1990: November 17-23

Livvy’s Christmas surprise!
After a seven-year break from acting, former Aussie star Olivia Newton-John (pictured) is making her dramatic TV debut in a telemovie, A Mom For Christmas.  The movie, currently in production in Cincinatti, Ohio, is set to go to air in the US on Christmas Eve.  The Seven Network has decided to hold off screening the telemovie in Australia until next Christmas.

Meet ACP’s new matron
The contracts are still being finalised, but JNP Productions have announced that actress Maureen Edwards will be taking on the role of the new matron in A Country Practice – replacing Mary Regan, whose character Ann Brennan makes her departure from the series early in the new year.  Edwards’ other recent TV appearances have included roles in Skirts and, ironically, A Country Practice.  In her last ACP appearance, Edwards played Sydney neurosurgeon Katherine D’Angelo.

Counter attack
ABC’s 4 Corners host and radio 2BL morning presenter Andrew Olle (pictured) has spoken in defence of A Current Affair host Jana Wendt over her recent interview with Bob Hawke, where she questioned the honesty of his emotions over China, that is said to have enraged the prime minister.  “I think it is great that he’s been reminded that it is not just ABC interviewers who sometimes ask him tough questions,” Olle told TV Week.  “He and several ministers in his Government have almost made a point of being nasty to the ABC whenever they get a chance.  I interviewed Hawke about the coup in Fiji.  It became very tense.  He was in Adelaide, I was in Sydney.  Afterwards, he strolled off the set and in a foul-mouthed way let off steam to all the people in the studio, being very unpleasant to all and sundry.”  Olle also lists Wendt amongst the peers he most admires:  “She has a wonderful detachment.  I like the way she has been to resist the commercial machine, which gets hold of a woman and shapes her as a commercial property.  And she is very nice person… not an easy thing to be with al the adulation that comes her way.”  He also talked about an offer to join Nine’s 60 Minutes, but decided that professional satisfaction and his ABC salary is worth more than the bigger budgets on offer by commercial television.  “There is more money to be made outside,” he says.  “But you have to consider what it means to your life.  It has to be weighed up: satisfaction and greed.”

Briefly…
Legendary daytime soap opera Days Of Our Lives has recently celebrated 25 years on air in the US, having started in November 1965, although in Australia the series starting screening in 1968 and at this stage is two years behind the US.

Aussie rules footballer Warwick Capper (pictured), appearing as a contestant in Celebrity Family Feud this week, has told TV Week he has ambitions to be a film and TV star.  He made his acting debut in three episodes of Neighbours back in 1987, alongside Kylie Minogue, and is keen to try a “longer, ongoing role”. 

It’s a dramatic season finale coming up for Home And Away when pregnant Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson) experiences stomach cramps and collapses in the Summer Bay diner.  She is rushed to hospital and admitted to intensive care, but Seven’s publicists are saying nothing about the outcome which is set to be revealed when the series returns in the new year.

John Laws says…
”The ABC screened an entertaining documentary about life in Australia in the Fifties and Sixties.  It was called The Baby Boomers Picture Show and for those of us for whom it had relevance it was a nostalgic look at life as we often remember it to have been.  The Baby Boomers, though, gave us an Australia through rose-tinted glasses.  It saw the past as having possessed a dream-like quality of contentment, happiness, innocence and mateship.  Which is true, but only to a certain extent.  There was misery, war, uncertainty, murder and poverty in the Fifties and early Sixties, but despite this, street kids were exactly that, kids who played in the street.  Crack was something you found in the pavement and “heroin” was the female lead in a movie.”

Program Highlights (November 17-23):
Saturday:  The final day of the 1990 ratings year brings the final Hey Hey It’s Saturday for the year, with a special three-hour show featuring Noiseworks, Daryl Braithwaite, Icehouse, The Chimes and Ita Buttrose.  HSV7 presents the one-hour special Agro’s 10th Birthday, featuring Cartoon Connection’s Agro visiting the sets of fellow Seven programs Hinch, Fast Forward, Tonight Live With Steve Vizard and Hey Dad!

Sunday:  ABC presents the series final of its popular dance competition That’s Dancin’.  Sunday night movies are Red Dawn (HSV7) and Priest Of Love (ATV10).  GTV9 presents the first part of mini-series Crossings, and ABC presents Esso Night At The Opera, featuring the Australian Opera’s production of War And Peace.

Monday:  Australian actress Sigrid Thornton stars in the US series Paradise, returning tonight on HSV7.  Andrew Denton’s The Money Or The Gun (ABC) presents its final episode for 1990.  With Tonight Live With Steve Vizard now on its summer break, HSV7 replaces it with a late-night edition of Seven Nightly News with newsreader Naomi Robson.

Wednesday:  Country singer James Blundell guest stars in the 1990 series final of The Flying Doctors (GTV9).

Thursday:  ABC drama series Embassy finishes up for 1990.

Friday:  Test Cricket begins for the season as GTV9 crosses to the Gabba, Brisbane, for the first day’s play of the first test between Australia and England. 

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 17 November 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: October 20-26

Cover: Alyce Platt (Sale Of The Century)

Mann gets pregnant
In the wake of the axing of Seven’s police drama Skirts, actress Tracy Mann has bounced back with a role in an upcoming telemovie. In How Wonderful, Mann plays Kerry Shanahan, a career woman about to be a mother. “It was one of those rare jobs tailor-made for you,” Mann told TV Week. The telemovie, screening this week on ABC, follows Kerry on her journey including tortuous exercise classes and junk food binges. When asked why Skirts didn’t succeed, Mann feels that it came down to scheduling. “The show should never have gone to 7.30, for a start. The timeslot meant the writers had to come up with happy endings and all the bull which never happens in the real world. The 8.30 timeslot, after A Country Practice, would have been ideal. I just feel it hasn’t been given a fair go.”

Baptism of fire!
E Street feels the full brunt of Sonny Bennett’s (Richard Huggett) revenge this week as he unleashes a bomb on the innocent residents of Westside on the day of the christening of Chris (Paul Kelman) and Megan’s (Lisbeth Kennelly) baby. Four characters make a dramatic exit and one is left seriously wounded after the explosion of a bomb fixed under Reverend Bob’s (Tony Martin) car. In what is, perhaps, the most expensive piece of Australian continuing drama ever filmed, explosive experts, stunt actors and professional weapon handlers were called in to film the show’s climax for the year. “It’s impressive,” says executive producer Forrest Redlich. “I’ve been involved in more than 800 hours of television and this is the most expensive couple of hours I’ve ever put together.” As to the identity of Bennett’s intended victims? “You don’t know who is going to get hit when the bomb goes off because half of Westside are riding in the car that day,” Redlich teased.

Old ACP favourites meet in Street
Upcoming episodes of Network Ten’s E Street will reunite two former residents of A Country Practice’s Wandin Valley. Anne Tenney (pictured), who played the colourful Molly Jones in A Country Practice, comes into E Street as a medico friend of Dr Elly Fielding, played by Penny Cook who played Vicky Bowen in ACP. “It was wonderful working with Penny again,” Tenney told TV Week. “It’s always great when you get the opportunity to work with someone you know – particularly someone you get along with. And Penny and I were together for a long time on A Country Practice.”

Briefly…
A low-budget Seven Network telemovie, Harbour Beat, has been purchased by Paramount Pictures for worldwide video and television distribution. The telemovie, which stars Steve Vidler, Gary Day, Emily Simpson and Scottish actor John Hannah, could potentially spin-off into an ongoing series. “Paramount and Zenith Productions in England are committed,” says Vidler. “We are just waiting on Seven here. The problems with going into receivership are delaying things a bit.” The telemovie screens on Seven this week.

Two-time TV Week Gold Logie winner Gerard Kennedy makes a guest appearance in A Country Practice. Kennedy plays Theo Kouros, father of Dr Cris Kouros (Michael Muntz), who is finding it hard to cope with the fact that his wife is dying. Kennedy’s appearance in A Country Practice comes after his performance as an AIDS victim in The Flying Doctors.

Let The Blood Run Free’s Matron Dorothy Conniving Bitch (pictured, played by Lynda Gibson) has a few words to say about the portrayal of medical drama on other TV series. “I liked (A Country Practice’s) Matron Sloan,” she says. “This new matron (Ann Brennan, played by Mary Regan) is not a matron’s bum. They need Matron Conniving Bitch to work with Shane Porteous. And The Flying Doctors need me to fly around in the plane, and I should be running that little surgery with Penny Cook in E Street. Those other shows, they’ve no idea about the nursing or the medicining or the hospitalising!”

A Country Practice stars Georgie Parker, Matt Day and John Tarrant have formed a band – and have sought inspiration from their financially-troubled former boss, Christopher Skase. The new band is called Chris And The Receivers and a performance at a recent telethon gathered rave reviews, something that has shocked Parker. “We didn’t want the audience think we are kidding ourselves about getting record offers,” she says. “It was only a bit of fun.”

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off:
”Two locally-produced telemovies are among the most entertaining fare you’ll find in the schedule this week. What is unfortunate is where you’ll find them in the schedule! In one of the most cruel programming twists of the year, How Wonderful (starring Tracy Mann, pictured, with Jim Holt, Sheila Kennelly, Toni Lamond and Max Phipps) and Harbour Beat – two Australian productions with heaps to recommend them – will go to air at 8.30pm on October 24. What can I say? Watch one, tape the other? Fine, if you have a VCR. A lot of people don’t.”

Program Highlights (October 20-26):
Saturday: GTV9 crosses to the Gabba in Brisbane for the FAI Insurance Cup: First Semi-Final, with coverage headed by Richie Benaud. In celebration of ten years of SBS, the network screens a re-run of the foreign movie The Mahabharata – a five-hour epic that first aired a year ago. SBS screens the first two-and-a-half hours this afternoon with the remainder to screen Sunday. In the evening, SBS presents the conclusion of its the re-run of award-winning mini-series, Women Of The Sun, starring Justine Saunders.

Sunday: More cricket coverage from GTV9 with the FAI Cup Semi-Final, though the telecast takes a two-hour break in the afternoon for live coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix. Sunday night movies are A Fish Called Wanda (HSV7), Fatal Attraction (GTV9) and Robocop (ATV10).

Monday: SBS’ tenth anniversary celebration continues with the repeat screening of drama series In Between – screening each afternoon through to Thursday. The four-part series, set in an inner Melbourne suburb, follows the story of four teenagers caught between two cultures and between adolescence and adulthood.

Tuesday: Genevieve Lemon guest stars in ABC’s GP as a woman who has been trying for ten years to get pregnant and seeks the help of friend Julie Winters (Denise Roberts) after suffering her fourth miscarriage.

Wednesday: SBS presents a one-hour special, Retro – Ten Years Of SBS Television, recounting the launch and first decade of Australia’s multicultural television service. Featuring in the program are former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, whose government formed SBS, TV pioneer Bruce Gyngell, who launched the new channel, current SBS chief executive Brian Johns and Minister for Communications, Kim Beazley. And a rare ratings battle between ABC and HSV7 with Australian-made telemovies, How Wonderful and Harbour Beat, both screening in the same timeslot.

Friday: SBS presents a 90-minute special, The Best Of The World Cup – Italia ‘90, focusing on the highlights of the year’s premier soccer event. Later on, SBS presents a special, Kids First, focusing on the first-ever world summit for children at the United Nations in New York. Peter Ustinov, actor and UNICEF Ambassador for children, and George Negus are co-presenters of the one-hour special.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 20 October 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: September 22-28

Cover: Tom Cruise

On the brink of madness!
In a chilling coincidence, actor Terry Serio was discussing with TV Week his latest role as a would-be mass murderer in GP just hours after five people were shot dead at a block of flats near TV Week’s Sydney offices.  “It doesn’t take much to push a person over the edge,” Serio told TV Week.  In GP, Serio plays the role of Jesse Watts, a man whose business has collapsed in the recession and is driving taxis just to make ends meet.  His moods get progressively worse.  He has a gun and has thoughts of using it.   He blames his problems on his wife (played by Saskia Post) who turns to Dr Robert Sharp (John McTernan) for help.

Emergency call to Matron
A Country Practice creator and producer James Davern has been having secret talks with former cast member Joan Sydney to try and lure her back into the series.  The talks were sparked by news that cast member Mary Regan, who replaced Sydney as the town’s hospital matron, is planning to leave the series.  But a spokesperson for the Seven Network said that talks were taking place but that Sydney has decided not to come back to the show.  “She wants to stick to theatre and film roles,” the spokesperson said.  Sydney’s most recent role was in the Melbourne Theatre Company production of This Old Man Comes Rolling Home, co-starring with Alex Papps, Roger Oakley, Anne Phelan and Beverly Phillips.

What a night… if only I could remember!
It should have been a day that he would never forget, but for Wheel Of Fortune host John Burgess it became a day he can hardly remember.  Just days before heading to Adelaide to tape the first four Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune shows, Burgess injured an ankle playing tennis, leading to an infection which, if left untreated, could have led to septicaemia.  Defying doctor’s orders, Burgess (pictured, with contestants Lorrae Desmond, David Hookes and Jeanne Little with hostess Adriana Xenides) flew from Perth to Adelaide to attend the taping but was so “spaced out” on medication that he barely remembers anything that happened while taping those four shows.  “So how I got there, I don’t know and how i did those television shows, I don’t know.  It must have been pure adrenalin.  I don’t remember a thing about the first show and very little about the second,” he told TV Week.  At least the pain of the injury was eased slightly by the news that Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune and its Saturday night partner, Celebrity Family Feud, have debuted to hit ratings, winning the battle against Hey Hey It’s Saturday in Sydney and Brisbane, and coming a close second in Melbourne.  But Celebrity Family Feud host Rob Brough is staying cautious.  “Hey Hey has been around a long time and we have only been a success for one night.  We can’t be compared to them yet,” he told TV Week.

Briefly…
Two new characters have moved into Network Ten’s E Street.  Zac Spencer (Daniel Knight) and his sister Nikki (Melissa Tkautz) are dumped by their mother and left in the care of George and Martha Sullivan (Les Dayman and Cecily Polson) and are a couple of kids you’d never want to encounter.  “Nikki is everything I don’t want to be,” says Tkautz. “She smokes and she’s really the sort of girl most parents would be horrified to have their daughters associating with.”

Actor Marcus Graham is in line for a role in the new mini-series Tracks Of Glory, being produced by Perth-based Barron Films, which follows the story of black American world champion cyclist Major Taylor who comes to Australia at the turn of the century to revive national interest in the sport.

Another Daddo is about to make his mark on television.  Lochie Daddo, 20, (pictured) has been hosting ABC’s Countdown Revolution for the past few weeks, following the abrupt departure of hosts Mark Little and Tania Lacy, and is tipped to win the job permanently.

John Laws says…
”The decision-makers at the ABC are becoming a little difficult to follow these days.  There seems to be a kind of uninspired confusion within the corridors of power about what exactly is going to happen to certain high-profile programs.  Or maybe it’s cleverly planned confusion.  For instance, is children’s educational TV really going to be axed, as suggested some weeks ago… or was that shock announcement a piece of sly politicking aimed solely at loosening the Federal Government’s purse strings?  Were we really to believe that the ABC’s weekend news bulletins would be nationalised, as suggested in one announcement?  Yes we were – but then we weren’t, because the “decision” was merely broadcast to gauge the reaction and the idea was hastily dumped when the anger of viewers in regional centres became apparent.”

Program Highlights (September 22-28):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses to White City, Sydney for the semi-finals of the Davis Cup tennis between Australia and Argentina. 

Sunday:  ATV10 crosses to Sydney Football Stadium for the State Bank Big Game – Winfield Cup Grand Final.  After Ten Evening News with Mal Walden, Ted Egan presents ATV10’s new documentary series, This Land Australia, with the first episode featuring the grape-growers and wine-makers of Hahndorf and the Barossa Valley in South Australia.  Sunday night movies are Cocktail (HSV7), Short Circuit II (GTV9) and Avenging Force (ATV10).

Monday: Football’s “night of nights” as HSV7 presents live coverage of the Brownlow Medal count from Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, hosted by Bruce McAvaney.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Maxine Gray tries out a new device that acts as a second set of lungs, making scuba obsolete.

Wednesday: Former Matlock Police and The Sullivans star Paul Cronin guest stars in Nine’s The Flying Doctors.

Thursday:  Annie Jones guest stars in ABC’s new drama series, Embassy.  While in Skirts (HSV7), Tina’s (Antoinette Byron) involvement with a heroic, handicapped man dissolves into disaster.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  22 September 1990.  Southdown Press.

1990: September 15-21

Let’s party!
Next month, stars of past and present TV shows will gather with fans to pay tribute to the industry that has made them household names and will raise money for charity at the same time.  The Sprite-TV Celebrity Dance Party, hosted by Paula Duncan, will aid the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home for the intellectually handicapped.  Some of the famous faces attending the event include Georgie Parker and Craig McLachlan (pictured) joining cast members from shows including Sons And Daughters, Neighbours, Cop Shop, Home And Away, Prisoner, A Country Practice and The Flying Doctors.  TV Week is also involved in the event and is giving away ten double passes, including airfares and hotel accommodation for interstate winners.

Back to the boards
Lean times in the television industry are seeing many actors and actresses officially out of work.  Actors Equity says that 85 per cent of the 12,000 registered actors and actresses are out of acting work while many performers familiar to TV viewers are now making the move into the theatre – Alex Papps and Roger Oakley (formerly of Home And Away), Anne Phelan (pictured, last seen in Family And Friends), Kim Lewis (The Restless Years, Sons And Daughters) and Joan Sydney (A Country Practice) are just some TV performers who are now taking on theatre roles.  For Lewis, who is co-starring with boyfriend John O’Hare (recently seen in GP) in the Sydney production of Little Malcolm And His Struggle Against The Eunuchs, it is a welcome change from television.  “I was always yearning for theatre work,” she told TV Week.  “It’s a whole other world.  You can’t stop and just go over mistakes.  You’re there.  That’s it.”  For actress Anne Phelan, while she is grateful for her latest role in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s This Old Man Comes Rolling Home, says she is not as excited at the move into the theatre.  “I’m at the stage where I’m thinking I should never have been an actor,” she said.  “I’m feeling insecure because this role is massive and difficult.  If someone offered me six months of TV work I’d say yes.”  Joan Sydney, also starring in the MTC play, told TV Week: “Theatre is where the real acting is, but I enjoyed TV.  I don’t consider it second rate.”

The big match… but this time Dermie’s the loser!
The long-running, unresolved romantic tension between Dr Elly Fielding (Penny Cook) and Reverend Bob Brown (Tony Martin) on Network Ten’s E Street is about to be sealed with a kiss.  The pair are brought closer together after the owner of a local video store, played by AFL footballer Dermot Brereton (pictured, with Penny Cook), falls for Dr Fielding and she enlists the help of the reverend to tell Dermot that he is involved with her instead.  The irony is, of course, that Reverend Bob has always loved Elly, and this incident looks likely to finally bring them together.

Briefly…
Actor Jeremy Kewley, currently featuring in Network Ten’s Candid Camera, says it is surprising just how many people are with people they shouldn’t be when the camera catches them out.  “This happens often in restaurants.  You’d be surprised at the number of diners on dates with people other than their official partners,” he told TV Week.  Although he does point out that anyone they do play a trick on is asked to sign a form agreeing to have the segment shown on TV.

Former Neighbours star Geoff Paine was stunned when he was approached to join the cast of The Comedy Company.  “It had never occurred to me that one day I’d be working with this team. It was quite a surprise to be asked,” he told TV Week.  He is also thrilled at joining the show after Network Ten scrapped a proposed drama series, City Hospital, that was to feature Paine reprising his former Neighbours role of Dr Clive Gibbons.

Former Family And Friends star Gavin Harrison has a new-found confidence as a result of training for an upcoming episode of GP where he will play a boxing hero who has to rely on drugs to keep fighting.  “Working on GP was the best experience of my life,” he told TV Week.  “It was the series I wanted to work on and the character was a real challenge to me.  They wanted an actor who could box and make it look professional, so that was a hurdle I had to get over.”

Hey Hey It’s Saturday cast members John Blackman and Wilbur Wilde have had their breakfast show on Melbourne radio station 3UZ abruptly cancelled after the station decided to adopt a new full-time sports format. 

John Laws says…
”Ten’s decision to screen all-night news and current affairs from the CNN network in America will, no doubt, please those night-owl viewers who want a change from Seven’s rival NBC Today or third-rate movies.  CNN’s Daybreak, now screening on Ten, is a slick, rapid-fire news show, covering anything of world or national interest to Americans.  It was time, of course, for someone to to offer spirited competition to Bryant Gumbel and the NBC Today show.  I understand the program’s ratings have dipped recently in the US, which is not a surprise.  The Today show comes across as a tired, disorganised shadow of what it was a few years ago.”

Program Highlights (September 15-21):
Sunday:  GTV9 crosses to Phillip Island for live coverage of the Australian 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix .  Leading the coverage are Barry Sheene and Darrell Eastlake.  Meanwhile, HSV7 presents a two-hour afternoon special, The Season That Was, presenting highlights of the 1990 AFL season.  ATV10 presents live coverage of the Preliminary Final of the NSW Rugby League.  Sunday night movies are Year Of The Dragon (HSV7), Funny Farm (GTV9) and The Year My Voice Broke (ATV10).

Monday:  Andrew Denton presents a new show, The Money Or The Gun, on ABC – described as a “documentary/chat/comedy show where the real meets the surreal.”

Tuesday:  HSV7 and GTV9 both cross to Tokyo for a 90-minute presentation on the announcement of the host city of the 1996 Olympic Games.  Bruce McAvaney heads HSV7’s telecast, while Brian Naylor, prime minister Bob Hawke and A Current Affair’s Jana Wendt are part of the presenting team on GTV9’s telecast.  ATV10 promises to provide updates on the announcement during its Tuesday night movie, Prizzi’s Honour.  Melbourne is one of the six cities bidding for the Games, up against Athens, Manchester, Toronto, Belgrade and Atlanta.

Thursday:  In Acropolis Now (HSV7), after a disastrous theatre date with Liz (Tracey Callander), Jim (Nick Giannopoulos) decides to stage his own version of Romeo And Juliet.  Although Skirts star Nicholas Bell turns up to “addition” for the part of Romeo, Jim instead takes on the role and asks Effie (Mary Coustas, pictured) to be his Juliet.

Friday:  During the day, HSV7 crosses to White City, Sydney for the semi-final of the Davis Cup – Australia versus Argentina.  That night, HSV7 goes to the Glasshouse for the National Basketball League game between Melbourne Tigers and North Melbourne Giants.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  15 September 1990.  Southdown Press.

1990: September 1-7

Get me to the church on time…
The upcoming A Country Practice wedding between Lucy Gardiner (Georgie Parker) and Matt Tyler (John Tarrant) will continue Wandin Valley’s tradition of dramatic weddings.  “The problem is the parents,” Parker tells TV Week.  “And whether the ceremony is going to be held in an Anglican or Catholic church.  Matt’s father Gilbert (George Mallaby) is pompous and doesn’t think Matt is coping without good financial backing.  My parents are supposedly splitting up and my father Patrick (Jonathan Hardy) refuses to come because it’s not being held in a Catholic church.  My mother Lois (Jill Perryman) turns up without him.”  The lead-up to the wedding has also been marred by Lucy’s cancer scare and the couple’s house being burnt to the ground in recent episodes.  “Post-marriage is much calmer,” Parker hastily points out.

The Great Soap Shake-Up!
A number of key cast shake-ups are about to unsettle popular soaps Home And Away, A Country Practice and E Street, while cop drama Skirts is about to lose one cast member.  Julian McMahon and Sharyn Hodgson (pictured), who play Home And Away newlyweds Ben and Carly, are leaving the show over the coming months.  Their exit from Home And Away follows recent news that original cast member Adam Willits is about to leave the show – and Craig McLachlan is also planning to leave the show but will return for guest appearances during 1991.  James Davern, producer of Seven’s A Country Practice, has confirmed that the series is about to lose cast members Michael Muntz, Mary Regan and child actor Georgina Fisher.  Actors Muntz and Regan are leaving to pursue other opportunities, while the young Fisher is leaving after two years with the show.  “I spoke to her parents and two years are enough for a child actor,” Davern told TV Week.  Meanwhile, Network Ten’s E Street is about to lose cast members Paul Kelman and Lisbeth Kennelly, whose contracts have not been renewed.  Also tipped to be leaving E Street are Chelsea Brown and Rebecca Saunders.  And Skirts star Kate Gillick is leaving the police drama to return to the theatre.

Caught in the crossfire
Tragedy strikes Neighbours when Kerry Mangel (Linda Hartley, pictured, with Mark Little) is left fighting for her life after being accidentally shot while taking part in a duck-shooting protest.  “This storyline brings out the side of Kerry’s character that I’ve always liked the most,” Hartley tells TV Week.  “She has been in a very domestic situation lately, but no-one can forget their past.  I’m pleased the opportunity came up for her to be more forthright about things she cares about.”    

Briefly…
The Comedy Company producer Ian McFadyen (pictured) has admitted that the show’s return has been tougher than expected.  “We’ve obviously got a mandate to deliver a big audience pretty soon and that’s a lot of pressure to carry.  Our ratings are worse than I thought they would be.  60 Minutes has an enormous following – a very strong loyalty – and we’re working on that at the moment.”  Meanwhile, McFadyen’s other project, Mark Mitchell’s The Big Time, has been taken off air after a short time and is set to be re-worked.

Robbo’s World Tonight host Clive Robertson insists he couldn’t care less that his show is being beaten by Tonight Live With Steve Vizard in the ratings.  “If they don’t want my show after next March (when his contract runs out), that’s fine,” he told TV Week.  “I’ll do something else.  I wouldn’t mind going back to Seven or even the ABC.”  He also admits to not liking the name of his own show.  “”Robbo’ sounds a bit silly,” he says.  If he had his choice, he’d call it something like ‘The Final Word, With Mr Robertson’.

Denise Drysdale and Ernie Sigley have spoken to TV Week about their daytime show, In Melbourne Today.  “We really are like an old married couple,” Drysdale says.  “We can have a go at each other, and it’s all part of the fun.”  While Sigley says it is a battle to try and stay ahead of the gags that the studio crew have in store for them.  “They once blew up a chook on the set and scared the living daylights out of me,” he said.

John Laws says…
”SBS’ The Movie Show with David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz is certainly a reflection of two completely different personalities.  Pomeranz is bubbly, earnestly sincere and prone to gush the extremities of praise and criticism; Stratton is cool, laidback and possessed of both gentlemanly charm and viper-like attack.”

Program Highlights (September 1-7):
Saturday:  HSV7 starts its celebrity-led assault on the top-rating Hey Hey It’s Saturday with two new shows, Celebrity Family Feud and Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune.

Sunday:  With More Winners now finished up, ABC starts screening the original Winners series of children’s dramas that had originally screened on the Ten Network.  Tonight’s episode is The Other Facts Of Life starring Ken Talbot, Dennis Miller and Anne Grigg.  Sunday night movies are Stakeout (HSV7), Children Of A Lesser God (GTV9) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (ATV10).

Monday:  Tonight Live With Steve Vizard (HSV7) starts a week of shows presented live from London.

Wednesday:  John Bach, Oliver Tobias, Rebecca Gilling and Peta Toppano star in ABC’s new mini-series The Paper Man, screening over three consecutive nights.  Australian Democrats politician Janine Haines is this week’s guest on Speaking For Myself (SBS).  HSV7 screens the long-awaited telemovie Bony, starring Cameron Daddo, Burnum Burnum, Catherine Oxenberg, David Reyne and Tom Richards.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  1 September 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: August 18-24

‘Whatever happened to old-fashioned romance?’
Being an actress since the age of nine, 16-year-old Rebekah Elmaloglou (pictured) has not had the most normal of childhoods and often yearns to be 'just an average teenager'.  Although while she let go of her childhood earlier than most, she believes young people should not rush to reach adulthood.  “There is no hurry to grow up,” she told TV Week.  “I think that a lot of teenagers miss out on so much.  They go out with each other and on the first night they are doing things that shouldn’t happen until a relationship has developed further.  Whatever happened to old-fashioned romance and innocent friendship?”  Meanwhile, her Home And Away character Sophie is about to embark on a simple 'old-fashioned' romance with Blake (Les Hill) and Elmaloglou hopes her character can be a good role model for teenage viewers.

Number 96 set to re-open its doors!
The Ten Network, battling flagging ratings, has been the subject of many rumours and reports around the television industry – only two weeks ago the network was reported to be seeking an exclusive output deal with Grundy Television.  TV Week now has it on good authority that Ten is considering a revival of Australia’s most infamous soap, Number 96, thirteen years after it ceased production.  Some network executives have believed that there is room on the network for a strong adult drama, much tougher than its current teen-based soaps Neighbours and E Street.  TV Week is informed that a group of Ten bosses have been viewing old episodes of the series with a plan to produce a 1990s version of the show.  Some of the show’s original cast may be joined by fresh faces in the revival.  When Number 96 debuted in 1972 it was dubbed ‘the night Australian television lost its virginity’ with a cast including sex symbol Abigail (pictured).  The series went on to shock and titillate its audience for the next six years with its popular mix of sex, drama and comedy.  The show won a swag of TV Week Logies, including several for best drama and a Gold Logie for cast member Pat McDonald.

Everyone’s Friend
Former Neighbours star Rachel Friend (pictured) is rapidly becoming one of TV’s hottest properties.  The 19-year-old has a lead role in the Nine Network’s big-budget mini-series, Golden Fiddles, and will soon play a ditzy hairdresser in the Ten Network’s upcoming comedy series Lipstick Dreams.  Then in December, she’s off to England to play the princess in the pantomime Aladdin’s Lamp.  “Neighbours seems a long time ago, and yet it’s not really,” she told TV Week.

Briefly…
The audience response to Seven’s Skirts might be lukewarm but that hasn’t stopped some of the show’s stars attracting the interest of producers of other shows.  Ben Mitchell, who plays Constable Bevan “Beverley” Quinn, is currently being targeted by the producers of Neighbours and has apparently already been offered a role should Seven not renew Skirts for another series.  In the meantime the producers of E Street are keen to sign up co-star Antionette Byron.

The Nine Network has had to revoke plans to move Graham Kennedy's Australia's Funniest Home Video Show to the Wednesday 7.30pm timeslot following an ultimatum from the host.  The new timeslot would have seen the show put up against Seven's comedy Hey Dad! which is produced by a close friend of Kennedy's, Gary Reilly, and the Nine Network host refused to put both shows into a ratings battle.

Former Chantoozies band member and manager David Reyne has decided to move from the music business and concentrate on acting.  The 31-year-old has already completed roles in the Seven Network mini-series Flair, the telemovie Bony, and is to star in the Nine Network mini-series Golden Fiddles.

John Laws says…
”If there’s one thing you don’t get on SBS’ Dateline current affairs program it’s a good laugh.  Dateline has a knack of looking at just about every issue from a worst-case scenario.  There is precious little middle ground as far as its reporters are concerned.  Issues are black and white.  Mostly black.  When Dateline’s hour is over, there’s just one more piece of “news” – the following week, announces host Paul Murphy, Dateline will reveal the shocking story of the plight of poverty-striken Indian peasants in war-wracked Guatemala.  Goodnight Paul.”

Program Highlights (August 18-24):
Sunday:  Mark Mitchell and newsreaders David Johnston and Tracey Curro present ATV10’s coverage of the 1990 Young Achievers’ Awards from the Hilton Hotel, Melbourne.  Sunday night movies are Starflight One (HSV7), Choices Of The Heart (GTV9) and Blue Collar (ATV10).

Monday:  ATV10 debuts a new Australian series A Waltz Through The Hills, based on the classic children’s novel which tells the story of two children living in a small Western Australian town in 1954.

Tuesday:  The debut of comedy series Let The Blood Run Free (featuring Jean Kittson and Peter Rowsthorn, pictured) on ATV10.  Meanwhile, ABC crosses to Canberra for a one-hour telecast of the 1990 Budget. 

Wednesday:  ABC’s Wednesday night special is Ladies In Line, a 90-minute documentary focusing on the successes and failures of a group of female recruits in the Australian Army. 

Friday:  HSV7 presents a re-run of the 1989 special Oz TV’s Greatest Commercials, taking a look back at some of the commercials that have been imbedded in the minds of Australian audiences.

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

1990: August 11-17

I won’t be back!
The producers of Hey Dad! are about to face a crisis with the departure of one the show’s key cast members.  Simone Buchanan, who plays Debbie Kelly in the Seven Network series, is openly telling friends that she is definitely leaving the popular comedy.  However, show producer Gary Reilly has told TV Week that he is confident that she will stay.  “I have all the confidence in the world,” he says.  “We’re still talking, and, to be honest, it’s not time yet for serious negotiations.”

New ‘super-show’ to take on Hey Hey
The Seven Network is set to combine its two most popular game shows into a ‘super-show’ to take on Nine’s top-rating Hey Hey It’s Saturday.  Seven plans to launch celebrity versions of both Family Feud and Wheel Of Fortune and screen them back-to-back up against Hey Hey It’s Saturday.  “It’s a very exciting project, something very different,” Grundy Entertainment’s Paul Waterhouse told TV Week.  “It’s basically the same shows, but with slight changes to the formats to allow for celebrity involvement.  It will be more dramatic and more exciting.”  The decision to go ahead with the celebrity spin-offs came after the recent ratings success of Sale Of The Century’s week-long celebrity challenge.

Fast Forward’s lady of many faces reveals it’s time to… EJECT!
Fast Forward’s Marg Downey has admitted that she is pondering a new challenge after two years with the popular sketch comedy show.  “I think Fast Forward will go on but it needs fresh faces to do it,” she told TV Week.  Downey is hopeful for a drama or perhaps another comedy role.  “Something that was half straight and half comedy would be ideal,” she says.   And despite her well-known celebrity impersonations, including Jana Wendt (pictured) and the unnamed “SBS lady”, have earned plenty of applause, Downey admits that some of her impersonations have not been her best work.  “The Golden Girls is one example.  I felt my voice (as Bea Arthur’s character, Dorothy) was ridiculously low.  And I didn’t think I did Jennifer Keyte very well.”  However, Downey recently took the brave step of introducing herself to the real Jana Wendt.  “At the Logies Jana told me she sits at home with her husband (producer Brendan Ward) to analyse how well I’ve done her,” she says. 

Briefly…
Actress Paula Duncan (pictured, with husband John Orcsik) has been thumbing through the archives of TV Week to piece together a historical portraits of TV soaps and their stars, past and present.  The former Number 96, Cop Shop and Richmond Hill star is organising a TV celebrity dance party to be held at the The Dome in Sydney’s Showgrounds in October.  Some of the stars who are set to appear on the night include Bobby Limb, Lorrae Desmond, Abigail, Bartholomew John, Joanna Lockwood, Maggie Kirkpatrick, Stefan Dennis, Craig McLachlan, Julie McGregor and Wendy Strehlow.

Network Ten is about to launch its new comedy series Let The Blood Run Free, starring Jean Kittson and Peter Rowsthorn (pictured).  The new series, described by Rowsthorn as “a human cartoon”, is set in the fictional St Christopher’s Hospital and also stars Lynda Gibson as Matron Dorothy Conniving-Bitch.  Let The Blood Run Free is a production of Media Arts, the producers of The Comedy Company, and was originally set to appear on the Nine Network until executives decided the show, featuring plenty of blood and slapstick violence, was too “off the wall” and it consequently got sold to Ten.

Wheel Of Fortune hostess Adriana Xenides has told TV Week that with her upcoming role in Nine’s Golden Fiddles she is determined to prove that she is more than a glamour girl.  “I know it’s very hard for people to think of me as anything other than a TV hostess because I’ve been doing it for so long,” she told TV Week.  “It doesn’t worry me if people think of me as an airhead because I know I’m not.” 

Naomi Watts (pictured), the girl who chose a lamb roast dinner over a date with Tom Cruise in a TV commercial, is joining the cast of Hey Dad! as the girlfriend of Simon Kelly (Chris Mayer).

John Laws says…
”Its critics say a news segment is totally out of place in a show (Tonight Live) which often relies for its laughs on the ridicule of world affairs, political figures and, occasionally, even tragedy.  What saves the segment is Jennifer Keyte’s professional ability to maintain credibility in the face of the evening’s fun and games.  She has, to her credit, never allowed herself to become a “fall guy” – or should it be fall person? – for Steve Vizard’s sarcastic wit.”

Program Highlights (August 11-17):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses live to Carrara, Brisbane, for the AFL game between Brisbane Bears and Geelong.  Sandy Roberts heads the coverage, joined by Ian Robertson, Don Scott and Bill McDonald.

Sunday:  ATV10’s daytime line-up features regular crosses throughout the day to the station’s annual Deafness Appeal Telethon, hosted by TTFM breakfast presenters Geoff Cox and Gavin Wood (pictured).  The telethon is accepting donations until 11.00pm.  ABC presents national coverage of the Sun-Herald City To Surf run in Sydney.  Sunday night movies are Brothers-In-Law (HSV7), Fever (GTV9) and Sharky’s Machine (ATV10).

Monday:  HSV7’s Monday night movie is the 1986 drama Just Us, starring Kim Gyngell, Gina Riley, Scott Burgess and Catherine McClements, focusing on the unusual love between a newspaper journalist and a hardened criminal in prison.  ATV10 begins a re-run of mini-series Tanamera – Lion Of Singapore, starring Gary Sweet, Anne Louise Lambert, Ed Devereaux and Khym Lam.

Tuesday: In A Country Practice (HSV7), Shirley’s (Lorrae Desmond) concerns about a growth on her face are confirmed and Terence (Shane Porteous) recommends surgery.

Wednesday:  ABC presents a one-hour special, Ten Days Of Glory, documenting the return of 60 World War I veterans and widows to Gallipoli earlier this year to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign.

Thursday:  HSV7’s new police drama Skirts has struggled to find an audience in its Sunday night timeslot so it is now moved to Thursdays, following Fast Forward.

Friday:  HSV7 presents live AFL between Sydney Swans and Brisbane Bears at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

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

1990: June 16-22

Cover: Josephine Mitchell, Craig McLachlan (Home And Away)

Wog out of work!
The Seven Network’s hit comedy Acropolis Now is now entering production of its third series but it will be without one of its key cast members.  Simon Palomares, who plays Ricky, has decided not to appear in the third series and will focus on a behind the scenes role.  “I think it got to the point where there were a few reasons for leaving,” he told TV Week.  “The main reason is that I’ve been doing ethnic humour longer than any of the three of us.  I think I’ve said as much as I can say on the subject.  There are a lot of other issues I want to get into.”  Palomares is preparing a pilot for a new comedy-adventure series and is planning a one-man show to go on stage later in the year.

Rebecca careers on
Actress Rebecca Gibney hasn’t looked back since she left the Nine Network’s The Flying Doctors last year.  As soon as she left the show, Gibney took on the role of Guinea (pictured) in ABC’s Come In Spinner and has just completed a new mini-series, Ring Of Scorpio, for Nine.  She is now about to start in a new sitcom for Nine.  Rhythm And Blues will feature Gibney alongside Jon English, whose character is a ‘60s rock star who hasn’t come to terms with the ‘90s.  “I’ve never done comedy before,” she told TV Week.  “When I shot the pilot I was terrified because I’d never worked in front of a live audience before.  That was very daunting.”  The new series is set to debut later in the year.

New York, here I come!
Andrew Daddo (pictured), former co-host of ABC’s The Factory, has landed a job with the US cable network, MTV.  Daddo caught the eye of MTV producers when the network screened an episode of The Factory, as part of the channel’s regular screenings of music shows from around the world.  “They do it to borrow ideas, which is the norm, and apparently someone walked past and my fat head caught in their eye.  They rang MTV in Sydney to find my agent’s number and asked me to send over a showreel.  A week later I was on a plane to New York,” he told TV Week.  The plum job is a far cry from Daddo being overlooked as a host for ABC’s new Countdown Revolution when it was formed last year, instead he was offered only a minor role on the new show which he left after only six weeks on-air.  “I have no bad feelings for ABC.  It was just one of those things.  In fact, seeing what Countdown is now, maybe they did me a favour,” he says.

Briefly… 
Actress Katy Brinson (pictured) played a barrister in the Seven Network’s Rafferty’s Rules.  Now she is taking on a far different role in Seven’s new series Skirts, playing the role of an alcoholic writer who beats her daughter. 

Former Neighbours star Rachel Friend is to star in a comedy pilot being made for Network Ten.  The new series, Lipstick Dreams, is based on a theatre production that recently had a successful run in Sydney and features four women who work on a beauty parlour in a country town.

Neighbours star Linda Hartley, who is about to tape her final scenes for the Network Ten series, is shortly heading off to the UK to star in the touring stage production of Prisoner and has also scored a pantomime role in the UK.  She will appear in the production of Mother Goose, joining former Neighbours castmate Kristian Schmid.

John Laws says…
”If the legendary Monty Python team were still around today they could find plenty of material to ridicule in the ABC’s new series Let’s Do Lunch.  My own impression was that the whole idea for the program had been dreamed up at a long, boozy lunch.  Usually, in the sober light of the following morning, such alcohol-inspired ideas are seen for exactly what they are.  Not, apparently, in the case of Let’s Do Lunch.  Whatever its origins, its entire theme is predicated around two people gorging themselves with food and booze, at lunch.  Along the way, we are treated to the self-indulgence of ths host, Maurice Murphy (pictured), who roams around clutching a video camera taking pictures of himself.  At which, I suppose, we are all supposed to laugh uproariously.”

Program Highlights (June 16-22):
World Cup:  SBS continues its daily coverage of the FIFA World Cup from Italy, with live coverage of matches screened overnight and replays the following afternoon, followed by a 90-minute highlights package at 7.00pm.  ABC takes on SBS’ overnight match coverage for regional viewers who don’t have access to SBS and also presents a nightly one-hour highlights package on all ABC stations.

Saturday:  Legal drama Rafferty’s Rules returns with new episodes screening on HSV7.

Sunday:  In the lead up to the return of dance competition That’s Dancin’, ABC screens a replay of the 1989 series grand final, presented by Paul Newman and Maureen Delacy.  Sunday night movies are In The Line Of Duty: The FBI Murders (HSV7) and For Love Alone (ATV10).  GTV9 screens the first part of mini-series Passion And Paradise, with the second and final part screening the following night.

Tuesday:  In ABC’s medical drama GP, Cathy (Sarah Chadwick) finds out she is pregnant but her relationship with Jack (John O’Hare) hits rocky ground when his initial reaction to the news is less than enthusiastic.

Thursday: In The Flying Doctors (GTV9), a troubled young man finally his past to rest when a seven-year-old car wreck is found, and the mystery of his parents’ disappearance is solved. 

Friday:  In Neighbours (ATV10), Paul (Stefan Dennis) is shocked to discover the identity of Caroline’s (Gillian Blakeney) mystery date.

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

1990: June 2-8

Cover: Sharyn Hodgson, Julian McMahon (Home And Away)

Meet the new Pippa
The producers of Seven’s Home And Away have found a new actress for the key role of Pippa Fletcher.  Debra Lawrence, previously seen in ABC’s The Fast Lane, will take over the role of Pippa from Vanessa Downing who has decided to leave the series to pursue other ventures.  Producers had previously hoped to sign up Carol Willesee, who had played Pippa Fletcher in the show’s pilot episode, to continue the role but negotiations were unsuccessful.

Elaine and Marcus team up!
Popular actors Marcus Graham (formerly of E Street) and Elaine Smith (formerly of Neighbours) have signed up to star in a new Seven Network mini-series, Ratbag Hero.  The four-hour series is set in Victoria in the post-depression era of 1937 and is expected to screen on Seven in 1991.

On the ball!
Australia’s multicultural broadcaster SBS is about to embark on its most ambitious challenge ever with its coverage of the World Cup from Italy.  Joining host Les Murray (pictured) on the coverage will be former Socceroo captain Johnny Warren and sports journalists Kyle Patterson and Andy Paschalidis.  “What I’m excited about most is that the SBS team are all ‘missionaries’ of the game of soccer and this gives us an opportunity to transmit to all Australians the game’s sheer greatness,” Murray told TV Week.  Apart from a few occasions when two games are played at the same time at different venues, SBS will broadcast all matches of the World Cup live to Australia.  The network has also come to an arrangement with ABC to relay SBS’ World Cup coverage to areas that don’t receive SBS.  ABC will also present a highlights package each night of the competition.

Feud? ‘What feud?’
The Comedy Company producer and co-star Ian McFadyen has responded to rumours about a feud between himself and colleague Mark Mitchell.  “This was mentioned to me after the Logies during a radio interview,” McFadyen told TV Week.  “We’ve never had a ‘falling out’ … it’s just nonsense.  There’s never been any unpleasantness between us.”  Meanwhile, plans continue for the return of The Comedy Company and it is unclear if Mitchell will be part of the revamped show, but that is only because he is busy with his own show, Larger Than Life, to which Network Ten is committed until the end of the year.

Briefly…
Rebecca Smart might be only 14 years old but she is already a showbiz veteran with a list of movies and mini-series to her credit, though her most famous role was in The Shiralee with Bryan Brown.  Now the teen star is starring in a new Nine Network children’s drama, Elly And Jools, and is set to appear in a pilot for a new sitcom.

Nicholas Bell (pictured), one of the few males stars in the Seven Network police drama Skirts, admits he does not want to become TV’s most hated man but admits that the role of Sergeant Gary Block has presented very few redeeming features.  “He’s fairly brutal about certain things and appears chauvinistic… hopefully it will become clear why that is so.  His main motivation is to be a good cop and he feels this is the best way to go about it,” Bell told TV Week.

Sioban Tuke, one of the co-stars of The Comedy Company, is taking on a serious role in an upcoming guest appearance on A Country Practice.  Tuke will playing the role of Pam Duncan, an overweight housewife whose marriage is on the brink of failure and takes desperate measures to try to lose weight.

John Laws says…
”It’s my belief that the ABC has nothing to lose by introducing corporate sponsorship of programs.  In fact, there is much to be gained.  At the very least, there should be a 12-month trial.  This should enable everyone to have a good look at how it operates, and to see whether it has the “terrible” effect on the ABC that its vocal opponents predict.”

Program Highlights (June 2-8):
Saturday:  Mark Mitchell and his comic alter-ego, Con The Fruiterer, are comperes of ATV10’s half-hour special We Can Do It, to promote World Vision’s 40 Hour Famine.  Also featuring on the program is singer Neil Finn and Mental As Anything’s Martin Plaza.
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are The Fourth Protocol (HSV7), Like Father Like Son (GTV9) and The Money Pit (ATV10).  GTV9 later presents the three-hour global TV special, Earth ‘90.
Monday:  GTV9 crosses to Roland Stadium, Paris, for the French Open tennis.
Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Andrew Carroll searches for a male contraceptive pill.  Simon Reeve takes a walk over the French Guyana rainforests on an inflatable canopy walk. Maxine Gray investigates cooking with magnets.  GTV9 presents another late night of tennis with the French Open.
Thursday: On the eve of the start of the 1990 World Cup, SBS presents the final Viva World Cup program with Les Murray and Andy Paschalidis.
Friday:  SBS’ coverage of the World Cup in Italy begins with the opening ceremony followed by the first match, Argentina versus Cameroon.

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