Maintaining the Rage for 25 years

Next week it will be quarter of a century since ABC launched its first venture into all-night transmission with the debut of music video program Rage.

Debuting on Friday night, 17 April 1987, Rage was part of the generational change in the programming of popular music on television.  Studio-based programs like Countdown and Sounds were on the way out, while the influence of US cable channel MTV was making itself felt in Australia with Rage joining an Australian version of MTV (which debuted on Nine the previous night) and Network Ten programs Night Shift and Video Hits – all launched within months of each other.  With Video Hits ending last year, Rage is now the longest-running music video show ever on Australian television.

In celebrating the 25 year milestone for Rage, Tim Rogers will be presenting Maintain The Rage – highlights of the program’s history including some of the many artists that have guest hosted and programmed Rage over the years, as well as presenting some of the standout music videos to have been featured on the show.

At the same time, viewers will be asked to hold their own all-night parties for the occasion and to submit their own party photos and videos to Rage via Facebook or Twitter.  The party judged the best will win a piece of Rage history – the iconic red couch that has featured in the show.

In the meantime, Rage is also inviting fans to submit (via Twitter with the tag #screamwithrage) their own take on the iconic Rage scream which has featured in the show’s opening titles since 1987:

The most-watched, biggest and loudest Rage screams will be included in the Maintain The Rage special.

More details are at the Rage website.

Maintain The Rage, Saturday 21 April, 10.20pm.  ABC1

Video Hits suffers in Ten cutbacks

The new management at the Ten Network, led by acting CEO Lachlan Murdoch, have this week made their move towards cutting costs as it continues to dismantle some of the strategies laid down by the previous management and re-establish the network’s low-cost business model.

The network is looking to cut around 60 staff through voluntary redundancies – including 22 editorial positions – in what Murdoch told staff in an internal email is “a necessary but inevitably painful restructure”.  If the required number of voluntary redundancies are not met then the network may look at forced redundancies.

Another 40 non-contract positions have reportedly already been cut as the network shuts down its publicity and marketing arms in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and abolishes its separate sales teams for Ten and digital channels One and Eleven.

Ten is also believed to be reviewing its program and on-air presenting line-up, with particular attention to its news and current affairs portfolio, as it looks to rein in some of the costs incurred by the recent investment in current affairs program 6.30 With George Negus and the launch of additional news bulletins.

The advent of digital channel Eleven is also said to have put financial pressures on the business.

High-profile names such as George Negus and Sandra Sully are believed to be safe, for now.

Late night stalwart Sports Tonight, which began back in 1993, is believed to have been axed as the network walks away from its role as joint broadcaster of AFL after ten years.  The network is also expected to allow some of its other sporting contracts to lapse, affecting coverage of sports such as basketball and netball, as high-definition channel One is strategically moving away from being a purely sports-oriented format.

But so far the only program to have been formally announced as being cancelled is a somewhat surprising one – Video Hits, currently hosted by Dylan Lewis and Faustina Agolley (pictured).

The weekend music program, which debuted on TEN10 Sydney in February 1987 (Melbourne’s ATV10 didn’t take up the program until almost a year later), is set to wind up with a retrospective of its marathon run on Saturday, 6 August.

In a press release issued today, programming chief David Mott acknowledged the contribution and longevity of the program:

"Video Hits' contribution to the network and the music industry over the past 24 years has been outstanding. Music and how people listen to it, watch it and enjoy it has changed dramatically in last few years and now is the perfect time for the institution that is Video Hits to sign off. The show will always hold a special place in Ten's history.”

Video Hits began purely as a compilation of music video clips at a time when a generational change was occurring in television, as studio productions like Countdown and Sounds were making way for dedicated music clip programs – with Rage, MTV, Night Shift and Video Hits all launching during 1987.

Video Hits later expanded its format to include interviews and live performances.  The show has helped establish the careers of various Australian artists, including Missy Higgins, Angus and Julia Stone and Art Vs Science.

The cancellation of Video Hits now leaves ABC1’s Rage as the only significant program on free-to-air television dedicated to music – and it is largely buried in an overnight timeslot – and with few variety programs on free-to-air television there are even fewer TV opportunities for the promotion of Australian recording artists and music industry in general.

Ten’s newly-appointed CEO, former Seven Network executive James Warburton, takes over the reigns from Murdoch in January.

Source: ABC, The Australian, Network Ten

Remembering Seven’s Epping era

The Sunrise team earlier this week posted a picture via their Twitter feed showing the demolition (“using Gladiator props as wrecking balls?”) of the Seven Network’s former studios in Sydney.

The studios, in the suburb of Epping, were barely completed when the ribbon across the Studio B doors was cut on ATN7’s opening night – 2 December 1956.  And the opening night almost didn’t happen at all as a massive thunderstorm hit Sydney earlier that day, blacking out many suburbs – including Epping.  Power was restored just in time to allow the studio cameras the required 45 minutes to warm up before airtime.  VIPs arrived at the complex in torrential rain and had to make their way across mud tracks to get to the building.

In its early years the Epping complex hosted many Australian television firsts – the first ‘tonight’ show, Sydney Tonight with Keith Walshe, the first breakfast news show, Today with Ray Taylor, the first current affairs show, Seven On 7, and the first soap operas, Autumn Affair and The Story Of Peter Grey.  ATN7 was the first TV station in Australia to install videotape equipment in the late 1950s.  The station also partnered with Melbourne’s GTV9 to complete the first ever transmission between Sydney and Melbourne via a series of microwave links.

Other shows to have emanated from Epping include Revue ‘61, Startime, Sing Sing Sing (The Johnny O’Keefe Show), Beauty And The Beast, Captain Fortune, Pick-A-Box, The Mavis Bramston Show (pictured), My Name’s McGooley What’s Yours?, Great Temptation, Sydney Today, Eleven AM, The Naked Vicar Show, Kingswood Country, Romper Room, Sounds, Cartoon Connection, Saturday Morning Live, Sportsworld, Terry Willesee Tonight, Wheel Of Fortune, Hey Dad!, Real Life, Sunrise and The Main Event.

Some of TVs most famous names have also spent time at Epping.  Roger Climpson was ATN7’s principal newsreader for many years and also hosted This Is Your Life and Australia’s Most Wanted.  Mike Willesee, Graham Kennedy, Clive Robertson, Rex Mossop, Paul Hogan (pictured), Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald), Peter Luck, Bill Collins, Maggie Tabberer, Jana Wendt and Andrew Denton have also worked at the Epping studios.  And of course the many actors and actresses that passed through the various dramas to have come from Epping – series including Jonah, Motel, Catwalk, Class Of ‘74, Glenview High, A Country Practice, Sons And Daughters, Rafferty’s Rules, Home And Away, All Saints and Packed To The Rafters.

ATN7 has now moved to new facilities at the Australian Technology Park (pictured) in the Sydney suburb of Redfern – while news production facilities, including Sunrise, Seven News, Today Tonight and The Morning Show, are based at Martin Place in the Sydney CBD.

Source: Sunrise, Sydney Architecture, Forty Years Of Television: The Story Of ATN7.

1979: August 25-31

Detective Donovan gets back on the beat
Four years after leaving cop show Division 4, Terry Donovan makes his debut in Cop Shop, taking over the role of officer-in-charge of Riverside police station from George Mallaby.  But, as writer Marie Trevor adds, there are surprises in store for the team at Riverside: “When Terry’s cop arrives they won’t know what has hit them.” Since leaving Division 4, Donovan (pictured, centre, with co-stars Peter Adams and Lynda Stoner) has proved his versatility as an actor – having starred in three movies, including The Money Movers, eight stage productions and guest starred in a number of TV series.  He had a key role in the ABC mini-series Power Without Glory and joins Cop Shop having just finished up work on the movie Breaker Morant. 

$4m budget for two series
Hanna-Barbera is working on two new multi-million dollar TV series aimed at the Australian and overseas market.  The two series, both of 13 one-hour episodes, will have a combined budget of $4 million.  Hal McElroy, director of TV development for H-B in Australia, said that production has gone ahead on both shows following strong interest by two networks.  One of the new series will be a contemporary drama, the other will be a period drama and production is set to start next year.  The international sales success of Australian dramas Prisoner and Against The Wind will mean that the two new shows will be aimed at the international market and one of the series could be a co-production with an English company.

The drama of a lifetime
Enid Lorimer, 91 years of age and an actress for over 70 years, has some simple advice for aspiring young actresses if they offered roles only on the condition they be ‘nice’ to the producer: “When you’re told you won’t get the job unless you do, take it as an insult and refuse the job.  Many years ago I was offered a role by a producer who said ‘if you get the role, you will be nice to me, won’t you?’  So I hit him.  Oddly enough, I didn’t get the job.”  An English-born former Shakespearean actress who also worked at London’s legendary Old Vic theatre, Lorimer has appeared in many Australian TV productions, including Motel, Spyforce, Homicide, Division 4 and Cop Shop, and nominates TV and film work as her favourite: “because I love variety.  I nearly died of boredom in Passage From India during its West End run.  I hated going on stage doing the same thing night after night for a perishing year.  It’s such a joy for me to see the TV and film industries booming here today.  Years ago I’d have to tell young actors ‘you’ll have to go overseas if you want to get anywhere.’  Now there’s an industry here to support them.”  Lorimer (not her real name) admits she is a compulsive TV viewer:  “I love watching the performances of all the wonderful young Australian talent – although to me anyone under 70 is just a chicken.  The Young Doctors is bags of fun.  Cop Shop is the right balance between crime and the natural gaiety of the characters in their private lives.”

Five men at crisis point
The stories of five middle-aged men, worried about their future and each facing a life in crisis, are depicted in a series of ABC plays titled A Place In The World.   The first five self-contained plays will each depict one of the central characters.  The final play will see the culmination of all five characters’ dilemmas as their gather for a school reunion.  A Place In The World is written by Michael Cove and stars John Gregg (The Oracle), John Gaden, Nick Tate, Paul Mason and Kerry Francis as the main characters.

Briefly…
ABC’s Earthwatch host, 23-year-old Peter Cousens has landed a key role in the upcoming mini-series The Timeless Land.  Cousens will play Patrick, the son of ruthless landowner Stephen Manion (Michael Craig).  The series also stars Rod Mullinar, Chris Haywood and Angela Punch.

Theatrical producer Peter Williams is planning to make a TV soap opera, based on a setting ‘that’s never been exploited before’, for the 6-7pm timeslot.   The idea hasn’t been presented to any of the networks as yet.

John Ewart is returning to The Young Doctors in his role of Horrie Jamison, father of medical orderly Dennis (Chris King).

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
”Does ABC have a horse lover in its programming department?  How otherwise can anyone account for the network putting to air Ride On Stranger right after the excellent A Horseman Riding By?” G. Morris, NSW.

“John Michael Howson’s cruel, offensive and downright stupid remarks on The Mike Walsh Show about so many fine and accomplished actors and actresses, some who happen to be dead, are a disgrace.” E. Melville, NSW.

“I have recently read a book, The Plug-In Drug, by Marie Winn.  She believes that TV is an addictive, sedative drug which reduces children’s ability to think and talk.  A child’s mind, I have heard, is virtually inactive when watching TV.  It is also said to reduce a child’s perception and creativity.  Since reading the book I have found it difficult to give up TV, which seems to support the description ‘addictive.’  TV could be a marvellous educational aid if the viewing time of children was properly monitored.” E. Hutson, NSW.

What’s On (August 25-31):
Sound Unlimited (HSV7, Saturday morning) with Donnie Sutherland (pictured) pays tribute to the super hits of the last five years.

In Chopper Squad (ATV0, Sunday), a rock climber is almost hung by the neck.  Starring Dennis Grosvenor, Eric Oldfield, Robert Coleby, John Clayton, Tony Hughes, Kerri Eichhorn and Lannie Dalziel.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) looks at eighty years of Australian politics – including Australia’s first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, and the battle between Gough Whitlam and Sir John Kerr.

Vic Cameron (Terry Donovan), the new head of CI at Cop Shop (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), is not the efficient, disciplinarian everyone was expecting and the atmosphere is very tense, with Johnson (Peter Adams) caught in the middle, acting as a buffer to the others’ anger.

Country singer Reg Lindsay and British comedians The Two Ronnies, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, are among the guests this week on The Don Lane Show (GTV9, Monday and Thursday).

ATV0 presents its annual telethon for the Deafness Foundation of Victoria.  Newsreader Bruce Mansfield introduces the telethon at 7.30pm Friday, with Annette Allison in the phone room.  The telethon continues overnight, with movies Road To Hong Kong, Help! and Keep On Rockin’ filling the hours between 2.00am and 8.00am Saturday morning.  The telethon continues through until midnight Saturday night.  The telephone number for donations is (03) 234 0011.

Sunday night movies: The Summer Of My German Soldier (HSV7), Living Free (GTV9), Night Chase (ATV0).  ABC presents A Man Of Ideas, the first play in the series A Place In The World, starring John Gregg.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 25 August 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: February 10-16

Around the world in 60 Minutes
The wait is over.  This week marks the debut of Nine's new multi-million dollar current affairs gamble 60 Minutes.  The show's reporting team and producers have been around the world gathering stories.  Former ABC New York correspondent Ray Martin has been travelling the United States.  Former A Current Affair and Eyewitness News journalist Ian Leslie has been to Asia, and former A Current Affair and This Day Tonight reporter George Negus has been through Europe.  With executive producer Gerald Stone, the program has been in planning since May last year and is believed to have a budget of $2 million.  Stone is confident that his reporters' personalities will help them connect with viewers, even though they are reluctant to adopt the celebrity tag that may come with the show.  "I can't say I'll be looking forward to that side of it," Leslie told TV Times.  "I loathe the idea of my personal life coming under scrutiny because I become well-known as a TV reporter.  I shall be guarding against that side of the job." 

Ossie battlers hit back
After departing GTV9 in a blaze of publicity a year ago, Daryl Somers and Ossie Ostrich had the disappointment of the ill-fated The Daryl And Ossie Show for the 0-10 Network.  But now the pair could be making a return to the Nine Network in a deal that could include them featuring in a movie later in the year.

The laugh's on them
A new rapid-fire sketch comedy series is about to debut on ABC.  Jokes is to be a four-part series comprising purely of jokes presented as short sketches, some as short as ten seconds.  Starring in the show is Noni Hazelhurst (The Sullivans), Chris Haywood, Robyn Moase and Terry Bader. 

Star seekers - a game of snakes and ladders
Winning a TV talent quest is not a sure-fire way to stardom.  Even though some winners manage to get an extra few bookings or maybe a short-lived record deal, the journey to stardom is still a long hard slog.  For Ray Highcock, since winning Pot Of Gold, he has lost his job, his prize and his agent.  But the 42-year-old is not giving up, "I've got to get this entertainment bug out of my system, so I'll keep giving it a go."  Singer Christine Mullane won a trip for two to the UK from Young Talent Time, but found the prize didn't include accommodation, but did score a record deal that only led to one failed single.  Another singer, Denis Walter (pictured), won a Young Talent Time contest in 1971, and then went on to win on New Faces, but even then his dreams of instant wealth and stardom wasn't to be:  "And that was my first let down.  I think all I got was a $200 prize."  Walter has been one of the lucky ones since then, however, with regular appearances on Young Talent Time, four top-selling albums and performing at a Royal Command Performance in London.

Briefly...
Luigi, the Italian taxi driver featured regularly on Willesee At Seven and The Penthouse Club, is going to be missing from TV screens for the next few months.  Alter ego Colin McEwan is headed to the United Kingdom and Europe, but may film some Luigi segments for the Willesee program.

Radio 3UZ announcer Peter Byrne is going to be the new 'man about town' for HSV7's new Saturday Night Live (formerly The Penthouse Club). 

Former Bellbird star Elspeth Ballantyne is enjoying a career comeback with a role in the movie Blue Fin and an ongoing role in the 0-10 Network's upcoming new series Prisoner.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
"I read with interest your recent article on Lorraine Bayly in TV Times, and her identity crisis, but was disgusted to read how much she is being paid each week.  As far as I am concerned, that is none of our business.  Also, this attractive, very talented actress does nothing to get into the public eye and telling us her salary is certainly invasion of privacy." V. Hannaford, WA.

"I have been a regular ABC viewer for 17 years, and have always admired the tremendous personality and style of the various announcers.  Their clean, neat appearance and well-educated accents epitomise Australian manhood at its best.  And I think the most promising of the new faces is Graeme Lyndon.  I congratulate ABC for their good choice, and, of course, I must congratulate Graeme Lyndon for such a consistently high standard of performance." D. Anderson, NSW.

What's On (February 10-16):
HSV7's Saturday morning music show Sound Unlimited, hosted by Donnie Sutherland (pictured), presents its fifth anniversary show.

GTV9's Sunday night talent quest, New Faces with Bert Newton, returns for another year - followed by the premiere of current affairs program 60 Minutes.  HSV7 tries to take some of gloss of the new current affairs show by programming a US special, Mickey Mouse's 50th Anniversary, up against it.

On Tuesday night, ATV0 presents the Victorian Sports Star for 1978 from the Southern Cross Hotel, hosted by Tony Charlton with Tracy Wickham.

Sunday night movies are The Ambushers (HSV7) and The Omega Man (ATV0).  US mini-series Washington Behind Closed Doors screens over six consecutive nights on GTV9.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 10 February 1979.  ABC/ACP

ABC1 remembers The Wild One

Next month, ABC1 presents a revealing documentary profiling the life of Australia's first rock 'n' roll star Johnny O'Keefe.

With a career starting in the early-'50s, O'Keefe became a national identity as a performer, and later host, on one of Australia's first rock music shows, ABC's Six O'Clock Rock, from 1959 to 1962.

After Six O'Clock Rock, O'Keefe went to host the Seven Network's The Johnny O'Keefe Show, later re-named Sing Sing Sing, and the 0-10 Network's Where The Action Is.

Amidst a recording career that produced over 50 singles and 100 albums, O'Keefe survived a near-fatal car crash and several nervous breakdowns before staging a comeback in the '70s.  He was honoured in an episode of the original This Is Your Life in 1975, and made a guest appearance on Sounds only days before he passed away in October 1978 at the age of 43.

The life of Johnny O'Keefe was later dramatised in a TV mini-series Shout! and in more recent years his life story was also adapted to a stage spectacular.  In 1988, he was posthumously inducted into the ARIA's Hall of Fame.

Johnny O'Keefe: The Wild One.  Thursday 6 November, 9.30pm.  ABC1

Biographical information: Johnny O'Keefe Website, Wikipedia

1978: May 13-19

The battle of Bacchus Marsh
The producers of Nine's World War II drama The Sullivans have revealed one of the show's most overworked 'actors' - an olive tree. The lone tree, located in Sunbury just outside of Melbourne, has been photographed from just about every angle to give a touch of the Mediterranean to location filming for battle scenes set in the island of Crete. Producers had spent months recreating battles of war in Crete, Greece, North Africa and surrounding nations - as taken from official war records - on location in Fiskeville, a small area near Bacchus Marsh on the outskirts of Melbourne. A central storyline in the Cretan battles involves a Greek woman Melina, played by Chantal Contouri, and also features Gus Mercurio as an American soldier, alongside series regulars Norman Yemm, Steven Tandy and Peter Hehir.
(Cover picture: Chantal Contouri, Norman Yemm)

How jockey Donnie is riding high
Sound Unlimited host Donnie Sutherland (pictured) and producer Graham Webb reflect on the development of the Seven Network's Saturday morning music show, screening on 21 stations around Australia and with negotiations in place to syndicate the show to Hong Kong, Manila and Bangkok. Sutherland, a former radio disc jockey with stints at stations including 2UW Sydney and 4BK Brisbane, claims that Sound Unlimited has boosted the sales of colour TV sets: "When colour was starting, families would be in the shopping centres on Saturday morning and they would see our show - and a lot of our material was in colour. Not only did that help sell sets, but it also established Sound Unlimited in people's minds."

A scornful look for a pretty girl?
Gai Smith, a newcomer to Nine's soap The Young Doctors as fashion designer Natalie French, comes face to face with Dr Chris Piper (Bartholomew John). Smith, who had graduated from drama at the University of NSW and played roles in the United Kingdom and Canada, is introduced to the series as an awkward patient who won't take advice from experts.

Debbie Byrne in Cop Shop
Pop singer Debbie Byrne has recorded a small guest role in the Seven Network police drama Cop Shop, playing the next-door neighbour who befriends Christine (Louise Philip). The role is expected to be a recurring one.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I am a football fan that likes to watch The Big League (ATN7) and The Amco Cup (TEN10), but I usually miss The Amco Cup because it finishes too late. They would be wise if they made repeats. Then viewers would not watch their favourite football team half asleep." J. Austin, NSW.

"Mr Ian Meldrum, if you cannot say something nice about someone I suggest you don't say anything at all! During the review of the Top 10 on Countdown (9 April), you said about Bonnie Tyler (It's A Heartache) "... and it's becoming a bit of a pain...". When you reached the number one song by The Babys (Isn't It Time?) you said "... and isn't it time they got off the Number One spot and gave someone else a go?" A good pun, but in bad taste. Mr Meldrum, isn't it time we had a change of critics on Countdown because you're becoming a bit of a pain." F. Williams, NSW.

"Countdown's Ian Meldrum out to try and get his act together a bit more. He could learn off by heart that the past tense of "come" is "came", and he could do something about background music which is intruding more and more into the "talk" segments of the show." T. Phelan, NSW.

What's On (May 13-19)
After last week's screening of the pilot episode of US comedy The Love Boat, GTV9 settles the ongoing series into Monday nights as the lead-in to The Don Lane Show.

ABC presents a special 200th episode of A Big Country, documenting the re-creation of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition through Central Australia. The re-enactment of the 1860 expedition also failed, though not through the explorers perishing as Burke and Wills had, but rather the failure of their method of transport - camels - to complete the journey. ABC also screens a repeat of A Big Country's 100th episode which tells the story of the completion of the Overland Telegraph from Adelaide to Darwin.

Saturday matinee movies were a staple of commercial TV, and the week's schedule included titles The Nutty Professor (ATV0), Invitation To The Dance (HSV7) and The Cracksman (GTV9).

Country music returns to ABC with another series of Country Road, hosted by Johnny Chester and featuring guest artists Judy Stone and Jimmy Little. The program is being produced in Brisbane.

Sunday night movies are The Girl From Petrovka (HSV7), The Legend Of Valentino (GTV9) and Petulia (ATV0). The 13th and final episode of I Claudius screens on ABC.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 13-19 May 1978. ABC/ACP