1991: December 28-January 3

The doctor’s lusty bedside manner!
Viewers of The Flying Doctors may be shocked by a lusty bedroom scene coming up in a future episode between Dr Guy Reid (David Reyne) and Penny Wellings (Sophie Lee).  The “fling” is the result of Penny’s boyfriend Steve (Paul Kelman) getting a local schoolteacher pregnant.  Penny turns to Guy for comfort and he exploits a “golden opportunity”.  “He’s the sort of man who lusts after all women, really,” Reyne told TV Week.  “Although he is in a relationship with Nurse Jackie Crane (Nikki Coghill), Guy has a wandering eye for Penny.”  Lee was initially surprised when she was presented with the script but feels the situation is a realistic one.  “It’s a daring episode but it’s the reality of what could happen in this situation in an outback town,” she said.  But with the future of The Flying Doctors in doubt the long-term repercussions of the affair may not be seen.  The episode is scheduled to go to air in February.

‘I’m fighting fit!’
Sale Of The Century co-host Jo Bailey has a bold announcement to make.  “I want people to know that I’m not about to drop dead,” she says.  The statement came after a recent magazine interview where she revealed that her family has a history of bowel cancer.  “People read the headline that went with the story and think I’ve got cancer.  I’d just like to clarify that I’m fighting fit… apart from being a bit stiff from water-skiing.” 

Overseas viewers lap up Kelly
Skippy may have been a popular television export but she looks like being trumped by an ex-police dog called Kelly.  Kelly is a six-year-old german shepherd and the title character from Network Ten children’s series, Kelly.  The first series of thirteen episodes has been sold to 31 countries and a second series is nearing completion.  Execute producer Jonathon Shiff says it’s a major triumph for children’s television in Australia.  “I’m thrilled about the reception the show has received overseas,” he said.  “One of our targets is to deliver high-quality shows for children.  There is still plenty of room for shows of Disney quality which has positive storylines and characters for children to model themselves on.”  The series also features child actors Charmaine Gorman and Alexander Kemp.

Briefly…
Fans of sitcom Acropolis Now will notice some changes with the fourth series of the show that is set to screen early in the new year – with the focus changing from “wog comedy” to broad family sitcom.  “We don’t want to do a show that’s just directed at a wog audience – we want to include everybody,” says George Kapiniaris (pictured), who plays Memo in the show.  “I’m sure it’s the best series we’ve made – and it’s the most mainstream one of all.  The jokes are broader and the characters are funnier.  Everyone is really keen to show Seven we’re serious about keeping the show going.” 

A new policeman is about to make an entrance into A Country Practice’s Wandin Valley.  Senior Constable Tom Newman (Jon Concannon, pictured) comes into town as the heir apparent to Frank Gilroy (Brian Wenzel) – and while producers won’t give much away, it appears that the new policeman’s arrival creates some resentment on Frank’s part.  Concannon has previously starred in mini-series Nancy Wake and All The Rivers Run II and in the ABC series House Rules.

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off
”While there is not a lot that’s worth watching on the small screen at the moment, other activities within the commercial networks have been almost frenzied.  It seems every other day brings an announcement of a new program or the demise of one, someone switching networks or being axed, or someone making a comeback.  In the past month we’ve had Nine planning its 5.30pm current affairs program in each city, and there’s a new frontman on Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show.  The network has been less forthcoming about its future participation in the Crawfords Australia series The Flying Doctors.  Derryn Hinch was dropped abruptly by Seven and picked up just as quickly by Ten.  Bert Newton and Jacki MacDonald (pictured) also will be at Ten in 1992 and the network is about to move the bulk of its Melbourne operations from Nunawading to South Yarra – much more accessible, upmarket and convenient for Ten’s owner, Westpac.  And Seven has been preparing for Real Life and the move of Home And Away to 7.00pm.  One rumour doing the rounds is that Nine has given the go-ahead to a new Saturday morning show called Saturday At Rick’s, two hours of music and madness to be made at Rick’s Cafe American at Warner Bros Movie World on the Gold Coast.”

John Laws says…
”It was a triumphant year for comedy.  Fast Forward slipped into another gear and proved itself, again, the most inventive and funniest Australian comedy product, leaving more experimental black comedy such as The Big Gig and DAAS Kapital in its wake.  All Together Now (pictured) and Hey Dad! were other comedy successes for the year.  Hey Dad! displays an amazing resilience, the standard of its scripts rarely flagging despite having been around for a long time by TV standards.  All Together Now struggled to establish itself, but it always had the look of a program that would manage to survive.  It has a strong, professional cast and its scripts and plots got better as the year wore on.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, December 28-January 3):
Saturday:  Seven crosses to Burswood Superdome, Perth, to start its live coverage of the Hopman Cup tennis.  ABC presents golf with live coverage of the Australian Ladies’ Masters from Palm Meadows, Gold Coast, and Nine has live coverage of the afternoon session of play in the cricket Second Test from the MCG.  Music video show Video Hits (Ten) presents the first part of its Top 100 songs of 1991 special.  In the evening, Seven presents a one-hour special, 1991: The Big Picture, covering the major news and sporting events that have taken place over the past year.

Sunday:  There’s more women’s golf on ABC, tennis on Seven and cricket on Nine, plus the second half of Video Hits’ Top 100 special.  After the news, Nine screens a World Vision special, The Silent Tragedy, featuring Bryan Brown, Rachel Ward, Liz Burch and Ian Leslie as they visit World Vision projects and disaster areas in the Third World.  Sunday night movies are The Sting (Seven) and Sweet Liberty (Ten), while Nine presents the first part of a repeat screening of mini-series The Lancaster Miller Affair, starring Nicholas Eadie and Kerry Mack.

Monday:  Seven debuts a new pre-schoolers program, The Book Place, produced from SAS7 in Adelaide. 

Tuesday (New Year’s Eve):  ABC screens the 1951 musical Show Boat before presenting Backchat – The Year In Review, followed by late news and then American football with Don Lane which sees ABC through into 1992.  Ten presents a special New Year’s Eve edition of Video Hits, starting at 10.35pm and continuing through to 1.50am, including a midnight countdown.  SBS continues its New Year’s Eve tradition of screening the German-made comedy skit, Dinner For One.

Wednesday:  Aussie ex-pat Clive James presents his review of the year, Clive James On ‘91, on ABC.

Thursday:  Nine’s telecast of the Third Test begins from Sydney.  Seven has live coverage of the evening session of the Hopman Cup, and Ten has a news special, Russia In Crisis, presented by Sydney newsreader Katrina Lee.

Friday:  A full day of tennis on Seven with live coverage of the Australian Men’s Hardcourt Championships from Adelaide during the day and the finals of the Hopman Cup from Perth in the evening. 

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  28 December 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: December 14-20

The Great End of Year Exit!
Home And Away and E Street have both been hit by a number of significant cast departures.  Network Ten’s E Street is going to lose original cast member Alyssa-Jane Cook and co-star Marianne Howard.  Their characters, Lisa and Alice, head to Queensland to visit Alice’s mother following of the murder of Lisa’s husband by serial killer Mr Bad (Vince Martin).  Their departure from the series follows the recent abrupt exit by co-star Melissa Tkautz.  Meanwhile, Seven’s Home And Away is about to lose Emily Symons and teen star Rebekah Elmaloglou.  Symons, who has also resigned from her other job as co-host of Seven’s Saturday morning show Video Smash Hits, is heading to London and plans to travel around Europe.  Elmaloglou is believed to be planning to exit the soap by mid-1992, although a Seven spokesperson said she is under contract until the end of 1992.  And Home And Away star Les Hill is believed to be negotiating an exit from his contract with the series.

Vizard’s hunch about Hinch
Despite the recent and sudden axing of his Seven Network current affairs show, Derryn Hinch (pictured) is confident of a television future in 1992 – and it could even be with Seven!  Tonight Live host Steve Vizard is believed to have offered Hinch a weekly segment on the popular late night show, prompted by earlier guest appearances during the year.  Despite Vizard’s comical send-ups of Hinch on comedy show Fast Forward, he has a great respect for Hinch and the way he handled the axing.  “I think Derryn’s been a total professional,” Vizard told TV Week.  “Most people are told of their demise and finish on the day.  Derryn was told well in advance and has handled the situation in a very professional way.”  And Nine Network’s Midday host Ray Martin has said that Seven has made a “huge mistake” in axing the Hinch program and wouldn’t be surprised if Nine made an offer for him.  Hinch has confirmed that he has received a number of work offers, and that some of those offers have come from television.  “I haven’t been out of work in 30 years, so it’s probably a good time to sit back and decide exactly what I want to do,” Hinch told TV Week.  “If you ask me if I want to stay in television, my gut feeling is that I do.”  But he is philosophical about his sudden axing by Seven.  “The fact I think they (Seven) are -------- for what they’ve done is just my opinion.  You’ve got to remember it’s a business.”

Murder, marriage and mayhem!
TV Week previews some of the storylines to occur in Australia’s popular dramas when they return in the new year:

• Chances (Nine) will finally resolve the mystery surrounding Alex Taylor’s (Jeremy Sims, pictured) missing 12 months – though not before he goes on the run after finding himself waking up next to two dead women, a knife close by and no memory of what happened.  This leads to a chain of events that see him end up in a straitjacket and locked up in a detoxification centre.  Meanwhile, his parents Barbara and Dan (played by Brenda Addie and John Sheerin) are having marital issues which may lead to Barbara having an affair with a much younger man.
• E Street (Ten) will be dominated early in the new year by the romance between Wheels (Marcus Graham) and Sheridan (Kate Raison) and the continuing reign of terror from Mr Bad (Vince Martin) – with Toni (Toni Pearen) potentially his next target.  Meanwhile, Reverend Bob (Tony Martin) and Elly Fielding (Diane Craig) are still engaged but have not yet made any wedding plans.  The series will also welcome the arrival of fashion designer Penny O’Brien (Josephine Mitchell) and Max’s (Bruce Samazan) cousin James (played by Scott McRae) and the return of publican Ernie Patchett (Vic Rooney).
• Romance will feature heavily in Home And Away (Seven), with Blake (Les Hill) entering into a relationship with a new character, who arrives in Summer Bay with a major problem.  “This will be the strongest and most relevant story we have done,” according to producer Andrew Howie.  Meanwhile, Marilyn (Emily Symons) finds a new love, and Findlay (Tina Thomsen) begins a relationship with a man who doesn’t meet the criteria that Pippa (Debra Lawrance) and Michael (Dennis Coard) expect.  A love triangle develops that will force Bobby (Nicolle Dickson) to choose between her ex-husband Frank (Alex Papps) or Greg (Ross Newton).  Home And Away will also enter a new era as it moves to a new timeslot – 7.00pm, up against Neighbours – and welcomes new cast members Cathy Godbold (formerly from Chances) and Debbie Byrne.
• In A Country Practice (Seven), Wandin Valley farewells Lucy (Georgie Parker) and Matt (John Tarrant) who leave the town after finally becoming parents.  Luke (Matt Day) is also leaving to pursue a flying career, and Wandin Valley bids farewell to larrikins Cookie and Bob (Syd Heylen and Gordon Piper, pictured) – but will they be gone for good?  Series stalwarts Lorrae Desmond, Shane Porteous, Brian Wenzel and Joyce Jacobs will be joined by newcomer Gavin Harrison.  Meanwhile, on-again-off-again lovers Harry (Andrew Blackman) and Kate (Michelle Pettigrove) will continue their game of cat and mouse, and there will be a new love for Dr Terence Elliott (Shane Porteous).
• ABC’s widely-acclaimed medical drama GP enters the new year with guest appearances by veteran actors Willie Fennell and Queenie Ashton (pictured), and joining them will be Normie Rowe, Jeff Truman and Scott Burgess.  Now entering its fourth year, GP will start the year with the murder of one of Ross Street surgery’s medical staff.  Jackaroo star David McCubbin joins the series as the son of Robert Sharp (John McTernan), and Dr William Sharp (Michael Craig) will finish his career as a general practitioner.
• Neighbours (Ten) enters the new year with confidence, despite the recent departure of eight cast members and with rival Home And Away set to move into its long-held 7.00pm timeslot.  Following the recent arrival of new cast members Melissa Bell, Scott Michaelson, Rachel Blakely and Andrew Williams, the series will soon be joined by newcomers Natalie Imbruglia and Simon Stokes.  Recently-widowed Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston) returns to Ramsay Street and finds herself being chased by old flame Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver).  Veteran actress Lorraine Bayly (pictured) joins the series as Faye Hudson, a fun character far removed from her previous more serious roles in The Sullivans and Carson’s Law.  Meanwhile, Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) faces financial ruin with the collapse of his business.
• The Flying Doctors (Nine) continues over the Christmas/New Year period – with one storyline featuring a controversial bedroom encounter between Guy (David Reyne) and Penny (Sophie Lee), spurred by her unfaithful boyfriend Steve (Paul Kelman), and a pregnancy that forces the evaluation of many relationships.  Meanwhile, Jackie Crane (Nikki Coghill) faces a grim future when she’s accused of negligence following a patient’s allergic reaction to penicillin.  Guest stars to appear in upcoming episodes include Gus Mercurio, Justine Saunders and TV Week Gold Logie winner Rowena Wallace (pictured).

Briefly…
Former 60 Minutes reporter George Negus (pictured) has been a vocal critic of the state of current affairs on TV – and now he has a chance to address the situation as the front man of Foreign Correspondent, a new program to start soon on ABC.  “It’s because this program is different that I’ve agreed to do it,” Negus told TV Week.  “If the ABC had said, ‘We want you to be involved in a new current affairs program which is a variation on a theme,’ I probably wouldn’t have said yes.”

A breakdown in negotiations have appeared to have halted plans for Craig McLachlan to take over from Jacki MacDonald as the host of Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show.  Negotiations were believed to also include the option for McLachlan to become a fill-in host for Hey Hey It’s Saturday, but money wrangles appear to have killed the deal.  Meanwhile, Jacki MacDonald’s new venture with Network Ten, a weekly lifestyle show, is believed to have the working title Saturday Night Live-Style and is set to go up against her old show Hey Hey It’s Saturday.

Former E Street star Melissa Tkautz is reluctant to talk about her recent split from the show but hits out at suggestions that her emerging pop music career saw her neglect her commitments to the show.  “I don’t have time to ponder why I left E Street,” she said.  “It was good while it lasted.  I feel like I’ve done my part.  I was always there, I always knew my lines and I was at every rehearsal and every studio call.  I never let them down in any way.  They should all wish me well.”

John Laws says…
”In what bracket could you place a movie like the Nine Network’s Hardbodies?  It had no plot and its cast was comprised of talentless young people posing as actors.  It had, as far as I could detect, no redeemable feature whatsoever.  Set at a California beach house, it depicted groups of young people in various stages of half-dress and undress.  When they weren’t gyrating to a truly awful all-girl band, they were gyrating in bed, getting into bed, or getting out of bed.  Yet the fact that a TV station screens Hardbodies at 8.30pm, shows that there is a substantial audience who will watch it.  Which proves that where the prospect of a few minutes of TV boobs and bums are concerned a significant section of the population – presumably mostly male – is willing to put up with anything just to get a glimpse of them.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, December 14-20):
Saturday:  Afternoon sports coverage includes Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket on Nine, and highlights of Grand Slam Cup tennis from Munich, Germany, on Seven.  Ten’s afternoon schedule includes children’s programs Kelly and re-runs of The Henderson Kids.

Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Eddie Macon’s Run (Seven) and Stroker Ace (Ten) up against the debut of two-part mini-series Atlanta Child Murders (Nine).

Tuesday:  Jennifer Keyte hosts a one-hour special, Drinking Like There’s No Tomorrow (Seven), an insight into alcohol abuse amongst teenagers.

Wednesday:  Nine’s day is dominated by the Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket, live from Perth, with coverage starting at 2.20pm and continuing through to 10.30pm – with a one-hour break for National Nine News and A Current Affair: Summer Edition.  Melbourne filmmaker Paul Cox is the topic of the final episode of the SBS series Nostalgia.

Thursday:  ABC presents live coverage of the Colonial Mutual Classic tennis, live from Kooyong, Melbourne.  In The Flying Doctors (Nine), Penny (Sophie Lee, pictured) is locked in a tough administration battle with the hospital laundry staff, headed by Trisha (Colette Mann).  ABC debuts four-part series The Cricket Archives, documenting a history of Australian cricket based on film archive material, presented by Jack Egan.

Friday:  Ten presents the final 1991 episodes of ‘Til Ten, The Miraculous Mellops and Blind Date.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  14 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

1991: May 18-24

Craig’s heroic new look
For his role as Lieutenant Walter Carey in the Seven Network mini-series Heroes II – The Return, actor Craig McLachlan (pictured) has had to shed his trademark curly locks.  “I feel different,” McLachlan told TV Week, staring at the mirror.  “I feel like a new man.”  The mini-series will also star John Bach, Christopher Morsley, Brett Partridge, Simon Burke, Miranda Otto and Anne-Louise Lambert.

“If you don’t like it, sack me!”
A major row has erupted between the producers of E Street and Network Ten executives over controversial episodes set to air later this month.  In the episodes, Harley (Malcolm Kennard) is introduced to cocaine by a friend of Sheridan (Kate Raison) and ends up in a raunchy sex scene with two girls and collapses from an overdose.  Network executives have said the episodes are not suitable for the show’s 7.30pm timeslot, and may be stopped from going to air.  Producer Forrest Redlich is determined for the episodes to go to air after seeing a friend of his suffer from cocaine abuse.  “I have a mate who’s just had a really bad thing with cocaine,” he told TV Week.  “He is 45.  He had a really good business happening, made a lot of money and put half of it up his nose.  It’s bad news.  Basically, the episodes have caused a ruckus with Ten.  I’ve pulled rank on them and said, ‘That’s the story.  I want to do it.  If you don’t like it, sack me’.”

Aussie lands US soap role
Former Number 96 star Chard Hayward (pictured), who has lived in the United States since the series ended in the late 1970s, has recently completed a role in NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara.  Hayward, who played camp movie buff Dudley Butterfield in Number 96, plays the role of nightclub singer Richard Sedgewick.  The character has a short life in the series but Hayward is not disappointed at the character being killed off.  “I really do not want to do these shows for 50 weeks a year,” he told TV Week.  “I need to have space to pursue my other interests.”

Briefly…
Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show host Jacki MacDonald (pictured) is about to be seen by millions of American viewers when she takes part in a segment on America’s Funniest Home Video Show.  “It’s going to be very international,” she told TV Week.  “Bob (Saget) is also interviewing the hosts of the other Home Video shows from other countries.”  There are currently 12 different versions of the show around the world.  But MacDonald is not expecting it to lead to any further job offers from the US.  “I don’t think they’d employ me,” she said.  “The English told me that once, when I was over there years ago.  They said, ‘you’re very intelligent and very funny Miss Marsupial, but we don’t want you’.” 

Wheel Of Fortune host John Burgess has recently quit his radio job at Perth radio station 6PM and has ambitions to take on a more serious role.  “You can’t go on being a clown all your life,” he said.  “Before I die I’d like someone to take me seriously, too.  I’ve had this ambition in the back of my mind to read the news on television.  It will take me at least twelve months just practising reading the news.  Seven are being very helpful – I feel this is my network, this is my home.  But if the newsreading comes off, I would probably have to leave Perth and go to Sydney or Melbourne.”

After months of mystery, Australian viewers will this week find out the answer to the question “Who killed Laura Palmer?” in the popular US series Twin Peaks, seen here on Network Ten.

John Laws says…
”In a recent Fast Forward episode, Steve Vizard was responsible for a brilliant send-up of game show host Rob Brough.  In much the same way as he captured and lampooned the Hinch image, Vizard used his talent for impersonation to not only bring Brough to life in physical form, but to satirise him and the Family Feud show in an incredibly funny way.  There are those around who claim that despite the enormous success of his Tonight Live show, Vizard is better suited to the satirical sketch format of Fast Forward.  It’s not a theory that I complete agree with, but judging by some recent Tonight Live shows, there may be a grain of substance.  Not that Vizard’s late-night antics are second-rate television.  Far from it.  The show can – sometimes – positively sparkle, and it makes for a thoroughly entertaining hour.  Yet, on other occasions, it seems to flounder, and never more so than when Vizard is “off the boil”.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 18-24):
Saturday:  ABC crosses to Wembley Soccer Stadium for live coverage of the FA Cup Final.

Sunday:  Former Neighbours star Annie Jones makes a guest appearance in comedy series Col’n Carpenter (Ten).  Financial highflyer Rene Rivkin is interviewed by Caroline Jones on ABC’s Compass.  Sunday night movies are Disorganised Crime (Seven), Dangerous Liaisons (Nine) and Missing In Action III (Ten).

Monday:  Ten Eyewitness News is reinstated to a one-hour bulletin, with newsreader Jo Pearson returning to the newsdesk, three years after leaving Ten to go to the Nine Network, alongside David Johnston.  Greg Evans’ game show Blind Date moves from 6.30pm to 5.30pm and is now lead-in to Ten’s revamped news hour.  Noah Taylor and John Jarratt are among the local co-stars to feature in the telemovie Inspector Morse In Australia (Seven).  ABC presents the final episode of The Life And Death Of Sandy Stone.

Tuesday:  Ross Newton, Caroline Gillmer and Suzi Dougherty guest star in GP (ABC).  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), reporter Maxine Gray examines a cholesterol-free butter from New Zealand, and Dr John D’Arcy examines the most comprehensive study of memory ever undertaken.

Wednesday/Thursday:  ABC presents two-part mini-series Half A World Away – focusing on the 1934 London to Melbourne air race – starring Tim Hughes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Hyde, Helen Slater, Jim Holt, Josephine Byrnes, Gary Day and Barry Bostwick.

Friday:  Seven crosses to Football Park, Adelaide, for the AFL match between Adelaide Crows and Melbourne.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  18 May 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: January 19-25

Alyce in Wunderland
While most television presenters have been taking a summer break, Sale Of The Century hostess Alyce Platt (pictured) has been pursuing a music career.  She has completed two tours with her band Alyce In Wunderland and has taken up song writing.  And although Platt and host Tony Barber will be back soon on Sale, this year she hopes to also realise her other dream – to release an album. 

Hey, look who’s back!
Although Simone Buchanan had already taped her final scenes for Seven’s Hey Dad! last year, she is now back in the studio for an extra five episodes of the popular comedy.  “The last episode we filmed last year didn’t resolve anything or suggest that she was leaving, so that’s why I’m coming back,” Buchanan told TV Week.  The five additional episodes are expected to go to air in March and April and will lead in to the appearance of new cast member Rachael Beck who replaces Buchanan but will play a different role.

Chances are it’s set to shock!
Almost twenty years after Number 96 shocked the nation with adults-only drama and glimpses of nudity, the Nine Network’s Chances is set to create the same controversy.  Described as provocative, steamy and risque, Chances is hoped to turn around Nine’s shaky recent history with dramas – apart from The Flying Doctors the network has failed to secure a major drama hit since the heyday of The Young Doctors and The Sullivans.  The new drama follows the story of a suburban family whose lives are changed when they win a $3 million prize in a lottery.  Producer Lynn Bayonas told TV Week that the new series will focus more on personal stories rather than social issues.  “We’ll leave the issues to A Country Practice and The Flying Doctors,” she said.  “We have personal issues.  We’ve got older women and younger men, marriage breakups, affairs with secretaries, and women desperate for love and racing off with everybody.  It has a different look.  It doesn’t look like a serial.”  Chances’ cast includes John Sheerin, Brenda Addie, Jeremy Sims, Natalie McCurry (pictured), Cathy Godbold, Tim Robertson and Ann Grigg.

Briefly…
Actress Rebecca Gibney, about to appear in Nine’s new comedy All Together Now, admits that she had turned down a number of roles since leaving the popular The Flying Doctors, in particular those with elements of sex, discrimination or unnecessary nudity.  “I’m wary of exploitation,” she says.  “There are enough roles around with gratuitous sex and violence and there’s always someone else who will play them.  You can make films without the sex and violence.  Pretty Woman was funny, warm and emotional – and without tits and bums.”  All Together Now (with Gibney, pictured, left) also stars Jon English, Steve Jacobs, Jane Hall, Garry Who and Bruno Lucia.

David Reyne and Nikki Coghill are leading the charge of new cast members in The Flying Doctors.  Coghill plays the role of feisty nurse Jackie Crane, who takes an instant dislike to the arrogant new doctor Guy Reid (Reyne).  Also joining the series will be Sophie Lee (The Bugs Bunny Show) and Sarah Chadwick (GP).

Sydney actor Simon Stokes had just completed his HSC when he auditioned for a role in the UK-based drama Families.  Two days after the audition he was told he had secured the role of Christian Stephens.  The series also features Australian actors Briony Behets (Number 96, The Box, Neighbours), Tessa Humphries, Imogen Annersley, Malcolm Stoddard and Tayler Kane.  Although it has completed its first year on air in the UK, Families has yet to be sold to an Australian network.

John Laws says…
”Seven’s Hey Dad! has to be one of Australian TV’s most spectacular success stories.  It glows with a freshness and vitality that its foreign competitors rarely match.  Hey Dad! warrants the tag “family entertainment” and there’s little enough of that left on TV in these days of high-powered screen violence.  I do hope that Hey Dad! will once again be a firm favourite among Australians in 1991.”

Program Highlights (January 19-25):
Sunday:  Ten crosses to Portsea, Victoria, for the Ironman Super Series.  ABC presents golf (Sanctuary Lakes Classic) and highlights of cricket (Women’s International: Australia versus New Zealand).  Sunday night movies are Hoosiers (Seven) and Ladyhawke (Ten).  Nine presents a re-run of the 1985 mini-series The Flying Doctors, the predecessor to the ongoing series.

Monday:  The Ford Australian Open (Seven) enters its second week of competition.  And with the ratings season approaching, some regular shows are returning for the new year – Today, Good Morning Australia and ‘Til Ten are back in the daytime, and A Country Practice returns for its tenth year.  Derryn Hinch is back on board at Seven’s Hinch.

Tuesday:  Jon English and Rebecca Gibney head the cast of Nine’s new comedy series, All Together Now, which debuts tonight, followed by Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show, with new host Jacki MacDonald replacing Graham Kennedy.

Thursday:  Nine’s The Flying Doctors returns for 1991.  Seven presents a re-run of mini-series Nancy Wake, starring Noni Hazlehurst and John Waters.

Friday:  Nine crosses to the Adelaide Oval for Day One of the Fourth Test, Australia versus England.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 19 January 1991. Southdown Press.

1990: December 8-14

Cover: Olivia Newton-John

Hey Hey it’s… London…?
Hey Hey It’s Saturday host Daryl Somers is set to make an appearance on Aussie expat Clive James’ popular British show, Saturday Night Clive. Somers is hopeful that the appearance could lead to Hey Hey being sold to an international audience.  “I feel we’ve given England such a diet of soapies that it’s about time they copped some comedy/variety/night-time/morning type of stuff.  They just want to talk about me being on TV for a long time, and the show I do, which is unique.  I know Clive and he’s very aware of that uniqueness,” Somers told TV Week.

Oscar winner aims for Oz glory!
Oscar-winning American actor Denzel Washington is likely to win the lead role in the Seven Network mini-series Tracks Of Glory, which goes into pre-production soon.  Producers Barron Films have also been negotiating with LA Law star Blair Underwood, but Washington is now the favourite for the lead role of American champion cyclist “Major” Taylor.  Among the Australian cast list for the mini-series are Cameron Daddo (Bony), Justine Clarke (Home And Away) and John Wood (Rafferty’s Rules).  Tracks Of Glory is set in the 1920s and follows the story of Taylor as he comes to Australia to compete in the richest cycling event in the world.

The show will go on!
Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s Daryl Somers is choosing his words carefully when he announces the disintegration of DAS Entertainment, the nine-year partnership between himself, Gavan Disney and Ernie Carroll, which produces the popular Nine Network program:  “We’ve discussed it.  It’s a mutually agreed split.  Hey Hey will continue, as we are contracted to do until the end of 1991, and we all looking forward to it in a very positive way.  We want the split to be as professional and businesslike as possible, and because we are involved in working that out – the entanglement of contractual obligations with DAS and the (Nine) network and so on – I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to go into great detail at this stage.  But I think it’s safe to say that DAS will be no longer.  Next year the program will be produced by another entity.” Somers and Carroll are expected to take over producing the show – although plans to bring Jacki MacDonald back into the program appear to have stalled.

Briefly…
As the financial situation at Network Ten continues to crumble, producer Ian McFadyen (pictured) is confident that the network will pick up a proposed sitcom he has been discussing with them – a concept based around the lives of employees at a television station.  McFadyen is also confident that Ten will renew sitcom Let The Blood Run Free for a second series.  Meanwhile, his company, Media Arts, also has a deal to produce a sitcom, Newlyweds, for the Seven Network in partnership with Crawfords Australia.  The new sitcom is set to be a starring vehicle for former Neighbours star Annie Jones.

ABC has renewed drama series Embassy for a second series.  The renewal comes after controversy, as Malaysia accused the show’s fictional setting of Ragaan of “making fun” of their country and consequently cancelled official visits to Australia and suspended trade talks, prompting Prime Minister Bob Hawke to step in and reassure Malaysians that the program is entirely fictional.

Aussie actress, former Number 96 and Skyways star Carmen Duncan (pictured), playing the role of bitchy Iris Carrington Wheeler in the US soap Another World, has been named by Soap Weekly magazine as one of the “most desirable women on American television”.  Her character has also been voted one of the most popular on American daytime TV.

Seven Network series A Country Practice has clocked up 800 episodes.  Given the current financial situation at Seven, still in receivership, the cast and crew of the series were allowed only a small celebration at Seven’s Sydney studios.

Neighbours star Ashley Paske has announced that he will not renew his contract with the Network Ten series when it expires in January.  He is expected to be seen on-air until May.

John Laws says:
“SBS has had a great year.  Its fine coverage of the World Cup soccer – possibly more extensive than any other station in the world – was the highlight.  It, more than anything, put the station on the map.”

Program Highlights (December 8-14):
Sunday:  Tennis (Colonial Mutual Men’s Invitational) on ABC.  Golf (Johnnie Walker Classic) on HSV7 and cricket (Benson And Hedges World Series) on GTV9.  Sunday night movies are North Dallas Forty (GTV9) and Stones For Ibarra (ATV10).  HSV7 presents the first instalment of mini-series George Washington.

Monday:  ABC presents a repeat of Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals, featuring John Halfpenny, Glenn Wheatley, Keith Williams and Wilson Tuckey.

Tuesday:  Prime Minister Bob Hawke presents the Walkley Awards, buried in a broadcast of the National Press Club Luncheon, on ABC at 1.00pm.

Friday:  The final 1990 edition of the late-night Robbo’s World Tonight on GTV9.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 8 December 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: August 25-31

‘I could have given them a real pregnancy!’
Now back on the set of Home And Away after her brief honeymoon, Nicolle Dickson (pictured) has a tough workload ahead as Summer Bay’s Bobby Simpson faces death threats, a new romance and a baby on the way.  “I could have given them a real pregnancy,” the newlywed Dickson jokingly told TV Week, but is quick to point out that she and husband James aren’t planning a family.

The littlest star on the street
Ten’s E Street has welcomed a new cast member, and the show’s cast and crew and bending over backwards to make sure she is happy.  The new star is nine-week-old Madison Doyle who will play the part of Rachel Patchett, the new daughter of Megan and Chris (Lisbeth Kennelly and Paul Kelman).  The young Patchett arrives in less than ideal circumstances.  Megan’s cheering at the grand final between the Westside’s Kookas and The Royals turns into contractions and she gives birth in the Kookas’ change-rooms!

Saturday night fever!
The war is now on as the Seven Network takes a celebrity-laden attack against Nine’s popular Hey Hey It’s Saturday.  Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune and Celebrity Family Feud (with presenters Rob Brough, John Burgess and Adriana Xenides, pictured) are set to debut early in September.  But Hey Hey’s Daryl Somers isn’t too worried about the competition.  “The other networks have put shows up against us in the past but they couldn’t match us,” he told TV Week.  “In times of gloom and doom, people love to laugh – and that’s what Hey Hey does best.”  Somers also diffuses speculation that Jacki MacDonald is set to return to the show following some guest appearances when the show was recently taped in Brisbane.  “It is certainly wonderful to welcome back our beloved Jacki.  But it is just for these two shows.  We have all missed her, and the door is always welcome for her to come back.”

Effie’s hair-raising new role!
Acropolis Now’s Nick Giannopoulos and Mary Coustas have signed a deal to pilot a sitcom set in a hairdressing salon.  The pilot, likely to go into production after the current series of Acropolis Now is completed, has the working title Effie.  The project is being funded by Crawford Productions for the Seven Network.  “The idea is that Effie works in a salon called ‘Hairazors’,” Giannopoulos told TV Week.  “The series will take a look at her adventures in the salon and her problems with the other kooky characters who work there.”  At this stage Coustas, who also stars in Seven’s police drama Skirts, is the only definite cast member.

Deafness Awareness Week
A record 14.5 hours of television programs with Supertext subtitles will be broadcast by the Nine Network during Deafness Awareness Week.  The network will be offering Supertext subtitles on Our World, Sale Of The Century, The Flying Doctors, Burke’s Backyard and Graham Kennedy’s Funniest Home Video Show, US series The Cosby Show, Murphy Brown, Growing Pains and Night Court, and selected movies.  ABC’s late night news bulletin will also start carrying Supertext subtitles from this week.

Briefly…
Only a year into his three-year contract, TV Week Gold Logie winner Craig McLachlan (pictured) is looking to wind back his role in Seven’s Home And Away in 1991 as the actor is struggling to juggle both acting and singing careers.  McLachlan has been allowed breaks from the series to promote his recording career but Seven is said to be less than pleased with singing taking a higher priority.  The relationship between Seven and McLachlan has also been tested with the star withdrawing from his commitment to co-host Seven’s Sydney telethon for the Royal Alexandra Hospital For Children and the Children’s Medical Research Foundation.

Burke’s Backyard host Don Burke is keen to sell the top-rating Nine Network show overseas.  He has already had interest from Japan in buying the show but with the show’s demanding schedule as well as presenting his own gardening show on Sydney’s 2UE, he admits the time just isn’t there yet to discuss the options.

Former Uncanny X-Men lead singer Brian Mannix (pictured) was thrilled when he scored a guest role in the Seven Network’s Skirts – more so when he heard he was playing a drunk!  “I’ve been drunk for years,” he said.   After Skirts, Mannix is set to release his own solo album and will also be making a guest appearance in SBS’ English At Work series.

John Laws says…
”It’s disappointing to see that Mark Mitchell’s ambitious show, The Big Time, failed to attract significant ratings and be put on hold.  In The Big Time, Mitchell plays himself and it seems that as far as the viewers are concerned they don’t consider this much a humorous ploy.  Anyway, this is not the end of the world for Mark Mitchell, because he has a superb comedy talent.  What he must do is come to terms with the fact that he is always going to be more successful by creating characters such as Con The Fruiterer and his missus and that it’s no failure at all to remain in that form of comedy.”

Program Highlights (August 26-31):
Saturday:  ATV10 screens The Wall – Berlin 1990 Concert, a two-hour music spectacular featuring some of the world’s best known rock stars performing with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra in the shadow of the infamous Berlin Wall, now fallen.

Sunday:  HSV7 begins screening the children’s series Round The Twist, originally shown on ABC, starring Tamsin West, Sam Vanderberg, Richard Moir and Bunney Brooke.  ABC’s Sunday morning World Of Worship presents A Mass For The Deaf, from the Ephpheta Centre in Sydney, to commemorate Deafness Awareness Week.  Sunday night movies are The Witches Of Eastwick (GTV9) and Die Hard (ATV10).  HSV7 debuts the two-part US mini-series I Know My First Name Is Steven, based on the real-life story of Steven Staynor who was kidnapped as a seven-year-old in 1972 and was held captive for seven years.

Tuesday:  Beyond 2000 (HSV7) presents a 90-minute special edition, 20th Century Syndrome, looking at some aspects of our modern-day lifestyles and whether they are actually killing us.  This is followed by a 90-minute edition of Tonight Live With Steve Vizard.  Heather Mitchell and Vince Martin guest star in ABC’s GP.

Wednesday:  Kim Beazley is the special guest in this week’s Speaking For Myself on SBS.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  25 August 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: March 3-9

‘I want to show the real me!’
Sale Of The Century hostess Alyce Platt (pictured) wants to dump her conservative, quiz-show image.  The former Sons And Daughters star is now in her fourth year on the Nine Network quiz show and is daring to bring a new daring look to the long-running program.  “It was frustrating when people kept coming up to me in the street and telling me I looked younger in real life.  What has happened in the past on Sale Of The Century is that I’ve developed an image that is not really me.  I don’t dress as you’re used to seeing me on Sale.  I’ve just signed a new contract with the show and told them I wanted a say in how I look,” Platt told TV Week.  “I feel I might as well make a huge statement.  We’re finding that a lot of younger people are watching the show now.”  The new-look is set to feature designs from three major designers – Covers, Mariana Hardwick and Jenny Bannister.

Is this the new Kylie?
Beth Buchanan, the younger sister of Hey Dad! star Simone Buchanan, is to become a new resident of Ramsay Street.  The 17-year-old has been offered a high-profile role in Neighbours, following the departure of actress Rachel Friend from the show, sparking speculation that she is set to become “the new Kylie.”  A Network Ten spokesperson is staying tight-lipped, though:  “She has been offered the part, but I cannot confirm whether she has signed on the dotted line.” 

Are Denise and husband about to be reunited?
The year just passed is not one that Denise Drysdale (pictured) will want to cope with again.  The Hey Hey It’s Saturday and In Melbourne Today co-star is still coming to terms with the announcement that her ten-year marriage to actor Chris Milne had ended, and the impact it has had on her two boys, aged 9 and 7.  But there is no evidence of bitterness or discomfort when it comes to her former husband.   When asked if she would consider reuniting with Milne, she only responds “I just don’t know.  Stranger things have happened… I’m the sort of person who lives day to day.”  As well as working on her farm property in Gippsland, a 90-minute drive from Melbourne, Drysdale commutes to Melbourne twice a week for tapings of In Melbourne Today and Hey Hey It’s Saturday, hosts a weekly magazine show for local Gippsland channel GLV8 and is in constant demand for club appearances with long-time colleague Ernie Sigley.  Drysdale also responds to rumours that all is not well with her Hey Hey It’s Saturday co-stars, with reports that they’re miffed that she was doing and saying too much.  “Because Jacki MacDonald had been there for so long, I think it’s taken a lot of time for the others to realise there’s someone there to make a lot of noise… I can’t just stand there.  But I don’t think I would have been put in the job if they (the producers) didn’t like the way I work.  They know I’m not like Jacki.  I still think it will take more time to settle in.”  And when asked if she tires of her co-stars constant references to her anatomy, she only responds “No, they’ve been hanging around for years!”

Briefly…
Joining the list of guests jetting in for the upcoming TV Week Logie Awards is actor John Travolta, on the eve of the Australian release of his latest movie, Look Who’s Talking, and Aussie actress Sigrid Thornton, currently based in Los Angeles as the star of the CBS series, Paradise.

The arrival of Julian McMahon’s (pictured) character, Ben Lucini, in Seven’s Home And Away triggers a whirlwind romance with Carly (Sharyn Hodgson) with the pair becoming engaged within only a couple of weeks.

This week sees comedian Glynn Nicholas take over from Wendy Harmer as host of ABC’s popular comedy program, The Big Gig.  Harmer is now working on her own show, In Harmer’s Way, which is set to debut on ABC in April.

John Laws says…
”Kerry O’Brien, for whom I have a high personal regard, launched his promising new show Lateline at a time when a transport workers’ strike was gripping NSW and elsewhere, when Andrew Peacock was reeling from another pre-election poll tumble, when TNT had announced a dramatic fall in profits due to the airline dispute, and when the nation was on the brink of another national election campaign.  But what did O’Brien serve up on his first Lateline?  South Africa!  Sure, Nelson Mandela had been freed a couple of days earlier and South Africa was dominating TV news and hogging all the newspaper headlines.  But that’s my point:  By the time Lateline arrived, I suspect we were all totally overdosed on Mandela and the South African issue.  How much more were we expected to take?”

Program Highlights (March 3-9):
Saturday:  GTV9’s Cartoon Company returns to early Saturday mornings, but is now also joined by C-Company, presenting three-and-a-half hours of C-rated programming, including The Curiosity Show and Tasmanian-based KTV.
Sunday:  ATV10 crosses to the banks of the Yarra River to televise the 1990 Birdman Rally, part of the annual Moomba festival, hosted by Greg Evans and Colette Mann.  Sunday night movies are Cop (HSV7), White Mischief (GTV9) and Rambo III (ATV10).
Monday:  ABC and GTV9 interrupt their normal Monday night schedules for a half-hour Liberal Party policy speech, leading up the the Federal Election.  A re-run of the early-‘80s soap opera Holiday Island begins to get a late-night re-run on ATV10, screening Monday to Thursday nights after midnight.
Wednesday:  In E Street (ATV10), Alice (Marianne Howard) learns the truth about Paul (Warren Jones) and Lisa (Alyssa-Jane Cook).  A new beginning for Chris (Paul Kelman) and Megan (Lisbeth Kennelly) fuels the Abby (Chelsea Brown) and Vi (Bunney Brooke) feud.
Thursday:  After Tuesday night’s Liberal Party speech, it is now the ALP’s turn with Prime Minister Bob Hawke getting equal time with a half-hour policy speech on ABC and GTV9.
Friday:  Mark Mitchell hosts the 32nd annual presentation of the TV Week Logie Awards, live from the Hyatt On Collins Hotel, Melbourne, and televised on ATV10.  The two-and-a-half presentation culminates with the presentation of the Gold Logie to Australia’s most popular TV personality.  Up against the Logie Awards are movies The Dirty Dozen (HSV7), Every Which Way But Loose (GTV9) and The Last Innocent Man (ABC).

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

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)

Hey Hey what a week!

Last Saturday, the Nine Network dropped a bombshell when it announced a last-minute programming change that would see a scheduled repeat of the first Hey Hey It’s Saturday reunion special replaced by a movie. It was later reported that it was the show’s producer and host Daryl Somers who made the last-minute programming request to Nine, apparently to avoid diluting interest in the show in the lead-up to the second reunion special airing this week. It was a risky move that resulted in protests from die-hard fans of the show that only days earlier had cheered the show’s return and its subsequent high ratings.

But the fallout from the last-minute programming change instigated by Somers was nothing compared to the international media storm that followed as a result of an act in the mock talent quest segment, Red Faces.

The Jackson Jive saw five performers, of multi-racial origin, paying a tribute to the famous ‘70s pop group The Jackson Five, with four of the Jackson brothers depicted with ‘blackface’ and recently-departed Michael Jackson shown with a white-painted face. The act drew instant criticism from American performer Harry Connick Jnr, a guest on the show and one of the judging panel on Red Faces. Connick Jnr gave the act a score of zero, though in the world of Red Faces that can unknowingly be as much a compliment as a criticism.

The reaction from the act instantly went viral as what was intended as a light-hearted tribute to the Jackson brothers sparked outrage around the world, particularly in the United States where such such blackface portrayals are deemed hugely offensive. Suddenly, Hey Hey It’s Saturday and Australia as a whole was widely condemned by some high-profile commentators around the world, while reaction in Australia has ranged from outrage to cries of political correctness gone mad.

Even Malaysian-born singer Kamahl, whose phrase “Why are people so unkind?” became a staple of Hey Hey It’s Saturday over the years and who also appeared on the show many times over its long run, has threatened legal action against the show after a cartoon image of him was used as part of the Jackson Jive performance.

The fallout from the skit lays a dark shadow over what would otherwise be applauded by Nine and Somers as a very successful reunion venture – highlighted in the second show by the return of HHIS favourites Ossie Ostrich, whose close friend Ernie Carroll has come out of retirement for the reunion, and Jacki MacDonald, who has led a very low-profile existence in Queensland since leaving television in the mid-1990s.

A spokesperson for the Nine Network has said that the reaction from the Jackson Jive skit will have no bearing on whether or not the show is returned in an ongoing format.

And tonight, Nine’s digital channel GO! will screen a repeat of both Hey Hey It’s Saturday reunion shows in a five-hour marathon. Though it is expected that the Jackson Jive performance will be omitted.

Source: Herald Sun, Herald Sun, Herald Sun