1992: June 7-13

Cover: Tom Cruise

Shirl crashes out
When she decided to leave A Country Practice after more than ten years, Gold Logie winner Lorrae Desmond conceded that her character Shirley Gilroy had to be killed off but insisted that the death not be depicted on screen.  “You don’t get divorced in Wandin Valley,” she told TV Week.  “So for me to leave the series, Shirl had to die.  I didn’t want to do a Molly (Anne Tenney) – the long, lingering leukaemia bit, because I hate to upset children.  I like children.  The last thing I wanted them to see was Shirley laughing.”  The last viewers will see of Shirley will be farewelling her husband Frank (Brian Wenzel) from a taxi as she departs for the airport for a light aircraft flight to Brisbane.  Viewers will not see the plane crash that follows, killing all on board. 

Ian keeps an eye out for clues
With his new murder mystery show Cluedo about to debut, and with a second series already given the green light, as well as three sitcom projects in production or development – Let The Blood Run Free, Newlyweds and Bingles – Ian McFadyen is one of the busiest people in television. “Cluedo is not a quiz show,” he told TV Week. “It’s a game show, but a different kind of game show. It’s not based on how loud you can scream or how much jelly you can tip on each other.” It’s also a busy time for Andrew Daddo, who plays the role of Professor Plum in Cluedo, as he’s also scored a major role in the upcoming $3.7 million children’s series Round The Twist. “It’s been a bit tough to work the production schedules out because there will be some overlap,” Daddo said. “When Round The Twist came up, I jumped at it. But I’m also rapt that Cluedo is going again.”

Return engagement!
Neighbours stars Tom Oliver and Anne Charleston are engaged to be married in the long-running series – and it’s not the first time the pair have played a married couple on screen.  Back in 1968 they played husband and wife (pictured) in an ABC drama, The Shifting Heart.  “It was a TV adaptation of a play on the ABC,” Oliver told TV Week.  “It was a marvellous play and it was the first time Anne and I worked together.”  However, the on-screen union in Neighbours could be short lived, as Charleston contemplates the possibility of a life away from Ramsay Street when her contract expires later in the year.  “Seven and a half years is a long time.  But you just never know,” she told TV Week.  “It depends how you’re feeling at the time.”

Briefly…
There could be changes afoot for Network Ten dramas Neighbours and E Street, with network managing director Gary Rice putting the pressure on Neighbours’ producers Grundy Television to improve the show’s falling ratings, and expressing concern about E Street whose future is currently up for negotiation.  TV Week suspects an upheaval for both shows, with Neighbours to be shifted to 7.30pm and E Street re-worked into a half-hour format at 8.00pm, five nights a week.

The cast of Nine’s steamy drama Chances have partied to celebrate the completion of 100 episodes.  Meanwhile, the series has welcomed a new cast member as Steven Whittaker (pictured) plays the part of Sean Becker, a friend of Alex’s (Jeremy Sims) who is set to threaten his corporate position.  Whittaker, who recently starred in mini-series Good Vibrations, contemplated having to tackle Chances’ steamy sex scenes.  “I gave it a great deal of thought but in the end it was some of those elements which were actually attractive,” he told TV Week.  “Would I prefer it to be mundane, dealing with slices of suburban life, or slightly off the wall, verging towards the bizarre?  In the end, that’s what made my mind up.  That’s where I’d rather be.  The potential is there for quite a bit of bed wandering, but at the moment there is more appetite than action!”

The life of controversial radio and television personality Mary Hardy (pictured) is being portrayed in a stage production, Mary Lives!, written by her brother, Frank Hardy.  Starring Maryanne Fahey in the lead role, the play also features Bartholomew John and Ron Challinor, both of whom were close friends and former colleagues of Hardy, who died in 1985.  “She was tremendously influential at the time, creating an awareness of me not only on the Penthouse Club, but on her radio program as well,” John told TV Week.  “Mary wasn’t just a female comic,” said Challinor, who was a writer for Penthouse Club in the 1970s.  “She sang, she danced, she told gags and she had great timing.  If she had done in the US what she did here she would have been a huge star.”

SBS is set to mark the 40th anniversary of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with a controversial British documentary, Queen Or Country?  The special, originally screened on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, raises the question of whether the royals abuse their public position for personal gain – looking at 10 cases where the line may have been blurred.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Taking an old, tried and true board game such as Cluedo and adapting it to television sounds easy.  But obviously it wasn’t that easy at all, even for Crawford Action Time, a partnership between this country’s most prolific drama producer, Crawfords Australia, and British-based game show producers Action Time.  From initial impressions, the television version of Cluedo is a touch unsatisfying, right down to the fact that the smartest guy in the audience isn’t even asked how he reached his conclusion, and nor are we told how long it took him.  And perhaps it’s the “how long” factor that is most important here – not for solving the whodunit, but for the television program itself.  Versions of Cluedo produced by Action Time for other countries run only half an hour, not the full hour (less commercial breaks, of course) the show has been given here.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, June 7-13):
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Betsy’s Wedding (Seven), Robocop 2 (Nine) and Born On The Fourth Of July (Ten).  After the movie, Nine crosses to Paris for the final of the French Open.

Monday:  ABC launches a new afternoon game show, Vidiot, hosted by Eden Gaha.  In A Country Practice (Seven), Wandin Valley residents react when AIDS sufferer Max Blair (Felix Williamson) returns to be with his sister Trish (Linden Wilkinson) before he dies.  Healthy Wealthy And Wise (Ten) takes a tour of scenic Byron Bay.

Tuesday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Frank Gilroy (Brian Wenzel) receives news that his wife Shirley (Lorrae Desmond) has died in a plane crash.  In GP (ABC), William (Michael Craig) is shocked to find that his old friend Geraldine (Jennifer Claire), for whom he has developed a romantic interest, is passively committing suicide.  Beyond 2000 (Seven) presents a special edition from the International Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Wednesday:  The Nine Network presents the first episode of murder mystery game show Cluedo, featuring host Ian McFadyen and guest star Rod Mullinar as the show’s first ‘victim’.  Seven presents a rerun of the British documentary Elizabeth R (originally shown on ABC), documenting a year in the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession to the British throne.

Thursday:  SBS presents early morning (3.00am) coverage of the opening ceremony of the Euro 92 soccer championships, live from Sweden, followed by the first match – Sweden versus France.  SBS’ coverage of Euro 92 continues over 17 days, with live coverage overnight and highlights packages shown the following evening. 

Friday:  Seven crosses to Sydney for live coverage of the Rugby League First Test – Australia versus Great Britain – with commentators Graham Hughes, Pat Welsh, Wally Lewis and Michael O’Connor.

Saturday:  Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) presents a special edition from Warner Bros Movie World on the Gold Coast, as the theme park celebrates its first birthday.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  6 June 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: May 3-9

Rebecca does a double take!
Being an aunt several times over – with 14 nieces and nephews – All Together Now star Rebecca Gibney (pictured) is no stranger to crying babies, which makes her well equipped for this week’s storyline which sees her character Tracy offering to babysit a pair of five-month-old twins.  But Gibney, engaged to singer Jack Jones, is in no hurry to start her own family.  “I’m not at the stage where I can even think about it,” she told TV Week.  “It wouldn’t make sense to me to have a child now.  I think you’ve got to be settled as a human being before you go into it.”

Peta tells: ‘Marriage, millions and me’
Actress Peta Toppano’s character in the upcoming Six Pack episode titled Piccolo Mondo tells her two friends (played by Victoria Longley and Denise Scott) that they all should have married rich men.  And, ironically, that’s what Toppano has done in real life, marrying one of Australia’s richest men, Perth entrepreneur Kerry Stokes.  But while she is enjoying being a millionaire’s wife, the former Prisoner and Return To Eden star is not planning to leave showbusiness but is enjoying a break while spending time with her new husband and his two teenage sons.  Toppano is very enthusiastic about her role in Six Pack.  “It was a fabulous part and so well written,” she told TV Week.  “When I read the script I found myself laughing so much – Lena was a great character.  I haven’t played anyone quite like Lena before.  I guess she was a little like the character in Return To Eden, but a much more authentic woman.”

‘I’m Captain Good Guy… again!’
Former Home And Away star Julian McMahon (pictured) is accustomed to playing nice guy roles, such as his latest role in GP as a policeman, but is keen to play the role of a villain.  “I’m really looking forward to playing a villain for a change, instead of being Captain Good Guy,” he tells TV Week.  “In The Power, The Passion – my first television job – I touched on villainy… just.”  The GP role comes just after McMahon has completed work on movie Exchange Lifeguards, starring alongside Christopher Atkins, Elliott Gould and Mark Hembrow.  The production was an intense schedule, with 14-hour days over seven weeks.  “Now I’m never going to the beach again unless I get paid for it!,” he said.

Briefly…
Actor John Waters (pictured) is taking on an unusual role as host of ABC’s upcoming Bush’s Australian Sheepdog Challenge.  The show comes after the success of similar shows in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.  Waters, who recently starred in mini-series Which Way Home, will soon be heading to South-East Asia for his next role, a private eye in the movie Singapore Sling.

Producers of Seven’s new sitcom Newlyweds are still on the hunt for an actress to play the lead role after the sudden departure of Alyssa-Jane Cook.  Former Neighbours star Annie Jones has cropped up as a possible contender for the role.

The third series of Embassy is soon to start screening on ABC.  One of its upcoming guest stars will be actor Nicholas Eadie (pictured), playing the part of a politician with a kinky sex life.

There are rumours around the television industry that the Ten Network is considering the idea of one national news bulletin for the whole network, based in Melbourne.

The Nine Network has commissioned a six-part series as a spin-off to the recent documentary special, Sex, hosted by Sophie Lee.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Back in the bad old days when the Seven Network, in particular, was more fragmented than it is today, this type of thing used to happen regularly.  The network’s major stations – ATN7 in Sydney and HSV7 in Melbourne – were not as closely aligned as they are now and often there was a lag of up to four weeks with regular series such as A Country Practice.  In other words, a major storyline, such as a wedding in Wandin Valley, would be seen a month earlier – or later – in one city, a nightmare for a national publication such as TV Week.  But genuine networking of schedules was going to solve all that and, to a large extent, it did.  Which makes the current situation with The Darling Buds Of May all that more disappointing.  The delightful six-hour series, one of the most popular shows in Britain last year, will screen on Seven at 8.30 on three consecutive Friday nights… in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.  Other capital cities will have to wait, mainly because AFL games are scheduled on those nights and, in the case of Melbourne, partly because the powers that be at HSV privately admit they’re not sure where to slot The Darling Buds Of May, anyway.  The feeling is that series would sit more comfortably in the ABC’s schedule, rather than the line-up of any commercial station.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 3-9):
Sunday:  Showbiz legend Toni Lamond and her son, actor Tony Sheldon are guests on this week’s Sunday Afternoon With Peter Ross (ABC).  Sunday night movies are Blue Steel (Seven), Joe Versus The Volcano (Nine) and Grass Roots (Ten).  Late night sport includes Shell Australian Touring Car Championships (Seven), the Spanish Grand Prix (Nine) and delayed coverage of the rugby league Winfield Cup (Nine).

Monday:  Nine presents the debut of children’s series The New Adventures Of Skippy, a modern take on the TV classic Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, starring Andrew Clarke (pictured).  In A Country Practice (Seven), Kate (Michelle Pettigrove) blames the town’s new vet Anna (Anne Looby) for the death of her horse.  This week’s Six Pack (SBS) feature is Loveless, exploring the complexities of human sexuality as Tom (Simon Burke), who has just lost his father, makes a video about a relationship between a father and his gay son.

Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), Julie (Denise Roberts) is confronted with the fear of living alone after her bag is snatched.  The episode features guest stars Julian McMahon and Joy Smithers.  In Chances (Nine), Madelaine Wolfe (Karen Richards) the agency’s new photographer needs Angela’s (Patsy Stephen) help when she has problems with a nude model.

Wednesday:  Nine’s telecast of the Rugby League State Of Origin is being scheduled in prime time across Australia for the first time.  In the past the network had been reluctant to commit to a prime-time screening in non-rugby territories, but last year’s prime time telecast by NWS9 Adelaide showed that the game can attract strong ratings outside of its traditional markets.

Thursday:  Seven presents delayed coverage of the AFL Centenary Match, between Collingwood and Carlton on the 100th anniversary of the traditional rivals’ first match, from the MCG.

Friday:  ABC presents the long-awaited debut of its new big-budget children’s series Lift Off, starring Mark Mitchell (pictured), featuring a combination of live action, puppetry and animation. 

Saturday:  SBS presents a live telecast of the Coca-Cola Soccer League Awards from the Darling Harbour Convention Centre, followed by live coverage of the FA Cup Final from Wembley Stadium, UK, and a delayed telecast of the Scottish FA Cup Final from Glasgow.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  2 May 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: April 19-25

Cover: Nicolle Dickson (Home And Away) and husband James Bell.

Packing a punch!
SBS has assembled some of Australia’s top writing, directing and acting talent for its upcoming drama series Six Pack.  The series of six self-contained stories is the first local drama production to come from the network since the 1987 mini-series Always Afternoon.  Included in the cast of Six Pack are Peta Toppano, Sandy Gore, Simon Burke, Ivar Kants, John Bluthal, Nancye Hayes, Martin Jacobs, Geraldine Turner and Angie Milliken.  E Street star Josephine Mitchell plays Clara in Mimi Goes To The Analyst.  “I desperately wanted to play a nymphomaniac,” Mitchell told TV Week.  “Clara is a great tart, a fun tart.”  Police Rescue star Steve Bastoni stars in Loveless, playing the role of Johnny, an aggressive homophobic actor who’s insecure about his sexuality when he is cast in a gay-themed film.  “For me this was a great project breaking new ground,” Bastoni said.  “Not only was it dealing with a sensitive issue, the issue also involved gays in film-making, which is something audiences are very curious about.”  Hey Dad! star Ben Oxenbould stars in That Man’s Father, playing the role of Andy, a lodger who makes a married couple’s life miserable.  “He’s a bit of a drifter,” Oxenbould said.  “Discovering new bits of life and piecing them together so that when he’s much older, he’ll have plenty to talk about.  He’s also a bit selfish, a bit arrogant and not too concerned about what’s going on in the household.”  Six Pack begins on SBS later this month.

UK engagement stops AJ’s Newlywed plans
Former E Street star Alyssa-Jane Cook (pictured) was on her way back to Australia from a promotional trip in the UK and about to star in a second pilot for the new Seven Network sitcom Newlyweds, but has made a last-minute decision to focus on spending more time in the UK.  Newlyweds, a joint venture between The Comedy Company producer Ian McFadyen and production company Crawfords Australia, explores the post-honeymoon hassles of a young couple.  Cathy Godbold (Chances, Home And Away) and Richard Healy are to appear in the new show, with Crawfords now re-casting for the role previously assigned to Cook.

Neighbours tackles that delicate subject
Neighbours is set to tackle the subject of teenage sex. In episodes to screen this week, characters Todd Landers (Kristian Schmid) and Phoebe Bright (Simone Robertson) plan to lose their virginity. “My feeling is that most 17-year-olds are getting to that stage,” Schmid, who is also 17, told TV Week. “Neighbours is a family show, but it’s also a realistic show.”

Briefly…
The Nine Network is soon to assess the game show pilot taped at the studios of NWS9 Adelaide and hosted by Colette Mann with Ugly Dave Gray.  With the working title Best Friends, the show is similar to the old Newlywed Game.

The man behind the mask (pictured) is Olav Evensen, the new actor to play E Street’s serial killer Stephen “Mr Bad” Richardson.  Evensen has taken over the role from Vince Martin.

Meanwhile, E Street producer Forrest Redlich is talking to the Ten Network about plans to produce a new one-hour weekly rock show in the same vein as the old Countdown.

Network Ten’s Kids’ Stuff host Lochie Daddo has made the move to the Nine Network as co-host of its Saturday morning show cartoon show Saturday At Rick’s.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Good Vibrations, from Southern Star Entertainment and Lynn Bayonas, remains a bit of a mystery to me.  Like the Nine Network’s Golden Fiddles last year, Good Vibrations appears perfectly suited to a 6.30pm Sunday timeslot, but it has been programmed at 8.30pm on consecutive nights (Wednesday and Thursday).  Good Vibrations will have to perform well against movies on both opposing networks on the Wednesday night if it is to have any chance on the Thursday.  And that’s a big ask, even during the Easter school holidays.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, April 18-24):
Sunday:  Ten’s daytime is dominated by coverage of the James Hardie 12-Hour motor race, live from Bathurst, NSW.  There is an hour of coverage from the race start at 6.00am, then hourly updates throughout the morning, and then Ten returns to coverage at midday for the remaining six hours.  Seven has Sunday afternoon AFL – Adelaide versus Richmond – live from Adelaide, followed by the World Vision special The Forgotten World, hosted by Steve Vizard and featuring Jennifer Keyte and Tom Burlinson.  Sunday night movies are Clash Of The Titans (Seven), The Natural (Nine) and the biblical epic The Ten Commandments (Ten), up against Egyptian movie The Puppeteer (SBS) and ABC documentary God’s Girls: From An Australian Convent, the story of the Sisters of Mercy in the small NSW country town of Singleton – describing life from the 1940s through to the present.

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Hugo (Gavin Harrison) is forced to come to terms with the homosexuality of his cycling partner Brett (Simon Stokes).

Tuesday:  Gosia Dobrowolska and Graeme Blundell are guest stars in this week’s episode of GP (ABC).  In A Country Practice (Seven), Lucy (Georgie Parker) and Matt (John Tarrant) now have their baby and they prepare to leave Wandin Valley.

Wednesday:  Seven presents the debut of two-part mini-series Good Vibrations, the story of a family who move to the country and find they are sharing their new house with a ghost.  The series stars Genevieve Picot, Felicity Soper, Jeffrey Walker and Stephen Whittaker (pictured).

Thursday:  In Neighbours (Ten), Todd (Kristian Schmid) declares his love for Phoebe (Simone Robertson).  In Phoenix (ABC), the bombers finally begin to make crucial mistakes as Inspector Jock Brennan (Paul Sonkkila) continues to put the pressure on – as it becomes evident why even the hardened criminal world is afraid of the bombers and why they hate police.

Friday:  Seven presents live coverage of the AFL match between Sydney Swans and North Melbourne from the Sydney Cricket Ground.  Nine has late night delayed coverage of Rugby League: City versus Country from the Sydney Football Stadium, while Ten has delayed coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge from Carrara, Queensland.

Saturday (ANZAC Day):  ABC has live coverage of the traditional ANZAC Day march from the streets of the Melbourne CBD.  Ten crosses to Auckland for live coverage of the Rugby Union Centenary Test match between New Zealand and the Rest of the World.  Ten has live prime-time coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge basketball from the National Tennis Centre, Melbourne.  To coincide with his Australian tour, there is a late-night clash of two Prince films – with the 1984 movie Purple Rain (Nine) versus the 1987 title Sign O’ The Times (Ten).

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  18 April 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: March 29-April 4

Why Rebekah’s quitting Summer Bay
After two years playing hapless teenager Sophie in Home And Away, Rebekah Elmaloglou (pictured) has decided to leave the series.  The 18-year-old will tape her final scenes for the show in September and hopes that life after Home And Away will be a little less frantic.  “There is definitely life after Home And Away,” she told TV Week.  “It’s been great and I’ve learned heaps, but the pace is just too much and I need a break.  Come September, I plan to do a lot of travelling overseas and I might even do a pantomime in London.”

John plays by new rules
”People tend to see me as Rafferty and nothing else,” actor John Wood tells TV Week.  “So I’m pleased that Dearest Enemy is about to be screened – it might break down that feeling a bit.”  The three-time TV Week Logie winner stars in the series alongside Linden Wilkinson, Bruce Spence, Frank Wilson and Vic Hawkins.  “I’ve been lucky in that in the two major series I’ve done, I’ve had wonderful female co-stars – Catherine Wilkin in Rafferty’s Rules, and now Linden.”  But with production of Dearest Enemy completed some time ago – and despite a current stage role in Sydney – Wood can’t get back into television.  “A couple of years ago, I was the most outstanding actor on television.  Now I can’t get a bloody job in television.  It’s amazing,” he laughs.

Richard insures against handbag attacks
As Terry Sullivan in the long-running series The Sullivans, actor Richard Morgan (pictured) became one of Australia’s most recognisable faces – something he hated, and was made more difficult when Terry started beating his wife.  “I copped a few handbags across the face in supermarkets from women who couldn’t tell between fantasy and reality,” he told TV Week.  Now, a decade later, he is content to enjoy his anonymity working in the insurance industry and appearing only in roles that appeal to him, such as the mysterious Michael Tranti in an upcoming episode of Chances.  Tranti is a married businessman who develops an unhealthy infatuation with advertising executive Angela (Patsy Stephen) when he enlists the advertising agency for his company’s new campaign.  Chances is Morgan’s first television appearance in 18 months, his last TV role being on the Seven Network drama series Skirts.

Briefly…
Australian actress Christine Harris (pictured), with television credits including The Young Doctors, Carson’s Law, Prisoner, Neighbours, Chances and ABC mini-series Darlings Of The Gods, is in the running for a major overseas role – the part of Scarlett O’Hara in the sequel to the cinema classic Gone With The Wind.

Former Neighbours star Andrew Williams is soon to begin a 13-week guest stint in Ten’s other prime time drama, E Street. He will make his on screen debut in June.

Meanwhile, the producers of E Street are now developing a drama-sitcom project featuring pop group The Teen Queens. The video clip of the group’s debut single, Be My Baby, appeared on E Street recently. The pilot for the new series, to be set in Bondi Beach, is to be filmed soon.

There is speculation that the Nine Network may give the flick to Clive Robertson and The World Tonight to make way for a new show to be hosted by Richard Wilkins.

Former Chances star Cathy Godbold, whose role as leukaemia victim Meg Bowman in Home And Away comes to a tragic end on screen this week, has appeared in a pilot episode of a proposed new sitcom, Newlyweds.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here:

’The Minister for Information and Immigration… has been the target for strong press criticism in this immigration venture’ .  With thousands of higher-living nationals awaiting entrance – English, Nordic types and Americans – who can offer this country ideas and culture, it is little wonder that this project has been the centre of bitter controversy.  Let us hope that immigration of the future will be planned deliberately and intelligently and offer more opportunities to the people of our own stock.’ 

“Those quotes (above) are not from a speech by someone from the extreme right of South African politics.  They are taken from a Cinesound Review newsreel, made right here in Australia.  The government minister to whom the voice-over referred was the late Arthur Calwell, who held the Information and Immigration portfolios in the Chifley Government between 1945 and 1949.  The newsreel footage is part of Alec Morgan’s film Admission Impossible: The Story Behind The White Australia Policy.  A Film Australia production, it screens on ABC this week.  The film, narrated by former Four Corners reporter Paul Barry, is a combination of archival film and interviews with immigration officials.  It paints successive Australian governments as underhanded and racist.  Admission Impossible forcefully supports Alec Morgan’s contention that Australia as an egalitarian nation embracing multiculturalism was – and is – a myth.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, March 29-April 4):
Sunday:  With cricket season now over, Nine’s weekly sports magazine programs Wide World Of Sports: Sunday Edition and Sports Sunday return.  During the afternoon, Nine crosses to Suzuka, Japan, for live coverage of the Japanese 500cc Grand Prix.  Sunday night movies are Black Rain (Seven), Flatliners (Nine) and Revenge (Ten) – while ABC screens the Film Australia documentary Admission Impossible, focusing on the behind-the-scenes political forces and propaganda campaigns that attempted to populate Australia with pure white migrants. 

Monday:  In the series return of Dearest Enemy (ABC), Alex (Linden Wilkinson, pictured) gets a crash course in political wheeling and dealing.  In A Country Practice (Seven), Frank Gilroy (Brian Wenzel) gives up plans for retirement when Constable Tom Newman (Jon Concannon) decides to quit.

Tuesday:  Nine presents delayed coverage of the presentation of the 64th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal at the Los Angeles Music Centre.  Nominations for Best Picture are Bugsy, Beauty And The Beast, JFK, Prince Of Tides and Silence Of The Lambs.

Wednesday:  In Home And Away (Seven), Meg (Cathy Godbold) needs all her energy to live her final days to the full. 

Thursday:  In ABC crime drama Phoenix, Lochie (Andy Anderson), frustrated by his desk jockey status, finally has the chance to lead a raid but it goes embarrassingly wrong.

Friday:  Documentary series A Big Country (ABC) looks at Tim Kelly, former champion rodeo rider – with the hard-drinking and hard-living life-style that came with it – whose life has changed since gospel preachers called him to God.  Now, Kelly is a sincere and gentle man whose wife, a former barmaid and bikie, has also converted to the Christian faith.

Saturday:  Afternoon sport includes netball (ABC), highlights of the Australian Swimming Olympic trials (Seven), Hong Kong 7’s Rugby Union (Ten) and five hours of Wide World Of Sports (Nine).  Evening sport includes live coverage of the Mitsubishi NBL Challenge from the National Tennis Centre (Ten), highlights of the day’s AFL matches (Seven) and a late-night delayed telecast of Winfield Cup Rugby League (Nine).  This week’s episode of the SBS documentary series Through Australian Eyes looks at the lives of three Australian-born Jewish sisters and their children.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  28 March 1992.  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.

Neighbours star quit fame for family

The previous blog entry highlighted some of the pressures faced by young stars going into soap operas and the sudden fame it brings.

Some of these actors do indeed go onto bigger things - names like Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Jason Donovan, Craig McLachlan and Natalie Imbruglia all got their big break in soaps before international stardom called.  But while those names went on with their careers, one of their colleagues made a decision to take a step back from acting to focus on family.

Annie Jones (pictured) started in Neighbours as the studious Jane Harris - or as she was nicknamed 'Plain Jane Superbrain' - a role which she continued for three years at the height of Neighbours' popularity in the '80s and won a TV Week Logie for most popular actress in 1989.  After leaving the soap, Jones went on to appear in the sitcom Newlyweds, mini-series Jackaroo and dramas Snowy, Bony, Embassy and even Chances.  It seemed inevitable that Jones would follow her former Neighbours cast-mates overseas.

But in 1994 the 27-year-old actress got the heart-breaking news that her mother was suffering Alzheimer's and made the decision that family was more important than fame:

"I couldn’t move because I had to be able to see Mum.  I have no regrets about turning down work during that time. Mum and Dad were more important.

"This journey with Mum has definitely changed me. A lot of things seem to be very shallow to me these days.  I’ve realised empathy is the key to everything.  If we could all put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, just for a little while, I think we’d all look after each other a lot more."

Jones, now 42, is now a campaigner for Alzheimer's Australia Victoria, an organisation providing support and raising funds to help people living with the disease and their families.

Source: Digital Spy 
Picture: TV Week, 31 December 1988