Remembering the Noughties

At this time of year, and this time of decade, comes the inevitable “lists” of some of the highlights, and possible lowlights, of the year or decade coming to a close.

So who are we to be any different?  Time to look at some of the events, programs and people that have stood out for this past decade, in chronological order:

1. 2000 Today/Millennium Live.  The worldwide celebration of the new millennium was well covered on TV, from the earliest celebrations in New Zealand and Australia and following the progress of celebrations throughout the world over the next 24 hours.  ABC was the Australian participant in the global 2000 Today telecast, and the Nine Network tapped into its worldwide resources to present Millennium Live.

2. Sydney Olympic Games.  The world’s attention was focused on Sydney for two weeks as the city presented the Games of the XXVII Olympiad in September 2000.  The opening ceremony, featuring Cathy Freeman (pictured), earned the Seven Network the highest ratings received for any telecast since 1969. 

3. Digital TV begins.  Beginning on 1 January 2001 with a whimper rather than a bang, digital TV promised widescreen pictures, high-definition, surround sound and new channels.  However, the initial roll-out of digital TV into Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth came before many retailers had tuners or set top boxes to sell.  As a result the launch of digital TV was seen by only a few.  Although the original proposal was to have Australia fully converted to digital TV by 2008, this date has now been postponed to 31 December 2013.

4. Big Brother.  An invention of Dutch TV producer John de Mol in the late-1990s, Big Brother had made itself known in a number of countries before being unleashed on Australia in 2001.  All commercial networks fought to gain access to the format, but it was Ten that was to succeed and would use Big Brother as its flagship program in reaching out to the advertiser-friendly youth demographic with the reality genre.  The program turned host Gretel Killeen (pictured, with contestant Merlin Luck) into a household name and created short-term suburban heroes out of some of its contestants.  Some of the show’s more controversial moments attracted plenty of scorn from the public, added words like “turkey slap” into the mainstream, and Prime Minister John Howard at one time demanding the show be taken off the air.   Falling ratings led to the show finally coming to an end in Australia in 2008.

5. Kath And Kim.  Although the ‘high maintenance’ Kath Day (Jane Turner), her ‘hornbag’ daughter Kimberley Craig nee Day (Gina Riley) and Kim’s second-best friend Sharon Strzelecki (Magda Szubanski) were creations of the 1990s, featuring in sketch comedy shows Big Girls Blouse and Something Stupid, they got a new lease of life when ABC took up the show with eight half-hour episodes going to air in 2002.  Kath And Kim gave ABC some of its highest ever ratings over its three-series run and the show added a number of words and phrases into the language - “look at moiye”, “c’ardonnay”, “foxy morons” and “muffin top”, just to name a few – and even scored an AFI award for Best TV Drama!  Kath And Kim then led to a Christmas-themed telemovie, Da Kath And Kim Code, before the Seven Network took over the rights, producing a top-rating fourth series in 2007.  The concept was even picked up by the American NBC network to be re-made for the US market, a feat rarely achieved by any Australian series.

6. Australian Idol.  When it was announced that Network Ten was to adopt the Pop Idol franchise in Australia, there were cries that Australia had already ‘been there, done that’ with the Seven Network’s Popstars (2000-2002).  But in launching Australian Idol on the back of Big Brother during 2003, Ten had a new reality-themed hit on its hands and a couple of ‘70s pop idols, Mark Holden and Marcia Hines, were given a new profile as part of the judging panel.  The show transformed Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson from record producer to media celebrity and even gave serial breakfast radio pest Kyle Sandilands a shot at the TV spotlight before recent radio controversies saw him dropped from the show at the start of the 2009 season.  Although Guy Sebastian (pictured) is perhaps the only Australian Idol winner to go onto any sustained pop music career, other contestants to continue some level of pop music stardom after the series include Anthony Callea, Shannon Noll, Ricki-Lee Coulter (who has also co-hosted Australian Idol in later years) and Jessica Mauboy.

7. Asia Tsunami Telethon.  On 26 December 2004, a tsunami triggered by an earthquake under the Indian Ocean wreaked havoc across a number of Asian countries, with the death toll estimated to reach into the hundreds of thousands.  With such massive destruction and casualties, Australia’s three commercial networks put aside their rivalries and got together to present a three-hour telethon, simulcast across all three networks.  Hosting the event was Andrew O’Keefe (Seven), Eddie McGuire (Nine) and Rove McManus (Ten) with appearances by personalities from all three networks, including Gretel Killeen, Bert Newton, Ray Martin, Melissa Doyle, David Koch and Larry Emdur.  The three-hour telethon raised more than $A20 million.

8. Thank God You’re Here.  Working Dog Productions, producers of Frontline, The Panel, All Aussie Adventures, A River Somewhere, Funky Squad and movies The Castle and The Dish, came to Network Ten with a new twist on the improvised sketch genre.  Thank God You’re Here would place unprepared performers into an established scene and be greeted with the words ‘Thank God you’re here’ before having to improvise their way through the scene without any prior knowledge of what the scene is about.  Hosted by Shane Bourne (pictured, with judge Tom Gleisner), Thank God You’re Here became a ratings hit for Network Ten when it launched in 2006.  The popularity of the show led to the format being franchised worldwide, with adaptations in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Canada, Sweden, Belgium and Italy.  After three series on Ten, the show was then picked up by the Seven Network in 2009.

9. Underbelly.  Melbourne’s real-life gangland wars of the 1990s to mid-2000s provided the perfect backdrop for a TV series.  Adapted from the book Leadbelly, by John Silvester and Andrew Rule, Underbelly debuted in February 2008 – but, ironically, except in Victoria where the series was banned by order of the Supreme Court due to pending trials.  With liberal amounts of sex, nudity, coarse language and graphic violence as well as its real-life basis, Underbelly was a ratings hit despite not showing in its home state, although the court later permitted an edited sample of episodes to be shown in Victoria later in the year.  At the time of writing the full, unedited version of Underbelly is still banned from broadcasting and sale within the state of Victoria.  A second series of Underbelly, sub-titled A Tale Of Two Cities, followed the activities of the underworld drug trade in the 1970s and 1980s.  A third series, Underbelly: The Golden Mile, is now in production for 2010, set in Sydney in the early'-‘90s.

10. Masterchef Australia.  When Network Ten announced that it had purchased the Masterchef franchise as the replacement for Big Brother, nobody thought the show would take off.  Who would watch a cooking show, six nights a week?  What sort of drama or human emotion can be dragged out over a hot stove over thirteen weeks? Doesn’t keeping the contestants in a share house look a bit much like a Big Brother-rip off?  What was Australia’s self-proclaimed youth network thinking?  But within weeks of its debut, Masterchef Australia was showing to prove its critics and doubters wrong.  There was, it seemed, plenty of human emotion and drama to be played out as contestants slaved over hot stoves in preparing high-end cuisine to achieve the status of being awarded Australia’s first Masterchef, with $100,000 prizemoney, further professional tuition and a book publishing deal.  Some well-considered casting and a charismatic threesome, chefs George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan and food critic Matt Preston (pictured), turned out a show that gave Ten the highest ratings it had seen at 7.00pm for many years and turned food preparation into a spectator sport.  The show’s grand finale was watched by over 3 million viewers (OzTAM, 5 cities), making it the highest rating non-sports telecast since OzTAM records started in 2001.  The success of Masterchef Australia has led to a celebrity version being played out this year, and 2010 will see a second series of Masterchef Australia and, apparently, a junior contest as well. 

Of course, this is far from being an exhaustive list of highlights, or lowlights, of the decade.  What would you rate as your standout highlights of the decade?

Seven wins ‘09

No real surprises here.  The Seven Network has claimed victory for the 2009 season, based on the 40 weeks of prime-time (6.00pm-12.00am) ratings competition.

It is Seven’s third consecutive year at the top – this year managing an audience share of 28.8%, followed by Nine (26.8%), Ten (22.2%), ABC (16.4%) and SBS (5.9%).  Taking the various networks’ digital channels into account, Seven/7TWO wins on 28.1%, followed by Nine/GO (26.6%), Ten/One (22.4%), ABC1/ABC2 (17.0%), SBS1/SBS2 (5.9%).

Seven’s primary chanel won 34 out of the 40 ratings weeks, though when adding primary and digital channels together, the Nine/GO combination brings Seven/7TWO’s total wins down to 29 weeks.

In the more advertiser-friendly demographics, Seven will claim victory in the 18-49 and 25-54 age groups (although adding Nine + GO will see them just edge ahead in 25-54), while Ten will claim victory in the 16-39 age bracket.

Although Seven continued to maintain strong consistency with its early evening line-up – Deal Or No Deal, Seven News, Today Tonight, Home And Away – and continued to score highly with its weekly drama Packed To The Rafters, there was one series that surprised everyone and created the year’s biggest buzz – Ten’s Masterchef Australia. 

There was a lot of scoffing when Ten announced that it had taken on the Masterchef format to replace Big Brother, but the new show turned around the 7.00pm timeslot for Ten and the grand finale captured a total of 3.726 million viewers (OzTam, 5 cities) – making it the most-watched program for the year, even out-rating the AFL Grand Final (2.878 million), the Melbourne Cup (2.673 million) and the NRL Grand Final (2.528 million).

Ten also managed a surprise hit when it launched Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation in the wake of losing Thank God You’re Here to the Seven Network.  The new Shaun Micallef show returned high figures with an average of 1.601 million viewers over its series, while Thank God You’re Here in its first series on Seven averaged 1.515 million viewers.

The Nine Network had a couple of stand-out hits this year – the second series in the Underbelly franchise (averaging 2.158 million viewers) and two top-rating Hey Hey It’s Saturday reunion specials (2.149 million and 2.213 million).  Nine also scored well with the NRL State Of Origin series (2.121 million average) and the TV Week Logie Awards (1.664 million).

ABC’s best figures came from Midsomer Murders (1.421 million), New Tricks (1.221 million), Spicks And Specks (1.219 million), The Chaser’s War On Everything (1.203 million) and The Gruen Transfer (1.176 million).

The 2010 ratings season starts on Sunday 7 February and continues through to Saturday 27 November, with a two-week break over Easter.  Next year will also mark a significant change in ratings reporting as it will also incorporate time-shift viewing via devices such as VCRs, personal video recorders (PVR) or branded equipment such as Tivo or Foxtel IQ.

It’s Seven in ‘08
Seven wins ‘07

TelevisionAU Update 1-Feb-09

http://www.televisionau.com

FLASHBACK PICTURE #48:
These days Shane Bourne is known for his role in the police drama City Homicide and as host of Thank God You're Here, but over a decade ago the comedian and former Hey Hey It's Saturday contributor was host of the Nine Network's 1996 remake of the 1970s game show Blankety Blanks.  It was the second time the Nine Network had attempted to remake the show that Graham Kennedy made famous in Australia in 1977-78.  The first was in 1985 hosted by Daryl Somers.  Pictured: Shane Bourne and two of the show's panelists, Rhonda Burchmore and Marty Fields.  Picture: TV Week, 30 Nov 1996
(Go to http://www.televisionau.com for full picture)

CLASSIC TV GUIDES
Melbourne: 1978, 1981, 1983
Sydney: 1969, 1974, 1985, 1986
Canberra: 1982
Brisbane: 1978
Western Australia: 1972

TELEVISIONAU - THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION
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Melbourne's Guide turns 18

The Herald Sun Guide has been a weekly supplement in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper since October 1990. Though it could be said that the Guide actually had its origins as Melbourne's Listener In which began as a radio listing back in 1925 and continued publication until 1987, ending its days as TV Scene. The Sun newspaper at that time had only recently launched a seven-day TV guide in its Thursday edition, which later moved to Wednesdays after the demise of TV Scene, which also used to come out on a Wednesday. Another common link between TV Scene and the Guide was that of Robert Fidgeon who wrote for TV Scene and later wrote for and edited the Guide until his passing last year.

This week's edition of the Guide, to celebrate its 18th birthday, featured network personalities Rove McManus, Rebecca Gibney and Bert Newton (pictured, above), thus representing each of the three networks, each recalling various highlights of their careers over the past eighteen years.

Back in 1990, 16-year-old Rove McManus was in Perth performing in a high school musical production of Oklahoma ("thankfully for everybody I didn't move into musical theatre") before eventually coming to Melbourne to host a variety show on Channel 31 called The Loft, attracting high praise from the Guide's Robert Fidgeon (pictured). In September 1999, McManus began hosting his own late-night show on the Nine Network and when the network decided not to renew after ten weeks he wound up at Network Ten where his company Roving Enterprises now heads a number of prime-time shows for the network, and has led to McManus winning three TV Week Gold Logies awards.

New Zealand-born Rebecca Gibney has been a regular fixture on Australian TV for much of the last eighteen years, with roles in popular productions The Flying Doctors, All Together Now and the Halifax f.p. and Small Claims telemovies, plus mini-series Day Of The Roses, Kangaroo Palace and Come In Spinner. A break from regular series television saw Gibney move to Tasmania, but still appearing in programs such as Sensing Murder and Venus And Mars. The TV Week Logie award-winning actress has returned to television drama this year in the popular Seven Network series Packed To The Rafters.

Bert Newton recalls that at the age of 18, he was starting in television as a host of HSV7's The Late Show. By the time the Guide began publication in October 1990, Newton had been in television for over thirty years but his TV career was looking a bit uncertain following the demise of The Bert Newton Show which had struggled to make a dent against Midday With Ray Martin the previous year. Things turned around in 1992 when Newton made a surprise signing with the Ten Network to host its new Morning Show, later changing to Good Morning Australia, and redefining mid-morning television. Newton eventually left Ten when Good Morning Australia wrapped up three years ago, and returned to the Nine Network to host Bert's Family Feud, and later 20 To 1 and What A Year.

To commemorate the 18th birthday of the Herald Sun Guide, Darren Devlyn proposed his list of the top 18 TV stars who've made the biggest impact on TV over the last eighteen years:

1. Rob Sitch and Working Dog Productions, with hit shows The Late Show, Frontline, The Panel, Thank God You're Here and The Hollowmen under their belt.

2. Daryl Somers, for his broad appeal in popular shows Hey Hey It's Saturday and Dancing With The Stars.

3. Don Burke (pictured), for bringing gardening to prime-time commercial television and hence spawning a whole string of similar lifestyle programs

4. Ray Martin
5. Eddie McGuire
6. Bert Newton
7. Brian Naylor
8. Jana Wendt (pictured)
9. Gina Riley and Jane Turner (Kath & Kim)
10. Rove McManus
11. Bruce McAvaney
12. Lisa McCune
13. Aaron Pedersen
14. Rebecca Gibney
15. Andrew Denton (pictured)
16. Georgie Parker
17. Claudia Karvan
18. Gary Sweet

Source: Herald Sun, 22 October 2008

The Year That Was... #4: Lots of laughs in '07

Australians love their comedy on TV, but in the last couple of years, apart from a few stand out successes like Spicks & Specks and Thank God You're Here, there wasn't a great deal to laugh about.

Then 2007 came along and the tide was turning. ABC's The Chaser's War On Everything was plucked from last year's late-night timeslot to take The Glass House's spot on Wednesday nights, and virtually doubled its audience as a result of the change. Various stunts of the Chaser team (pictured) inspired many headlines and a lot of outrage - whether it be the team infiltrating the iron-clad security of the APEC Summit in Sydney, making crude remarks about deceased personalities or gate-crashing the offices of Today Tonight, a program that was the subject of much derision by the team.

Also on ABC this year was another comedy hit - Summer Heights High. This long-awaited follow-up from Chris Lilley, who gave us the mockumentary styled series We Can Be Heroes in 2005, received plenty of mixed reaction and also its fair share of headlines. Parents and teachers were outraged when school children were now mocking the crude phrases of troubled student Jonah. Similar outrage was also felt when one of the show's central storylines, the death of a student from a drug overdose, was seen to mirror that of a similar real-life case where the victim happened to have the same first name as the fictional character depicted. In that case it was found to be an unfortunate coincidence as the series had been written and produced before the real-life incident occurred.

At the same time, Summer Heights High also received its share of accolades as Lilley, who wrote the series and performed the three very different key roles - private schoolgirl Ja'mie King (pictured), self-obsessed drama teacher Mr G, and student Jonah - very aptly covered various issues found in today's schools such as drugs, bullying, racism, violence, disability and homophobia.

Following on from Summer Heights High was The Librarians - a title that doesn't inspire much excitement but instead showed that inside a library is a pit of sexual tension, jealousy, bitchiness and bigotry in the lead up to the biggest event in the suburban library calendar, Book Week.

But possibly the biggest comedy event to hit Australian TV this year was the comeback of those foxy ladies, Kath & Kim. It was thought to be an April Fool's Day gag when on 1 April, the Seven Network announced it had shelled out $3 million to drag the popular pair across from ABC where they'd presented three top-rating series and a telemovie. It was also ironic in that Seven is where the characters were formed in the first place, as characters in the sketch comedies Big Girl's Blouse (1994) and Something Stupid (1998).

Success in the transition from ABC to commercial TV isn't always a given, it has been tried before by others with mixed results, but Seven's debut of series four of Kath & Kim on 19 August attracted over 2.5 million viewers in the capital cities and the series had a series average of 2.128 million - the highest of any TV series all year.

Network Ten presented a third series of Thank God You're Here, providing more unpredictable performances from actors thrown into scenarios without the safety of a script. A creation of Working Dog Productions, Thank God You're Here was the second most watched series of 2007 with 1.86 million viewers. The success of the format in Australia has seen it franchised around the world although it did stumble in the US after its initial six-week run when it was shown on NBC, currently the fourth-ranked commercial network.

Despite the format's continued success in Australia, there is still uncertainty as to whether it will be back in 2008 although it looks like the rival Nine Network could be stringing together a similar concept in a bid to regain its ratings dominance. Nine will hope that the new show gives it something to laugh about because 2007 was a year they'd probably like to forget.

Nine's ratings failings this year were not helped by Mick Molloy's The Nation which aimed to put a humorous spin on the week's events - a concept not entirely new to viewers familiar with similar programs such as The Panel. The gamble on Molloy (pictured) was puzzling, given that his last venture at the Nine Network was the ill-fated Mick Molloy Show which set new benchmarks for questionable taste, and it would appear that viewers hadn't quite forgiven him enough to give The Nation a go.

Nine's other new comic venture this year was nothing really new at all - Surprise Surprise Gotcha was a thinly-veiled attempt to repackage a series that it had made almost a decade ago, complete with segments simply cut-and-pasted from the original version. Nine also followed on from Surprise Surprise Gotcha with another cheap format, Commercial Breakdown, with former AFL footballer Dermot Brereton presenting packages of funny or quirky commercials. Again, a format that had been done plenty of times before.

Although ABC had good results this year from Spicks & Specks and The Chaser's War On Everything, they had less success with The Sideshow, a show loosely modelled on the broadcaster's former hit The Big Gig. Launching in ratings graveyard of Saturday nights, The Sideshow was always going to struggle to find an audience and the 7.30 timeslot was at odds with presenting the more risque humour better suited to a later timeslot. Then ABC did shift the program to 9.30 but perhaps by then the damage was done, and it was cancelled shortly after.

Finally, over to SBS who delivered their own humorous take on the news with Newstopia, a creation of comedian and radio host Shaun Micallef (pictured), though was said to be a local take on the US series The Daily Show. SBS also aired a sixth series of urban comedy Pizza.