1979: March 10-16

Instant stardom, and how they handle it
With TV soap operas turning young, unknown actors into national celebrities overnight, it is easy for these young stars to let their newfound fame get to their head.   But some of these young actors - including The Restless Years' Victoria Nicolls, Julieanne Newbould and Michael Smith (pictured) - do manage to get through the heady period of stardom to emerge as proven talents.  Nicolls acknowledged the support and guidance of experienced performers such as colleague June Salter: "If you ask her something, she's so helpful.  She made me aware of camera techniques.  Helped with scenes, comedy - she has such wonderful comic timing."  Even though she grew up in showbusiness, Newbould still found the sudden overnight fame to be a shock: "For five years I'd done things like Matlock Police and Division Four.  People would say 'Oh, I saw you on TV last night,' but nothing like this.  People come up and cuddle me.  Big Italian mamas pinch my cheeks.  Some want you to come home and marry their sons."  Smith said that family and friends helped keep him down to earth: "They'd say 'Aw, shut up, we don't want to hear about The Restless Years anymore!'  Smith has also had the discipline of learning music from his mother, a piano teacher, and studying acting at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre under Hayes Gordon.  Producer of The Restless Years, Don Battye, said with established actors on the series such as June Salter, John Hamblin and Noel Trevarthen, they do offer help to the younger stars but, "of course with some kids you can't give them advice.  The only way they're going to learn is to get into trouble and learn from experience."

On your Marque!
Peter Wherrett's documentary series, Marque: 100 Years Of Motoring, has taken over eighteen months and visits to eight countries to complete.  The new series, beginning this week on ABC, looks at the development of the motor car as well as the industry's future.  "I'm quite confident that cars as we know them will be around until well into the next century," Wherrett (pictured) told TV Times.  "The industry is already planning the cars we will be driving then." 

Nude pin-up star on Hogan show
Former Miss World finalist and magazine centrefold Karen Pini (pictured) is one of the girls chosen for the first Paul Hogan show for 1979.  Pini, who is also soon to appear in The Young Doctors, is a replacement for Delvene Delaney who has left the show as she and husband, producer John Cornell, are expecting their first baby. 

It doesn't 'ad' up for Johnny
Johnny Farnham isn't too happy that he keeps hearing what sounds like himself doing commercials that he doesn't remember doing.  Farnham's producer Danny Finley said: "The situation is very embarrassing.  We have done a commercial for a bank.  We tried to make it very selective by doing only one.  Now we start hearing other commercials which sound like John and I suppose they sound that way to other people."  When asked if he thought the situation might be deliberate, Finley replied: "It is some coincidence!"

Briefly...
Mike McCarthy, host of ATV0's Early Bird Show, and his wife Caroline have just welcomed the arrival of twins, Ryan and Bridie.  The couple already have three other children, twins Damien and Emily, 8, and Benjamin, 6.

Production has started on a new ABC drama series, based on Kylie Tennant's novel, Ride On Stranger.  The series features Liddy Clark, Warwick Sims (Against The Wind), Michael Aitkens (The Truckies) and Noni Hazelhurst (The Sullivans). 

British actor Harry Corbett is to star in the new ABC children's series Earth Patrol.  The new series, being produced as part of the International Year Of The Child, will also star actor Gus Mercurio.  Meanwhile, producers are on the hunt for a 16 to 18-year-old boy to feature in the series.  Already cast in the series are 11-year-old twins Gayle and Gillian Blakeney and Darren Ormsby, 12.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
"All you people harping on the recent preponderance of sport on our TV - has it ever occurred to you that you don't have to watch it?  Can't you make your own entertainment?  Go for a walk instead of sitting passively in front of a TV set and waiting to be entertained."  M. Ryan, NSW.

"Three cheers for TEN10 Sydney for the new mini-series they have just screened on Friday nights.  I am talking about Sugartime, produced in the US and starring Barbi Benton and Didi Carr.  It is a refreshing change from the glamour drivel of Charlie's Angels, where all the pretty faces can do is hurtle 16-stone gangsters across rooms and run down Lincoln Continentals with nothing but their tricycles."  D. Ehrlich, NSW.

"Come on all you sports lovers, get up on your hind legs and be counted, otherwise the vocal minority may succeed by catching TV channel policymakers' ears and curtailing some of our precious sports telecasts."  A. Hartwig, QLD.

What's On (March 10-16):
Saturday afternoon sport includes Australia versus Pakistan in First Test cricket on ABC, live from Melbourne.  HSV7 has the Moomba Masters International Waterski Tournament from the Yarra River.  ATV0 goes to the races at Flemington with Newmarket Stakes Day, hosted by Michael Schildberger and racecaller Clem Dimsey.

Sunday afternoon on HSV7 includes a one-hour live telecast of Music For The People from the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne.  Hosted by Dan Webb, the telecast includes the Australian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hector Crawford.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) looks at Australian humour from the early days of Dad and Dave, Roy Rene and George Wallace through to current-day performers Paul Hogan, Barry Humphries, Garry McDonald and Ron Shand.

ABC starts its new 7.30pm line-up this week with new series of Are You Being Served? and George And Mildred, magazine program Holiday With Bill Peach, documentary series Marque: 100 Years Of Motoring, and on Friday night, The Two Ronnies.  ABC also launches new drama at 8.30pm with The Oracle on Monday night, starring John Gregg (pictured), Pamela Gibbons, Julie Hamilton and Danny Adcock, and Golden Soak on Tuesday, with Ray Barrett, Ruth Cracknell and Bill Hunter.

Friday night is highlighted by GTV9's presentation of the 1979 TV Week Logie Awards, hosted by Bert Newton and telecast live from the Hilton Hotel in Melbourne.  Special overseas guests include Robin Williams (Mork And Mindy), Susan Seaforth and Bill Hayes (Days Of Our Lives), Lauren Tewes (The Love Boat), Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy (George And Mildred) and championship boxer Muhammad Ali.  Meanwhile, HSV7 has St Kilda versus Fremantle in the Australian Football Championships.

Sunday night movies are Mad Dog Morgan (HSV7), The Users (GTV9) and Funny Lady (ATV0).

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

Sgt. Gilroy on bedroom patrol

As Sargeant Frank Gilroy in A Country Practice, Brian Wenzel (pictured, centre) was the face of law and order in the quiet town of Wandin Valley for over a decade.

Now, fifteen years later, 80-year-old Wenzel is back on TV but as a cop of a different kind - as "bedroom police chief" in a new commercial for sexual dysfunction clinic Advanced Medical Institute.

The bedroom chief arrives to save the day when a newlywed wife complains of her husband "speeding in the sack."

What would Esme Watson (Joyce Jacobs) have thought??

Source: news.com.au

Amazing trivia!

New Zealander Phil Keoghan was a TV presenter in his home country before heading to the United States where he has since fronted thirteen series of award-winning reality show The Amazing Race (a fourteenth series is now in progress).  But it seems that Keoghan (pictured) made his own pit-stop on Australian TV as a reporter on technology program The Big Byte in 1994.

The Big Byte, a joint production between SBS, New Zealand's TVNZ and Asian Star TV, was hosted by Basia Bonkowski, a familiar face at SBS since the early '80s.  Keoghan (pictured) and SBS' Meave O'Meara filed reports for the program focusing on the Asia-Pacific and North American regions.  Former Beyond 2000 reporter Simon Nasht reported from Europe and the United Kingdom.  Producer for The Big Byte was former Beyond 2000 producer Phil Gerlach.

According to The Big Byte's publicity blurb:

The 26-part series will be fun, fast moving and accessible family television, designed to guide the novice and update the enthusiast on the uses and misuses of personal computers, fax machines, cellular telephones and the dizzying array of hardware and software in the context of the worldwide shift to digital information.

The Big Byte aired on SBS between March and October 1994.

1979: March 3-9

Tickling the Peter!
Cop Shop's Peter Adams hasn't always been cast in the macho roles he has become familiar for.  In fact, he made his acting debut playing a chubby woman in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta at age 10.  But in his adult career, mostly in the theatre, New Zealand-born Adams (pictured, with co-star Joanna Lockwood) has also had a variety of roles - including playing an owl in a panto production of Robin Hood.  Before scoring the role of "JJ" Johnson in Cop Shop, Adams' only regular TV roles were in ABC's Australia A To Z and as a newspaper reporter in Number 96.  Although a guest appearance in Division Four with Judy Morris in 1970 apparently has the unusual distinction of being the first nude bedroom scene on Australian TV.

The Kiwi Invasion
Australian television is about to be invaded by New Zealand actors.  Bill Stalker (pictured), one of New Zealand's most versatile stage and TV actors, is coming to Australia for a role in the new Seven Network series Skyways.  The actor had a popular following in New Zealand playing a mechanic in the long-running local soap Close To Home.  Fellow Kiwi actor Sam Neill has already had roles in two Australian films, My Brilliant Career and The Journalist, and will be starting work soon on The Sullivans, appearing on screen around mid-year.

'Sorry about that, love!'
A TV Times photo shoot featuring tennis star John Newcombe and 0-10 Network personalities Victoria Nicolls (pictured), Lenore Smith and Steve Raymond turned sour.  Nicolls, "only a social tennis player", took a fall when trying to return a hit from Smith.  Instead of returning to the set of The Restless Years for taping a wedding episode, the actress was taken to the local hospital.  No broken bones were found but she did have to keep her arm in a sling and managed to get to the postponed taping of the wedding episode later that day.

Briefly...
Actors John Ewart and Serge Lazareff are to join the cast of The Young Doctors, and there are plans for the Australian World Series Cricket team to also make a guest appearance next year.  Executive producer Alan Coleman is keen to have players such as Dennis Lillee come in to the hospital for treatment and end the guest stint with an appearance by the entire Australian team.

Former Young Talent Time regular Debbie Byrne and husband Dave Dudley are expecting their first child in July.  Byrne, who appeared in ABC's The Saturday Show last year, is also to feature in ABC's upcoming variety series Follies later in the year.

It has taken two years of planning, but Days Of Our Lives stars Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth are coming to Australia for a series of club appearances starting in Brisbane and touring to other capital cities.  The actors will be temporarily written out of the popular US drama to allow them the Australian tour.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
"Rowena Wallace, who plays Pamela Taylor in Cop Shop, should wear a wig, because she looks very old with grey hair.  A black or red wig would suit her very well.  She has a very young face."  C. Leoni, QLD.

"Monty Python's Flying Circus brings a touch of ABC sophistication to the otherwise tepid material usually screened on ATN7 Sydney.  But as usual we have to suffer for good TV on a commercial station - a fine, fast-moving show like Monty Python gets absolutely butchered by all the silly ads."  N. Wainwright, NSW.

"I wonder how many viewers know of the series Three's Company let alone watch it regularly?  I needed only one look to realise that it is yet another example of blatant American poaching of British ideas.  Man About The House was a far superior series.  ABC must have bought the series for a very low price, because it falls way below the standard I have come to expect from them."  K. Davidson, VIC.

What's On (March 3-9):
ABC presents live coverage of the Australian Masters' Golf tournament from Huntingdale Golf Club in Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  Saturday is Blue Diamond Stakes Day at Caulfield racecourse.  ATV0's Phil Gibbs and Clem Dimsey present a two-hour morning preview, then from midday Michael Schildberger heads the afternoon's live coverage.

Melbourne's Moomba festival is on again and ATV0 crosses live to the Yarra River embankment on Sunday afternoon for the 1979 Birdman Rally and Bathtub Regatta.

The second episode of HSV7's This Fabulous Century (presenter Peter Luck, pictured) is titled 'Institutions', looking at the Miss Australia tradition, Bondi Beach and the Holden motor car.

The winner of last year's Mastermind, John Bond, will represent Australia in Mastermind International which debuts on ABC on Wednesday night.  The series, taped in London, features Mastermind winners from around the world including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Nigeria, Canada and the Republic of Ireland.

In ATV0's Prisoner there has been a murder at Wentworth Detention Centre and both the authorities and the inmates have their own methods of finding the culprit.  The new drama screens on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

The Australian Football Championships, a national night football competition, continues on HSV7 with Richmond versus West Australian team Subiaco.

This week's guests on Peter Couchman Tonight include Ian Meldrum, Bob Rogers, Normie Rowe, Stan Rofe, Debbie Byrne, Brian Davies, Gus Mercurio, Peita Toppano, The God Squad, Ross D. Wyllie, Jane Scali and Michael Cormick. 

Sunday night movies are Eliza Fraser (HSV7), The Steel Cowboy (GTV9) and Flood (ATV0). 

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 3 March 1979.  ABC/ACP

TelevisionAU Update 28-Feb-09

http://www.televisionau.com

FLASHBACK PICTURE #49:
ABC's long-running medical drama GP was never one to shy away from controversial medical and social topics. In 1994 the series tackled the topic of homosexuality when new doctor Martin Dempsey (Damian Rice) is depicted in a relationship with Patrick Walsh, played by Lochie Daddo. Not since the days of Number 96, The Box and Prisoner had the topic of homosexuality been so openly portrayed in TV drama: "I was worried how the public might react," Rice told TV Week. "But I think it's time stories like that were told. I was told when I joined GP that the series would deal with confronting issues, so this is one of them, I guess." Picture: TV Week, 12 March 1994 (Go to http://www.televisionau.com for full picture)

CLASSIC TV GUIDES:
Melbourne:
1990 (TV Week Logie Awards)

Victoria:
1962 (TV Week Logie Awards)
1965 (TV Spells Magic)
1968 (Motel, Marriage Confidential)
1969 (Division Four)

Sydney:
1965
1993 (Paradise Beach, NSWRL State Of Origin)

Brisbane:
1979

South Australia:
1976 (Christmas Day)

Tasmania:
1988

TELEVISIONAU - THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION
http://www.televisionau.com/
http://blog.televisionau.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/televisionau
http://au.youtube.com/user/TelevisionAU

Frank Gallacher

Frank Gallacher, accomplished film, theatre and television actor, has died in Melbourne at the age of 65.

Born in Scotland, Gallacher (prounounced Gal-uck-er) came to Australia as a 19-year-old schoolteacher in 1963.  His teaching career then took him to New Guinea for three years but on his return to Australia decided to quit teaching and became involved in amateur theatre in Brisbane and later at the Queensland Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company.

Despite coming to Australia with a Scottish accent, Gallacher scored many 'dinkim' Aussie roles and credited his adopted Australian accent to his then teacher, comedienne and actress Noeline Brown.

While still involved in the theatre, Gallacher also scored roles in a string of '70s television dramas including Division Four, Matlock Police, Silent Number, The Lost Islands and Bluey.  But a big break was to follow with a leading role in the series Shannon's Mob and later in historical mini-series Rush, Against The Wind and The Last Outlaw.

During a career that also included many film roles and stage productions, both as an actor and director, Gallacher also appeared in numerous other TV dramas including Prisoner, Skyways, Water Under The Bridge, The Shiralee, The Flying Doctors, Janus, State Coroner, Blue Heelers, Two Twisted, Marshall Law and MDA.  He also appeared as Detective Bogong in the Nine Network series Cluedo in the early '90s.  His most recent TV appearance was in the ABC mini-series Curtin.

Frank Gallacher is survived by his wife Belinda, children Conor and Brigid and sister Eileen.

Source: TV Tonight, Aussie Theatre, IMDB, TV Times

1979: February 24-March 2

Cover: Peter Lochran, Diana McLean, Chris Orchard (The Young Doctors) 

Stars of '79
TV Times has approached TV producers to nominate the actors and actresses who they believe will make a big impact in 1979.  Don Battye, producer of The Restless Years, sees a big future for new recruits Jamie Gleeson and Lenore Smith:  "The rapport between Jamie and Lenore was instant, it was as if they'd known each other for ages."  ABC producer Alan Burke believes that John Gregg, to appear in the new series The Oracle, will be the actor of the year in 1979:  "He's a wonderful actor and will be very dominant in our drama output this year."  Alan Coleman, producer for The Young Doctors, believes that newcomer Peter Lochran will be the show's next heart-throb and predicts a big future for Linda Stoner, who has recently left The Young Doctors for a new role in Cop Shop.  Eileen O'Shea, publicist for the Seven Network, said to look out for Bill Stalker, a New Zealand actor who will appear in the upcoming series Skyways, and a greater profile for Joanna Lockwood, one of the founding cast members of Cop Shop.  A spokesman for Melbourne's ATV0 is also predicting big things for English actor Barry Quin, one of the cast members of the new series Prisoner.  ABC light entertainment producer Ric Birch has listed Ric Herbert and David Atkins, two of the stars of the upcoming TV Follies series, as potential big names of the future.

Warder, warder everywhere!
The studios of Melbourne channel ATV0 have been transformed into a prison, both inside and out.  The transformation is part of the production for the 0-10 Network's long-awaited new drama Prisoner.  Not only have 12 permanent sets - more than usual for a locally-produced series - been constructed within the ATV0 studios in Nunawading, but the exterior of the studio complex has also been adapted to serve as the exterior for the fictional Wentworth Detention Centre.  Fake prison windows adorn the side of the brick building and a prison garden, complete with vegetable patch and BBQ area, have been set up on the lawns beside the building.  Nearby is a large brick wall and security gate and, beside it, a daunting signboard that reads 'Wentworth Detention Centre for Women'.  Pre-production research for the series has been meticulous, including the assistance of real-life prisoners, prison wardens and government agencies.  So impressed is the network that the show's initial run of thirteen episodes has already been extended to 42.  ATV0 public relations director George Wilson told TV Times: "It is a human interest drama which will not only follow the lives of prisoners and staff in the detention centre, but will delve into their lives outside.  Prisoner will not use explicit sex or nudity to give shock or drama."  Produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, Prisoner premieres this week on TEN10 Sydney and ATV0 Melbourne and later in other states.

C'mon Ossie C'mon!
Daryl Somers and Ossie Ostrich (pictured) have returned to the Nine Network after a year which saw them move to the 0-10 Network for the ill-fated The Daryl And Ossie Show.  The pair have already made their on-screen return to Nine with Hey Hey It's Saturday returning after its one-year hiatus.  Bob Phillips, manager for Somers and Ernie Carroll (Ossie's human alter-ego), has announced that their return to Nine will also include plans for a weekly big-budget pop music series later in the year, and possibly even a movie featuring the two. 

Top stars set for telethon
GTV9's annual telethon for the Yooralla Society of Victoria is on this weekend has set a target to raise $1 million.  As well as the all-day telethon, the appeal will also include a three-day carnival, near the GTV9 studios, for the children who collect for the appeal.  Telethon manager John Hart has said that this year's telethon will also feature personalities from all Melbourne radio stations that have been raising funds for the appeal over the last two weeks.  And the telecast will feature a technological first - a computer-operated light display which will flash lights indicating phone room calls.  Guest stars appearing on the telethon will include stars from Nine Network programs The Sullivans, The Don Lane Show, The Young Doctors, plus other local and overseas celebrities.  The telethon will also be relayed through regional stations across Victoria.

Briefly...
ABC journalist Richard Carleton has found that Norman Gunston's fame has quite possibly spread to South Africa!  While touring Africa over the past few months, Carleton found the "Gunston" brand of cigarette was very popular with the South Africans.

The Young Doctors' Chris Orchard says that his main motivation for migrating from England to Australia eight years ago as a 19-year-old was "Sun, surf and sex.  Well, what else do you think about at 19?"

Actress Carol Burns will be rejoining her jazz ballet classes with some trepidation.  She is wondering what will her classmates will think of her when they see her portrayal of a vicious lesbian in the new series Prisoner.

Viewpoint:  Letters to the Editor
"Of all the commercial TV channels in Australia, I think Canberra's CTC7, which calls itself "Super 7," is the most impolite, rude and arrogant.  Whenever a program runs late the station never tells its viewers about it, or apologises."  E. Behr, ACT.

"I am most concerned at the lack of interest by TV stations in the show-jumping potential in this country.  A couple of weeks go the largest show-jumping event was held at Wentworth Park, Sydney - but what TV coverage did it receive?  It was a news item, and TEN10 gave a one-hour program - and that was all.  So how about TV stations waking up and giving the public a chance to watch this most exciting sport?" G. Beaton, NSW.

"We movie buffs applaud ABC for screening old movie classics but, as the viewing audience for them will probably be mainly over the age of 45, the starting time of 10.00pm is usually the time old movie buffs are about to go to bed." C. Wilson, NSW.

What's On (February 24-March 2):
GTV9's annual telethon for the Yooralla Society of Victoria starts on Saturday at 7.00am and continues through 5.00pm, before resuming at 8.30pm and closing at midnight.  The phone number for donations is (03) 42-0221.

On Sunday night, HSV7 presents the premiere of the million dollar documentary series This Fabulous Century hosted by Peter Luck (pictured).  The new series, including footage from Cinesound, Movietone and the National Film and Sound Archive to illustrate the history of Australia from Federation to the present day, debuts with a one-hour episode up against GTV9's new 60 Minutes.

Tuesday night marks the two-hour debut of the 0-10 Network's new drama Prisoner (pictured) with the series continuing on Wednesday.  In the opening episode, Karen Travers (Peita Toppano) is sent to prison after refusing to give evidence when charged with the murder of her husband.  Country girl Lynn Warner (Kerry Armstrong) is admitted to Wentworth for kidnapping and burying alive a young child, though she maintains her innocence.  And inmate Franky Doyle (Carol Burns) tells prison warden Vera Bennett (Fiona Spence) that the inmates have given her a new nickname, "Vinegar Tits".

On Wednesday night, HSV7 screens a delayed telecast of the 1979 Grammy Awards from Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, hosted by John Denver.

The Australian Football Championship Night Series begins on HSV7 on Friday night, promising "the richest football competition Australia has ever seen.  Total prize money will be approximately $370,000."

Special guests appearing during the week on ATV0's Peter Couchman Tonight include Simon Townsend, John Waters, Alison Durbin, Stuart Wagstaff and Derryn Hinch.

Sunday night movies are Survive! (HSV7), Moonshine County Express (GTV9) and Camelot (ATV0).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 17 February 1979.  ABC/ACP

Ticking away for 30 years

Beginning on 11 February 1979, 60 Minutes marked a new era for current affairs on Australian commercial television.  Before then, current affairs on commercial television was limited to early evening programs, such as Willesee At Seven and the original A Current Affair, or low-profile late night programs that attracted few viewers.  And Sunday night at 7.30pm was most definitely a time for light entertainment as viewers prepared to enter a new working week, so for Nine to slot an expensive new current affairs program into one of the most important timeslots of the week was an extreme gamble.

Based on an American program of the same name and assembled by former Nine news reporter and producer Gerald Stone (pictured), Nine's gamble almost didn't pay off as viewers did not attach themselves to the new 60 Minutes which was up against the popular This Is Your Life and the far more camp Adventures Of Wonder Woman.  But, unlike the current day trend of bumping programs after one outing to disappointing ratings, Nine persevered and, by 1980, 60 Minutes was becoming the flagship of Nine's prime-time schedule. 

So much has 60 Minutes gone on to be an unbreakable force in the ratings that it is estimated that over 150 programs have been thrown against it to try and dent its ratings armour.  Some of the programs pitted against it have included Kingswood Country, MASH, This Fabulous Century, The Benny Hill Show, Cheers, ALF, The Comedy Company, Sons And Daughters, The Main Event, Australia's Most Wanted, NSW Rugby League, Beverly Hills 90210, The Comedy Sale, Seachange, Good News Week, Big Brother, Australian Idol, Always Greener, Kath And Kim, All Aussie Adventures and Dancing With The Stars.  Some programs have managed some short-term damage to its ratings, but 60 Minutes has always fought back with flying colours.

And for reporters on 60 Minutes, they become almost as much the story as the subjects they are covering.  The show's initial reporting lineup - Ray Martin, George Negus and Ian Leslie - while they had years of television journalism experience, were far from being household names until they joined 60 Minutes when suddenly they were prime-time celebrities. 

Former ATV10 Melbourne newsreader Jana Wendt (pictured) became 60 Minutes' first female reporter in 1982 and set a new benchmark for female journalists who previously might have been tied to covering light news or human interest stories on commercial television.  Wendt went on to become one of television's most valued TV presenters with a career that has also included A Current Affair, Witness, Dateline, Sunday, a number of return visits to 60 Minutes and filing special reports for the American 60 Minutes.

The 60 Minutes lineup has also included many others along the way: Jeff McMullen, Charles Woolley, Jennifer Byrne, Elizabeth Hayes, Tracey Curro, Paul Barry, Ellen Fanning, Peter Overton, Tara Brown, Mike Munro, Liam Bartlett, Peter Harvey.  ABC political reporter Richard Carleton made headlines when he joined 60 Minutes, after many years with the national broadcaster, and himself became a story subject when he allowed 60 Minutes to cover his own heart bypass surgery in 1988.  Tragically, while covering the Beaconsfield mine disaster in 2006, Carleton died from a heart attack.

Of course, the program has had many significant moments: former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher giving George Negus an ear-bashing over claims that Britons said she was pig-headed; Ray Martin's award-winning report on Sydney's Chelmsford Hospital;  former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson (pictured), when asked was she xenophobic, famously responds "please explain"; former cult spokeswoman Ma Sheela's calm response - "tough titties!" - when accused of stealing $40 million from the cult; actor Tom Cruise telling Peter Overton to "stick his manners back in!" after questions about former wife Nicole Kidman; and former Nine Network CEO Eddie McGuire presenting a special report on colleague Sam Newman's prostate cancer surgery.

This Sunday night 60 Minutes returns to air for 2009 with a tribute to its first 30 years.  It will be interesting to see what, of the estimated 3500 stories filed for the program in that time, will be featured.

60 Minutes Celebrates 30 Years. Sunday 22 February, 7.30pm.  Nine/WIN/NBN/Imparja

1979: February 17-23

Good medicine!
The Seven Network's new comedy series Doctors Down Under promises that the only treatment viewers will get from St Barnabas Hospital over the next three months will be a dose of laughs from Doctors Waring (Robin Nedwell) and Stuart-Clark (Geoffrey Davies).  The two actors decided to adapt the long-running English comedy series to an Australian version after touring the country in 1977 with the stage production Doctors In Love.  Joining the medicos for the Australian series will be Frank Wilson, former host of New Faces and actor in numerous Crawford dramas, and Sydney actor John Derum.  Doctors Down Under is already screening in Sydney and Melbourne and debuts soon in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Nationwide is set to roll
ABC's new current affairs program Nationwide premieres this week.  "Nationwide will meet the growing demand from a substantial section of the public for a quality current affairs program that will get stuck into its topics," says executive producer John Penlington.  The program will run for 40 minutes each night, with the first half containing national stories and the second segment compiled in each state capital to cover local issues.

Countdown back with a bang!
Countdown returns for 1979 this week with French pop star Plastic Bertrand appearing as guest compere.  The singer was a Countdown "discovery" last year and negotiations to have him appear had been going on for some time.  Also a highlight for Countdown this year will be a two-hour celebration for the show's 200th episode later in the year.  Talent co-ordinator Ian 'Molly' Meldrum and producer Grant Rule will be heading overseas in April to line up international acts for the special show which is expected to include a three-way link-up between studios in London, Los Angeles and Melbourne.

This fabulous century!
A one million dollar documentary series, This Fabulous Century, will give Australians a graphic record of Australia's history from Federation to the present day.  The series of 30 episodes, hosted by journalist Peter Luck (pictured) and produced by Hanna Barbera for the Seven Network, begins this week in Sydney and Brisbane and later in other states.  Luck said that until he started work on the series two years ago, he had no interest in Australian history at all:  "As a current affairs reporter I had an interest and knowledge of contemporary history but in Australia, all we ever learn of the history of this country is about bushrangers and convicts.  But so much has happened this century, and I found it interesting."   Researching archival footage for the series took over a year and a further six months was taken in arranging interviews and securing access to various locations for filming.  With a $1 million budget, This Fabulous Century is the most extensive, and most expensive, documentary series produced in Australia to date.

Prisoners of love
The budding romance in the new series Prisoner between inmate Karen Travers (Peita Toppano) and prison doctor Greg Miller (Barry Quin) sounds like classic soap opera fare, but pales in comparison to the real-life affair between the two actors (pictured).  The English Quin had discovered Toppano on a visit to Australia and decided to emigrate but had to deal with immigration, Actors Equity and the frustration of an Australian postal strike before he could stay in Australia.  Through Toppano's efforts Quin landed the Prisoner role which meant he could stay in Australia.  The real-life couple will be married in April, while the 0-10 Network is so pleased with the first thirteen episodes of the new series that it has ordered a further 29 even before the series makes its on-air debut.

Briefly...
ABC's new afternoon children's show ARVO isn't just short for "afternoon" but actually stands for Alexander's Recycled Visual Offerings, Alexander being the bunyip who will co-host the program.

ATV0 is working to revamp the magazine segment of its Sunday night news bulletin.  Former radio and TV presenter Paul Jennings, who joined ATV0 as a weather man, is now in charge of the fifteen-minute segment which he hopes to revamp from pre-packaged films to more topical segments and interviews.

Melbourne-born opera singer Jon Weaving and his French wife Monique Brynnel will be the stars of this year's first Music To The People concert to be staged at the Myer Music Bowl.  The second half of the concert will be televised live through HSV7.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I like live shows, in preference to movies, and when TEN10 put on The Steve Raymond Show, I was most delighted.  Oh boy, was I in for a complete let down.  Steve Raymond is a very, very poor imitation of Mike Walsh, or any other compere." J. Long, NSW.

"I'm no sports fan, but I'd like to congratulate the TV channels for their excellent sports coverages, which many people do enjoy, particularly elderly or incapacitiated persons, who are unable to attend these events." B. Reynolds, VIC.

"Thank heavens the World Series Cricket cricketers are leaving for the West Indies soon.  The Nine Network once had some pretty good programs.  But one has become bored with the same players and the same ads all the time.  Good luck to the well-paid players but can't they just take their circus away from the air-waves and give us a respite from what used to be a dignified game?  I think the commercial over-kill of a once grand game could really slaughter it." F. Howard, NSW.

"Why, oh why, do ABC newsreaders - on both TV and radio - say "following" when they usually mean "after"?  Once I even heard a news item about a man who died "following" a funeral - which gave the impression he was in the cortege at the time." J. Jessup, NSW.

What's On (February 17-23):
On Saturday afternoon, ABC presents live coverage of the 1979 Victorian Open Golf Championship from Kingston Heath Golf Course, while at the same time, HSV7 presents live coverage from the World Of Sport Expo being held at the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings with special guests including Ron Barassi, Mike Willesee, Sir William McMahon, George Mallaby, Michael Pate and Jon English.

ATV0's weekday morning line-up gets a revamp with the launch of magazine program Everyday, hosted by Roy Hampson and Annette Allison (pictured).

Monday night sees the debut of ABC's Nationwide current affairs program, while ATV0 starts a re-run, continuing over six nights, of the hit US mini-series Roots in the lead-up to the sequel mini-series, Roots: The Next Generations, to air later in the year.  Later in the evening, HSV7 starts a repeat screening of the former ABC comedy series Alvin Purple.

GTV9's The Don Lane Show returns for another year with the first show highlighted by a satellite interview with Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood.  The first show will also include a direct coverage of a stunt in the GTV9 carpark performed by American stunt star Evel Knievel.  ATV0's Peter Couchman Tonight also returns for another year, screening five nights a week.

Sunday night movies are The Tamarind Seed (HSV7) and Vegas (GTV9).  ATV0 screens the UNICEF Concert: A Gift Of Song, held at the UN General Assembly in New York in January as the launch event for International Year Of The Child.  Hosted by David Frost with Henry Fonda, Gilda Radner and Henry Winkler, the concert includes performances by the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton-John, ABBA, John Denver, Earth Wind And Fire, Andy Gibb, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson.  ATV0 then follows up the concert with the movie comedy What's Up Doc?

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 17 February 1979.  ABC/ACP

TV icons of the Sunshine State

Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper has obtained a secret list of people, places and events nominated by Queensland politicians as icons of the state.

The list is being prepared as part of Queensland's 150th anniversary celebrations.  From the initial list of 700, a bipartisan panel of MPs will attempt to trim the list to 300 which will then be put to a public vote.  The top 150 will be formally acknowledged during the state's Queensland Week celebrations.

Out of the 700 nominated so far, there are a handful that are TV related:

• Actress Babette Stephens, who was also a panelist on Brisbane game shows in the 1960s and also starred in Brisbane's first soap opera drama Until Tomorrow in the 1970s.
• Pop group The Bee Gees, who rose to fame on early variety shows in Brisbane before appearances on national shows such as Bandstand.
• Actor William McInnes, from TV dramas including Seachange, Blue Heelers, Marshall Law, Curtin, East West 101, The Shark Net and comedy series Kath & Kim.
• Wally Lewis, former rugby player and now sports presenter for Nine News in Brisbane.
• Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin.
• Vilma Ward, morals compaigner, media commentator and panelist on daytime TV programs including Bailey And The Birds.
• Mt Coottha's TV transmission towers.

We can't help but wonder that maybe a few famous Queenslanders have been overlooked for recognition: 

Jacki MacDonald comes to mind as a glaring omission.  A winner of a swag of TV Week Logies for most popular personality in Queensland and a TV career that has included all three of Brisbane's local commercial channels as well as a national profile through Hey Hey It's Saturday and later Healthy Wealthy And Wise.

Rowena Wallace, who first rose to national fame in the 1960s drama You Can't See Round Corners, followed by The Rovers, Division 4, Number 96, Cop Shop, Outbreak Of Love, Prisoner and, most famously, as vicious 'Pat the Rat' in Sons And Daughters - a role that won her a TV Week Gold Logie in 1985.

Kerri-Anne Kennerley (pictured), back when she was Kerri-Anne Wright was a child star of Brisbane television in the 1960s and 1970s before featuring in the soap opera The Restless Years and later becoming co-host of Network Ten's Good Morning Australia, where she stayed for over a decade and went on to further success in daytime TV as host of Midday in the late 1990s and Mornings With Kerri-Anne since 2003.

Sigrid Thornton, from early days in Homicide, Father Dear Father and Prisoner, later becoming famous for her roles in historical dramas such as All The Rivers Run, 1915 and Paradise before taking the lead role in ABC's Seachange in the late 1990s.

Reg Grundy (pictured), while not born in Queensland the former radio announcer turned game show host got his big break as a producer of game shows in Brisbane in the 1960s, forming the basis for what became a global empire.

Gerard Kennedy, actor from early crime shows Hunter and Division Four and later in historical dramas Tandarra and Against The Wind.  Most recently seen in the Nine Network series Underbelly.  Winner of two TV Week Gold Logies.

Ray Barrett, accomplished television, stage and film actor with recent roles in Something In The Air and After The Deluge.

Don Seccombe (pictured), long-serving newsreader for QTQ9 and host the game show I've Got A Secret which ran for ten years.

Hugh Cornish, one of Brisbane television's earliest on-air personalities as well as general manager at QTQ9.

Newsreader Brian Cahill who read the news for many years at BTQ7, later at QTQ9 and then TVQ0 before moving into politics.

Then there are current-day local TV identities who have long histories in television.  Names such as Kay McGrath, Bruce Paige, Frank Warrick, Heather Foord and Sharyn Ghidella.

Other well-known TV identities to have hailed from the Sunshine State include (in no particular order):

Brian Blain (The Bluestone Boys, Sons And Daughters)
Delvene Delaney (The Paul Hogan Show, Sale Of The Century)
Jo Pearson (Eyewitness News, Live At Five)
Annette Allison (pictured) (Eyewitness News, Good Morning Melbourne)
Shane Porteous (The Box, A Country Practice)
Judy Morris (Skyways, Dirtwater Dynasty, Mother And Son)
Ian Leslie (60 Minutes)
Michael Caton (The Sullivans, Packed To The Rafters)
Tom Richards (Matlock Police, Sons And Daughters)
Paul Bongiorno (Ten News, Meet The Press)

Who do you think is worthy of a mention on Queensland's top 150 list?

Source: Courier Mail
Many of these names from this list have also been sourced from the book On-Air: 25 Years Of TV In Queensland (Christopher Beck, 1984)