify this as an acting debut,” she told TV Week. “When you see me on screen you’ll understand why. It wasn’t that much different to doing a show of Sale. And somehow I doubt the talent scouts will come chasing after me.”

Back out in the outback!
Some new faces and controversial storylines are set to feature in the revamped The Flying Doctors.  Heading the new cast list is Peter Phelps, taking on his first regular TV role in Australia for seven years.  Phelps, who recently had a stint in the US series Baywatch, plays the role of senior nurse Dennis Taylor, a former drug addict obsessed with helping others affected by narcotics.  “I have a few ex-junkie friends, so this is an important issue for me,” he told TV Week.  “I know people who have been through rehabilitation and I want to make this character real.”  Also joining the series when it returns to screens later this year are former Neighbours star Elaine Smith, Simone Buchanan (Hey Dad!), Belinda Davey (Prisoner), Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Lydia Miller, Marieke Hardy, Simon Grey and Steve Jacobs.

‘We’ll miss Lorrae dreadfully’
Shane Porteous, the ‘elder statesman’ of A Country Practice, is fairly philosophical about the recent cast changes which saw long-serving colleagues Gordon Piper and Syd Heylen leave the series.  “The departure of (characters) Bob and Cookie is, I guess, a matter of artistic decision,” he told TV Week.  “It is up to the people who look at demographic surveys and say these characters are working, those characters aren’t, but I know we will miss them a lot.”  Meanwhile another original ACP cast member, Lorrae Desmond (pictured), is also about to leave the long-running series.  “We’ll miss Lorrae dreadfully, but it’s her decision.  Good luck to her – she has so many other things to do as an entertainer,” Porteous said. 

Briefly…
Her character may have recently passed away in Home And Away, but that hasn’t stopped producers approaching Cathy Godbold about the possibility of a return to the series.  The former Chances star’s role as leukaemia-stricken Meg Bowman gave the series a ratings boost and producers are considering bringing her back to play another character.

The producers of Hey Dad! have been given the green light by the Nine Network for a new sitcom.  My Two Wives, starring Peter Fisher (Kingswood Country), Linda Newton, Morna Seres, Brett Blewitt, Patrick Ward and Kym Valentine, will begin production in Sydney in May and is expected to debut on Nine late in the year.

The battle between Network Ten soaps E Street and Neighbours for the services of Melissa Bell (pictured) has been won by E Street.  Bell, who had a brief role in E Street before moving to Melbourne-based Neighbours, is now returning to Sydney to play a new romantic interest for Bruce Samazan’s character Max.

Former Good Morning Australia host Kerri-Anne Kennerley is still on the Network Ten payroll although she has no on-air role at the present time – although she may soon be back on TV screens in a new show modelled on the popular US talk show hosted by Oprah Winfrey.  TV Week also hears that Kennerley is also potentially looking at a new project for the Seven Network.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”First-run locally-produced drama on SBS is notable, if only for the fact that it is so rare.  By nature, the genre of program and the network don’t necessarily go together, although past associations have resulted in some pleasing success.  Still, it’s four years since SBS screened its previous effort, David Stevens’ mini-series Always Afternoon.  It is a decade since Bob Weis’ Women Of The Sun swept all before it, including the United Nations Media Peace Prize.  After all that time, Weis and SBS have joined forces again.  Six Pack is the label name they have given half a dozen self-contained dramas.  Each runs an hour, a format which, in itself, is fairly rare in an industry which leans towards open-ended soaps or four-hour “television events”, which used to be called mini-series.  Weis has done a commendable job drawing together fine casts to work with a mix of experienced and up-and-coming scriptwriters and directors.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, April 26-May 2):
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Repossessed (Seven), The Hunt For Red October (Nine) and Parenthood (Ten).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Bob (Gordon Piper) and Cookie (Syd Heylen) return to Wandin Valley.  Seven presents the debut of two-part mini-series Heroes II – The Return, starring Craig McLachlan (pictured), John Bach, Christopher Morsley and Miranda Otto.  SBS debuts new drama series Six Pack, a series of six self-contained dramas.  The first Six Pack feature is Mimi Goes To The Analyst, the story of a sexually inhibited young woman who shares a flat with her sister and regularly visits an analyst to try and help her over her problems with the opposite sex.

Tuesday:  Showbiz veteran Hazel Phillips is a guest star in this week’s GP (ABC).  In A Country Practice (Seven), Terence (Shane Porteous) fears that Cookie (Syd Heylen) will die after an argument with Bob (Gordon Piper), but Bob has a surprise for Cookie.  In Chances (Nine), Alex’s (Jeremy Sims) life is in chaos when billionaire Crowley Lander (Barry Hill) offers him his empire and his daughter – while Jack (Tim Robertson) takes drastic steps to ensure Alex refuses. In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Amanda Keller tries out the musical instruments of the future, Dr John D’Arcy tests the robot that will guard a house, and Simon Reeve looks at the latest methods of earthquake prediction.

Wednesday:  In Hey Dad! (Seven), Sam (Rachael Beck) becomes the talk of the town when she wins a local shopping centre contest.  In E Street (Ten), Penny (Josephine Mitchell), CJ (Adrian Lee) and Jamie (Scott McRae) are caught in a love triangle.

Thursday:  Seven’s popular comedy show Fast Forward is back with new episodes, followed by a concert special featuring Kylie Minogue in Dublin.  In the series final of Phoenix (ABC), Jock (Paul Sonkkila) and his officers have only six hours to question their suspects and charge them.

Friday:  The final episode of afternoon game show Supermarket Sweep (Nine), hosted by Ian Turpie. 

Saturday:  Ten crosses to Sydney for live prime-time coverage of NBL Mitsubishi Challenge – Sydney Kings versus Gold Coast Rollers.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  25 April 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: April 12-18

Hello, baby… and goodbye to Wandin Valley!
The birth of James Gardner Tyler in A Country Practice will mark the end of an era as his parents Matt (John Tarrant) and Lucy (Georgie Parker, pictured) depart Wandin Valley with their newborn to start a new life in Vietnam.  For Parker, there are no regrets about moving on from A Country Practice.  “I need to move on,” she said.  “If I stayed, it would wane.  I would rather finish on a high.  ACP has been a very positive experience.  It was wonderful to have a regular job and to work with people who had a healthy attitude to the business and weren’t seduced by it.  ACP helped me develop a good attitude towards TV.”  Parker’s next career venture is the title role in the stage musical Gypsy, starring beside Tony Barber and Geraldine Turner. 

Stefan and Gayle pack their bags
Stefan Dennis, one of Neighbours’ original cast members, is leaving the long-running series.  Dennis is expected not to renew his contract when it expires in July although producers insist that negotiations are still under way.  “If he does leave, we’ll have him on air until September,” a Network Ten spokesperson said.  If Dennis does leave, the only remaining original cast members in the series will be Anne Haddy and Alan Dale.  Meanwhile, Gayle Blakeney, who plays Dennis’ on-screen wife Christina, is also set to leave the show when her contract expires in July.

Cops out!
ABC drama Phoenix is set to lose two of its high-profile stars when a second series goes into production later this year.  Paul Sonkkila, who plays Inspector Jock Brennan, is leaving for personal reasons, and Nell Feeney, who plays Detective Senior Constable Megan Edwards, will not be returning.  “Nell’s character was brought into Phoenix for the bombing storyline, which ends with the first series,” an ABC spokesperson told TV Week.

Briefly…
Former Prisoner stars Betty Bobbitt, Lois Collinder and Marilyn Rodgers are now on the hunt for “criminals” in the Comedy Festival production Peroxide, a send-up of the old Australian TV cop shows. “We are three police officers looking for a despicable character who has been spreading blonde jokes,” Bobbitt (pictured) told TV Week.  “We become the Peroxide squad!”  Bobbitt is no stranger to the early TV cop shows.  When she first arrived in Australia in the 1960s, she played various roles in shows including Matlock Police, Homicide and Division 4.  “I played anything from madams in whorehouses to housewives with children.  I have very happy memories of my cop show days.”

Viewers will see a different side to Steve Vizard when he presents the upcoming World Vision special The Forgotten World.  The program features Jennifer Keyte (pictured) and actor Tom Burlinson, who travelled to Latin America and Africa for the special.  “With something like this, you only have to get people to pay attention,” Vizard told TV Week.  “Once you see the work World Vision is doing, you’d have to be a halfwit not to sit up and take notice.”

Production has stalled on the Nine Network series Snowy.  The 26-part drama focusing on the Snowy Mountain Scheme has run into financial difficulties.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”You must have noticed television’s obsession with putting on trial anything remotely controversial.  No doubt this most recent spate of TV trials was kicked off when the late but unlamented Fat Cat was convicted without much of a hearing, then executed come the dawn.  Jana Wendt and A Current Affair kept the ball rolling by gathering a bunch of lawyers and witnesses and a retired supreme court judge and spending two futile nights pondering whether or not the Prime Minister, Paul Keating, has murdered the Australian economy.  Mr Keating’s day in court was followed by ABC’s Live And Sweaty putting the Nine Network in the dock for its treatment of the NSW Rugby League replays.  Nine apparently stands charged with not replaying games in their entirety.  After that, we had the real kangaroo court – Skippy, a marsupial native of the Australia bush, put himself on trial, probably because no-one else could be bothered doing it.  I haven’t caught up with the result of that laughable exercise yet.  If you have, do me a favour and keep it to yourself.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne: April 12-18):
Sunday:  Nine crosses to Eastern Creek, NSW, for live coverage of the Australian 500cc Motorcycling Grand Prix.  Seven’s afternoon of AFL coverage includes Sydney versus Footscray and West Coast Eagles versus Geelong.  Sunday night movies are Advance To Ground Zero (Seven), A Chorus Line (Nine) and Meet The Applegates (Ten).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Matt (John Tarrant) is suspicious when his father, Gil (George Whaley), arrives unannounced.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Bryan Smith discovers the paper that’s made of corn, and Amanda Keller tells how super computers are helping the British to predict the weather.  In Chances (Nine), Alex (Jeremy Sims) signs Faith Matthews, a 17-year-old Olympic swimming golden girl, but gets more than he bargained for.  In A Country Practice (Seven), Gil (George Whaley) offers Matt (John Tarrant) and Lucy (Georgie Parker) an opportunity to leave Wandin Valley.

Wednesday:  ABC presents Australia’s first Aboriginal musical, Bran Nue Dae, telling the story of an Aboriginal boy’s flight from Perth to his homeland at Djaridin.

Thursday:  In Phoenix (ABC), the police force are questioning the resources spent on the Phoenix investigation.  In Neighbours (Ten), Dorothy (Maggie Dence) and Lucy (Melissa Bell) believe they may have killed Faye’s (Lorraine Bayly) best friend.

Good Friday:  Seven’s traditional Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal dominates its day’s programming – starting at 9.00am and, apart from News, Real Life and Home And Away, continues through to midnight.  The evening telecast features Tony Barber, John Burgess, Robert Brough, Eric Walters, Jennifer Keyte, Rachael Beck, David Straussman, Darryl Cotton, Alyce Platt, Victoria Nicolls, Russell Morris, Mike Brady and the Australian Girls Choir.

Saturday:  Nine’s Wide World Of Sports includes live coverage of the Stawell Gift, the Doncaster Handicap and the AJC Derby.  Seven’s evening includes AFL Today, highlights of the day’s AFL matches, followed by live coverage of the Brisbane Bears versus West Coast Eagles from Carrara, Queensland.  Ruth Cracknell and Gordon Chater star in Sydney’s Theatre Royal production of The Importance Of Being Earnest, broadcast on ABC.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  11 April 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: April 5-11

On top of the world…!
A Country Practice star Kym Wilson and Chances star Jeremy Sims are in love and happy for the whole world to know.  “At the beginning, we decided that if there was speculation about us, it would be best not to hide it,” Wilson told TV Week.  “By being honest from the start, we felt people would respect us and leave us alone – which they generally have.”  Despite the pair working in separate cities – A Country Practice is based in Sydney and Chances in Melbourne – they commute on alternate weekends.  “Even if we were in the same city, living in the same house, probably the only time we’d see each other would be weekends, because of our heavy work schedules.”  However, the pair will be working together later this month with an appearance in the play Love Letters, on stage at the Sydney Opera House.

How Effie became drama queen
Growing up in the working-class Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford, Mary Coustas hardly seemed destined for an acting career.  But when the family moved to outer-suburban Doncaster – before, she insists, all the “wogs” moved out there – her outlook on life changed, performing in high school plays and musicals, and she credits her family for supporting her career choice.  “When I told them what I wanted to do with my life, they accepted it,” she told TV Week.  “I wasn’t talking about acting in terms of making lots of money, but entertaining people.  They saw that as healthy.”  Coustas, who plays Effie (pictured) in the sitcom Acropolis Now, is now performing her own stage show Waiting For Effie in Melbourne.  As well as Effie, the one-woman show also features Coustas as seven-year-old schoolgirl Libby, womaniser and compulsive gambler Vasili and overweight former schoolteacher Sophie.  “These characters have been in my head for four or five years.  But this is the biggest risk I’ve taken… I’ve lost half a stone in three weeks.”

Sixty soapie minutes!
A chance meeting between 60 Minutes reporter Jeff McMullen and E Street star Bruce Samazan has led to the current affairs reporter filing a story looking at the off-screen lives of some of Australia’s most popular soap stars.  McMullen visits recent Logie winner Samazan at his home in Wollongong to meet his family and old schoolfriends.  The story also features Home And Away stars Les Hill and Mat Stevenson and former E Street star Melissa Tkautz.  “Our story shows how these ‘wannabe-stars’ came from hard backgrounds, and looks at their chances of getting to Hollywood,” McMullen told TV Week.  “We had a lot of fun making this story.”

Briefly…
The producers of E Street have decided to continue with the controversial ‘Mr Bad’ serial killer storyline, even though the actor who plays the role, Vince Martin (pictured), has left the series.  A new actor will be cast in the role, but in the meantime Mr Bad is shown on screen to be in hospital with his head wrapped up in bandages!

Peter Ross, host of ABC’s Sunday Afternoon arts program, has told TV Week that only one person has refused an invitation to join him on the show – Graham Kennedy.  “He knocked us back in the kindest possible way,” Ross said.  “We usually have good access to artists.  We would have liked to talk to Graham about life and points arising.  He’s a great media figure, an interesting, one-off Australian.”

Comments that Steve Vizard (pictured) made on Logies night have stirred up a strong reaction in newspapers and talkback radio, but he is unapologetic.  “My style of humour is pretty much to take the ----, and I won’t change that for anyone.  If you don’t like it, then don’t watch,” he told TV Week.  But Vizard believes the press honed in on his comments in the absence of any real controversy.  “There was a slight need for a beat-up,” he said.  “The Gold Logie winner (Jana Wendt), to whom the press devoted so much space the morning after, wasn’t there.”

The cast departures from Nine’s Chances continue, with Tim Robertson, one of the show’s original cast members, and Molly Brumm now finished production with the series but will continue to be seen on-screen until May.  Their characters depart the show amid a drug-related disaster.  Brumm may return to the series at a later date, but Robertson’s departure is permanent.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”As the dust settles after the recent TV Week Logie Awards, yours truly was called upon to make one of his rare forays into another medium.  Actually, I quite enjoy the electric wireless… when I’m listening to it.  On this occasion I had to clear my throat and speak by phone to John Hindle and Brett McLeod, partners on a drive-time show on a Melbourne station.  These days, part of their show is Hindle’s daily “Letter to Mike”, a sometimes whimsical commentary on current events, read out in the form of a letter to a friend in London.  Just before my big moment on air, Mike was told about “television’s annual orgy of self-congratulation.. the star failed to appear… there was weeping and wailing and much gnashing of teeth” and so on.  This must have moved Mike somewhat because he wanted to know more and, through a friend of a friend, obtained a tape of the program.  Then he sat down and penned a reply.  It fell off the back of a Jumbo and was mistakenly opened by your correspondent.  I know I shouldn’t do this but…

“Dear John, Thanks for all your letters.  It’s a great comfort to this ex-pat to have constant reassurance that governments in Oz are going from bad to worse, England isn’t the only country in the world with an unemployment problem, and the Logie Awards are still going strong 34 years on.  I say “going strong” because I heard about the fantastic TV ratings.  Sort of blows out the water your mate’s statement about Channel Seven not being on a winner … You line up this bloke from TV Week, whatever his name is, and then hit him with a heap of negative stuff straight out of a Sunday paper.  Well, John, I suppose that’s okay, as long as you know the Sunday paper was accurate in the first place.  And that’s always a worry!  You both harangue the guy about the Logies, but then say that neither of you saw the show.  And your mate asks whether the absence of Jana Wendt resulted from the “fact” that it was “just another Gold Logie and she already had a couple, so why rush down?”  I heard him excuse himself after being told it was, in fact, Jana’s first Gold Logie, but he’d already hung himself by then.  But what really got me, John, was the way you both let the topic drop with the remark: “Who are we to judge?  We weren’t even invited.”  Is that what you really hated about the Logies?  Until next year, Mike.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, April 5-11):
Sunday:  Afternoon sport includes AFL on Seven, the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships on Nine and the Hong Kong 7’s Rugby Union on Ten.  Sunday night movies are Farewell To The King (Seven), Evil Angels (Nine) and Gorillas In The Mist (Ten).

Monday:  ABC presents the final episode of comedy series Gillies And Company.  Tonight Live With Steve Vizard (Seven) begins a week of shows presented live from London.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Amanda Keller looks at the treatment that is shocking heart attack victims back to health, Simon Reeve takes a ride in a vehicle that produces more horsepower or kilowatts than the entire field of the Adelaide Grand Prix, and Tracey Curro uses the latest visual technique in electronic conferencing. 

Wednesday:  Shane Bourne hosts the Comedy Festival Charity Gala (Seven), held at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre, featuring performances by The Golden Girls’ Bea Arthur and local comedians Rachel Berger, Mark Little, Mary Coustas, Bob Downe, Mark Mitchell, Nick Giannopoulos, Gina Riley (pictured) and Michael Veitch.  The ABC special Summer Country With James Blundell features highlights of this year’s Australian Made concert at the Festival of Sydney and the Salute to Tamworth concert at the Victorian Arts Centre.

Thursday:  The Seven Network special Crocodile Man features David Ireland, who shares his lifelong fascination with crocodiles, on a journey from the remote Kimberleys in Western Australia to the captive monsters on crocodile farms.  The one-hour documentary includes footage of crocodiles underwater and displaying behaviour never before seen on camera.  This is followed by the comedy special Dame Edna’s Hollywood, featuring Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries) with guests Cher, Bea Arthur, Jack Palance and Mel Gibson.  The show's highlight no doubt being Dame Edna and Cher performing I Got You, Babe.

Friday: Seven presents highlights of the AFL match between North Melbourne and Carlton played at the MCG.  Nine presents late-night motorcycling with highlights of the Australian 500cc Grand Prix practice, and Ten has delayed coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge match between the Brisbane Bullets and the Geelong Supercats.

Saturday:  Nine presents early morning coverage of the US Masters golf, live from Georgia.  ABC has highlights of the Winter Paralympics, followed by football (VFA) and netball.  Ten has live prime-time coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge match between Melbourne Tigers and Perth Wildcats from the National Tennis Centre.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  4 April 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: March 15-21

Cover: John Stamos

Pregnant… then a pause
E Street character Sheridan Sturgess (Kate Raison, pictured lower right with co-star Marcus Graham) has been through a fair bit lately. She’s been hunted by a serial killer, menaced by him, locked up in prison and then becomes an escapee. Now she’s having a baby! The latest development is yet another twist in the saga involving Sheridan, Wheels (Graham) and “Mr Bad” (Vince Martin). “It isn’t, by any means, a planned pregnancy,” Raison told TV Week. “And it’s a very difficult thing for both the characters to come to terms with. Neither of them expected to become a mother or a father.” The pregnancy storyline marks the beginning of Raison’s planned departure from E Street. “I’m leaving, but there are a few more twists and turns to go yet,” she said.

Bligh: The mutiny continues!
The Seven Network’s popular sketch comedy series Fast Forward will be back this year but will be produced in a reduced capacity – two eight-episode blocks – as much of the cast will be focused on production of a new sitcom.  Bligh is set in 1807 and features Michael Veitch (pictured) as the beleaguered Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh.  Also starring in the series are Fast Forward regulars Magda Szubanski, Peter Moon, Marg Downey and Gina Riley as well as actor William McInnes and comedian Jimeoin.  And while the series is essentially a period comedy, it also satirises current-day issues.  The 13-part series is now in production but will not air until later in the year.

One of the masters
Award-winning Four Corners journalist Chris Masters (pictured) says there is nothing particularly glamorous about his line of work.   “It’s a particularly demoralising type of work,” he told TV Week.  “It’s not just the enormous amount of work.  When you think about proving the Queensland Police Force as corrupt, that’s something the Federal Police or the National Crime Authority couldn’t do.  It’s not fun work.  It’s not fun being reminded that your fellow man is a crook, or that you’re sticking your head down the corruption sewer all the time.  It gives you a rather bleak view of mankind.”  Masters has also documented the facts behind some of his TV scoops in a new book, Inside Story.  

Briefly…
Jeff Phillips (pictured), Seventies pop star and former host of talent quest Star Search, is making a shock return to television with a guest appearance in Nine’s steamy soap Chances.  “The Chances episode has some steamy scenes and it will attract a bit of interest… I’m sure I’ll get more attention than if I were doing a role on Neighbours or Home And Away!” 

Neighbours star Lorraine Bayly is set to return to the stage, starting rehearsals soon for the Australian premiere of the play Dear Liar.  Bayly will be starring alongside Lewis Fiander.  “I think Lewis is one of the finest actors this country has produced,” she told TV Week.  Although she only joined Neighbours late last year she will be making her final appearances on screen in May. 

Home And Away co-stars Debra Lawrance and Dennis Coard not only play husband and wife in the series, but are now married in real life following a hush-hush wedding in Sydney recently.  Although the pair engaged last year, their wedding was a surprise to everyone in the show.  “The first thing anyone knew about it was when they turned up on set on the Monday wearing wedding rings,” a Seven Network spokesperson said.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”’Did you see that debacle last night?’ a colleague asked, a hint of alarm in his voice as he bustled past my desk on some matutinal errand.  At that delicate stage of the morning, I had not even begun the task of kicking the dew off what remains of my mental processes.  Bear in mind that this was the morning after [a] South Africa had destroyed Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground; [b] the West Coast Eagles had almost recovered from a 50-point deficit against Geelong in an AFL pre-season competition match; [c] King Paul of Canberra had favoured us with his economic blueprint for our future well-being; and [d] the Channel Ten Eyewitness News had gone to air at five o’clock yet again. Later in the day my worst fears were confirmed – he was part of a majority and had been talking about the cricket and, to a lesser extent, the football.  King Paul’s decree didn’t create much of a ripple on the apathy meter, and the Channel Ten news… well, it had done about as well as Oprah Winfrey, shown mid-afternoon.  The greater percentage of people are busy at work then, too.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, March 15-21):
Sunday:  Nine crosses to Adelaide for all-day coverage of the Benson And Hedges World Cup cricket match between India and South Africa.  After the news, Nine presents a Burke’s Backyard special, Densey And Jim’s Close-Up On Wildlife, with Densey Clyne and Jim Frazier presenting a close-up view on Australian wildlife – this week observing the mating ritual of the rifle bird.  Sunday night movies are Overboard (Seven) The Untouchables (Nine) and Fletch Lives (Ten).  After the movie, Seven presents a one-hour special to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Film Victoria, hosted by Jennifer Keyte and movie host Ivan Hutchinson.

Monday:  In Mother And Son (ABC), a baby in the house is the last thing Arthur (Garry McDonald) expected when he arrives home from work.  He comes to the conclusion that the baby is the result of one of brother Robert’s (Henri Szeps) dalliances, leaving Robert guilt-ridden.

Tuesday:  Col’n Carpenter star Kim Gyngell guest stars in the series return of All Together Now (Nine).  In GP (ABC), Robert (John McTernan) has come to terms with his spinal tumour and enters hospital to have the operation.  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), reporter Tracey Curro (pictured) investigates the meaning of a cashless society.

Wednesday:  Andrew Denton presents a premiere special, The Money Or The Gun: The Brain (ABC), where he embarks on the ultimate travel documentary.  His destination?  The human brain… and madness!

Thursday:  Seven presents a repeat of special Graham Kennedy’s World Of Comedy – while Nine has a one-hour special, Sex, hosted by Sophie Lee (pictured).  The documentary looks at the issues of safe sex and the use of condoms, sex education, AIDS, homosexuality and pornography.

Friday:  ABC’s documentary series A Big Country reports on Roger Crosby, a truckie who has a fascination with the skies.  He asks himself all all the questions about the universe and comes up with some interesting answers.  In Neighbours (Ten), the police discover evidence which incriminates Pam (Sue Jones) into Garth’s (Roy Baldwin) death.  Later in the evening, Ten has a delayed telecast of the K Mart Australian Classic basketball, while ABC launches a new series of Andrew Denton: Live And Sweaty (pictured).

Saturday:  Nine crosses to Auckland, New Zealand, for the First-Semi Final of the Benson And Hedges World Cup cricket.  Seven’s coverage of the 1992 AFL season kicks off with highlights of the day’s matches followed by live coverage from the Gold Coast of the match between Brisbane and Carlton.  Ten has live coverage of the playoff for the first and second positions in the K Mart Classic basketball.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  14 March 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: March 8-14

What an awesome foursome!
”I can’t believe I’m here,” says A Country Practice star Georgie Parker as she arrives for the TV Week photo shoot.  “I don’t even have my own show!”  TV Week has assembled Parker and her three Gold Logie co-nominees – Ray Martin, Jana Wendt and Steve Vizard – for a special front cover in the lead up to this week’s presentation of the 34th annual TV Week Logie Awards from the Radisson President Hotel, Melbourne.  The awards will be telecast on the Seven Network on Friday, 13 March.

TV Week Logie Awards nominations (Publicly voted categories):
Gold Logie: Ray Martin, Georgie Parker, Steve Vizard, Jana Wendt.  (1991 winner: Steve Vizard, pictured)

Most Popular Actor: Marcus Graham, Shane Porteous, Bruce Samazan, Gary Sweet. (1991 winner: Craig McLachlan)

Most Popular Actress: Rebekah Elmaloglou, Rebecca Gibney, Georgie Parker, Kate Raison. (1991 winner: Georgie Parker)

Most Popular Series: A Country Practice, E Street, Home And Away, The Flying Doctors. (1991 winner: Home And Away)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Program: All Together Now (pictured), Fast Forward, Hey Dad! (1991 winner: Fast Forward)

Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair, Hinch, 60 Minutes. (1991 winner: A Current Affair)

Most Popular Telemovie/Mini-Series: Brides Of Christ, Golden Fiddles, Which Way Home. (1991 winner: Jackaroo)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality (Male): Jon English, Daryl Somers, Steve Vizard (1991 winner: Steve Vizard)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality (Female): Rebecca Gibney, Julie McGregor, Magda Szubanski. (1991 winner: Magda Szubanski)

Most Popular Sports Coverage: AFL Grand Final, Cricket, Tennis. (1991 winner: Cricket)

Most Popular Children’s Program: Agro’s Cartoon Connection, Play School, The Bugs Bunny Show (1991 winner: Agro’s Cartoon Connection)

Most Popular Lifestyle/Information Program: Beyond 2000, Burke’s Backyard, What’s Cooking (1991 winner: Burke’s Backyard)

Most Popular New Talent: Matthew Krok (pictured), Jeremy Sims, Melissa Tkautz, Kym Wilson

Other public-voted awards: Most Popular Music Video, Most Popular Actor and Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-Series, Most Popular Program (for each state) and Most Popular Personality (for each state).

TV Week Logie Award categories (Industry voted):
Gold Logie – TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame, Most Outstanding Actor, Most Outstanding Actress, Most Outstanding Telemovie/Mini-Series, Most Outstanding Series, Most Outstanding Achievement in Public Affairs, Most Outstanding Achievement in News, Most Outstanding Single Documentary or Series, Most Outstanding Achievement by Regional Television.

Ramsay Street rush hour
In another attempt to bring the long-running Neighbours back to its former ratings glory, producers are ramping up the show’s storylines as well as writing out four cast members while signing up three new faces.  Lorraine Bayly, Jeremy Angerson, Andrew Williams and Gillian Blakeney are all leaving the show in coming weeks – while Ben Mitchell (pictured) and Felice Arena are joining the series, and former guest star Natalie Imbruglia is returning for an ongoing role.  Producer Don Battye is confident of re-signing Melissa Bell when her contract expires mid-year, despite moves to have her swap over to Ten’s other evening soap, E Street.  Veteran actor Tom Oliver has been re-signed with Neighbours, with plans to romantically match up his character Lou Carpenter to recently-widowed Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston).  Producers are also casting for two teenagers to enter the series as Carpenter’s children.  Another romantic storyline being devised by writers is set to involve Lucy Robinson (Melissa Bell) and Brad Willis (Scott Michaelson). 

Mike cops a new show
Mike Willesee is set to return to prime-time television on a regular basis, following his recent stint as fill-in host on A Current Affair.  The television veteran is about to sign a multi-million dollar with the Nine Network to produce a hard-hitting real-life police action series, described loosely as an Australian version of the American series Cops.  The new show is expected to be hosted by Willesee’s son, Michael Willesee Jnr, who is currently working in Los Angeles for Network Ten’s Hard Copy. 

Paradise is…
… warm tropical nights, a turquoise lagoon and beautiful half-naked girls wandering barefoot on white sands.  This exotic setting, on the island of Rarotonga, is the backdrop for the $2 million mini-series adaptation of Noel Barber’s epic novel The Other Side Of Paradise, being produced in a joint venture between Grundy Television, Central Films (UK) and South Pacific Films (NZ).  The series stars Jason Connery (son of Sean Connery) and newcomer Vivien Tan (pictured) and screens this week on Network Ten.

Briefly…
Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum has scored the only TV interview with Jason Donovan, who made a brief visit home only a few weeks ago.  However, Meldrum’s exclusive interview was made for Nine’s Melbourne Extra program, instead of his regular program, Hey Hey It’s Saturday.  Hey Hey host and producer Daryl Somers is said to have been less than impressed.

The Nine Network has spared no expense in trying to convince TV legend Graham Kennedy (pictured) to host a special to coincide with his upcoming 60th birthday.  Kennedy, last seen on TV on Nine’s recent 35 Years Of Television special, was flown by helicopter from his country property in southern NSW to Nine’s Sydney headquarters for a lavish lunch to celebrate his 58th birthday and Nine presented him with a rare book on horse breeding. 

The Seven Network has given the go-ahead for sitcom Bligh, from the producers of Fast Forward, but have passed on the producers’ other proposal, a comedy series set in a radio station.  Meanwhile, Fast Forward producers Steve Vizard and Andrew Knight are negotiating to stage a live version of Fast Forward, following the success of the stage adaptation of British series ‘Allo ‘Allo.

Hey Hey It’s Saturday duo John Blackman and Wilbur Wilde have been staging their own radio comeback since being dumped by Melbourne station 3UZ.  The pair have been taking their radio act to regional and remote parts of the country as short-term fill-ins on local radio stations.  So far they’ve been heard on local stations in Townsville and Launceston and places in between, and are already booked for future engagements in regional Victoria, NSW and Tasmania in coming months.  Although some of the shows are based at the radio stations’ local studios, most of their radio appearances have been via landline from studios in Melbourne.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Four of Australian television’s top names, from two networks and two cities… even five years ago, just the thought of trying to get them all to sit still in the one place at the one time would have been enough to make me shudder.  You only have to glance at this week’s cover for further proof – Ray Martin, Georgie Parker, Steve Vizard and Jana Wendt all in one photograph.  Read nothing into the order in which I’ve mentioned them, other than it is alphabetical.  They agreed to get together to promote the biggest night on the television industry’s calendar, the TV Week Logie Awards.  As far as I’m aware, it is the first time such a shoot – the four Gold Logie nominees together – has been set up.  It all happened in the space of an hour (on a Friday afternoon).  It had to.  Ray – not long after finishing another week of Midday for Nine – was committed to go to Canberra to attend a meeting of the Aboriginal Reconciliation Council, of which he is a member.  Georgie was due back on the set of A Country Practice… she was scheduled to shoot her final scenes as one of that series’ all-time favourite characters, Lucy Tyler.  And Jana was required back in the A Current Affair office to prepare to anchor that evening’s show.  Now, of course, the big question is which one of the four will be on the cover of TV Week’s 1992 Logie Awards souvenir issue.  The answer to that is under wraps until about 11.00pm on Friday, 13 March.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, March 8-14):
Sunday:  Seven presents live coverage of the Moomba Masters water skiing from Melbourne’s Yarra River, while Nine has World Cup cricket from Brisbane, and Ten has the Rugby Union Five Nations from Murrayfield, Scotland.  Sunday night movies are When Harry Met Sally (Seven) and The Dead Pool (Nine) up against the first instalment of two-part mini-series The Other Side Of Paradise (Ten).

Monday:  The 7.00pm battle between Home And Away and Neighbours, started back in January, comes to an end with Neighbours making the sudden move to the 6.30pm timeslot.  The shift sees Ten’s current affairs program Hinch take over at 7.00pm – the timeslot he previously held over at Seven – and US game show Studs move to 6.00pm.  Seven presents a two-hour concert special, Jimmy Barnes – Soul Deep, from the Palais Theatre, Melbourne, and featuring special guests John Farnham, Johnny Diesel and Ross Wilson.  The concert is simulcast with radio station Triple M.  Ten presents the conclusion to The Other Side Of Paradise.

Tuesday:  Former The Sullivans and Return To Eden star Megan Williams guest stars in All Together Now (Nine), playing the part of Julie, a beautiful electrician who captures the heart of Dougie (Garry Who).  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Andrew Carroll reports on the kissing bug – a disease affecting millions of people in Latin America, while Bryan Smith discovers a revolutionary design for artificial hips and Tracey Curro reports from the Tokyo Motor Show.  In Chances (Nine), Alex (Jeremy Sims) is shocked to finally learn the truth about his lost year.

Wednesday:  ABC presents a 90-minute special, La Stupenda, a unique portrayal of Dame Joan Sutherland combining interviews, archival footage and performances.  Dame Joan and her husband Richard Bonynge talk about their life in opera, while close friends and colleagues reminisce about Sutherland’s remarkable career spanning 42 years.

Thursday:  In Acropolis Now (Seven), when Memo (George Kapiniaris) is drafted into the Greek Army, Jim (Nick Giannopoulos) turns the cafe into Camp Acropolis.  ABC presents the final of the four-part documentary series When The War Came To Australia.

Friday:   The Seven Network presents the 34th annual TV Week Logie Awards, live from the Radisson President Hotel, Melbourne.  Special international guests include John Stamos, Dennis Waterman and Diana Ross joining local stars including Steve Vizard, Jana Wendt, Ray Martin, Daryl Somers, Jo Bailey, Mary Coustas, Nicolle Dickson, Nick Giannopoulos, Rebecca Gibney, Elizabeth Hayes, Sophie Lee, Gina Riley, Bruce Samazan, Jennifer Keyte, Magda Szubanski and Kym Wilson.  The night culminates with the announcement of the winner of the TV Week Gold Logie for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television.  The awards presentation is followed by a special post-Logies edition of Tonight Live, hosted by Richard Stubbs.

Saturday:  ABC debuts current affairs program Foreign Correspondent, hosted by George Negus, taking a look at the news behind some of the week’s major world events, including reports from correspondents around the world.  Seven presents live coverage of the AFL Foster’s Cup Grand Final, hosted by Bruce McAvaney, while Ten has delayed coverage of the National Basketball League’s K-Mart Australian Classic.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  7 March 1992.  Southdown Press.