1991: July 27-August 2

Wheeling into the wedding
The E Street wedding of Lisa Bennett (Alyssa-Jane Cook) and Michael Sturgess (Graham Harvey) takes a interesting twist when the bride arrives at the church… on a motorbike with former boyfriend Wheels (Marcus Graham, pictured with Cook).  Wheels’ return threatens to steal the limelight from Lisa and Michael’s big day, particularly as the groom has had concerns that his bride-to-be might choose to go back to her ex-boyfriend, but Wheels’ sudden return is only as a friend to Lisa and the wedding goes ahead without a hitch. 

This Guy’s a heartbreaker!
Former Neighbours star Guy Pearce has arrived in Home And Away as David Croft, the nephew of school principal Fisher (Norman Coburn), who strikes up a relationship with high school student Sophie (Rebekah Elmaloglou).  The relationship faces the disapproval of David’s sister Lucinda (Dee Smart) and Sophie’s foster-dad Michael (Dennis Coard) and, as Pearce reveals, “Yes, there will be tears in Summer Bay!” 

Meet the new Nudge!
The producers of Hey Dad! have signed up a new cast member to fill the gap left by departing cast member Christopher Truswell, who played viewer favourite Nudge.  Ben Oxenbould (pictured), a former child star of the early 1980s movie Fatty Finn, is joining the show as Ben Hubner, a university colleague of Simon’s (Christopher Mayer).  Hubner is described as “a terrific footballer, but not very studious”, and seeks Simon’s help with his studies.  Oxenbould, who more recently has appeared in E Street, GP and Home And Away as well as a lamb roast commercial where he knocks back a date with a Nicole Kidman look-alike, makes his on-screen debut in September.  Producers have said the new character will be semi-regular but if audience response is positive he will stay on as “the new Nudge”.

Briefly…
Blind Date host Greg Evans has told TV Week of his surprise when he found out that co-host Nicky Buckley (pictured) had suddenly left the show to be replaced by Swedish-born model Ankie Nordberg.  “I had no idea about it at all, but you never get any warning,” he told TV Week.  “I’m not certain of the details or the politics.  In fact, I haven’t been able to get in touch with Nicky.”  A Network Ten spokesperson has only said that Buckley has left “to pursue her modelling career and personal interests.”  Nordberg makes her on-air debut on Blind Date this week.

Rebecca Gibney was surprised when she read the script for her upcoming return to The Flying Doctors – two years since leaving the show she is now a mother of two.  But despite her ‘two littlies’, played by Kelvin Barnes and Delaney Unwin, Gibney says she hasn’t any real maternal urges at this stage.  “I suppose I’ll get clucky one day, but I have 16 nieces and nephews, and they are enough to satisfy any urges I might have!,” she laughs.

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation has announced production of a new series of children’s program Round The Twist.  The $3 million production, which has already been pre-sold to the BBC, will unveil a new package of adventures for the Twist family and their obnoxious neighbours.  Many of the adult cast members of the first series, including Frankie J Holden, Richard Moir, Judith McGrath and Bunney Brooke, are expected to be reunited for the new episodes, but the show’s junior characters will be re-cast as the original actors have now outgrown their roles.

Former Countdown Revolution presenter Lochie Daddo (pictured) has followed in his older brother Cameron’s footsteps in hosting a children’s show.  The younger Daddo is now hosting Ten’s new Kids’ Stuff on weekends, noting that Cameron got his start in TV hosting another children’s program, Off The Dish, in the mid 1980s.

John Laws says…
”It’s rare that two people can successfully work together presenting the same TV program and not fall into the trap of staleness.  I’ve more or less been waiting for David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz to show signs of “long-run fatigue” with their weekly The Movie Show (SBS) – but the program remains as fresh and interesting as it was when the pair introduced it several years ago.  If Stratton and Pomeranz can maintain the present standard – and I see no reason why they can’t – their little 30-minute offering looks like being with us for many years to come.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, July 27-August 2):
Saturday:  Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) is presented from Perth’s Burswood Casino in a tribute to the musical Grease.  Featuring in the concert special are Craig McLachlan, Wendy Matthews, Rhonda Burchmore, Nathan Cavaleri and Melissa Hannan.

Sunday:  Seven crosses to Football Park, Adelaide, for the early-evening AFL match between Adelaide Crows and Essendon.  Sunday night movies are DOA (Seven), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (Nine) and Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (Ten).

Monday:  Ten’s music video show Coca-Cola Power Cuts, previously seen on Sunday afternoons, now moves into the 5.00pm Monday to Friday timeslot, followed by game show Blind Date with Greg Evans and new co-host Ankie Nordberg (pictured).

Tuesday:  Former E Street star Penny Cook makes her debut in GP (ABC), while Ally Fowler and Susan Leith guest star as a lesbian couple desperate to have a child through IVF.  Former Hey Dad! star Christopher Truswell makes his guest appearance in All Together Now (Nine).  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), a Spanish coffin-maker has designed the world’s first environmentally-friendly coffin.

Wednesday:  In Neighbours (Ten), Helen (Anne Haddy) and Michael’s (Brian Blain) wedding takes place with a few hiccups.

Friday:  Wheel Of Fortune host John Burgess is the guest on this week’s Burke’s Backyard (Nine).  Mike Hammond hosts the series Grand Final of Star Search – The Next Generation (Ten).

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  27 July 1991.  Southdown Press

ABC to say goodbye to Gordon Street?

ABC is set to expand its premises in inner-city Melbourne with construction of a new television studio.

The new development, which has now been approved by the ABC board, will be built adjacent to the broadcaster’s existing radio and administration complex in Southbank.

The new television studios will be used for both internal productions as well as being made available for external hire.

No timeline for the development has been announced and neither has there been any announcement as to the future of ABC’s existing Melbourne television studios in Gordon Street, Elsternwick, although The Age reports that it appears that the property will be sold off to assist in funding the new development.  In 2009 the Elsternwick site was estimated to be valued at around $25 million.

The Elsternwick studios, located next door to the historic Ripponlea homestead, were opened in May 1958 – eighteen months after ABC’s Melbourne television station ABV2 commenced transmission.  For the previous eighteen months the various functions of the new television station were carried out from makeshift premises scattered around Melbourne.

The studios have hosted various productions for ABC including Bellbird, Adventure Island (pictured), Countdown, Power Without Glory, The Saturday Show, Australia – You’re Standing In It, The Factory, Countdown Revolution, The Big Gig, The Late Show, Phoenix and Seachange. 

Spicks And Specks, The Marngrook Footy Show and Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight are also produced at Elsternwick.

The potential sale of the Elsternwick site comes after the sale of the historic GTV9 studios in Richmond last year – while Seven and Ten have long moved out from their original studio premises in South Melbourne and Nunawading respectively.

Source: The Age, The Australian, ABV, ABC, Real Estate Source

1991: May 4-10

It all started with Love Letters
Love has blossomed between two of television’s most popular stars.  Julian McMahon, formerly of Home And Away, and A Country Practice’s Georgie Parker have been inseparable since they performed together in the theatre production of Love Letters.  Although the pair (pictured) have said little about their relationship, their affection for each other was obvious at the recent TV Week Logie Awards and they are often seen out together around Sydney.  “We are not prepared to make any comment at this stage,” Parker tells TV Week.  “We are just good friends,” said McMahon.

‘It’s time to move on…’
Neighbours is about to lose one of its most popular characters as Mark Little, who plays Joe Mangel, has decided not to renew his contract.  A Network Ten spokesperson told TV Week: “Mark has been with the show since June 1988 and I think he feels it’s time to move on.  As with any ongoing drama, it’s the nature of the production that cast members have to leave.  Inevitably they are replaced by new actors who are hopefully just as talented.”  Little, who also formerly starred in The Flying Doctors and co-hosted ABC’s Countdown Revolution, is set to perform a season of stand-up comedy in Sydney and is also promoting the movie Nirvana Street Murder, in which he stars with Ben Mendelsohn.

Carmel’s ‘horror movie’
Beyond 2000 reporter Carmel Travers has returned from India, Turkey, the United Kingdom and South America, where she found the body-parts trade is big business.  “India is basically the organ bank for the rest of the world,” she told TV Week.  “It’s so easy to acquire an organ there.”  Travers’ story, to appear soon on Beyond 2000, says the lure of cash is leading to young men to sell their organs.  “Every young man has sold a kidney or intends to do so,” she said.  “The promise of 20,000 rupees (around $A2000) for a kidney is too alluring.  Eyes are worth 80,000 rupees.  But it is not just a kidney and eye trade we are talking about – it is a trade in skin, bones and ligaments.  Poverty and ignorance can drive people to do the most amazing things.”  Travers found that it wasn’t just India where body-part trading is rife, with certain operations to remove body parts for trade also taking place in the United Kingdom. 

Briefly…
ABC will this week air the Film Australia telemovie Act Of Necessity, a moving story of a mother’s search to prove her dying daughter’s leukaemia and the spraying of insecticides are connected.  The telemovie is not scripted – the actors’ dialogue was improvised, the result of two weeks of workshopping the characters and researching by spending time with the real people of the communities.  The telemovie stars Angie Milliken, Mark Owen-Taylor, Wendy Strehlow, Scott McGregor, Paul Sonkilla, Lauren Hewett and Steven Grives.

E Street star Penny Cook (pictured), who recently left the series for an extended break, has just signed up for a ten-week guest role in ABC’s GP.  The guest appearance has slimmed any chance that Cook will return to E Street this year, meaning that the pending nuptials between Dr Elly Fielding and Reverend Bob Brown (Tony Martin) are likely to be left waiting even longer.

The Nine Network’s Chances this week sees character Eddie Reynolds (Dennis Miller) brutally murdered, leaving a trail of deceit, blackmail and fraud.  With seven key character suspected of the murder, viewers and even the show’s cast and crew have been left guessing who did it.  Six different storyline endings have been filmed, and even the actors don’t know yet which one will be played out.  The answer will be revealed on the series this week.

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off:
”Film Australia has developed a rather expert knack of taking a social issue, wrapping it in a telemovie format, then simply spreading it out in front of us, no frills.  Previous efforts on thorny subjects such as custody of children, racial prejudice and the battle to keep a family’s head above the mortgage waterline all have been applauded and awarded.  The latest, a telemovie called Act Of Necessity (featuring Angie Milliken and Lauren Hewett, pictured), deserves the same.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 4-10):
Saturday:  Seven Network sports commentators Bruce McAvaney, Sandy Roberts, Kim Sporton and Jack Newton battle it out against comedians Elliot Goblet, Austen Tayshus, Mitchell Faircloth and Steve Haddan in Celebrity Family Feud (Seven).

Sunday:  Seven crosses to the SCG for live coverage of AFL, Sydney Swans versus Geelong, with commentators Drew Morphett, Ian Robertson, Don Scott and Cameron Williams.  SBS presents a delayed telecast of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, this time coming from Rome, featuring performances representing twenty-two countries.  Sunday night movies are Three Fugitives (Seven), She’s Having A Baby (Nine) and Great Balls Of Fire (Ten).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Cookie (Syd Heylen) becomes ill when he hears the taxman is visiting the district.  Farmer Dave Watson (Don Reid) offers his property to recreational shooters, despite warnings from his son and ranger Trevor Jackson (Michael Watson).

Tuesday:  Singer Tina Arena (pictured, with Jon English) guest stars in Nine’s sitcom All Together Now, playing the part of a stripper - ‘Vanessa the Undresser’ – hired for a bucks’ night.  In Chances (Nine), Eddie’s (Dennis Miller) blackmail over Connie (Deborah Kennedy), Barbara (Brenda Addie) and Jack (Tim Robertson) reaches crisis point.

Wednesday:  ABC screens telemovie Act Of Necessity.  In Hey Dad! (Seven), Nudge (Christopher Truswell) falls in love, while the rest of the household learn to live with a new burglar alarm.  Nine presents a late-night delayed telecast of the Sydney Rugby League State Of Origin game between New South Wales and Queensland.

Thursday:  The murder of Eddie Reynolds (pictured) in Chances (Nine) leads to the family being questioned by police.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  4 May 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: March 16-22

Will Daryl grab the Gold again?
The host of the 33rd annual TV Week Logie Awards, Daryl Somers, has never forgotten the night he won his first TV Week Gold Logie.  “It was in 1983.  After the show I went upstairs  at the hotel and had a few drinks  with Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton,” he told TV Week.  “I was obviously pretty happy and we had a long night chatting away, as I discovered when I left the session with them and saw that it was starting to get light outside.  And there was the limo.  It was still waiting for me!  I’d forgotten to send him home.  So I got in and went straight to work, because in those days we did Hey Hey It’s Saturday from eight on Saturday mornings.  We started the show with a bed on set, and I got in, still in my dinner suit, with the Gold Logie and a big grin.”  Somers is one of the four nominees for the Gold Logie for most popular television personality in the year 1990.

TV Week Logie Awards nominations (Publicly voted categories):
Gold Logie: Ray Martin, Daryl Somers, Jana Wendt, Steve Vizard (Previous year’s winner: Craig McLachlan)

Most Popular Actor: Richard Huggett, Tony Martin, Craig McLachlan, Shane Porteous.  (Previous year’s winner: Craig McLachlan)

Most Popular Actress: Penny Cook, Nicolle Dickson, Georgie Parker, Lenore Smith  (Previous year’s winner: Rachel Friend)

Most Popular Series:  A Country Practice, E Street (pictured), Home And Away, Neighbours  (Previous year’s winner: Neighbours)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Program:  Fast Forward, Hey Dad!, Hey Hey It’s Saturday  (Previous year’s winner:  The Comedy Company)

Most Popular Sports Coverage:  Commonwealth Games, Cricket, Tennis  (Previous year’s winner: Cricket)

Most Popular Telemovie or Mini-Series:  Come In Spinner, Jackaroo (pictured), Shadows Of The Heart  (Previous year’s winner: Bangkok Hilton)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Male Personality:  Kim Gyngell, Daryl Somers, Steve Vizard (New category)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Female Personality:  Jean Kittson, Julie McGregor, Magda Szubanski (New category)

Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair, Hinch, 60 Minutes  (Previous year’s winner: A Current Affair)

Most Popular Children’s Program:  Cartoon Connection, Double Dare, Play School  (Previous year’s winner: Wombat)

Most Popular New Talent:  Rebekah Elmaloglou, Sophie Heathcote, Richard Huggett, Sophie Lee (pictured).  (Previous year’s winner: Georgie Parker)

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).

200 up… and there’s dancing in the street!
The recent murder of four characters – and the suicide of another – still torments the mind of E Street producer Forrest Redlich (pictured).  “I am sorry.  But I had to kill them,” he says.  But Redlich is more upbeat about E Street reaching its 200 episode milestone this week – a significant achievement given that few were willing to give the show a chance.  And when the show was faced with budget cuts, the critics thought that E Street would just fade away, but it is now a ratings hit for the Ten Network.  “We have a lot to thank for the commitment and loyalty of the fans.  For them, it seems one of the dramatic highlights was the bathtub scene with Wheels (Marcus Graham) and Lisa (Alyssa-Jane Cook).  We still get letters about it.  But it has been satisfying for me to know that E Street has given a start to a whole lot of untried actors such as Marcus, Richard Huggett, Alyssa-Jane and Paul Kelman.  It’s funny to remember them as shy young people no-one had heard of and now see them as major players in television drama.”

Tania eyes a sitcom
Comedienne Tania Lacy (pictured) is anxiously waiting the go-ahead from the Nine Network for a Denise Drysdale sitcom in which she would co-star.  Lacy, formerly of ABC programs The Factory and Countdown Revolution, returned from a three-month stint in London to do a “read through” for Nine executives.  The proposed series is also set to star Drysdale along with Noeline Brown and Hazel Phillips. 

Briefly…
In-demand actress Naomi Watts is joining the cast of Home And Away, playing the role of paraplegic Julie Gibson.  In preparing for the role, Watts spent weeks before joining the series confined to a wheelchair.  Watts will also soon be appearing in the ABC mini-series Brides Of Christ.

Neighbours star Beth Buchanan has decided to leave the series when her contract expires in June.  She is keen to travel overseas and is also believed to be pursuing a movie role.

Former E Street star Marcus Graham (pictured), currently appearing in Seven’s Ratbag Hero, could be returning to the Network Ten series.  The actor is in negotiations with producers over reprising his “Wheels” character.  And rumours that he could be taking on a guest role in Chances – after playing the role of scheming Alex in the pilot – have been denied.

ABC mini-series The Paper Man has been making its mark on the international market.  The series has so far been sold to Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Singapore, Poland, Greece, Cyprus, Thailand, Turkey, Bulgaria, Namibia, Malta, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Jordan, Israel, Bahrain and Iceland.  Most significantly, the series has been sold to the American Arts & Entertainment cable network, Canada’s CTV and Britain’s Granada International.

John Laws says…
”Police Rescue (featuring Sonia Todd and Gary Sweet, pictured) is what Australian TV has been a long time in creating – a realistic, drama-packed production with a first-class script and excellent performances from a fine cast.  I thought the original pilot episode, where members of the squad searched for a little boy lost in Sydney’s massive underground sewer complex, was excellent.”

Program Highlights (March 16-22):
Saturday:  Seven presents the Grand Final of the AFL pre-season Foster’s Cup, live from AFL Park, Waverley.

Sunday:  ABC debuts a new Sunday morning children’s program, Couch Potato With Grant Piro.  Afternoon sport includes the NBL K-Mart Classic (Seven) and live coverage of the Gold Coast Indy Grand Prix (Nine).  Seven presents the second and final part of mini-series Ratbag Hero.  Sunday night movies are Perry Mason: Case Of The Musical Murder (Seven), Minnamurra (Nine) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Ten).  ABC’s late-night religious series Compass presents A Question Of Sex, a documentary about transsexuals.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Andrew Carroll tests a navigation system that works out the shortest, fastest route to take when driving and which also helps with safe driving – and Amanda Keller finds out the real reason why women feel the affects of alcohol faster than men.

Wednesday/Thursday:  Australia’s Tom Burlinson stars in the mini-series Piece Of Cake (Seven), the story of 12 young RAF fighter pilots during the first year of World War II.

Friday:  AFL’s Season 1991 starts with Adelaide versus Hawthorn, live on Seven from Football Park, Adelaide.  Andrew Denton’s new late-night sports chat show Live And Sweaty debuts on ABC.

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

1990: December 22-28

Cover: Three Men And A Little Lady

‘I have no intention of staying in E Street for seven years…’
Joan Sydney doesn’t know much about the character she is going to play in Network Ten’s E Street, except for one thing – she won’t be anything like Maggie Sloan, the matron she played in A Country Practice for seven years.  “I have to have a talk with the producers about my character, because I’m not interested in playing a matron again,” Sydney told TV Week.  “I’m interested in doing something quite different.”  She is also adamant that her E Street role will not last as long as that of Matron Sloan.  “I only went into A Country Practice for six months, and ended up staying seven years.  I didn’t know who I was when I came out of that – until I threw away the corset and cut my hair.  So I have no intention of staying in E Street for seven years.”

There is a life beyond 2000!
Beyond 2000 reporter Iain Finlay and partner, associate producer Trish Sheppard are leaving the popular Seven Network program to embark on a new venture – chronicling their 25 years of life and adventure together in the form of a trilogy.  Their life together has taken them to the wilds of Africa, to the Amazon River and freezing Siberia, amongst many other places. 

Back in Harmer’s way!
Following a successful tour of the UK, comedian Wendy Harmer (pictured) is returning to ABC and the show that made her a household name.  She will be re-joining The Big Gig in the new year as part as a reduced line-up to feature in the comedy show – following the departure of Jean Kittson, the Doug Anthony All Stars and this year’s host Glynn Nicholas.  “I will be compering, but I don’t know whether it will be a full-time arrangement,” Harmer told TV Week.  “I’m keen to get back because it looks like the show will be a lot different in format next year.”

Briefly…
Neighbours star Richard Norton has been informed by producers that they won’t be renewing his contract when it expires in February.  “I was really counting on the six months to be working, but that’s the way it goes in this business.  It was my first experience in television so I’ve learnt a lot,” he told TV Week.

Vikki Blanche, who plays Julia in the Ten Network sitcom Col’n Carpenter, has quit the series and is planning to head to London and New York to take acting classes.  “I decided I’d done a year and I’ve learned a lot,” she told TV Week.  “I had a good time.  It’s the first time I’d done comedy in a formalised way.  I learnt a lot about setting up gags and rhythm.  Kim (Gyngell) is so good and he helped Stig (Wemyss) and me a lot.”

Former Neighbours star Guy Pearce (pictured) is set to make his stage acting debut with the role of Danny Zuko in the upcoming production of Grease.  The role of Sandy, made famous in the 1978 film version by Olivia Newton-John, is tipped to go to Perth actress Louise Anton, a host of the WA variety program Young Entertainers and a performer on Midday With Ray Martin.

John Laws says…
”One of TV’s major successes in 1990 was SBS’ screening of the British production Seven Up, which traced the lives of 14 people from age 7 through to 28.  It was fascinating and, as I’ve said previously, I can’t wait for the latest “seven-year” episode, which will reveal what is happening in the lives of the Seven Up subjects at age 35.  At the time I wrote about Seven Up, I wondered why someone in Australia hadn’t done something similar.  Well, of course, they had.  And just recently, on ABC, I was fortunate enough to catch a repeat screening of Gillian Armstrong’s wonderful documentary Bingo, Bridesmaids And Braces.”

Program Highlights (December 22-28):
Saturday:  HSV7 presents a direct telecast of Carols In The Domain, hosted by Barry Crocker and featuring Tina Arena, Jeanne Little, Grace Knight, Clare Gormley, The Salvation Army Massed Choirs, Cafe Of The Gate Of Salvation and The Sydney Symphony Youth Orchestra.  Following the carols, Tony Charlton hosts The Australian Dancesport Championships.

Sunday:  HSV7 presents a day full of Christmas specials, starting with The Flintstones’ Christmas at 9.00am and continuing with movies and specials right through to 6.00pm.  Sunday night movies are I’ll Be Home For Christmas (HSV7), Heaven’s Gate (GTV9) and A Hobo’s Christmas (ATV10).

Monday:  At 11.30am, HSV7, GTV9 and ATV10 present a repeat simulcast of the US animated special Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue.  The half-hour program first appeared simultaneously across all three channels in November.  At 9.00pm, GTV9 presents a live telecast of the Royal Victorian Institute For The Blind’s Carols By Candlelight from Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl, hosted by Ray Martin and featuring Suzanne Johnston, Debbie Byrne, Wendy Stapleton, Denise Drysdale, The Seekers, Simon Gallagher, Denis Walter, John Diedrich and Marilyn Richardson.

Tuesday:  Christmas Day is dominated by Christmas specials and movies – and GTV9 presents a late-morning repeat of Carols By Candlelight.  At 6.00pm, ABC presents the Countdown Revolution Christmas Special, featuring Kate Ceberano, the Doug Anthony All Stars, Stephen Cummings and Reg Mombassa.  The Queen’s Christmas Message is broadcast on ABC (7.20pm), HSV7 (10.15pm), GTV9 (10.30pm), ATV10 (during Ten Evening News at 6.00pm) and SBS (6.20pm).

Wednesday:  ABC presents live coverage of the start of the traditional Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race, and GTV9 crosses to the MCG in the mid-afternoon for Australia versus England in Day One of the Second Test.

Thursday:  HSV7 presents live coverage from Perth of the Hopman Cup tennis – starting at 8.30pm and continuing through to 1.00am.

Friday:  The second day of the Hopman Cup starts at 1.00pm through to 6.00pm and then continuing from 8.30pm to 1.00am.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 22 December 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: September 22-28

Cover: Tom Cruise

On the brink of madness!
In a chilling coincidence, actor Terry Serio was discussing with TV Week his latest role as a would-be mass murderer in GP just hours after five people were shot dead at a block of flats near TV Week’s Sydney offices.  “It doesn’t take much to push a person over the edge,” Serio told TV Week.  In GP, Serio plays the role of Jesse Watts, a man whose business has collapsed in the recession and is driving taxis just to make ends meet.  His moods get progressively worse.  He has a gun and has thoughts of using it.   He blames his problems on his wife (played by Saskia Post) who turns to Dr Robert Sharp (John McTernan) for help.

Emergency call to Matron
A Country Practice creator and producer James Davern has been having secret talks with former cast member Joan Sydney to try and lure her back into the series.  The talks were sparked by news that cast member Mary Regan, who replaced Sydney as the town’s hospital matron, is planning to leave the series.  But a spokesperson for the Seven Network said that talks were taking place but that Sydney has decided not to come back to the show.  “She wants to stick to theatre and film roles,” the spokesperson said.  Sydney’s most recent role was in the Melbourne Theatre Company production of This Old Man Comes Rolling Home, co-starring with Alex Papps, Roger Oakley, Anne Phelan and Beverly Phillips.

What a night… if only I could remember!
It should have been a day that he would never forget, but for Wheel Of Fortune host John Burgess it became a day he can hardly remember.  Just days before heading to Adelaide to tape the first four Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune shows, Burgess injured an ankle playing tennis, leading to an infection which, if left untreated, could have led to septicaemia.  Defying doctor’s orders, Burgess (pictured, with contestants Lorrae Desmond, David Hookes and Jeanne Little with hostess Adriana Xenides) flew from Perth to Adelaide to attend the taping but was so “spaced out” on medication that he barely remembers anything that happened while taping those four shows.  “So how I got there, I don’t know and how i did those television shows, I don’t know.  It must have been pure adrenalin.  I don’t remember a thing about the first show and very little about the second,” he told TV Week.  At least the pain of the injury was eased slightly by the news that Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune and its Saturday night partner, Celebrity Family Feud, have debuted to hit ratings, winning the battle against Hey Hey It’s Saturday in Sydney and Brisbane, and coming a close second in Melbourne.  But Celebrity Family Feud host Rob Brough is staying cautious.  “Hey Hey has been around a long time and we have only been a success for one night.  We can’t be compared to them yet,” he told TV Week.

Briefly…
Two new characters have moved into Network Ten’s E Street.  Zac Spencer (Daniel Knight) and his sister Nikki (Melissa Tkautz) are dumped by their mother and left in the care of George and Martha Sullivan (Les Dayman and Cecily Polson) and are a couple of kids you’d never want to encounter.  “Nikki is everything I don’t want to be,” says Tkautz. “She smokes and she’s really the sort of girl most parents would be horrified to have their daughters associating with.”

Actor Marcus Graham is in line for a role in the new mini-series Tracks Of Glory, being produced by Perth-based Barron Films, which follows the story of black American world champion cyclist Major Taylor who comes to Australia at the turn of the century to revive national interest in the sport.

Another Daddo is about to make his mark on television.  Lochie Daddo, 20, (pictured) has been hosting ABC’s Countdown Revolution for the past few weeks, following the abrupt departure of hosts Mark Little and Tania Lacy, and is tipped to win the job permanently.

John Laws says…
”The decision-makers at the ABC are becoming a little difficult to follow these days.  There seems to be a kind of uninspired confusion within the corridors of power about what exactly is going to happen to certain high-profile programs.  Or maybe it’s cleverly planned confusion.  For instance, is children’s educational TV really going to be axed, as suggested some weeks ago… or was that shock announcement a piece of sly politicking aimed solely at loosening the Federal Government’s purse strings?  Were we really to believe that the ABC’s weekend news bulletins would be nationalised, as suggested in one announcement?  Yes we were – but then we weren’t, because the “decision” was merely broadcast to gauge the reaction and the idea was hastily dumped when the anger of viewers in regional centres became apparent.”

Program Highlights (September 22-28):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses to White City, Sydney for the semi-finals of the Davis Cup tennis between Australia and Argentina. 

Sunday:  ATV10 crosses to Sydney Football Stadium for the State Bank Big Game – Winfield Cup Grand Final.  After Ten Evening News with Mal Walden, Ted Egan presents ATV10’s new documentary series, This Land Australia, with the first episode featuring the grape-growers and wine-makers of Hahndorf and the Barossa Valley in South Australia.  Sunday night movies are Cocktail (HSV7), Short Circuit II (GTV9) and Avenging Force (ATV10).

Monday: Football’s “night of nights” as HSV7 presents live coverage of the Brownlow Medal count from Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, hosted by Bruce McAvaney.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Maxine Gray tries out a new device that acts as a second set of lungs, making scuba obsolete.

Wednesday: Former Matlock Police and The Sullivans star Paul Cronin guest stars in Nine’s The Flying Doctors.

Thursday:  Annie Jones guest stars in ABC’s new drama series, Embassy.  While in Skirts (HSV7), Tina’s (Antoinette Byron) involvement with a heroic, handicapped man dissolves into disaster.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  22 September 1990.  Southdown Press.

1990: July 14-20

‘By the time my son is a teenager I’ll be in a sewing circle’
A Current Affair host Jana Wendt (picture), mother of two-and-a-half-year-old Daniel, says that if he was to get a younger brother or sister then she would reconsider her role on television.  “I think two children is a very large number if you want to keep working,” she told TV Week.  And the ACA host admits it is quite a juggling act as TV’s first lady on camera, while being mum at home.  “I think my son is conducting a campaign to stop me reading newspapers, which could jeopardise my job!  That’s a struggle in the mornings – the struggle against listening to the radio, which you must do, and watching Here’s Humphrey.  Sometimes both happen at the same time, which leads to both of us being confused.  It works itself out.”  And while Daniel things it’s pretty cool recognising his mum on TV now, she is asked will he feel the same when he is a teenager.  “I don’t think that 13 years from now I’ll be in the business.  By the time he’s a teenager I will be in a sewing circle.  Yes, absolutely,” she says. 

Fast lane Jane!
When Jane Turner isn’t raising laughs on Fast Forward, she is juggling two other very different roles.  First, there is looking after her young son, Rupert – and then her other role is as the diplomat’s wife and the various official social engagements that come with that job.  Turner and her husband John Denton met at Melbourne University, courted in Russia, married in Melbourne, had an 18-month “honeymoon” in Canberra and then moved to Bangladesh, where Denton is deputy head of the Australian High Commission in Dacca.  The talented Turner came back to Melbourne to start on Fast Forward, and her husband will be following later in the year.  “He’s always very supportive and encouraging,” she told TV Week.  “We’re both so satisfied with our careers.  You have to take the opportunities when they come and play it by ear.  But it can be a drag.  We miss each other, but it’s always been this way.  One day we’ll compromise.”  When she isn’t working on Fast Forward, Turner joins her husband overseas to mix with the elite on the diplomatic cocktail circuit.  And after creating such Fast Forward characters such as the tongue-in-cheek Inga Harlot (pictured) and Doctor Van Noodle Rooter (“they’re loosely based on Scandinavians I met in Moscow.”), Turner is considering creating a Bangladeshi character.  “Let’s see how they react to that!,” she says.

‘We felt like we were selling out’
Countdown Revolution’s Tania Lacy has spoken out after she and co-host Mark Little were sacked from the show for being anarchic.  It’s a bizarre situation for the pair, considering it was for that particular quality they were hired to do the show in the first place.  Lacy, a familiar face from ABC’s The Factory, said there had been a lot of problems leading up to the taping of the episode where she and Little staged an on-air strike.  “It was a fight for our credibility,” she told TV Week.  “We regard ourselves as credible performers and that is the heart of the issue.  We were originally asked to present a revolutionary, comedic and anarchic pop program.  We really believed in that concept, but suddenly some very ugly factors came into it.  We felt like we were selling out, that we were puppets for the producers and record companies.  Mark and I were not employed to sell records.  We were also told to cool it with the clowning around and they also stopped us from saying what we believed in.  We felt so strongly about it we thought the audience should know how we’re feeling.”  The pair arrived for the Friday night taping carrying some quickly-made placards, reading ‘TV is a lie’ and ‘TV lip service’, which were handed out to audience members.  The pair were later notified of their dismissal by fax.  Actors Equity have taken up the case and Lacy and Little are hopeful they will be able to sit down with ABC management and deal with the issue face to face.  The show’s former producer, Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, says that while he wasn’t involved in the show by this stage, he defended the broadcaster’s actions:  “Any performer knows you don’t air your grievances on camera.  And that no one performer is bigger than the show itself.  Any artist who abuses members of the production team in front of an audience, or tears up their script and refuses point blank to listen to the show’s director, or tries to encourage members of the audience or other performers to interfere with the production of the program – all over matters of either self-indulgence or ego – is definitely asking for trouble.”

Briefly…
The Flying Doctors star Alex Papps is set to kill his boy-next-door image with a role in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of This Old Man Comes Rolling Home.  “It’s a play about a family living in Redfern in the Fifties.  My character is one of the sons of the family who doesn’t work… he’s a real layabout.  He seduces a young English girl, so I get to play ‘Mr Bastard’ this time around.  He’s a lecherous type,” he told TV Week.

As a judge on Nine’s New Faces program, Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum was so impressed with the performance of 17-year-old Queenslander Peter Andre (pictured, centre, with Meldrum and host Daryl Somers) that he immediately signed him up to his record label, Melodian Records.  “Peter impressed us all and he has a unique voice that can be developed,” Meldrum told TV Week.

Darryl Cotton and Marty Monster found themselves unemployed when the Ten Network axed the long-running children’s program The Early Bird Show (which was known as Club 10 at the time of its axing).  But now the pair have a new profile as presenters of a Sunday morning radio show on Melbourne radio station TTFM.  “We’ve picked up the ratings by 200 per cent since we began three months ago.  It’s a radio version of The Early Bird Show and it’s great fun,” Cotton told TV Week.

John Laws says…
”The recent repeat screening of ABC’s Bush Tucker Man series, first shown in 1988, scored excellent ratings.  And no wonder.  It was just as engrossing the second time around as it was the first.  Which leads me to ask why is it taking so long for ABC to bring us a new series of the Bush Tucker Man?”

Program Highlights (July 14-20):
Sunday:  SBS presents a new series of Anne’s International Kitchen, featuring Anne Luciano.  Rowena Wallace (pictured), Richard Moir and Justin Rozniak star in The Big Wish, the third in the More Winners children’s series on ABC.  GTV9 presents the debut of Unknown Australia, the five-part documentary series from Brisbane-based newsreader Dean Felton.  After a six-month hiatus, The Comedy Company returns to ATV10 with a new format and some new faces.  Sunday night movies are Without A Clue (HSV7) and Frantic (GTV9).  ATV10 debuts the two-part mini-series Murderers Among Us – The Simon Wiesenthal Story.   ABC’s Sunday Stereo Special is the Australian Ballet’s production of Spartacus, recorded in Melbourne with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra conducted by Ormsby Wilkins.

Monday:  Sale Of The Century (GTV9) presents the first in the week-long Celebrity Challenge, commemorating the show’s tenth anniversary.  Taking part in the challenge are high-profile contestants including Bert Newton (pictured), Andrew Gaze, Simon O’Donnell, Peta Toppano, Gough Whitlam, Lisa Curry, Cameron Daddo, George Negus and Jennifer Byrne.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Iain Finlay reveals a new technique for viewing 3D television without the need for special glasses, while Simon Reeve travels to Gothenburg, Sweden, to report on an electronic newspaper for the blind.  SBS launches a new weekly sports program, The Sports Machine, hosted by Les Murray and a team of reporters looking at the playing fields, dressing rooms and board rooms of sporting clubs around Australia.

Wednesday:  ABC’s Documentary Unit presents a controversial new film, The Devil You Know, examining the popular myth surrounding two drugs – heroin and alcohol.

Thursday:  ABC’s The First Australians series presents a documentary on Arnhem Land rock group Yothu Yindi on their tour of North America with Midnight Oil.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.         
14 July 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: June 16-22

Cover: Josephine Mitchell, Craig McLachlan (Home And Away)

Wog out of work!
The Seven Network’s hit comedy Acropolis Now is now entering production of its third series but it will be without one of its key cast members.  Simon Palomares, who plays Ricky, has decided not to appear in the third series and will focus on a behind the scenes role.  “I think it got to the point where there were a few reasons for leaving,” he told TV Week.  “The main reason is that I’ve been doing ethnic humour longer than any of the three of us.  I think I’ve said as much as I can say on the subject.  There are a lot of other issues I want to get into.”  Palomares is preparing a pilot for a new comedy-adventure series and is planning a one-man show to go on stage later in the year.

Rebecca careers on
Actress Rebecca Gibney hasn’t looked back since she left the Nine Network’s The Flying Doctors last year.  As soon as she left the show, Gibney took on the role of Guinea (pictured) in ABC’s Come In Spinner and has just completed a new mini-series, Ring Of Scorpio, for Nine.  She is now about to start in a new sitcom for Nine.  Rhythm And Blues will feature Gibney alongside Jon English, whose character is a ‘60s rock star who hasn’t come to terms with the ‘90s.  “I’ve never done comedy before,” she told TV Week.  “When I shot the pilot I was terrified because I’d never worked in front of a live audience before.  That was very daunting.”  The new series is set to debut later in the year.

New York, here I come!
Andrew Daddo (pictured), former co-host of ABC’s The Factory, has landed a job with the US cable network, MTV.  Daddo caught the eye of MTV producers when the network screened an episode of The Factory, as part of the channel’s regular screenings of music shows from around the world.  “They do it to borrow ideas, which is the norm, and apparently someone walked past and my fat head caught in their eye.  They rang MTV in Sydney to find my agent’s number and asked me to send over a showreel.  A week later I was on a plane to New York,” he told TV Week.  The plum job is a far cry from Daddo being overlooked as a host for ABC’s new Countdown Revolution when it was formed last year, instead he was offered only a minor role on the new show which he left after only six weeks on-air.  “I have no bad feelings for ABC.  It was just one of those things.  In fact, seeing what Countdown is now, maybe they did me a favour,” he says.

Briefly… 
Actress Katy Brinson (pictured) played a barrister in the Seven Network’s Rafferty’s Rules.  Now she is taking on a far different role in Seven’s new series Skirts, playing the role of an alcoholic writer who beats her daughter. 

Former Neighbours star Rachel Friend is to star in a comedy pilot being made for Network Ten.  The new series, Lipstick Dreams, is based on a theatre production that recently had a successful run in Sydney and features four women who work on a beauty parlour in a country town.

Neighbours star Linda Hartley, who is about to tape her final scenes for the Network Ten series, is shortly heading off to the UK to star in the touring stage production of Prisoner and has also scored a pantomime role in the UK.  She will appear in the production of Mother Goose, joining former Neighbours castmate Kristian Schmid.

John Laws says…
”If the legendary Monty Python team were still around today they could find plenty of material to ridicule in the ABC’s new series Let’s Do Lunch.  My own impression was that the whole idea for the program had been dreamed up at a long, boozy lunch.  Usually, in the sober light of the following morning, such alcohol-inspired ideas are seen for exactly what they are.  Not, apparently, in the case of Let’s Do Lunch.  Whatever its origins, its entire theme is predicated around two people gorging themselves with food and booze, at lunch.  Along the way, we are treated to the self-indulgence of ths host, Maurice Murphy (pictured), who roams around clutching a video camera taking pictures of himself.  At which, I suppose, we are all supposed to laugh uproariously.”

Program Highlights (June 16-22):
World Cup:  SBS continues its daily coverage of the FIFA World Cup from Italy, with live coverage of matches screened overnight and replays the following afternoon, followed by a 90-minute highlights package at 7.00pm.  ABC takes on SBS’ overnight match coverage for regional viewers who don’t have access to SBS and also presents a nightly one-hour highlights package on all ABC stations.

Saturday:  Legal drama Rafferty’s Rules returns with new episodes screening on HSV7.

Sunday:  In the lead up to the return of dance competition That’s Dancin’, ABC screens a replay of the 1989 series grand final, presented by Paul Newman and Maureen Delacy.  Sunday night movies are In The Line Of Duty: The FBI Murders (HSV7) and For Love Alone (ATV10).  GTV9 screens the first part of mini-series Passion And Paradise, with the second and final part screening the following night.

Tuesday:  In ABC’s medical drama GP, Cathy (Sarah Chadwick) finds out she is pregnant but her relationship with Jack (John O’Hare) hits rocky ground when his initial reaction to the news is less than enthusiastic.

Thursday: In The Flying Doctors (GTV9), a troubled young man finally his past to rest when a seven-year-old car wreck is found, and the mystery of his parents’ disappearance is solved. 

Friday:  In Neighbours (ATV10), Paul (Stefan Dennis) is shocked to discover the identity of Caroline’s (Gillian Blakeney) mystery date.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 
16 June 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: April 21-27

Tragedy shatters Summer Bay
Which original cast member of Home And Away has quit the series and is to written out for good?  That is the question facing fans of the popular Seven Network series as a car accident in Summer Bay tragically kills one of the characters – but with four characters in the car, who will die?

Alyce rides into romance
Sale Of The Century co-host Alyce Platt has started a six-week stint in the Nine Network’s soap Family And Friends.  “It feels very different being back in a drama.  It’s like I’ve picked up where Sons And Daughters left off, although this is a different character,” she told TV Week.  She plays the character of Stephanie Collins, a social worker with a deep secret who takes off to the country to deal with her mystery.  It is there that she meets Damien Chandler (Simon Westaway) and tries to turn around his aggressive manner, leading to romance.

Away with the Pixies… again!
The Seven Network this week launches a new series of sketch comedy show Fast Forward, and Magda Szubanski will be on board to reprise her trademark characters Pixie-Anne Wheatley (pictured) and beautician Chenille.  “I enjoy doing Pixie.  It puts me in a good mood,” Szubanski told TV Week.  “You set up the smile and, before you know it, you’re in a good mood.  In some ways, I think Chenille may have a slightly longer life.  Because Pixie is such a big character, she could really start to … you after a while!”

Six exit in series shake-up
Despite falling ratings, the Nine Network is sticking with Family And Friends.  The network is planning a major revamp for the series, with six characters to be written out and negotiations under way to sign up some high-profile names.  Planned to be leaving the show are Renato Bartolomei, Robert Forza, Anna-Maria Monticelli, Sean Myers, Simon Westaway and Justine Clarke.  Clarke was only ever intended to have a brief stint in the series, but the departure of the others will essentially end the ongoing Rossi/Chandler feud storyline. 

Briefly…
Former The Factory co-host Andrew Daddo may have been overlooked for a presenting role on Countdown Revolution, but is now set to host a new documentary series for ABC, Made By Design.

A former Australian model, Tayler Kane (pictured), has won a role in the new UK soap opera Families.  The new $6 million series, to be produced by Grenada Television, will be filmed on location in both the UK and Australia.  Kane will play the role of Andrew Stephens, the eldest son of Diane Stephens (Briony Behets).  Families is to debut on UK network ITV later this month.  The series has yet to be sold to an Australian network.

Commonwealth Games double gold medallist Jane Fleming hasn’t given up on her sporting career but has begun to make her mark into the media – as a reporter for the Nine Network’s Wide World Of Sports and co-host of the breakfast show on Canberra radio station FM104.7. 

John Laws says…
”I’m delighted that Daryl Somers (pictured, as illustrated by Robert Fidgeon) and New Faces are back on Nine.  There was a lot of talk late last year that the show was headed for chopping block.  If that had happened, it would have been a crying shame.  I very much like the program and everything that it stands for.  It is a genuine search for fresh Australian entertainment and it’s one of the very few areas of television where talented unknowns can have a crack at shooting for the big break in their careers.”

Program Highlights (April 21-27):
Sunday:  HSV7’s Sunday afternoon AFL covers Sydney Swans versus St Kilda and a highlights package of North Melbourne versus Geelong.  The only Sunday night movie this week is Big Business (HSV7), while GTV9 presents the premiere of two-part mini-series The Great Escape II: The Untold Story and ATV10 debuts mini-series Heart Of The High Country.  In the lead-up to ANZAC Day, ABC presents a one-hour special, The Boys Who Came Home, featuring recollections from Gallipoli veterans.
Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), Dr Cathy Mitchell (Sarah Chadwick) looks after a young paraplegic with serious doubts about his sex life.
Wednesday – ANZAC Day:  ABC is the only network to provide coverage of ANZAC Day proceedings, including 75th Anniversary ANZAC Day March through the streets of Melbourne and a live telecast of the Dawn Service from Gallopoli.  In the afternoon, HSV7 presents a two-hour special, For Valor, and ATV10 repeats a three-hour special, Australians At War 1914-1918, narrated by Tim Elliot.  At 4.45pm, ABC crosses back to Gallipoli for The International Service and the forum discussion on Couchman, at 10.15pm, focuses on the many young Australians making the pilgrimage to the shores of Gallipoli to pay homage to the men who died there 75 years earlier.
Thursday:  Comedy series Fast Forward returns for a second season, including cast members Steve Vizard (pictured), Michael Veitch, Margaret Downey, Magda Szubanski, Ernie Dingo, Jane Turner and Peter Moon.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.     
21 April 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: February 10-16

‘I’m anchored to the chair!’
Despite her recent working trip to Czechoslovakia, A Current Affair host Jana Wendt (pictured) says it’s likely to be a long time before she goes anywhere else for an extended break.  “I am anchored to this chair,” she told TV Week.  “I wish I had a chain to prove it to you.”  But combining the job of current affairs host and mother to two-year-old Daniel she says is never easy, and, if she ever does move on from ACA in the distant future, considers doing something a bit more laid back in television.  “Peter Ross is on a lovely wicket at the ABC doing nice things where you can sit back and relax and enjoy it… Something where you can take a deep breath, be a bit more reflective and work consistently for a while without having to keep up with this kind of momentum.”  TV Week also reveals one of TV’s best kept secrets – the day that the Nine Network almost lost Wendt to Network Ten.  While it was widely reported that Wendt was headed to the American Fox network, at the invitation of former boss Gerald Stone, in reality she was involved in negotiations for an even bigger deal with Ten.  Wendt said she only consider moving to Ten if most of her A Current Affair team could come over as well – so Ten managed to verbally tie up most of the ACA crew.  Then news of the deal leaked out, and Nine chief Sam Chisholm reacted quickly and signed up Wendt and her team with generous contracts – leaving Wendt with a contract worth $2 million over three years.

Dannii’s set to quit Summer Bay
Home And Away star Dannii Minogue is set to leave the series when her contract expires in June.  “(The producers) want me to stay, but I’ve got other commitments,” she told TV Week.  Her first single, Love And Kisses, will be released later this month and she plans to finish recording her debut album while on a two-week break from Home And Away in March.  Minogue plans to promote the new album’s release in London after she finishes up on Home And Away.  “I may go back to Home And Away but it’s too hard to do that and promote the record too.”

Family first for Carol
The recent premiere of Nine’s Family And Friends also marked another long-awaited TV debut – the TV acting debut of Carol Willesee (pictured), former wife of current affairs host Mike Willesee.  The mother of three made headlines in 1987 when she walked off the set of new series Home And Away after only two days of production, citing fears that the role of Pippa Fletcher would take too much time away from her family.  But producers of Family And Friends are happy with Willesee’s performance in her guest role and have already indicated that an ongoing role is ready for her, but appreciate that her family commitments are still a priority.  “That’s quite understandable,” says producer John Holmes.  “It’s up to Carol.”

Briefly…
Former The Comedy Company stars Mark Mitchell and Kim Gyngell make their debut in their own new shows on Network Ten this week.  Mitchell stars in a sketch comedy series, Larger Than Life, and Gyngell reprises his popular character Col’n Carpenter in a new half-hour sitcom also starring Vicki Blanche, Monica Maughan and Stig Wemyss.

60 Minutes reporter Jeff McMullen spent four weeks of his Christmas break in blizzard conditions in Antarctica, filming a story for the current affairs show.  “People are outraged that I was allowed to take this risk… but I was the one who wanted to do it,” he told TV Week.  The 6400 kilometre trek, reported to be the longest polar journey ever made,  was led by six scientists and three dozen huskies.

US actor Telly Savalas, best known for his role as New York cop Kojak, is in Melbourne for a major role in the Seven Network mini-series Rose Against The Odds, based on the life of boxer Lionel Rose.  Savalas plays boxing promoter George Parnassus, who promoted many of Rose’s professional fights in Los Angeles in the 1960s and ‘70s.

John Laws says…
”Little did I know when I heartily praised ABC’s Inside Running drama series that it had already fallen victim to the axe.  Inside Running was a compelling and wonderfully scripted and acted series about barristers in Melbourne.  I regard it as one of the best drama productions made in Australia.”

Program Highlights (February 10-16):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses to Port Douglas, Queensland, for the Super Skins Golf, then in the evening covers the Fosters Cup, Essendon versus West Coast Eagles, live from VFL Park, Melbourne.  GTV9 crosses to the Gabba, Brisbane, for the Benson and Hedges World Series: Pakistan versus Sri Lanka.
Sunday:  The 1990 ratings season kicks off in earnest.  GTV9’s Sunday morning news programs Business Sunday and Sunday are back for another year.  Super Skins Golf (HSV7) and World Series Cricket (GTV9) dominate the afternoon, and the evening is highlighted by ATV10’s new comedy double, Larger Than Life and Col’n Carpenter.  GTV9’s Our World presents Part 1 of G’day Comrade, featuring George Negus on location in Russia, followed by the return of 60 Minutes.  Sunday night movies are Three Men And A Baby (HSV7), The Last Emperor (GTV9) and The Golden Child (ATV10).
Monday:  Midday With Ray Martin (GTV9) returns for another year, and ABC’s The Afternoon Show and Countdown Revolution return in the late afternoon and early evening.  Four Corners and Media Watch both return to ABC in the mid-evening.
Tuesday:  Returning shows for 1990 include The Investigators (ABC) and Candid Camera In Australia (ATV10).  Kerry O’Brien presents the debut of a new late night current affairs program, Lateline, on ABC.
Thursday:  HSV7 crosses to Huntingdale Golf Course, Melbourne, for the annual Australian Masters.
Friday:  ABC’s rural affairs program Countrywide returns for a new year, as does Burke’s Backyard (GTV9).

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 10 February 1990. Southdown Press.