1992: February 8-14

‘Don’t call me Betty!’
While Hey Dad! star Julie McGregor (pictured, centre, with co-star Rachael Beck) loves playing the role of ditzy secretary Betty Wilson in the long-running sitcom (“I’m not sure that there is anything around that would be as rewarding to do,” she says) don’t ask her to “do a Betty” when she’s not working.  When McGregor leaves the studio after a taping, she leaves Betty behind in the prop cupboard.  “You just shut off, put the toys away, and you come home,” she told TV Week.  “Of course, every now and then you say something and you think, ‘Oh gosh, that sounded like Betty’.”  In the series’ return to air this week, Betty’s old boyfriend Stan (Bill Young) is looking for work, but his potential new employer sparks a brawl when he makes some less than polite remarks about Betty.  The punch-up is not shown on screen, but it’s the talk of the Hey Dad! household.

Gay murder rocks GP
ABC’s medical drama GP makes a controversial return to screens this week with scenes depicting graphic violence and a storyline surrounding a gay bashing and murder.  Simon Radley (Felix Nobis) joins the Ross Street practice as a locum and possible replacement for Dr Nicola Tanner (Judy McIntosh) – but after work hours he frequents gay bars looking for sex, while his partner David Robinson (Scott Burgess) is keeping the home fires burning.  A vicious assault on Dr Radley is witnessed by Dr William Sharp (Michael Craig), who identifies one of the culprits in a police line-up.  A second attack on Dr Radley leaves him beaten to death.  “It’s pretty heavy stuff,” Burgess told TV Week.  “Simon and David share a house, but while Simon is driven by his urges to seek clandestine sex, David is settled and stable.  The story is as much about their private dilemma as it is about the prejudice that gay people who live in the city have to face – being supposedly different from everybody else.” 

When will the killings stop?
Has E Street’s serial killer storyline gone too far?  While insiders at the Ten Network claims that the ongoing storyline has boosted ratings, what effect does having a sustained storyline based on murder and having a deranged killer as the focal point have on the viewer – and is it appropriate for a 7.30pm timeslot?  Although the actor who plays the character of serial killer Steven Richardson, Vince Martin (pictured), is concerned that “there was perhaps too much killing… and I still feel this is the case because there are more deaths to go to air”, the show’s producer Forrest Redlich defends the storyline as “just storytelling”.  “I’ve got the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal’s code on violence,” he says.  “We have to stick to the letter of the law and we are doing that.  When you look at how the story is presented, it isn’t a violent storyline.  You don’t see a lot of violence in it when the murders are taking place.  I just think it’s basically about storytelling and working within the tribunal guidelines.”   Pat Manser of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal has expressed concern over the material being depicted but stresses that viewers do not have to just accept what is presented to them.  “The best method of attack is to go straight to the station, because the stations are quite sensitive to public criticism,” she says.  “If they get more criticism than pats on the back, they will do something about it.”

Briefly…
Jacki MacDonald (pictured) has described her new Network Ten show Healthy Wealthy And Wise as “a show that’s not really like anything else” and, after a decade as the funny girl on Hey Hey It’s Saturday and a year as host of Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show, is excited at the prospect at doing “something serious” for a change.  “In this show I’m not zany, silly or crazy,” she said.  “We all enjoy ourselves, laugh and have a good time – but it’s not a format for outrageous antics.”  Healthy Wealthy And Wise, which also features Ronnie Burns as co-host, is produced by former Hey Hey It’s Saturday co-producer Gavan Disney.  Although the show has only just debuted on Network Ten, it has already been sold for screening in New Zealand, Singapore and Papua New Guinea.

After six years of reading the news for ABC in Victoria, Mary Delahunty (pictured) is returning to current affairs television as she takes over as host of the Victorian edition of The 7.30 Report – replacing John Jost who has left the ABC to join the Nine Network as host of its new Melbourne Extra current affairs program.  Ian Henderson, a former European correspondent for the ABC, has taken over as newsreader for the 7.00pm ABC News in Victoria.

Mike Hammond, the former host of Ten’s Star Search and now the sole host of Good Morning Australia, is enthusiastic about the breakfast show’s new format.  “It has a totally new look, and a new format which is a world first.  Breakfast television has never before recognised the fact that daily routines don’t allow you extended periods of time to sit in front of the box watching long interviews.  Our new program informs you while you get ready to start your day.  If you want to compare us to Today, we still offer more news and weather, more financial news, more politics and sport, and more relevant stories.  And in what is probably a television first, there is up-to-the-minute traffic information as well.”

Former Quantum reporter Andrew Waterworth (pictured) has moved to the Seven Network as a reporter for Beyond 2000.  “I was with Quantum for five years and I put a lot into the show,” he told TV Week.  “But you get to a point in your life where you feel you would like a change.”

John Laws says…
”Whether Seven’s Real Life is going to offer any serious long-term problems to Jana Wendt’s A Current Affair on Nine is yet to be assessed, though the early signs are that ACA will be the toughest of nuts to crack.  Real Life’s problem may be that it has hyped itself up as being completely different to the current affairs shows we have become accustomed to – and this, as any viewer will tell (producer) Gerald Stone, is a load of old cobblers.  Real Life is a mixture of everything – a sort of mini-version of 60 Minutes, with shades of ACA and The 7.30 Report thrown in for good measure.  It really can’t be anything else.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, February 8-14):
Saturday:  Nine presents a two-hour preview of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, hosted by Ken Sutcliffe, taking a look at the behind-the-scenes preparations and focusing on the Games venues and competitions as well as the Australian team.  On Seven, AFL is back for the new year with its pre-season competition, the Foster’s Cup, live from AFL Park, Waverley.

Sunday:  The first day of ratings for 1992 – and Nine’s current affairs line-up of Business Sunday, Sunday and the evening 60 Minutes are back for another year.  Seven crosses to Darwin for live coverage of the afternoon match between Collingwood and the West Coast Eagles for the AFL Foster’s Cup.  Sunday night movies are Air America (Seven) and The ‘Burbs (Ten), while Nine presents live coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games from Albertville, France.

Monday:  Nine’s regular daytime line-up is back for the new year – with In Melbourne Today, What’s Cooking and Midday With Ray Martin all returning.  At 5.00pm, Nine launches its new game show Supermarket Sweep, hosted by Ian Turpie, followed by the debut of Melbourne Extra, with John Jost (pictured) presenting local current affairs as the lead-in to National Nine News.  Sale Of The Century (Nine) returns for another year at 7.00pm, while ABC launches a new series of comedy Mother And Son at 8.00pm.  Stuart Littlemore’s Media Watch is also back for the new year, at 9.15pm on ABC.  Nine starts its routine coverage of the Winter Olympic Games, hosted by Ken Sutcliffe, with over four hours of coverage each night from 8.30pm.

Tuesday:  The return of ABC’s medical drama GP focuses on the gay bashing of the new doctor at the Ross Street surgery.

Wednesday:  Seven presents live coverage of the AFL Foster’s Cup match between Geelong and St Kilda from AFL Park, Waverley.  In E Street (Ten), Alice (Marianne Howard) and Penny (Josephine Mitchell) try to cope with their new business venture – meanwhile someone else in the neighbourhood receives a surprise visit from Steven Richardson (Vince Martin).

Thursday:  Seven begins four days of coverage of the Australian Masters golf, live from Huntingdale, Melbourne.  In the evening, sitcom Acropolis Now (Seven) returns, while ABC presents a movie-length debut of its new police drama Phoenix, starring Paul Sonkkila, Simon Westaway, Nell Feeney, Sean Scully and Andy Anderson.

Friday:  Burke’s Backyard (Nine) is back for another year, hosted by Don Burke with presenters Peter Harris, Dr Harry Cooper and Densey Clyne.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  8 February 1992.  Southdown Press

The Melbourne Cup: 1960, 1970, 1980

The running of the 100th Melbourne Cup, on 1 November 1960, was a significant one for television. It was the first time the race was telecast direct to Sydney in a rare co-operative effort between Sydney’s three TV channels – ABN2, ATN7 and TCN9. The direct telecast, scheduled to run for about half-an-hour, included the race, the presentation of the Cup and interviews with the winning jockey, trainer and owner.

ABC’s Michael Charlton hosted the coverage and the commentary of the race was given by ABC’s Joe Brown – whose commentary was also broadcast through ABC radio nationally and overseas through Radio Australia – with TCN9’s Ken Howard presenting the post-race interviews. The telecast was directed and produced by Ron Davis of Melbourne’s GTV9.

Meanwhile, Melbourne viewers – denied the chance to see the race live on television until the late 1970s – would have to make do with delayed coverage of the race during the evening news bulletins on ABV2, HSV7 and GTV9. The film of the race would also be shown during In Melbourne Tonight (GTV9) and Sports Cavalcade (ABV2) and after The Bobby Limb Show on HSV7.

But, being the centenary running of the Melbourne Cup, ABV2 and HSV7 presented special programs devoted to the history of the event. ABV2’s The Cup – 100 Years was screened on Cup Eve and tracked the history of the event from Archer’s win of the very first Melbourne Cup in 1861. The special, which required more than three months of research, also included film footage of the 1897 Melbourne Cup.

HSV7 presented a one-hour Cup Eve special. The program, hosted by Michael Williamson with racing commentator Bill Collins, included newsreel footage of past Melbourne Cup races, dating back to the 1930s, and covered the important races leading up to the current event. The program also featured commentators from local and interstate newspapers with their selections for the day’s races.

Ten years later, the 1970 Melbourne Cup was televised live to interstate viewers but continued to be a delayed telecast within Victoria. ABV2 and ABC regional stations in Victoria presented delayed coverage of the race at 6.00pm and again at 8.00pm. GTV9, which presented a ten-minute Cup preview the night before, also had its delayed coverage at 6.00pm. HSV7 – always keen to get one above its main rival – scheduled its delayed broadcast for 5.55pm. All four Melbourne channels featured the race in their main evening bulletins.

By the time 1980 came around, the telecast of the Melbourne Cup was a major television event. The Ten Network, presenting the Cup coverage for the third year running, started its day’s coverage with a 90-minute preview before crossing to Flemington Racecourse for six hours of live broadcast. The host broadcaster, ATV10, had seventeen cameras placed at strategic points around the track. Their coverage was headed by Phil Gibbs, with races called by Clem Dimsey, with the six-hour telecast also featuring Ray Warren (from TEN10 Sydney), Rob Readings (TVQ0 Brisbane) and John O’Neil (SAS10 Adelaide). Everyday co-host Annette Allison (pictured, below) hosted the fashion and celebrity interviews.

Network Ten’s 1980 coverage was also relayed direct to New Zealand, and remote areas in Australia saw the coverage via ABC through a special arrangement made with Ten. With nationwide coverage, it was at the time reported to being the largest sporting telecast ever undertaken in Australia.

Network Ten continued to cover the Melbourne Cup every year up until 2001. This year’s Melbourne Cup will be broadcast live tomorrow (Tuesday 2 November) through the Seven Network.

Source: TV Times (27 October 1960), The Age (27 October 1960), TV Times (28 October 1970), TV Week (1 November 1980), The Age (30 October 1980)

• 1959: The race that stopped a station

1979: December 1-7

Two Restless Years old
It is two years ago since newspaper ads appeared about a new series from the 0-10 Network, The Restless Years: “an action-packed story of what happens to today’s school leavers when they go out in the world to try and get jobs.”  TEN10 general manager Ian Kennon described it as “a show about life.”  Two years later, who would have thought that the road to employment was so fraught with danger?  Are real-life teenagers attempting suicide, getting pregnant, having miscarriages, ending up in prison and being raped, bashed, robbed and murdered with the same regularity as the kids in The Restless Years?  And it’s not just the young characters having a rough time – Miss McKenzie (June Salter) and Dr Bruce Russell (Malcolm Thompson) have had their fair share, too.  In fact, in two years the show has been so turbulent that only four of the original cast members – Salter, Thompson, Zoe Bertram and Nick Hedstrom – still remain.
No more blues for Ugly Dave
Bright times are ahead for Ugly Dave Gray (pictured).  He and his new wife, Val, are expecting their first baby next month, and in the new year he will be hosting a new game show, Celebrity Tattletales, for the Seven Network.  The new show, set to run in the 6.00pm timeslot, marks a return to TV for Gray a year after the demise of Blankety Blanks.  But for Gray, it was worth the wait:  “Some people will grab anything to get their head back on TV.  That’s fatal.  I’ve had two offers of my own show but neither was suitable.  Then the Grundy Organisation offered me Celebrity Tattletales.  I think this is it.  I hope people don’t compare it to Blankety Blanks – it’s a different show.  But I’m sure gimmicks and catchphrases will come out of the blue.”
Plumber’s pin-up has million dollar plans!
Cheryl Rixon (pictured) has come a long way since her first modelling job, posing for the cover of the WA Plumbers’ Annual, paid her a mere $40.  The former star of the sexy soap The Box now lives in Manhattan, models in London and New York, and is looking to buy a beach house in California.  The 25-year-old, who earned $250,000 for posing nude for Penthouse magazine, is well on the way to her first million: “I should reach it in 1980 as it’s going to be a big year for me.  I’ve spent three years in America getting myself established and setting things up, and next year should be the beginning.”  Rixon plans to use some of that million to set up her own production company to make TV variety specials, but in the meantime she has been starring in Stephen Spielberg’s comedy, Used Cars, and is set for a part in the new $30 million epic, Flash Gordon.
The milkman who came in from the cold During his school years in New Zealand, Alan Dale (pictured) had a yearning to get into showbusiness.  He had sung, acted, danced and played musical instruments and, at the age of 18, had tried to get a job as a radio announcer but was told he was too young.  The thought of going overseas to further his showbusiness prospects was daunting, and not affordable.  He instead went into the car industry, starting as a salesman and working up to manager.  A chance meeting with the local milkman later led to him ditching the car business and picking up a milk run:  “I thought, what a way to earn a living, trotting around keeping fit delivering milk for a few hours.”  When Dale heard about a vacancy at a local radio station, Radio Hauraki, he tried to get the job.  He was unsuccessful, but did eventually end up with the midnight-to-dawn shift and later the afternoon show.  The radio announcing job led to an offer to star as a radio manager in a new local TV series, Radio Waves, for TV2.  The series was cancelled after 72 episodes, but  “I didn’t really want to go back to radio so I decided to hell with it.  I’ll go to Australia.  I’d had a taste of acting by then.”  Dale is now well-known to Australians as Dr John Forrest in the popular Nine Network series, The Young Doctors.
Briefly… There will be no expense spared in the production of the 0-10 Network’s new soap Arcade.  Apart from three production teams, a cast of around 30, authentic props and studio scenery, an average of 180 extras will be employed each week.  The new series is set to debut in January.
Former Young Talent Time cast member Jane Scali will be joining the cast of ABC’s The Saturday Show when it returns to air in the new year.  As well as The Saturday Show, Scali is currently in rehearsals for the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Cinderella.
Jonathan Coleman of Simon Townsend’s Wonder World has attempted to break the record for the biggest interview of all time.  The interview, with the 120,000-strong crowd at the recent 2SM Rocktober concert in Sydney, has been submitted to Australian Guinness Bureau of Records.
Comedy writer Mike McColl-Jones, who has worked with the likes of Graham Kennedy, Don Lane and Peter Couchman, has compiled a book, My Funny Friends, featuring anecdotes and photographs from his twenty years of working in television.
Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”I am 16, and I feel that a lot more should be done to promote Australian child actors and singers.  Look at America, they have many fine talents like Brooke Shields, Leif Garrett and Tatum O’Neal.  Australia has also got some good talent but it is not put to use.  There should be more shows like Young Talent Time, where children and teenagers can display their talent.” J. P., VIC.
“There is one thing I must beg of NBN3 (Newcastle).  Please, oh please, don’t put Norman Gunston on again.  I really feel embarrassed looking at that zany grin, and all those bits of sticking plaster all over his face.  Please, do me a favour and send him to Hong Kong, or somewhere like that.” D. Dickey, NSW.
“In reply to F. Gregory (Viewpoint, 20 October 1979), Peter Lochran may be one of the best actors on TV, but certainly not the best actor (even though he is gorgeously handsome – is this what you’re going by to pick a good actor?).  The Young Doctors is one of the most popular serials on TV at the moment, for sure.  But why?  Maybe it’s because all those dinner invitations from handsome doctors to the nursing staff keep all the women wrapped up in the show.  I’ll tell you what, it’s certainly not the acting that keeps everyone involved.” J. Stanley, QLD.
“S. McLaughlan’s letter (Viewpoint, 27 October 1979) is a gross example of generalisation.  Molly Meldrum (pictured) does not “rave on” through the entire show.  In fact, on most shows, he only puts in an appearance for 10 minutes to do his Humdrum segment.” K. Manton, NSW.
What’s On (December 1-7):
HSV7’s tennis coverage continues throughout the week with the final days of the Toyota Women’s Classic on Saturday and Sunday, followed by the NSW Women’s Classic from Monday through to Friday.  Commentators include Peter Landy, Allan Stone and Garry Wilkinson.
GTV9 crosses to Brisbane for live coverage of the cricket First Test,  between Australia and the West Indies, on Saturday through to Wednesday.  Coverage starts at 11.50am, with breaks at 2.00pm and 4.40pm, and ending at 7.00pm.
60 Minutes (GTV9, Sunday) presents its final show for the year, and New Faces with Bert Newton moves to Monday nights.
ATV0’s Eyewitness News, now with Michael Schildberger and Peter Hanrahan, is cut to 30 minutes at 6.00pm from Monday, with a new 8.30pm news bulletin launched for the summer period.
ABC’s daytime schools programs finish up for the year on Friday, and the weekly magazine program Statewide At Six, with David Johnston, also presents its final edition. 
ATV0’s morning show Everyday, with Roy Hampson and Annette Allison, finishes up for the year on Friday, as does the 7.00pm magazine show Peter Couchman’s Melbourne.
Sunday night movies: The Deadly Tower (HSV7), Future Cop (GTV9), Midnight Man (ATV0).
Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 1 December 1979.  ABC/ACP

50 years of BTQ7, ABQ2

This weekend marks yet another television station’s 50th anniversary.  Brisbane’s BTQ7 was launched on 1 November 1959.  It was Brisbane’s second TV channel, following QTQ9 that had launched in August of that year. 

Brisbane also didn’t have to wait long to get their third TV channel, as national broadcaster ABC opened its Brisbane channel, ABQ2, on 2 November 1959. 

Like QTQ9, BTQ7 was broadcasting from studios and transmission towers constructed up on Mount Coot-tha in Brisbane.  ABQ2 opted instead to have its studios in the suburb of Toowong but had its transmission towers at Mount Coot-tha.

Early personalities on BTQ7 included Brian Tait, children’s presenters Nancy Knudsen and Lester Foxcroft, women’s presenter Sybil Francis and newsreader Brian Cahill.

One of BTQ7’s earliest variety shows was The Late Show with Tait.  The program won the first TV Week Logie award for most popular program in Queensland.  In the early ‘60s, BTQ7 launched Theatre Royal, a show that took the vaudeville style of comedy onto television, featuring comedian and The Late Show star George Wallace Jnr and a team of performers including Eddie Edwards, Dick McCann, Jackie Ellison and a young actress by the name of Rowena Wallace (no relation to George).  Theatre Royal was immensely popular, screening every Friday night for six years, and was also shown interstate.  It won six TV Week Logie awards as Queensland’s most popular program.  The show ended after George Wallace suffered a stroke and died in 1968 at the age of 50, but his legacy continued as TV Week then initiated the George Wallace Logie for Best New Talent.

Also to come through BTQ7 in the ‘60s and ‘70s was Annette Allison, a performer on early variety and teenage shows before hosting her own daytime show, Annette.  She then went to Melbourne to ATV0 to read the news and co-host the morning show Everyday (later Good Morning Melbourne).  Dina Heslop was a host of the BTQ7’s children’s program Dina And Percy and was also a contributor to the national This Week Has Seven Days before becoming a producer for later shows like the Logie Award-winning Wombat.  Jacki MacDonald also had a stint at BTQ7 in the ‘70s, hosting her own show, Jacki’s People.  After Jacki left BTQ7, they then employed her sister, Fiona, to host a children’s program and was later a presenter on Wombat.

In the mid-‘70s, Reg Grundy produced a soap opera, Until Tomorrow, at the studios of BTQ7.  The series was a rare venture into daytime drama and screened nationally on the Seven Network, featuring Babette Stephens, Ron Cadee, former TV Week Gold Logie winner Hazel Phillips and a young Barry Otto.

Other programs to have come through BTQ7 over the years included  daytime show Bailey And The Birds, teenage shows National Top 40 and Teen Time, children’s shows Boris’ Breakfast Club and Seven’s Super Saturday, game show Family Feud and variety shows Top Of The Bill and Wak’s Works.

Of course, it would be remiss not to mention BTQ7’s landmark promotional jingle, ‘Love You Brisbane’, that was produced for the channel in the early ‘80s and was used by BTQ for several years.  Sung by popular local performer Kim Durant, the song was even released as a single and was a top-seller.  The jingle was later adapted to TVW7, as ‘Love You Perth’, and regional Queensland broadcaster Sunshine Television (now Seven Queensland) before BTQ7 and Seven Queensland reprised it a few years ago:

Newsreader Brian Cahill had two stints at BTQ7, he was the channel’s first newsreader when it launched in 1959 and, after a stint at QTQ9, was there again in the ‘70s.  During the ‘60s, Cahill was joined at the news desk by former ABQ2 newsreader Ron Brady.  Others to have presented news at BTQ have included Mike Higgins, Nev Roberts, Donna Meiklejohn, Janne Rayner, Ken Hose, Garry Wilkinson, Frank Warrick and present-day newsreaders Rod Young, Kay McGrath and Sharyn Ghidella.

As well as news, BTQ7 produced local current affairs with programs including Haydn Sargent’s Brisbane, State Affair, Carroll At Seven and magazine programs PM Magazine and The Great South East.

BTQ7 last week screened a special, Flashback – 50 Years Of Channel Seven, and tonight (Sunday) newsreader Brian Cahill makes a return to the Seven News desk to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his presenting the first news bulletin on opening night at BTQ.

And, by coincidence, BTQ7’s fiftieth anniversary coincides with a new era for the Seven Network as it launches its new digital channel 7TWO on the same day.

A lot of the material in this article, particularly related to the earlier years at BTQ7, is sourced by the book On-Air 25 Years Of TV In Queensland.  Compiled and edited by Christopher Beck. (1984)

1979: February 17-23

Good medicine!
The Seven Network's new comedy series Doctors Down Under promises that the only treatment viewers will get from St Barnabas Hospital over the next three months will be a dose of laughs from Doctors Waring (Robin Nedwell) and Stuart-Clark (Geoffrey Davies).  The two actors decided to adapt the long-running English comedy series to an Australian version after touring the country in 1977 with the stage production Doctors In Love.  Joining the medicos for the Australian series will be Frank Wilson, former host of New Faces and actor in numerous Crawford dramas, and Sydney actor John Derum.  Doctors Down Under is already screening in Sydney and Melbourne and debuts soon in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Nationwide is set to roll
ABC's new current affairs program Nationwide premieres this week.  "Nationwide will meet the growing demand from a substantial section of the public for a quality current affairs program that will get stuck into its topics," says executive producer John Penlington.  The program will run for 40 minutes each night, with the first half containing national stories and the second segment compiled in each state capital to cover local issues.

Countdown back with a bang!
Countdown returns for 1979 this week with French pop star Plastic Bertrand appearing as guest compere.  The singer was a Countdown "discovery" last year and negotiations to have him appear had been going on for some time.  Also a highlight for Countdown this year will be a two-hour celebration for the show's 200th episode later in the year.  Talent co-ordinator Ian 'Molly' Meldrum and producer Grant Rule will be heading overseas in April to line up international acts for the special show which is expected to include a three-way link-up between studios in London, Los Angeles and Melbourne.

This fabulous century!
A one million dollar documentary series, This Fabulous Century, will give Australians a graphic record of Australia's history from Federation to the present day.  The series of 30 episodes, hosted by journalist Peter Luck (pictured) and produced by Hanna Barbera for the Seven Network, begins this week in Sydney and Brisbane and later in other states.  Luck said that until he started work on the series two years ago, he had no interest in Australian history at all:  "As a current affairs reporter I had an interest and knowledge of contemporary history but in Australia, all we ever learn of the history of this country is about bushrangers and convicts.  But so much has happened this century, and I found it interesting."   Researching archival footage for the series took over a year and a further six months was taken in arranging interviews and securing access to various locations for filming.  With a $1 million budget, This Fabulous Century is the most extensive, and most expensive, documentary series produced in Australia to date.

Prisoners of love
The budding romance in the new series Prisoner between inmate Karen Travers (Peita Toppano) and prison doctor Greg Miller (Barry Quin) sounds like classic soap opera fare, but pales in comparison to the real-life affair between the two actors (pictured).  The English Quin had discovered Toppano on a visit to Australia and decided to emigrate but had to deal with immigration, Actors Equity and the frustration of an Australian postal strike before he could stay in Australia.  Through Toppano's efforts Quin landed the Prisoner role which meant he could stay in Australia.  The real-life couple will be married in April, while the 0-10 Network is so pleased with the first thirteen episodes of the new series that it has ordered a further 29 even before the series makes its on-air debut.

Briefly...
ABC's new afternoon children's show ARVO isn't just short for "afternoon" but actually stands for Alexander's Recycled Visual Offerings, Alexander being the bunyip who will co-host the program.

ATV0 is working to revamp the magazine segment of its Sunday night news bulletin.  Former radio and TV presenter Paul Jennings, who joined ATV0 as a weather man, is now in charge of the fifteen-minute segment which he hopes to revamp from pre-packaged films to more topical segments and interviews.

Melbourne-born opera singer Jon Weaving and his French wife Monique Brynnel will be the stars of this year's first Music To The People concert to be staged at the Myer Music Bowl.  The second half of the concert will be televised live through HSV7.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I like live shows, in preference to movies, and when TEN10 put on The Steve Raymond Show, I was most delighted.  Oh boy, was I in for a complete let down.  Steve Raymond is a very, very poor imitation of Mike Walsh, or any other compere." J. Long, NSW.

"I'm no sports fan, but I'd like to congratulate the TV channels for their excellent sports coverages, which many people do enjoy, particularly elderly or incapacitiated persons, who are unable to attend these events." B. Reynolds, VIC.

"Thank heavens the World Series Cricket cricketers are leaving for the West Indies soon.  The Nine Network once had some pretty good programs.  But one has become bored with the same players and the same ads all the time.  Good luck to the well-paid players but can't they just take their circus away from the air-waves and give us a respite from what used to be a dignified game?  I think the commercial over-kill of a once grand game could really slaughter it." F. Howard, NSW.

"Why, oh why, do ABC newsreaders - on both TV and radio - say "following" when they usually mean "after"?  Once I even heard a news item about a man who died "following" a funeral - which gave the impression he was in the cortege at the time." J. Jessup, NSW.

What's On (February 17-23):
On Saturday afternoon, ABC presents live coverage of the 1979 Victorian Open Golf Championship from Kingston Heath Golf Course, while at the same time, HSV7 presents live coverage from the World Of Sport Expo being held at the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings with special guests including Ron Barassi, Mike Willesee, Sir William McMahon, George Mallaby, Michael Pate and Jon English.

ATV0's weekday morning line-up gets a revamp with the launch of magazine program Everyday, hosted by Roy Hampson and Annette Allison (pictured).

Monday night sees the debut of ABC's Nationwide current affairs program, while ATV0 starts a re-run, continuing over six nights, of the hit US mini-series Roots in the lead-up to the sequel mini-series, Roots: The Next Generations, to air later in the year.  Later in the evening, HSV7 starts a repeat screening of the former ABC comedy series Alvin Purple.

GTV9's The Don Lane Show returns for another year with the first show highlighted by a satellite interview with Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood.  The first show will also include a direct coverage of a stunt in the GTV9 carpark performed by American stunt star Evel Knievel.  ATV0's Peter Couchman Tonight also returns for another year, screening five nights a week.

Sunday night movies are The Tamarind Seed (HSV7) and Vegas (GTV9).  ATV0 screens the UNICEF Concert: A Gift Of Song, held at the UN General Assembly in New York in January as the launch event for International Year Of The Child.  Hosted by David Frost with Henry Fonda, Gilda Radner and Henry Winkler, the concert includes performances by the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton-John, ABBA, John Denver, Earth Wind And Fire, Andy Gibb, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson.  ATV0 then follows up the concert with the movie comedy What's Up Doc?

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 17 February 1979.  ABC/ACP

TV icons of the Sunshine State

Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper has obtained a secret list of people, places and events nominated by Queensland politicians as icons of the state.

The list is being prepared as part of Queensland's 150th anniversary celebrations.  From the initial list of 700, a bipartisan panel of MPs will attempt to trim the list to 300 which will then be put to a public vote.  The top 150 will be formally acknowledged during the state's Queensland Week celebrations.

Out of the 700 nominated so far, there are a handful that are TV related:

• Actress Babette Stephens, who was also a panelist on Brisbane game shows in the 1960s and also starred in Brisbane's first soap opera drama Until Tomorrow in the 1970s.
• Pop group The Bee Gees, who rose to fame on early variety shows in Brisbane before appearances on national shows such as Bandstand.
• Actor William McInnes, from TV dramas including Seachange, Blue Heelers, Marshall Law, Curtin, East West 101, The Shark Net and comedy series Kath & Kim.
• Wally Lewis, former rugby player and now sports presenter for Nine News in Brisbane.
• Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin.
• Vilma Ward, morals compaigner, media commentator and panelist on daytime TV programs including Bailey And The Birds.
• Mt Coottha's TV transmission towers.

We can't help but wonder that maybe a few famous Queenslanders have been overlooked for recognition: 

Jacki MacDonald comes to mind as a glaring omission.  A winner of a swag of TV Week Logies for most popular personality in Queensland and a TV career that has included all three of Brisbane's local commercial channels as well as a national profile through Hey Hey It's Saturday and later Healthy Wealthy And Wise.

Rowena Wallace, who first rose to national fame in the 1960s drama You Can't See Round Corners, followed by The Rovers, Division 4, Number 96, Cop Shop, Outbreak Of Love, Prisoner and, most famously, as vicious 'Pat the Rat' in Sons And Daughters - a role that won her a TV Week Gold Logie in 1985.

Kerri-Anne Kennerley (pictured), back when she was Kerri-Anne Wright was a child star of Brisbane television in the 1960s and 1970s before featuring in the soap opera The Restless Years and later becoming co-host of Network Ten's Good Morning Australia, where she stayed for over a decade and went on to further success in daytime TV as host of Midday in the late 1990s and Mornings With Kerri-Anne since 2003.

Sigrid Thornton, from early days in Homicide, Father Dear Father and Prisoner, later becoming famous for her roles in historical dramas such as All The Rivers Run, 1915 and Paradise before taking the lead role in ABC's Seachange in the late 1990s.

Reg Grundy (pictured), while not born in Queensland the former radio announcer turned game show host got his big break as a producer of game shows in Brisbane in the 1960s, forming the basis for what became a global empire.

Gerard Kennedy, actor from early crime shows Hunter and Division Four and later in historical dramas Tandarra and Against The Wind.  Most recently seen in the Nine Network series Underbelly.  Winner of two TV Week Gold Logies.

Ray Barrett, accomplished television, stage and film actor with recent roles in Something In The Air and After The Deluge.

Don Seccombe (pictured), long-serving newsreader for QTQ9 and host the game show I've Got A Secret which ran for ten years.

Hugh Cornish, one of Brisbane television's earliest on-air personalities as well as general manager at QTQ9.

Newsreader Brian Cahill who read the news for many years at BTQ7, later at QTQ9 and then TVQ0 before moving into politics.

Then there are current-day local TV identities who have long histories in television.  Names such as Kay McGrath, Bruce Paige, Frank Warrick, Heather Foord and Sharyn Ghidella.

Other well-known TV identities to have hailed from the Sunshine State include (in no particular order):

Brian Blain (The Bluestone Boys, Sons And Daughters)
Delvene Delaney (The Paul Hogan Show, Sale Of The Century)
Jo Pearson (Eyewitness News, Live At Five)
Annette Allison (pictured) (Eyewitness News, Good Morning Melbourne)
Shane Porteous (The Box, A Country Practice)
Judy Morris (Skyways, Dirtwater Dynasty, Mother And Son)
Ian Leslie (60 Minutes)
Michael Caton (The Sullivans, Packed To The Rafters)
Tom Richards (Matlock Police, Sons And Daughters)
Paul Bongiorno (Ten News, Meet The Press)

Who do you think is worthy of a mention on Queensland's top 150 list?

Source: Courier Mail
Many of these names from this list have also been sourced from the book On-Air: 25 Years Of TV In Queensland (Christopher Beck, 1984)

1979: January 13-19

Not just bunging on an act!
Cop Shop's Detective Danni Francis spends her time putting criminals behind bars, but her alter ego Paula Duncan (pictured) has also spent plenty of time behind bars of a different sort:  "When I was little my parents ran hotels for a living, so I was brought up behind bars.  Right behind them - they never let me anywhere near the licenced premises.  But the atmosphere was great and life was a lot of fun."  With ambitions of a showbusiness career dating back to childhood, she was successful in gaining entrance into the National Institute Of Dramatic Art (NIDA), but for reasons she still does not know, was not accepted for a second year.  Despite the setback, Duncan went on to appear in ABC's production of Pirates Of Penzance and made guest appearances as a singer on The Barry Crocker Hour before being cast in a regular role on the ABC series Certain Women in 1973.  Duncan then appeared on soap dramas Number 96 and The Young Doctors before auditioning for a role on The Sullivans.  "I missed out on the role because I was too young but Crawford Productions later offered me the role on Cop Shop." 

ABC will buy stunning Shakespeare showcase
ABC has announced it will purchase the 37 plays that comprise the complete dramatic works of William Shakespeare, to be produced over the next six years between BBC and Time Life Films in a project worth over $A12 million.  The task of presenting all 37 plays is a feat that has only been achieved in the theatre twice in the last 400 years and marks one of the most ambitious dramatic productions in the history of BBC.  No dates have been scheduled for the screening of the plays in Australia but ABC's acting controller of programs, Grahame Reynolds, said they will probably screen at the rate of one a month.  The first play, Romeo And Juliet, premiered on BBC last month and is to screen in the US later this month.

Sesame Street Australian-style
Children's TV programming could receive a boost with plans for a big-budget locally produced series this year.  Great Treasures Marketing, a book distribution house with global interests and headquarters in Melbourne, is said to be keen to invest in a TV production based loosely on the successful Sesame Street series.  Melbourne-based writer Stan Marks, one of the panel of judges for the Penguin Awards who criticised the standards of children's television production, was approached by Great Treasures Marketing to be involved in the TV series project.  The project has yet to be offered to a TV network.

News lures Annette south
After 15 years in Brisbane television, Annette Allison (pictured) has accepted a lucrative offer to move south to Melbourne channel ATV0.  Allison was approached last year by ATV0 manager Mike Lattin, who had previously appointed her to host Brisbane BTQ7's daytime show when he was program manager there in 1977.  The 33-year-old will present the channel's Eyewitness News alongside Bruce Mansfield and will also appear on the new daytime talk show Everyday.  "Everyday will go to air live and basically it's a similar format to my previous BTQ7 show, Annette.  I think they are aiming the program at being a Women's Weekly of Australian TV."  Allison left BTQ7 on 7 January, fifteen years to the day since she joined the channel, and starts at ATV0 on 15 January.   "I haven't taken this decision lightly.  I have to uproot everything and I consider it to be the major move of my life."

Briefly...
Tim Evans, a former co-writer for The Don Lane Show, will stay behind the scenes in his new role as producer of HSV7's The Penthouse Club.  The show will return soon for 1979, again with Ernie Sigley as host, but auditions are under way for a new female co-host to replace Mary Hardy who left the program last year.  The program is also being expanded this year to broadcast through Victorian regional stations as well as to Tasmania.

Chris Bartlett, voice-over man for Perth-based game show Family Feud, has left for Japan to work as assistant production manager on an American TV mini-series based on the best-selling book Shogun.

Actor Michael Caton is to reprise his role as Uncle Harry in The Sullivans, but as Caton said, "it'll be a somewhat different Harry.  He has, er, been changed by circumstances, but he still has plenty of schemes."

A one-hour documentary on Melbourne's massage parlours is being produced by former This Day Tonight producer John McIntosh for screening on the Seven Network.  McIntosh is the husband of Sue McIntosh, formerly of the children's series Adventure Island and a presenter on GTV9's children's program You Me And Education.

GTV9 newsreader Peter Hitchener (pictured) has settled his differences with the channel and has renewed his contract:  "I am delighted to be staying at Nine.  (Incoming newsreader) Brian Naylor and I get on well together and I look forward to an interesting and exciting year."

 

Viewpoint: Letters To The Editor:
"I am so annoyed with the amount of sport on TV!  We often see the commercials about Life Be In It, and how it's better not to be Norm - "warming the set and cooling the tinnies."  These ads are put on for people to realise that being part of a sporting team is better than sitting on one's backside with a cold can and watching it on TV." E. Fogarty, NSW.

"I am writing to complain about cricket taking over the time slots of regular programs, especially Countdown!  Consider those people who live in country areas, who have no choice of channels." R. Hurditch, NSW.

"I can no longer contain myself.  When I saw that The Quest was to be appear at 11.00pm on Monday 4 December, quite frankly, I saw red.  With weeks between episodes, altered nights and times, TCN9 should be ashamed.  Don't the powers-that-be recognise an above average program when they see it?" V. Longhurst, NSW.

What's On (January 13-19):
More cricket on our screens with the 2nd One-Day International on ABC on Saturday, live from the Sydney Cricket Ground, World Series Cricket on GTV9 on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, the final of the Gillette Cup on ATV0 on Sunday, and the Sheffield Shield on ABC on Friday.

A re-run of the historic drama Cash And Company begins on HSV7 on Saturday night. 

Saturday's late night movie on ATV0 is the 1962 thriller The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies.  The following night, HSV7's late night classic is the 1958 sci-fi horror The Blob.

Sunday night movies are The Little Hut (HSV7), The Horsemen (GTV9) and The Family Way (ATV0).  ABC screens the telemovie She'll Be Sweet, the fifth telemovie produced by the broadcaster in association with the US-based Transatlantic Enterprises.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 13 January 1979.  ABC/ACP

YouTube: Good Morning Murwillu.... Melbourne

Another rare gem from the world of YouTube with a flashback to December 1988, and ATV10's Good Morning Melbourne with hosts Roy Hampson and Annette Allison:

This clip includes guests Mark Trevorrow and Gina Riley as their comic alter-egos Bob Downe and Coralee Hollow, hosts of the fictional regional TV program Good Morning Murwillumbah, a send-up of the low-budget chat-show format that morning television is invariably known for. The pair are on Good Morning Melbourne to promote their show Pick A Hit at Melbourne comedy venue The Last Laugh.

Good Morning Melbourne, which ran until the end of 1988, essentially began as far back as 1967 when Melbourne's ATV0 - after three years on-air - was making its first tentative steps into morning television. Morning Magazine, hosted by Roy Hampson and Katrina Pye, began as a half-hour program on ATV0 at 10.30am on Tuesday 8 August 1967. The program continued the same basic format with Hampson at the helm, although the name changed numerous times: Chit Chat, Roundabout, The Roy Hampson Show, In Melbourne Today.

On 19 February 1979, the title changed to Everyday and Hampson was joined by Annette Allison, a former Queenslander who had come to Melbourne to read the news for ATV0.

In 1981 the title changed to Good Morning Melbourne, and continued through to the show's eventual demise in 1988. Replacing Good Morning Melbourne and its interstate counterparts in 1989 was the national program 'Til Ten, produced from TEN10 Sydney and hosted by Joan McInnes. 'Til Ten was succeeded in 1992 by the Melbourne-based The Morning Show with Bert Newton (pictured). The program adopted the title Good Morning Australia the following year, and embracing the advertorial segments that turned the normally quiet morning TV landscape into a multi-million dollar cash cow for the Ten Network, then recovering from financial decline, and saw the concept extend to rival programs on the Nine and Seven networks.

Good Morning Australia came to an end in December 2005, replaced the following month by 9AM With David And Kim, hosted by David Reyne and Kim Watkins.

YouTube: bobdowne4real