Is the Price Right for Seven?

Is The Price Is Right headed for a comeback?

According to News Limited, it appears that Seven is keen to revive the age-old format to run back-to-back with Deal Or No Deal in the important lead-in hour to the 6.00pm news.

It is tipped that the revamped Price Is Right will be hosted by Larry Emdur (pictured), currently co-host of Seven’s popular The Morning Show and who hosted two previous versions of The Price Is Right for the Nine Network.  Emdur has also hosted game shows Family Double Dare, The Main Event, Cash Bonanza and Wheel Of Fortune.

News of the planned revival comes after a wave of nostalgia for the format following the recent passing of Ian Turpie who hosted the game show during the 1980s for both the Seven and Ten networks.

The Price Is Right is certainly one of the most enduring of game show formats on Australian television – usually enjoying a few years on air before taking a break and then resurfacing to an enthusiastic reception. 

It made its first appearance in the late 1950s with separate versions in each of Sydney and Melbourne.  A ‘national’ version, hosted by Horrie Dargie, launched as a daytime program on the Seven Network in 1963.

Ten years later the 0-10 Network revived the titled, based on the updated format launched in the US, with host Garry Meadows.  The program was so successful in its daytime format that the network expanded it to run in prime-time as well.

The Seven Network then launched The New Price Is Right, hosted by Turpie, in September 1981 on the back of failed early-evening game shows Celebrity Tattletales and Catch Us If You Can.  The show was a hit and ran for around four years.  Turpie reprised his role as host when Ten launched The Price Is Right as a Saturday night program as part of its ill-fated 10 TV Australia line-up of 1989.

Nine then revived The Price Is Right with Emdur as host for several years during the 1990s and then again in 2003.  The show last appeared in 2005.

Last year Emdur made a guest appearance on the US version of The Price Is Right as part of that show’s 40th anniversary celebration.

The recycling of classic TV show formats is hardly new but appears to be a trend among American producers and has seen the revival of some former Australian favourites, including Hey Hey It’s Saturday, It’s A Knockout, Young Talent Time and the recent announcement of a remake of drama series Prisoner, but success in this strategy is proving to be hard to come by.  However, The Price Is Right is one format that seems to always bounce back on a high.

Source: News.com.au

TV Week Logie Award nominees announced

TV Week has announced its list of nominees for this year’s TV Week Logie Awards, to be held at Melbourne’s Crown Casino on 2 May.

On the short list for the Gold Logie are last year’s winner Rebecca Gibney, three-time Gold Logie winner Rove McManus, Home And Away stalwart Ray Meagher, ABC hosts Adam Hills and Wil Anderson, Ten’s Shaun Micallef and Paul McDermott and Home And Away’s Esther Anderson.

Then the categories for Most Popular Actor and Most Popular Actress are basically a two-way battle between Home And Away and Packed To The Rafters, while nominations for Most Popular Drama are Home And Away, Packed To The Rafters, Neighbours, Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities and All Saints (RIP).

Ten’s 2009 hit Masterchef Australia (pictured) received three nominations – one for Most Popular Reality Program and two for judge Matt Preston, both in New Talent categories.  Ten’s other hit of 2009, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, also scored five nominations, including Micallef’s Gold nomination.

Hey Hey It’s Saturday – The Reunion has scored a nomination in the Most Popular Light Entertainment Program category.  Sunrise curiously also got a nomination for Most Popular Light Entertainment program, not doing it’s news credibility any favours, while co-host Melissa Doyle is nominated for Most Popular Presenter – up against Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Rove McManus, Shaun Micallef and Paul McDermott.

Among the industry-voted categories, three networks – ABC, Seven and Ten – were nominated for Most Outstanding News Coverage for their reporting of the Victorian Bushfires.

TV Week is yet to announce this year’s inductee into the Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.

Full list of nominations, including both public and industry-voted categories:

GOLD LOGIE*
Most Popular Personality on TV
Esther Anderson, Home & Away (Seven)
Wil Anderson, The Gruen Transfer (ABC)
Rebecca Gibney, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Adam Hills, Spicks and Specks (ABC)
Paul McDermott, Good News Week (Ten)
Rove McManus, Rove (Ten)
Ray Meagher, Home & Away (Seven)
Shaun Micallef, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)
* Voting for the Gold Logie from the list of nominations is now open to the public up until the day of the event.  Voting for other categories is now closed.

SILVER LOGIES
Outstanding Actor
Roy Billing, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)
Don Hany, East West 101 (SBS)
Garry McDonald, A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne (Ten)
Ben Mendelsohn, Tangle (Showcase)
Aaron Pedersen, The Circuit (SBS)

Outstanding Actress
Justine Clarke, Tangle (Showcase)
Claudia Karvan, Saved (SBS)
Asher Keddie, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)
Susie Porter, East West 101 (SBS)
Kat Stewart, Tangle (Showcase)

Outstanding Drama Series, Mini-series or Tele-movie
A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne, (Ten)
East West 101 (SBS)
Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Tangle (Showcase)
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)

Most Popular Actor
Luke Jacobz, Home and Away (Seven)
Todd Lasance, Home and Away (Seven)
Ray Meagher, Home and Away (Seven)
Hugh Sheridan, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Erik Thomson, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)

Most Popular Actress
Esther Anderson, Home and Away (Seven)
Rebecca Breeds, Home and Away (Seven)
Rebecca Gibney, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Jessica Marais, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Jessica Tovey, Home and Away (Seven)

Most Popular Presenter
Natalie Bassingthwaighte, So You Think You Can Dance Australia (Ten)
Melissa Doyle, Sunrise (Seven)
Adam Hills, Spicks & Specks (ABC)
Rove McManus, Rove (Ten)
Shaun Micallef, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)

LOGIE AWARDS
Outstanding News Coverage
Bushfire Disaster (Ten)
Godwin Grech (ABC)
Samoan Tsunami (Nine)
Victorian Bushfires (Seven)
Victorian Bushfires (ABC)

Outstanding Public Affairs Report
Code of Silence, Four Corners (ABC)
Liberal Leadership Meltdown (Sky News)
Matthew Johns Interview, A Current Affair (Nine)
Proof of Life, Australian Story (ABC)
Rising from the Ashes, 60 Minutes (Nine)

Outstanding Factual Program
Bombora: The Story of Australian Surfing (ABC)
Bondi Rescue (Ten)
Darwin's Brave New World (ABC)
Last Chance Saloon (SBS)
Law and Disorder (SBS)

Outstanding Light Entertainment
Chandon Pictures (Movie Network)
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)
Thank God You're Here (Seven)
The Chaser's War on Everything (ABC)
Wilfred (SBS)

Outstanding Sports Coverage
Golf: Women's Australian Open 2009 (ABC)
Horse Racing: Emirates Melbourne Cup Carnival (Seven)
League: 2009 NRL Grand Final (Nine)
2009 AFL Grand Final: St Kilda vs Geelong (Ten)
V8 Supercars: Supercheap Auto Bathurst (Seven)

Outstanding Children's Program
Camp Orange: The Final Frontier (Nickelodeon)
Dirtgirlworld (ABC)
Hi-5 (Nine)
My Place (ABC)
The Elephant Princess (Ten)

Most Popular Drama
All Saints (Seven)
Home and Away (Seven)
Neighbours (Ten)
Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)

Most Popular Reality Program
Dancing with the Stars (Seven)
MasterChef Australia (Ten)
So You Think You Can Dance Australia (Ten)
The Biggest Loser Australia (Ten)
The Farmer Wants a Wife (Nine)

Most Popular Lifestyle Program
Better Homes and Gardens (Seven)
Domestic Blitz (Seven)
Getaway (Nine)
Ready Steady Cook (Ten)
Top Gear Australia (SBS)

Most Popular Light Entertainment
Deal or No Deal (Seven)
Hey Hey The Reunion (Nine)
Spicks and Specks (ABC)
Sunrise (Seven)
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)

Most Popular Sports Program
Before the Game (Ten)
Sports Tonight (Ten)
The Footy Show AFL (Nine)
The Footy Show NRL (Nine)
Wide World of Sports (Nine)

Most Popular Factual Program
Bondi Rescue (Ten)
Border Security (Seven)
Find My Family (Seven)
RPA (Nine)
RSPCA Animal Rescue (Seven)

Most Popular New Male Talent
Luke Mitchell, Home and Away (Seven)
Charlie Pickering, The 7pm Project (Ten)
Matt Preston, MasterChef Australia (Ten)
James Stewart, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Josh Thomas, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)

Most Popular New Female Talent
Kate Bell, Home and Away (Seven)
Carrie Bickmore, The 7pm Project (Ten)
Ashleigh Brewer, Neighbours (Ten)
Mirrah Foulkes, All Saints (Seven)
Katherine Hicks, Rescue Special Ops (Nine)

Graham Kennedy Award for Outstanding New Talent
Anastasia Feneri, My Place (ABC)
Anna Hutchison, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)
Camille Keenan, Satisfaction (Showcase)
Eva Lazzaro, Tangle (Showcase)
Matt Preston, MasterChef Australia (Ten)

Bert Newton will host the TV Week Logie Awards on 2 May, telecast on the Nine Network.

The Year That Was... #9: Game shows sing, spell and con through '07

Game shows are a staple in any TV network's diet, but this year saw an absolute gluttony on the genre as new titles were unleashed onto the viewing public.

The game show battle started in January when Seven launched The Rich List hosted by Andrew O'Keefe (pictured), already of Deal Or No Deal fame. The US version of the program was not a huge hit, but the Australian version had more pleasing results over its limited episode run and is gearing up for another series in 2008.

Indirectly competing with The Rich List, on the same night but different timeslot, was the Nine Network's new offering 1 vs 100 which could perhaps be described as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire for dummies. Boasting the largest game show stage in the southern hemisphere and hosted by Nine CEO Eddie McGuire (pictured), there was obviously a lot riding on the program. But upon sampling the opening episodes, 1 vs 100 copped feedback that it was 'dumbed down' with simple questions given the weight and tension worthy of the old Mastermind. Also, McGuire's padding out of questions with conversations with contestants and throwing to ad breaks were classic Millionaire tactics that grated on viewers.

Figures for 1 vs 100 dropped well below the desired 1 million mark, with Nine eventually "resting" (TV-speak for "axing") the show in September - only to replace it with a revamped Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. David Gyngell, whose return to the position of Nine CEO brought a boost to the network's flagging morale, announced the return of Millionaire among the first of his 'new' program initiatives for the network. The difference with the 'new' Millionaire is that it would be live to air, for 90 minutes from 7.00pm every Monday, and the million dollar maximum prize-money upped to $5 million.

The relaunch of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire did not get the maximum ratings Nine may have hoped for, instead it was soundly beaten by both Seven and Ten networks. The program played out its six episodes for the series, but Nine may carefully consider if the program in its new format should live on in 2008.

Another game show launched by Nine was The Singing Bee on Sunday nights. Based on a US format, and employing the same US host Joey Fatone, The Singing Bee was studio karaoke with a big cash prize. The program didn't start completely horrendously in the ratings but it had a fight up against Seven's National Bingo Night.

Another format bought from the US (Australian networks seem to have a lack of being able to devise original game show formats?), National Bingo Night got off to an over-hyped start, and a strong rating result but the novelty wore off quickly. The show's popularity was not helped by a smear campaign by Nine's A Current Affair which made plenty about "uncovering" the game show as a supposed scam - although perhaps A Current Affair might like to divert their attention to a program on their own network, the late-night phone-in quiz The Mint, whose cryptic puzzles with seemingly illogical (or ill-explained) answers and charging viewers the right to compete seems to be a government investigation just waiting to happen.

Network Ten also entered into the game show arena with two new offerings this year - The Con Test and Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?The Con Test, based on an English program, encouraged contestants to bluff their way to trick their opponents to give themselves up. Hosted by Australian Idol co-host Andrew G and Melbourne radio identity Brigitte Duclos (pictured), it only held up modest results. Ten had a little more luck with Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? adapted from the US and hosted by network golden boy Rove McManus. The program gave solid ratings to help Ten maintain a strong Wednesday night line-up following the series final of Thank God You're Here.

But it wasn't just Ten that was quizzing kids in prime-time, even SBS got into the act with Hot Spell! A mix of the traditional spelling bee, with some game-show twists, the series hosted by Michael Tuahine (pictured) was the culmination of auditions held in schools around Australia and was screened over ten consecutive nights.
With all this game show activity in prime-time, it is easy to forget the traditional half-hour game shows are still fighting it out - with one casualty. Temptation continued in its merry way despite suggestions it was to be "rested" mid-year to make way for a five-night Millionaire format, but a last minute change by CEO David Gyngell saved Temptation's fate and kept it running Tuesday to Friday nights to work around his relaunched Millionaire on Mondays.

Seven's Deal Or No Deal continued through the year, though it managed to fight off a challenge from Nine's Bert's Family Feud (pictured) which was axed during the year. However, Deal Or No Deal can't rest on its laurels as Nine's replacement program, the cheap UK Antiques Roadshow, is giving Deal a run for its money at a fraction of the cost of Bert's Family Feud.