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.

TV Week Logie Awards: 25 years ago

Midday host Ray Martin was awarded the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the 29th annual TV Week Logie Awards, held at Melbourne’s Hyatt on Collins Hotel on Friday, 3 April 1987.

The Gold Logie comes two years after Martin made the risky decision to move away from top-rating current affairs program 60 Minutes to replace Mike Walsh as the host of Nine’s midday variety show.  “I always expected Gold Logies to be awarded to entertainers like Tony Barber or (fellow nominee) Daryl Somers,” he told TV Week.  “After 22 years as a journalist, I’m just a good story teller.”

Martin also scored a second Logie – for Most Popular Personality in New South Wales.

The awards presentation, broadcast on Network Ten, was hosted by Don Lane (pictured) and featured special guests Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries) and overseas stars Loretta Swit (MASH), Leeza Gibbons (Entertainment This Week), Brian Dennehy (in Australia for a role in the film The Man From Snowy River II), Harry Hamlin (LA Law) and his wife, actress Laura Johnson (Falcon Crest).

The evening’s proceedings came after what was probably a very anxious afternoon for many interstate attendees, as two flights from Sydney were rescheduled and one developed mechanical problems.  Good Morning Australia co-host Gordon Elliott made it on time – but his luggage didn’t.  He ended up at the awards wearing a borrowed bow tie, business shirt, check trousers and a pair of sneakers.

Among the award winners, it was a big night for Network Ten drama Neighbours.  The series, which had made the bold move from Seven only a year earlier, scored five Logies – Most Popular Actor (Peter O’Brien), Most Popular Actress (Kylie Minogue), Most Popular New Talent (Jason Donovan), Most Popular Drama Series and Most Popular Program In Victoria.

Minogue (pictured), attending her first Logies night, became the youngest to ever win the Most Popular Actress award.  The 18-year-old was shocked to win the award that normally goes to more seasoned performers – with previous winners including Lorraine Bayly, Rowena Wallace, Paula Duncan, Val Lehman and Anne Tenney.  “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d win.  I just wish I’d been better prepared,” she told TV Week.  “I was so nervous and really excited at the time and I forgot to thank all of the people in the show.”

Seven Network mini-series Sword Of Honour took away three Logies, including individual awards for Tracy Mann (pictured) and Andrew Clarke.

Melbourne’s Eyewitness News (ATV10) scored an industry-voted Logie for Most Outstanding Achievement In News for its coverage of the Russell Street bombing in Melbourne’s CBD in March 1986.  Within minutes of the tragic bombing that claimed the life of a young policewoman, Ten was reporting live from the scene and continued to present updates during the afternoon and had compiled a thorough coverage for its 6.00pm newscast. 

The Logie for Most Outstanding Single Documentary Or Mini-Series was a draw between two medical documentaries – The Greatest Gift (Nine) and Handle With Care (Ten). The Greatest Gift, presented by reporter Elizabeth Hayes, covered the topic of heart disease and followed the story of two men undergoing heart transplant surgery.  Handle With Care was a docu-drama, directed by AFI award-winner Paul Cox and featured Monica Maughan and Anna-Maria Monticelli as women diagnosed with breast cancer and followed the progress of their respective treatments.

The ABC news special Coup D’Etat won the Logie for Most Outstanding Achievement In Public Affairs.  The program, presented by veteran journalist Peter Couchman (pictured), presented a world exclusive as it followed the political crisis in the Philippines which saw the end of Ferdinand Marcos’ regime and the swearing in of new president Cory Aquino.

Children’s television program Kids Only, a production of Ballarat channel BTV6, was the winner of the Logie for Most Outstanding Contribution by Regional Television.  The weekly program, hosted by Glenn Ridge, was commended for its special episode dedicated to summer-holiday safety.  And although Kids Only won the Logie, the industry judges also highly commended South Australian channel GTS4 Spencer Gulf for Ten Days In Bay 10, a local re-enactment of the time in 1802 when Matthew Flinders and his crew spent 10 days in the bay later named Port Lincoln.

Public-voted Categories:

Gold Logie – Most Popular Personality On Australian TV: Ray Martin (Midday With Ray Martin)

Silver Logie – Most Popular Actor: Peter O’Brien (Neighbours)
Silver Logie – Most Popular Actress: Kylie Minogue (Neighbours)

Most Popular Drama Series: Neighbours (Network Ten)
Most Popular Single Drama Or Mini-Series: Sword Of Honour (Seven Network)
Most Popular Actor In A Single Drama Or Mini-Series: Andrew Clarke (Sword Of Honour)
Most Popular Actress In A Single Drama Or Mini-Series: Tracy Mann (pictured) (Sword Of Honour)
Most Popular Light Entertainment Program: Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine Network)
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: 60 Minutes (Nine Network)
Most Popular Sports Coverage: Wide World Of Sports (Nine Network)
Most Popular Music Video: You’re The Voice (John Farnham)
Most Popular Children’s Program: Wombat (Seven Network)
Most Popular New Talent: Jason Donovan (pictured with Johnny Young) (Neighbours)

Industry-voted Categories:

Gold Logie – Hall Of Fame: Paul Hogan

Most Outstanding Achievement In Public Affairs: Coup D’Etat (Peter Couchman, ABC)
Most Outstanding Achievement In News: “Russell Street Bombing”, Eyewitness News (ATV10, Melbourne)
Most Outstanding Single Documentary Or Series: The Greatest Gift (Nine Network) and Handle With Care (Network Ten).
Most Outstanding Achievement By Regional Television: Kids Only (BTV6, Ballarat)

State-based Categories (Most Popular Personality, Most Popular Program):

NSW: Ray Martin, A Country Practice.
VIC: Daryl Somers (pictured), Neighbours
QLD: Jacki MacDonald (pictured), State Affair
SA: Anne Wills, State Affair
WA: Rick Ardon, State Affair
TAS: Tom Payne, Midweek

Source: TV Week, 11 April 1987.

1991: December 7-13

Set to scorch!
E Street stars Kate Raison and Marcus Graham (both pictured, far right) were due to leave the series with this week’s series final – but a “scorchingly romantic” storyline devised for their characters was enough to convince both actors to re-sign.  “The storyline is so fantastic I couldn’t refuse it,” Graham told TV Week.  “The difference between E Street and other Australian serials is that it takes risks.  It is imaginative.  There is no other show doing it.  If Forrest (Redlich, the show’s producer) wasn’t doing it, nobody would be.  Even the network doesn’t want him to do it.”  The storyline, which will see both actors stay with the show for another six months, comes as E Street’s crazed serial killer Steven Richardson (Vince Martin) sets Sheridan Sturgess (Raison) in his sights and Wheels (Graham) comes to her rescue.

‘It’s all over’
It appears that Nine’s The Flying Doctors is about to fly off into the TV sunset.  The official line from the network is that the show is going into an extended break until the end of 1992 and that producers Crawfords are putting the shows sets into storage.  “As far as the cast and crew are concerned, it’s all over… and we have to let people know about it,” cast member David Reyne told TV Week.  Reyne says he was contemplating leaving the show, anyway, and is keen to develop some new projects for television.  “I think television is in the doldrums and the networks have to employ new blood,” he said.  “If you look at Nine, nearly everyone on after 6pm has been around for years… where’s the new blood?”  And not restricting himself to drama, Reyne says he could see himself hosting an information program or even a music show.  “I’d love to grab music television and give it a good shake,” he said.

New laughs from an old team
Lex Marinos and Max Gillies (both pictured) are set to team up for a new ABC comedy series, with Gillies as the star and Marinos the co-director.  The planned half-hour episodes will introduce Gillies fans to a new range of characters and will feature some of Australia’s top comedic talent in short plays scripted by leading writers.  The pair are not unfamiliar colleagues – they worked together in the Seventies as Chico and Groucho Marx at Melbourne’s Pram Factory.  “It’s nice to get back together after 17 years of meeting in foyers,” Marinos told TV Week. 

Briefly…
The biography of underworld figure Mark “Chopper” Read has claimed that in the late ‘70s he was asked by a notorious robber – now deceased – to take part in a plan to “kidnap” actress Lynda Stoner (pictured), then starring in drama series Cop Shop.  “He had photos taken of her and even knew where she did her shopping; he really was quite nutty over her,” according to Read.  “(He) was always falling in love with TV stars and making outrageous fairytale plans to kidnap them.”  But even Read, with his past criminal background, knocked back the elaborate scheme, instead insisting “we’ll all get 100 years’ jail for this!  Send the bloody woman some flowers instead!”. 

ABC’s yet-to-be-screened police drama Phoenix has already been given the green light for a second series.  Production is due to begin in June and expected to go to air in 1993.  The show’s first series of thirteen episodes, starring Paul Sonkkila, Sean Scully, Simon Westaway, Andy Anderson and Nell Feeney, is expected to go to air early in 1992.

This week’s Christmas episode of Col’n Carpenter (Ten) departs from the usual traditional sitcom formula to acknowledge that for some people it can be a sad time.  In the episode, Col’n (Kim Gyngell) faces the prospect of being alone at Christmas.  In a dream sequence, he clings to the hope his family (featuring Dale Stevens, Monica Maughan and Ray Baldwin, pictured) will arrive – but this appears unlikely.  “This is a very emotional issue,” Gyngell told TV Week.  “Obviously, Col’n’s big wish is to have his family around him for the occasion.”

John Laws says…
”When you present a current affairs program three nights a week for most of the year, relying mostly on satellite interviews on one selected issue each night, you have to be good to survive.  Kerry O’Brien’s Lateline carries a format like this – a simple, direct way of dealing with pertinent issues for sure, but still a TV mixture that in the wrong hands could prove a disaster.  O’Brien, though, is a seasoned political hand and a fine interviewer with a relaxed TV presence and there’s never really been any doubt that he was going to make this program work – and work well.  So, can a program like Lateline go to a fourth night of the week and maintain the quality?  I see no reason why not.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, December 7-13):
Saturday:  Nine presents the year’s final Saturday edition of Wide World Of Sports.  ABC presents the grand final of That’s Dancin’, and Seven’s World Around Us presents a Malcolm Douglas special, Return To The Top, featuring his return to central Arnhem Land 17 years after his first visit.

Sunday:  SBS debuts a new ten-part series, Our Stories, from the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association.  Sunday night movies are Casanova (Seven), Weekend War (Nine) and classic James Bond with You Only Live Twice (Ten).  ABC’s Sunday Stereo Special screens the Australian Ballet’s production of Romeo And Juliet. 

Monday:  In Neighbours (Ten), Glen (Richard Huggett, pictured) makes a sudden marriage proposal to Gaby (Rachel Blakely).  Seven Nightly News launches a late-night edition as a summer replacement for Tonight Live With Steve Vizard.

Tuesday:  Nine crosses to Hobart for the Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket match between Australia and India.  During lunch, Nine switches to ten-pin bowling with the Goldpin Coca-Cola Classic.

Wednesday:  SBS debuts a three-part documentary series, Nostalgia, with each episode focusing on a prominent Australian and their country of origin.  In E Street (Ten), Mary (Joan Sydney) makes a decision that will affect the rest of her life.

Thursday:  In the series final of E Street (Ten), Wheels (Marcus Graham) and Sheridan (Kate Raison) contemplate the next step in their relationship, while Alice’s (Marianne Howard) labour isn’t what she expected.

Friday:  Good Morning Australia (Ten), Neighbours (Ten) and The World Tonight With Clive Robertson (Nine) present their final editions for 1991.  Nine Network daytime show What’s Cooking (featuring Gabriel Gate and Colette Mann, pictured) moves into prime-time for the summer season.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  7 December 1991.  Southdown Press.

1991: November 30-December 6

An old affair rekindled
In a surprising move, the Nine Network has announced that former A Current Affair and Willesee host Mike Willesee will be hosting A Current Affair for three weeks in January while regular host Jana Wendt (pictured with Willesee) takes a break over the summer non-ratings period.  The move is surprising given that Willesee’s last appearance as a fill in host on the program two years ago was marked by controversy when he was caught stumbling on his words and had to apologise for giggling and “attempts to be humourous”.  The incident saw Nine and the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal inundated with complaints about his behaviour – and rival current affairs host Derryn Hinch opened his show the following night by saying, “I’m Derryn Hinch… and I’m sober”.  But Willesee, who claimed at the time that his behaviour was a result of “something he ate or drank”, is no longer keen to discuss the incident (“You’ve got to understand how often I’ve been asked about that.  There’s got to be a limit to how often I answer it.”) and is enthusiastic about his upcoming return to the program.

The eyes have it!
Actor and comedian Mark Mitchell could be forgiven for having a split personality after working on children’s series Lift Off.  In the multi-million dollar production Mitchell plays 19 characters, including an apartment caretaker, a farmer, a school principal and a geriatric legionnaire.  “I’m principally cast as Mr Fish (pictured), the caretaker, and represent the adult bureaucracy the kids have to deal with,” he told TV Week.  “He was made to look at flawed as possible, which is why he is fat, bad-tempered and wears glasses which make him look like a puff fish.  The show allows me to dress up and be silly, which is one of the reasons I’m doing it.”  Lift Off is expected to screen on ABC around mid-1992.

They’re sold on Alyce
When Alyce Platt (pictured) made a sudden exit from Sale Of The Century earlier this year, her television future appeared grim.  But apart from an appendix operation that saw her have to withdraw from a planned guest appearance in All Together Now, she has been almost in constant work since leaving Sale, with a guest appearance on Fast Forward and a role in the Seven Network’s new children’s series Animal Park.  She is also starring in stage production Torch Song Trilogy at Melbourne’s Universal Theatre.  “I enjoyed working on Sale for as long as I was there,” she told TV Week.  “But getting the part in Animal Park was the best thing that could have happened.”

Briefly…
Former Hey Dad! star Christopher Truswell, former Neighbours star Ian Williams and performer Maria Mercedes are set to star in a Nineties revival of the acclaimed rock musical Godspell which is scheduled to open at the Sydney Opera House early in 1992.

Some surprising announcements from the Ten Network with news that Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show host Jacki MacDonald (pictured) is to make a sudden shift from Nine to Ten to co-host a new lifestyle show to be produced by former Hey Hey It’s Saturday co-producer Gavan Disney.  “I’m very excited about moving on to a different style of program,” MacDonald told TV Week.  Disney is also tipped to be working on a revival of variety show Young Talent Time for the network.  Meanwhile, Bert Newton is making a regular TV comeback to host a new mid-morning talk show for Ten starting in the new year.  The program, tentatively titled This Morning, is tipped to also feature Kerri-Anne Kennerley from Good Morning Australia. 

Chances star Jeremy Sims and new A Country Practice star Kym Wilson have become TV’s hottest young couple despite them each living in separate cities.  Sims is based in Melbourne and Wilson is in Sydney, leading to regular weekend commutes and many long-distance telephone calls.

John Laws says…
”We’ve been fortunate in Australia to have a healthy history of satire on TV, going back as far as the ground-breaking The Mavis Bramston Show (pictured) in the Sixties.  Australians like to laugh at themselves – it’s probably one of our better human traits – and the success of programs such as Fast Forward and The Comedy Company are evidence of the presence of this self-depreciating sense of humour.  Fast Forward’s major attribute is its talented young cast.  Magda Szubanski is surely one of the finest comedy talents to have emerged for a long, long time.  Her Pixie-Anne Wheatley character is a classic.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, November 30-December 6):
Saturday:  The final day of TV ratings for the year.  Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) presents a special three-hour show for its 1991 finale with guest appearances by John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Marina Prior, Johnny Diesel and Rhonda Burchmore.  This week’s contestants on Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune (Seven) are swimmer Kieren Perkins, singer Venetta Fields and comedian Anthony Ackroyd.  Ten presents a re-run of mini-series The Heroes as a four-hour telemovie, starring Jason Donovan and Cameron Daddo.

Sunday: ABC presents the final episode of 1920s mini-series The River Kings.  Sunday night movies are Splash (Seven), Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Nine) and Bat 21 (Ten), up against the Australian Opera production of Don Giovanni on ABC.

Monday:  Repeats of early episodes Hey Dad! are the summer replacement for Home And Away on Seven, while Peter Luck hosts Summertime, replacing Derryn Hinch’s current affairs program.  Helen Dalley hosts the summer edition of A Current Affair (Nine).  Neighbours star Richard Huggett guest stars in Col’n Carpenter (Ten).

Tuesday:  Beyond 2000 (Seven) and Embassy (ABC) are presented in repeats for the summer season.

Wednesday:  In E Street (Ten), Sheridan (Kate Raison) has a taste of the working-class life, and Lisa (Alyssa-Jane Cook) has some exciting news.

Thursday:  Debbie Byrne guest stars in this week’s episode of The Flying Doctors (Nine), playing the part of a TV reporter who is stranded in Coopers Crossing due to a faulty plane.  To pass the time she prepares a “day in the life of the Royal Flying Doctor Service” report, but a plane crash forces her to understand the other side of a news story.

Friday:  Nine crosses to Perth for the Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket day/night match between India and the West Indies.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  30 November 1991.  Southdown Press

TV’s golden girls signing off

It was a morning of farewells as two of TV’s golden girls signed off from their respective shows today.

Over at Ten’s The Circle, Denise Drysdale (pictured) announced her retirement – marking the end of a showbusiness career that has spanned more than fifty years.

Starting as a performer in early children’s shows including The Happy Show and The Tarax Show, Drysdale worked her way up to pop music shows such as Uptight, Kommotion and Dig We Must.

Then in the 1970s she became Ernie Sigley’s ‘barrel girl’ on The Ernie Sigley Show, forming an enduring partnership that saw both of them win Gold Logies in 1975, with Drysdale winning a second Gold in 1976.

One of TV’s more versatile performers, she has appeared in dramas such as Division 4, Homicide and Cop Shop, comedies like The Bluestone Boys and The Norman Gunston Show and countless music and variety shows including Countdown, The Penthouse Club, The Daryl Somers Show, The Mike Walsh Show right through to Spicks And Specks. 

Living on a farm in Gippsland, in the 1980s she hosted a morning show for local channel GLV8, and later took over from Jacki MacDonald on Nine’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday before being re-united with Sigley to host morning shows In Melbourne Today and In Sydney Today (both shows later merged into Ernie And Denise).

In the ‘90s, Drysdale teamed up with Frankie J. Holden on the revived In Melbourne Tonight before moving to the Seven Network to host her own daytime show, Denise.

Early last year Network Ten announced that Drysdale was joining the presenting team on its new morning show The Circle.  Later in the year she was again re-united with Sigley in a segment on the show.

Although the show faces tough competition, particularly from The Morning Show on Seven, The Circle this year won a Logie for Most Popular Light Entertainment Program.

Drysdale now looks forward to taking a well-earned break and spending time with her new grandson.

Meanwhile, over at the Nine Network, there was a farewell for Kerri-Anne Kennerley whose morning show comes to an end after nine years on air. 

Kennerley was a teenager when she appeared on children’s programs on Queensland television in the 1960s and 1970s.  After working overseas for several years she returned to Australia, appearing on the soapie The Restless Years before taking over as co-host on Network Ten’s Good Morning Australia in 1981.  It was a role that she made her own for 11 years, outlasting a number of her male on-air colleagues.  She later hosted an afternoon show, Monday To Friday, and worked in Sydney radio.

In the mid-1990s, Kennerley took over as host of Nine’s Midday – giving the show a new lease on life after some years of instability.  The show wound up in 1998 and after a stint back at the Ten Network on ill-fated shows like Moment Of Truth and Greed she returned to Nine in 2002 to host Mornings With Kerri-Anne, later re-named Kerri-Anne.

The show achieved global fame in 2007 when an interview with a “jet-lagged” John Stamos went viral.

The demise of Kerri-Anne comes after recent speculation about the show’s future, sparked by Kennerley taking leave from the program and with the show featuring a number of guest hosts. 

Although the Kerri-Anne program has ended – the ‘summer series’ of best-of segments starts on Monday – Kennerley remains with the Nine Network for future projects.

Nine will replace Kerri-Anne next year with a new show to be hosted by Sonia Kruger, who is coming across after more than a decade with the Seven Network and is best known as the co-host for eleven seasons of  Dancing With The Stars.

YouTube: aussiebeachut0, Michael Shephard

1991: September 21-27

The great Coopers Crossing reunion!
This week’s episode of The Flying Doctors (Nine) features a reunion of past and present cast members as the town of Coopers Crossing, the fictional setting of the series, hosts a party to break the gloom of the recession.  Some of the show’s most popular former stars, including Rebecca Gibney, Andrew McFarlane, Liz Burch and George Kapiniaris, have made a return for the special event.  “I’ve been hoping for a long time this would happen,” Gibney told TV Week.  “You form some great relationships with people when you work on a show like The Flying Doctors.”  Kapiniaris, who played radio operator DJ in the series, is excited about the reunion storyline – with DJ returning to Coopers Crossing somewhat wiser and wealthier after working overseas.  “It’s the best episode DJ ever had,” he told TV Week.  “The problem is that some people who don’t know him take him the wrong way, with some interesting consequences!”

Stormy Waters!
Actor John Waters (pictured) stars in Network Ten’s new mini-series Which Way Home which debuts this week.  Which Way Home is about American nurse Karen Parsons (Cybill Shepherd), who sets out with a small band of orphan children from a Thai refugee camp during the Cambodian conflict to find freedom in Australia.  Waters plays Steve Hannah, an Australian charter boat captain who becomes a reluctant hero when he helps Karen and the children through their horrendous journey.  So did Waters find it daunting working with such a high-profiled actress?  “I don’t think so,” he says.  “I’ve always found that once you get on the set, however many magazines you may have been in, or whatever your salary might be – and how much bigger than mine – it all comes down to doing the same thing.”  He is also impressed by the team of Thai youngsters who played the orphans.  “Some of the kids had actually been through boat-people experiences,” Waters said.  “When you mention you’ve done a film with seven kids, some people say, ‘That must have been a nightmare’, but we were lucky.  These kids were very forgiving of the demands made of them.”  He also said that he has remained friends with the young cast members and they continue to stay in contact. Which Way Home is produced by Hal McElroy (Picnic At Hanging Rock, Return To Eden) and also stars Peta Toppano, John Ewart, Marc Gray, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Andy Tran.

Good-news Gordon
When former Good Morning Australia host Gordon Elliott (pictured) left Australian television four years ago, he had no idea of the impending industry blood-spilling he was escaping from.  “I’m really lucky,” he told TV Week.  “Many of my friends got a bad deal out of the television upheaval in Australia.”  But despite the still-difficult state of the industry here, Elliott has returned to Australian TV as the host of Network Ten’s Hard Copy – although he is presenting it from Los Angeles.  He is also juggling his Hard Copy commitments in LA with his regular hosting of Good Day, New York, which he does three days a week.  The original US version of Hard Copy, a success for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox network, is a spin-off from the American version of A Current Affair, which Elliott was a reporter for.  And Elliott points out that Hard Copy was actually developed by an Australian, Peter Brennan, and was in part inspired by the original Willesee current affairs shows of the 1970s.  “Brennan developed it from there, and gave it more punch,” Elliott said.

Briefly…
TV Week columnist and Hey Hey It’s Saturday presenter Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum (pictured) has triggered an investigation by the FBI in the United States over a possible video piracy case.  “I was at a record bar in LA checking things out when I saw this tape labelled The Interview Series: Madonna,” he said.  “It was one I hadn’t heard of before and, being such a fan, I paid $26 for it and took it back to my hotel.  I put it in the VCR – and there was me!  The bulk of the tape was from two interviews I did with Madonna, plus stuff from Spanish and Japanese television and the American Today show.  I was stunned.”  Meldrum then contacted Madonna’s management company.  “They were amazed – and furious,” he said.  “Now they’ve got the FBI in on it, to track the bootleggers down.”

TV Week, in association with Coca-Cola and MCM Entertainment, has announced plans to stage an annual Australian Music Awards.  The inaugural AMAs are to be held at Melbourne’s Congress Centre in November and televised to a national audience.  The awards will be decided by the public – via voting coupons to be published in TV Week, giving readers more than 20 categories to decide Australia’s most popular artists, records and videos.

The ABC and the cast of Brides Of Christ have been celebrating the show’s recent ratings success.  The series, a co-production between ABC and Roadshow, Coote and Carroll, has received the ABC’s highest ever ratings for a non-sports telecast.

Melbourne radio announcer Barry Bissell, celebrating ten years at Fox FM this month, admits that he has no ambitions to move into television.  “I once did a TV pilot.  It was like a Casey Kasem countdown, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life.  TV doesn’t interest me,” he said.

John Laws says…
”Not even the most kindly disposed critic could describe the acting in soapies as memorable and, of course, no-one expects it to be, given the demands placed upon the actors – many of them inexperienced – to churn out so many hours of drama each week.  Fine acting, though, can be found in some of the big-budget drama series, Nicole Kidman’s performance in Bangkok Hilton, Terry Gill’s crooked cop in Police Crop, Peter Strauss’ alcoholic psychiatrist in Tender Is The Night, and the late Ray McAnally’s left-wing Prime Minister in A Very British Coup.  The performance, however, that ranks as the most electrifying for a long time has been that of Lisa Hensley as the young nun Veronica (pictured) in the ABC’s splendid Brides Of Christ series.  It was a performance of depth, intelligence and humour from a young actress who I can’t recall seeing much of before, but who I am sure will be featuring in a great deal more on TV in years to come.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, September 21-27):
Saturday:  Seven presents highlights of today’s AFL Preliminary Final – then Larry Emdur (pictured), Teresa Linnane and Gerry Connolly are this week’s contestants on Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune.  The Bayswater Roller Dancers are special guests on this week’s That’s Dancin’ (ABC).

Sunday:  Ten crosses to the Sydney Football Stadium this afternoon for the Grand Final of the NSW Rugby League Winfield Cup, with commentators Graeme Hughes, Bill Anderson and Wayne Pearce.  ABC presents live coverage of the VFA Grand Final from Princes Park, and Seven leads into the news with a two-hour special, That Was The Season That Was, reviewing the 1991 AFL season in the lead-up to the Grand Final next Saturday.  Sunday night movies are Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (Seven) and Chances Are (Nine) up against the debut of two-part mini-series Which Way Home (Ten).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), the developing relationship between Terence Elliott (Shane Porteous) and Lizzy Walker (Joanne Hunt) is threatened when her criminal boyfriend arrives in Wandin Valley.  Seven then crosses to the Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne, for the annual presentation of the Brownlow Medal to the league’s best and fairest player.

Tuesday: Beyond 2000 (Seven) presents a report on an ambitious American attempt at environmental restoration by rebuilding a river.  In All Together Now (Nine), Bobby (Jon English) and Doug (Garry Who) are convinced Count Dracula is their new next door neighbour.

Wednesday:  In Neighbours (Ten), Ramsay Street is rocked by a tragic shooting.  In E Street (Ten), Sheridan (Kate Raison) makes a shocking discovery.

Thursday:  It’s the reunion episode of The Flying Doctors (Nine) with former residents of Coopers Crossing make a return visit to boost morale in the town due to the recession – including guest appearances by Andrew McFarlane, Liz Burch, Rebecca Gibney, Terry Gill, Bruce Barry and George Kapiniaris.  ABC presents a repeat screening of Andrew Denton’s chat-comedy show The Money Or The Gun.

Friday:  Performer Rhonda Burchmore is this week’s guest on Burke’s Backyard (Nine).  Just before midnight, Seven launches its annual Football Marathon, presenting six hours of memorable moments from the past 25 years of Australian Rules football, including past finals and grand finals.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  21 September 1991.  Southdown Press

Ten to tackle Today and Sunrise?

The Ten Network is reported to be looking at reworking its early morning timeslot with plans to launch a breakfast news program.

Just a week ago the network announced it was cutting its workforce by around 100 while it continues to undertake a strategic review of its on-air offerings.  It has axed weekend stalwart Video Hits and, while nothing has been formally announced, is believed to have also cut Sports Tonight.  The network has also recently walked away from AFL coverage beyond the end of this season and has been re-working its high-definition channel One away from a purely sports-oriented format.  But despite the cuts there is hope that a revitalised early morning timeslot will tap into additional advertising revenue while utilising news resources already in place at the network.

Ten currently presents one-hour bulletins at 6.00am and 9.00am each weekday but the proposed new program – tentatively titled AM – appears set to replace them both and may provide an improved lead-in to talk show The Circle.

But Ten’s planned new venture is entering into what is already a crowded marketplace – with Sunrise and Today leading the morning ratings and ABC News Breakfast and Sky News’ First Edition and AM Agenda providing an alternative.

The network is believed to have Today co-host and TV Week Gold Logie winner Karl Stefanovic (pictured) at the top of its wish list for hosting the new program, though this is unlikely to come to fruition given his apparent desire to move away from breakfast television and the prime-time exposure he has gained at Nine – through A Current Affair, 60 Minutes and Nine News coverage.

Breakfast news television is not exactly new at Ten.  In 1981 the network launched Good Morning Australia, a program that re-ignited the format in Australia several years after the Seven Network had axed its Today show in the mid-1970s.  The launch of Good Morning Australia was later followed by Nine launching The National Today Show (now Today) in 1982, with Seven launching TVAM in the late ‘80s and then Sunrise which has continued in various formats since the late ‘90s. 

Good Morning Australia continued until it was axed at the end of 1992 and the name was then re-assigned to Bert Newton’s mid-morning chat show.

Source: The Australian

1991: June 22-28

Making faces
Imitating the stars is a challenge that Fast Forward’s Gina Riley relishes – and even though the send ups are far from flattering, most of her “victims” love them.  The latest star to be sent up by Riley – Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show host Jacki MacDonald – is far from being offended.  “I’m flattered, not insulted,” MacDonald told TV Week.  “I think my ratings will probably increase now.  Everyone in the world watches Fast Forward, so I’m getting double exposure.  And there’s an advantage.  If I have to take a sickie, she can fill in for me!” But for Riley, despite the physical similarities with the video show host, the role was a challenge.  “I found her voice really very hard.  I thought it would be easy because it’s high… I had to watch hours and hours of tape to get it right,” she said.  And one of Riley’s celebrity send-ups is glamorous TV host Kerri-Anne Kennel, based on Good Morning Australia co-host Kerri-Anne Kennerley.  "I hope she likes it.  The name is hardly flattering I know, but it was the obvious one,” Riley said of the Kennel character.  And it seems Kennerley is a fan:  “I think Gina is hilarious and we all know that imitation is the highest form of flattery.  I think she’s terrific.”

Hey Hey it’s Hollywood!
Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s recent special from the newly-opened Warner Bros Movie World has won praise from visiting US television executives, with host and co-producer Daryl Somers invited to take the program to Hollywood.  “They told me they have Johnny Carson and David Letterman in America, but nothing at all like this,” Somers told TV Week.  “They thought it was a warm sort of show, with a genuine feeling of fun and camaraderie.  They couldn’t believe we do 40 a year.”  Hollywood’s Burbank Studios are expected to host the show in October.  Meanwhile, Somers and partner Ernie Carroll have been continuing plans for a London-based special later this year, and Hey Hey It’s Saturday has also been picked up for screening in New Zealand on TVNZ’s Channel 2.

Mix ‘n match!
Neighbours twins Gayle and Gillian Blakeney have become the show’s latest pop stars with their single All Mixed Up being released in Australia and the UK this week.  The new single was written and produced by English hit-makers Stock, Aitken and Waterman – the same team who created pop stardom for Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan. 

Briefly…
TV Week Gold Logie winner Craig McLachlan is set to star on US network television with a role in an upcoming ABC network telemovie, The Savage Sea.  The production will be filmed entirely in Australia and also stars Ali MacGraw and Robert Urich.

Sixties pop idol and former Sons And Daughters star Normie Rowe is returning to television as a presenter on Network Ten’s weekly magazine program The New Bricks And Mortar.

Former Hey Dad! star Simone Buchanan has been cast in her first dramatic role since leaving the long-running sitcom.  She will be guest starring in A Country Practice as an agoraphobic rape victim.

John Laws says…
”Spin-off TV series, like governments, work only some of the time.  That’s why it’s always a major gamble to attempt to capitalise on a successful show by doing another one based on one or more of the characters.  Hampton Court is a spin-off in that it features the Betty Wilson (Julie McGregor) character from the Hey Dad! series.  It deserves to succeed.  The first few episodes, without being spectacular, were funny and enjoyable.  It reminds me very much about the old British series Man About The House, though there isn’t the same concentration on the so-called “naughtiness” of a flat shared by both sexes.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, June 22-28):
Saturday:  This weeks guests on Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) include the Hoodoo Gurus, Richard Pleasance and The Fabulous Sounds Of The Supremes.

Sunday:  Radio broadcaster Neil Mitchell launches his own weekly current affairs program, Mitchell On Sunday, screening at 5.00pm on Ten leading in to Ten Eyewitness News.  Sunday night movies are Running Scared (Seven) and Dominick And Eugene (Ten), with Nine screening the first of two-part mini-series An Inconvenient Woman.

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Lucy (Georgie Parker) organises a camping trip which goes horribly wrong when she falls down a cliff while trying to save a kangaroo.  A mysterious intruder terrifies the Willis household in Neighbours (Ten).  Nine starts two weeks of late-night coverage of Wimbledon.

Tuesday:  TV legend Don Lane (pictured, with Steven Jacobs) guest stars in comedy All Together Now (Nine), playing the part of a Tonight show host who visits the Rivers household after Anna (Jane Hall) wins a competition.  Queenie Ashton, Pippa Grandison and Sally Hudson guest star in GP (ABC).

Wednesday:  Geraldine Doogue presents a Hindsight (ABC) special, Ming Dynasty, looking back over three decades of the Menzies era and his management of our country which resulted in lost economic opportunities.

Thursday:  Colette Mann guest stars in The Flying Doctors (Nine).

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  22 June 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: March 23-29

Off to a flying start!
”The best in a decade!”  That’s how one high-ranked television executive – not connected to host broadcaster the Nine Network – described the 33rd annual TV Week Logie Awards.  And the night got off to a flying start, with host Daryl Somers making his spectacular entrance from high up in the ceiling of the World Congress Centre, Melbourne, on a flying fox.  The opening of the Logie Awards presentation also included a performance by Debbie Byrne and the Electric Legs dancers.  Somers, hosting the event for the second time, says he was “very happy” with his job as host.  “It was a great team effort all around.  It was a real buzz for me.  I felt comfortable and relaxed.  I really enjoyed it.”  Overseas guests attending the Logies included actress Angie Dickinson and Twin Peaks stars Peggy Lipton and Michael Ontkean.  The awards presentation ended with Tonight Live host and producer Steve Vizard (pictured with fellow award winners Rebecca Gibney and Georgie Parker) being awarded the Gold Logie for most popular television personality in Australia.

TV Week Logie Winners 1991: Publicly-voted categories
Gold Logie – Most Popular Personality On Australian TV: Steve Vizard
Silver Logie – Most Popular Actor On Australian TV: Craig McLachlan
Silver Logie – Most Popular Actress On Australian TV: Georgie Parker
Most Popular Series: Home And Away
Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Program: Fast Forward
Most Popular Lifestyle Information Program: Burke’s Backyard
Most Popular Telemovie or Mini-Series: Jackaroo
Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Male Personality: Steve Vizard
Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Female Personality: Magda Szubanski
Most Popular Sports Coverage: Cricket
Most Popular Actor in a Telemovie or Mini-Series: David McCubbin (pictured)
Most Popular Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-Series: Annie Jones (pictured)
Most Popular Children’s Program: Agro’s Cartoon Connection
Most Popular Music Video: Chain Reaction (John Farnham)
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair
Most Popular New Talent: Richard Huggett

TV Week Logie Winners 1991: Industry-voted categories
Gold Logie – Hall Of Fame: James Davern
Most Outstanding Actor: Michael Craig
Most Outstanding Actress: Rebecca Gibney (pictured) 
Most Outstanding Single Drama or Mini-Series: Come In Spinner
Most Outstanding Achievement in Public Affairs: Other People’s Money (4 Corners, ABC)
Most Outstanding Achievement in News: John Lombard (ABC)
Most Outstanding Single Documentary or Series: The Chelmsford Scream
Most Outstanding Achievement by Regional Television: No Fixed Address (WIN)

TV Week Logie Winners 1991: State-based categories (Most Popular Personality, Most Popular Program):
New South Wales: Ray Martin, Home And Away.
Victoria: Daryl Somers, Neighbours
Queensland: Rob Brough, Family Feud
South Australia: Anne Wills, Wheel Of Fortune
Western Australia: Rick Ardon, Seven Nightly News
Tasmania: Robyn Martin, Tasmania Today

Briefly…
Good Morning Australia’s Kerri-Anne Kennerley (pictured with co-host Tim Webster), now in her tenth year as co-host of Ten’s breakfast program and about to clock up her 2500th episode, says she couldn’t have reached such a milestone without a stable home life.  “Thank goodness I have a fantastic husband who has put up with the lifestyle all this time,” she told TV Week.  “If I didn’t have my stability at home it would lead to tensions, as it would for anyone.”  The show has had a revamp this year, including the return of Ten newsreader Webster as co-host after a break of around three years from the program.

Award-winning actor Shane Connor is about to join the cast of Neighbours as baddie Phil Hoffman, who meets Carolyn Alessi (Gillian Blakeney) as she is about to give evidence in a murder trial which Hoffman is connected to.  With a background in stage and film roles, it is Connors’ first ongoing role in a TV series following a guest appearance in The Flying Doctors and a role in the mini-series Poor Man’s Orange.

Chances star Natalie McCurry admits that she dislikes the nude scenes which are commonplace in the Nine Network series.  “I’m not happy about doing nude shots but it’s part of the job,” she told TV Week.  “I’m very careful about what I do and how I portray my character.  As long as it isn’t gratuitous, and is done with some class, it’s all right.  But if it’s nudity for its own sake then it really degrades the show.”

John Laws says…
”All Together Now is one of the new breed of locally-made TV comedy series which seem to be hauling high enough ratings for everyone to be confident about their long-term prospects.  Eggshells, which I’ve already praised in this column, is doing well for ABC, and Hey Dad! is proving a most consistent winner for Seven.  Ten has got into the act, too, with repeats of Mother And Son pulling in higher ratings than Eggshells (by the same writer, Geoffrey Atherden, and also starring Garry McDonald) on the same night.  The lesson, of course, is that viewers are keen to watch Australian comedy – especially when it’s got a bit of zing and life about it.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne: March 23-29):
Saturday:  AFL’s first round for 1991 continues with Seven’s Saturday night highlights package of St Kilda versus Richmond.  ABC launches a new travel series Holiday, presented by David De Vos, Eric Campbell, Bob La Castra and former Network Ten newsreader Katrina Lee.

Sunday:  Seven’s afternoon of sport includes the final of the NBL KMart Classic, from Homebush, Sydney, and live coverage of AFL from Perth featuring West Coast Eagles versus Melbourne.  Seven also presents afternoon highlights of the match between Footscray and Collingwood.  Sunday night movies are Assassin (Seven), Acceptable Risks (Nine) and House (Ten).  Ten then presents Sportsweek with Eddie McGuire and Steve Quartermain followed by a delayed telecast of the Rugby League match of the day between Canberra and Parramatta.

Monday:  Ten presents a two-hour Eyewitness News special, War In The Gulf.

Tuesday:  In Chances (Nine), as Chris (Mark Kounnas) becomes more and more confused about his sexuality, Sarah’s (Anne Grigg) solution is set to rock the Taylor family.  Nine then presents a delayed telecast of the 63rd annual Academy Awards from the Shrine Auditorium, Hollywood.  Nominated for Best Picture are Awakenings, Dances With Wolves, Ghost, The Godfather III and Goodfellas.

Good Friday:  Seven devotes the day to the traditional Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.  The telethon starts at 9.00am, with a break for Seven News with Peter Mitchell at midday, and continuing through to 6.00pm.  The telethon’s evening session starts at 7.30pm with a variety special hosted by Jennifer Keyte, Derryn Hinch and Steve Vizard and featuring performances by Tina Arena, Paul Norton, the cast of The Phantom Of The Opera and The Seekers.  The appeal closes with the announcement of the grand total at midnight.  ABC commemorates Good Friday with a special screening of UK series Songs Of Praise and World Of Worship presents a Good Friday Service from Perth.  Nine presents a special, The Jerusalem Passion, and an Easter edition of Turn Round Australia.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  23 March 1991.  Southdown Press.