1990: February 17-23

Cover: Johnny Depp, Dannii Minogue

Fast lane to death
After 20 years in the industry, journalist John Budd recalls the last 18 months have been a nightmare.  “When the industry collapsed it left a lot of people without jobs,” he says.  Facing unemployment following the axing of Network Ten’s Public Eye current affairs program, Budd landed a job at ABC’s Four Corners – and after three months’ gruelling research, his first report, Amphetamines: The Quiet Achiever Of The Drug Trade, is ready to go to air this week.  Dubbed the “fast-lane drug of the Eighties”, amphetamines are set to become the big issue of the Nineties, he told TV Week.  “They’re very much a yuppie drug, socially acceptable and mix nicely with alcohol to create a euphoric state of confidence, well-being and hyped-up vigilance.”  Budd interviewed 30 reformed drug users and dealers and also worked with Victoria Police “who are alarmed at the rapid pace of this quiet achiever of the drug trade.”

Keyte’s flying high
”It all happened fairly quickly,” is how HSV7 newsreader Jennifer Keyte (pictured) describes her rise to national stardom as the news presenter on Steve Vizard’s new national variety show, Tonight Live.  “I had seen Steve around the station last year and we used to have make-up room chats.  He made me laugh so much.  The make-up girls hated him because they couldn’t get my lips done.  I guess we established a rapport then.”  As well as her booming TV profile, Keyte also has other matters to attend to – a mid-year wedding to Melbourne nightclub owner Brett Kochner.

“I had to beat the animal that controlled me…”
Actor Tony Bonner, best known from TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, Cop Shop and Skyways, is looking relaxed and healthier than ever.  Currently in Los Angeles following good reviews for his work in the Tom Selleck movie Quigley Down Under, Bonner recalls the day only three months ago when he walked into a Melbourne clinic for help in overcoming alcohol problems.  “I came to a proverbial crossroad in life and there were three options – the first was to become a down-and-out lost soul; the second was to be committed to an insane asylum; and the third was to die.  So the option to take was simply to beat the animal that controlled me – alcohol.”  Bonner feels his career is now on a new direction and, since the Quigley movie, is meeting heads of drama at two US networks keen to cast him in telemovies and is also discussing offers with Disney studio Hollywood Pictures.

Briefly… 
Former Perfect Match host Cameron Daddo (pictured) has just finished a long run in the stage production Big River but already has two other projects in planning – one is to join veteran Leo McKern to play the legendary roles of Dad and Dave in the $6.3 million feature film On Our Selection, and the other is a potential lead role in the Grundy Television production of Bony, based on the 1972 series of the same name.

Singer Kate Ceberano, having just completed a cameo role in the film Till There Was You, is now in negotiation for a guest appearance in the new Nine Network series Family And Friends.

Home And Away star Dannii Minogue admits to being nervous over public reaction to her new single, Love And Kisses, and the $50,000 video to promote it – but is determined to silence critics that she is cashing in on the success of her older sister Kylie.   “A lot of people thought I’d copy Kylie and have a sound exactly like hers.  But that’s just not the sort of stuff I do.  This is more my style – but yes, it’s good to be different.” 

John Laws says…
”By any standards, Steve Vizard’s opening show was a crushing disappointment.  The second night was not much better.  The third showed a slender improvement.  Much has been expected of Vizard because of his fine work with Fast Forward.  If anyone could hold a Tonight show together it should be him.  Yet on debut night Vizard was flailing around like a beached whale within seconds of the studio audience’s contrived hysteria being stilled.  Vizard, I’m sure, does have the talent to put on a better show.  It’ll take time to get it right.  I hope Seven has the cash and the patience.” 

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off
”Steve Vizard has established Tonight Live as an energetic, cheeky show which goes just far enough – but not too far – to sit nicely in its adults-only timeslot.  Many of the lines have induced a good laugh, some of the music has been top class and somehow – just somehow – a touch of serious news has been shoved in without upsetting the applecart.  But what’s most infectious from where I sit is that the host himself appears to be enjoying it all enormously.  And when he’s having a good time, so am I.”

Program Highlights (February 17-23):
Saturday:  Hey Hey It’s Saturday returns for a new year with Daryl Somers, Denise Drysdale, Ossie Ostrich, John Blackman, Red Symons and Wilbur Wilde.  ABC presents the ABC Sports Award Of The Year, live from the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra.
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Someone To Watch Over Me (GTV9) and The Man From Snowy River II (ATV10).  HSV7 presents the first instalment of mini-series Small Sacrifices.
Tuesday:  GTV9 crosses to the SCG for the Benson and Hedges World Series: Australia versus Pakistan.  Coverage starts at 2.20pm and, after breaking for National Nine News, A Current Affair and Sale Of The Century, continues through to 10.30pm.
Wednesday:  David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz return for a new series of The Movie Show on SBS. 
Thursday:  SBS launches a new series, Viva World Cup, hosted by Les Murray and Andy Paschalidis in the lead-up to the 1990 World Cup, including reports on the venues, personalities and the final 24 teams.

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

Prime News goes less local

Regional network Prime Television is set to wind back its local news production with news that its various local bulletins, covering parts of NSW and North East Victoria, are to be centralised to the network’s main programming hub in Canberra.

From 1 July, production will begin to be phased out from local studios, in towns such as Wagga Wagga, Orange, Tamworth and Albury, to be taken over by centralised facilities in Canberra.  Reporters will still be based in each local area, just that the half-hour bulletins will be compiled from the national capital.

The move is expected to cost at least one full-time position from each local Prime station.

It is not known how the cuts will affect the local news coverage of Prime’s Western Australian outlet, GWN, which currently provides a statewide half-hour news bulletin each weeknight from studios in Bunbury.

For many of the affected areas, Prime’s move from the local studios will effectively mark the end of local television production – as rival operators such as NBN, WIN and Southern Cross Ten already have centralised facilities for the provision of local news.

Source: Daily Advertiser, TV Tonight

South Australia next to go digital

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy has announced that Regional South Australia and Broken Hill will be the second region in Australia to switch off analogue television transmission.

In a media release issued today, the affected areas will lose analogue television transmissions on 15 December 2010, two weeks before the original deadline of 31 December 2010.

The transition will affect local transmissions of ABC, SBS, Southern Cross GTS/BKN and WIN.

The Adelaide metropolitan market and remote regions of South Australia are scheduled to shut down analogue transmissions by the end of 2013.

In the latest Digital Tracker survey, released by the Government last week, 61 per cent of Australian households have now converted to digital television – up from 56 per cent in the previous quarter.  This figure includes 79 per cent of households in the Mildura/Sunraysia district (scheduled to lose analogue transmission in four months’ time) and 64 per cent of homes in the Regional South Australia/Broken Hill region.

For viewers in regional Australia that may lose access to terrestrial TV broadcasts in the transition to digital, as digital signals may not reach the same distances as analogue, the Government announced in January that those areas will be able to receive digital television via satellite in time for when the analogue transmissions are to be shut down in their respective areas.

Source: DCBDE, DCBDE, Digital Ready

Logies Hall of Fame names leaked

The Australian’s media columnist Amanda Meade has leaked an “unauthorised” list of names being considered for this year’s TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.

Normally the award is nominated and voted in private by an industry panel, with the winner announced prior to the awards ceremony.

According to Meade the following names are on the short list:

Brian Henderson, host of ‘60s pop music show Bandstand and a newsreader for TCN9, Sydney, for almost forty years, retiring in 2002.

Brian Naylor (pictured), host of children’s talent show Brian And The Juniors before becoming newsreader for HSV7 and later GTV9 before retiring in 1998.  Hosted Nine’s Carols By Candlelight for ten years.  Was tragically killed last year in the Black Saturday bushfires.

Les Murray, one of the founding presenters at SBS and has led the network’s World Cup soccer coverage since it first telecast the event in 1986.

George Negus (pictured, in 1981), former This Day Tonight journalist who became a household name as one of the founding reporters on 60 Minutes in 1979.  Later hosted Today, Foreign Correspondent and George Negus Tonight and is currently host of Dateline and contributor to The 7PM Project.

Ken Sutcliffe, sports presenter who got his big break being hand-picked by Graham Kennedy to co-host his new late night show, Graham Kennedy’s News Show, in 1988.  Continues to present the sports report for Nine News in Sydney and various Wide World Of Sports telecasts.

Maggie Tabberer (pictured, in 1970), former fashion model turned publishing identity and TV personality.  A two-time TV Week Gold Logie winner (1970, 1971) and more recently a presenter on pay-TV.

Ian Ross, long-time journalist and newsreader for National Nine News in Sydney and, for several years, for Today nationally.  Came out of a brief retirement to front Seven News in Sydney, and led the 6.00pm timeslot for the next six years at the expense of traditional rival Nine.  Retired from Seven at the end of last year.

Ray Meagher, veteran actor and the only founding cast member of Home And Away to still be on the series, 22 years on.

Prisoner (pictured), the Grundy Productions drama series that broke new ground when it launched in 1979 with a predominantly female cast and without the usual gloss of prime-time soap operas.  The series ran for eight years, sold well overseas and won a swag of TV Week Logie awards.  As testament to its long-standing popularity, all 692 episodes of the show have been released on DVD – the largest such DVD release in Australia, if not worldwide.

One name that this blog might suggest would be worthy of a Hall of Fame award is Western Australian TV personality Jeff Newman (pictured).  Newman recently retired from TVW7, Perth, after over 40 years of service, including an outstanding commitment to TVW7’s annual Telethon.  Although Newman is not well known outside of Western Australia, his commitment and service to the television industry in WA is a fantastic achievement.

Previous winners of the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame have included Graham Kennedy, Bert Newton, Mike Walsh, Don Lane, Mike Willesee, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson, James Davern, Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, Ruth Cracknell, Maurie Fields, Sam Chisholm, Bruce Gyngell, Johnny Young, Bill Collins and Steve Irwin.  Three programs have also been entered into the Hall of Fame – 4 Corners, Neighbours and Play School.

Expect TV Week to announce this year’s inductee to the Hall of Fame prior to this year’s Logies telecast, scheduled for 2 May.

Source: The Australian

GTV9 sells off Hollywood-on-the-Yarra

The address of 22 Bendigo Street, Richmond, has been one of Australian TV’s most famous and iconic addresses. 

The century-old building has for more than 50 years been home to GTV9 – a channel that began test broadcasts, covering the Melbourne Olympic Games, in 1956 before launching proper operation early in 1957.

The building was initially a piano factory when it was built in 1908 and was later converted to a Heinz factory in the 1930s before it became home to one of Melbourne’s first two commercial TV stations.

Governor Sir Dallas Brookes (pictured) was chauffeur-driven into the studios, live-to-air, before officially opening GTV9 on 19 January 1957.  Less than four months later the channel launched its new nightly variety show, In Melbourne Tonight, featuring a young radio announcer, Graham Kennedy.  Two years later Kennedy would be joined by a former HSV7 rival, Bert Newton, and the pair became an unbeatable double act.

With daytime productions, including quiz shows and children’s programs, and IMT’s nightly cavalcade of singers, dancers and performers, the building that was known as Television City became Melbourne’s own “Hollywood on the Yarra”.  In 1964 the channel expanded the premises to include a new state-of-the-art studio, Studio 9, specifically for IMT.  The new studio opened up the possibilities of large-scale variety performances and productions – hopefully to fend off competition from newcomer ATV0 which had launched from modern studios in suburban Nunawading in the same year.

Kennedy resigned from IMT at the end of 1969, but the legacy of IMT saw decades of variety and tonight shows from the same studio – including The Ernie Sigley Show, The Graham Kennedy Show, The Don Lane Show, New Faces, Tonight With Bert Newton, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, The Footy Show and, to bring the list to full circle, a ‘90s revival of In Melbourne Tonight. 

Radio DJ Mike Walsh hosted a 1960s version of the breakfast program, Today, while Eric Pearce read the evening Television City News from GTV9 before handing over to Brian Naylor at the end of 1978, who in turn handed over to Peter Hitchener twenty years later.

Game show Family Feud moved its production from TVW7 Perth to GTV9 in the late-‘70s.  Host Tony Barber then moved on to Sale Of The Century (pictured, with hostess Victoria Nicolls) from the same studios in 1980, continuing for over 20 years and more recently revived as Temptation.  Daryl Somers hosted a revival of Blankety Blanks in 1985, and, a decade later, Tim Ferguson hosted Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush.  Other game shows from the studios included Supermarket Sweep, Crossfire and two versions of The Price Is Right.  Eddie McGuire hosted Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and it’s current spin-off, Hot Seat.  In 2006, twenty years after he was suddenly axed from Nine, Bert Newton was back at Studio 9 hosting a game show, Bert’s Family Feud. 

Also to come out of 22 Bendigo Street were dramas including Emergency (one of the first TV dramas ever made in Melbourne), Hunter, Division 4, The Sullivans, Starting Out, The Flying Doctors, All The Way and Chances.

A young comedian called Rove McManus came to GTV9 to present a late-night comedy show for ten weeks in 1999.  Former D Generation cast member Mick Molloy also had a stab at a weekly show in the same year.  Neither show would see in the new millennium, though McManus took his act across to rival Network Ten.

Not content with just being “Television City”, 22 Bendigo Street was also home to radio station 3AK for nearly 30 years – after GTV9 bought the station in the early ‘60s – with its ‘Good Guys’ and ‘No Wrinklys’ pop music line-ups in the 1960s and the more relaxed ‘Beautiful Music’ in the ‘70s and early ‘80s.

Two years ago the building was expected to be sold for $10 million but the sale was aborted amidst the global financial crisis.  This week it was announced that the three-hectare site occupied by GTV9 has been bought by developers Lend Lease, with plans to redevelop the site into residential complex expected to be worth $400 million.

GTV9 is expected to move over the next 12 months to smaller, high-tech premises in the inner-city Docklands precinct, mirroring similar moves by rival HSV7, to the Docklands, almost a decade ago, and ATV10, to inner suburban South Yarra in the early ‘90s .  Larger studio productions are expected to be outsourced to the nearby Central City Studios.

Source: SMH, The Age, Lend Lease, City of Yarra, Australian TV Archive

1990: February 10-16

‘I’m anchored to the chair!’
Despite her recent working trip to Czechoslovakia, A Current Affair host Jana Wendt (pictured) says it’s likely to be a long time before she goes anywhere else for an extended break.  “I am anchored to this chair,” she told TV Week.  “I wish I had a chain to prove it to you.”  But combining the job of current affairs host and mother to two-year-old Daniel she says is never easy, and, if she ever does move on from ACA in the distant future, considers doing something a bit more laid back in television.  “Peter Ross is on a lovely wicket at the ABC doing nice things where you can sit back and relax and enjoy it… Something where you can take a deep breath, be a bit more reflective and work consistently for a while without having to keep up with this kind of momentum.”  TV Week also reveals one of TV’s best kept secrets – the day that the Nine Network almost lost Wendt to Network Ten.  While it was widely reported that Wendt was headed to the American Fox network, at the invitation of former boss Gerald Stone, in reality she was involved in negotiations for an even bigger deal with Ten.  Wendt said she only consider moving to Ten if most of her A Current Affair team could come over as well – so Ten managed to verbally tie up most of the ACA crew.  Then news of the deal leaked out, and Nine chief Sam Chisholm reacted quickly and signed up Wendt and her team with generous contracts – leaving Wendt with a contract worth $2 million over three years.

Dannii’s set to quit Summer Bay
Home And Away star Dannii Minogue is set to leave the series when her contract expires in June.  “(The producers) want me to stay, but I’ve got other commitments,” she told TV Week.  Her first single, Love And Kisses, will be released later this month and she plans to finish recording her debut album while on a two-week break from Home And Away in March.  Minogue plans to promote the new album’s release in London after she finishes up on Home And Away.  “I may go back to Home And Away but it’s too hard to do that and promote the record too.”

Family first for Carol
The recent premiere of Nine’s Family And Friends also marked another long-awaited TV debut – the TV acting debut of Carol Willesee (pictured), former wife of current affairs host Mike Willesee.  The mother of three made headlines in 1987 when she walked off the set of new series Home And Away after only two days of production, citing fears that the role of Pippa Fletcher would take too much time away from her family.  But producers of Family And Friends are happy with Willesee’s performance in her guest role and have already indicated that an ongoing role is ready for her, but appreciate that her family commitments are still a priority.  “That’s quite understandable,” says producer John Holmes.  “It’s up to Carol.”

Briefly…
Former The Comedy Company stars Mark Mitchell and Kim Gyngell make their debut in their own new shows on Network Ten this week.  Mitchell stars in a sketch comedy series, Larger Than Life, and Gyngell reprises his popular character Col’n Carpenter in a new half-hour sitcom also starring Vicki Blanche, Monica Maughan and Stig Wemyss.

60 Minutes reporter Jeff McMullen spent four weeks of his Christmas break in blizzard conditions in Antarctica, filming a story for the current affairs show.  “People are outraged that I was allowed to take this risk… but I was the one who wanted to do it,” he told TV Week.  The 6400 kilometre trek, reported to be the longest polar journey ever made,  was led by six scientists and three dozen huskies.

US actor Telly Savalas, best known for his role as New York cop Kojak, is in Melbourne for a major role in the Seven Network mini-series Rose Against The Odds, based on the life of boxer Lionel Rose.  Savalas plays boxing promoter George Parnassus, who promoted many of Rose’s professional fights in Los Angeles in the 1960s and ‘70s.

John Laws says…
”Little did I know when I heartily praised ABC’s Inside Running drama series that it had already fallen victim to the axe.  Inside Running was a compelling and wonderfully scripted and acted series about barristers in Melbourne.  I regard it as one of the best drama productions made in Australia.”

Program Highlights (February 10-16):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses to Port Douglas, Queensland, for the Super Skins Golf, then in the evening covers the Fosters Cup, Essendon versus West Coast Eagles, live from VFL Park, Melbourne.  GTV9 crosses to the Gabba, Brisbane, for the Benson and Hedges World Series: Pakistan versus Sri Lanka.
Sunday:  The 1990 ratings season kicks off in earnest.  GTV9’s Sunday morning news programs Business Sunday and Sunday are back for another year.  Super Skins Golf (HSV7) and World Series Cricket (GTV9) dominate the afternoon, and the evening is highlighted by ATV10’s new comedy double, Larger Than Life and Col’n Carpenter.  GTV9’s Our World presents Part 1 of G’day Comrade, featuring George Negus on location in Russia, followed by the return of 60 Minutes.  Sunday night movies are Three Men And A Baby (HSV7), The Last Emperor (GTV9) and The Golden Child (ATV10).
Monday:  Midday With Ray Martin (GTV9) returns for another year, and ABC’s The Afternoon Show and Countdown Revolution return in the late afternoon and early evening.  Four Corners and Media Watch both return to ABC in the mid-evening.
Tuesday:  Returning shows for 1990 include The Investigators (ABC) and Candid Camera In Australia (ATV10).  Kerry O’Brien presents the debut of a new late night current affairs program, Lateline, on ABC.
Thursday:  HSV7 crosses to Huntingdale Golf Course, Melbourne, for the annual Australian Masters.
Friday:  ABC’s rural affairs program Countrywide returns for a new year, as does Burke’s Backyard (GTV9).

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 10 February 1990. Southdown Press. 

1990: February 3-9

Justine’s back… but is Alex set to take off?
Justine Clarke and Alex Papps, former Home And Away couple Roo Stewart and Frank Morgan, are now both on the Nine Network.  But while Papps is settled in at The Flying Doctors, Clarke has moved into TV’s newest suburb, Kingsmead, in the new series Family And Friends.  Clarke admits that she had second thoughts about signing up with another series.  “I did um and ah for a while.  But I knew I was working with the same team who developed Home And Away, so I was confident and it was easier for me to make the decision,” she told TV Week.  But the future of her former colleague is unknown as production has finished filming the sixth series of The Flying Doctors, but there is no word as to whether there will be a seventh.  Nine has asked to reduce the show’s budget, but Crawford Productions don’t want to lower the standard of the show.  “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Papps told TV Week.  “Ratings-wise it’s doing well.  It’s just the cost.  If it goes into series seven, I’ll definitely be there.”

Annie lands in Cooper’s Crossing
Now sporting a short-cropped haircut, former Neighbours star Annie Jones is forging ahead with her career.  The TV Week Logie Award-winning actress has just completed work on the Crawford Productions’ mini-series Jackaroo and is now embarking on a new role as an opal miner’s daughter in The Flying Doctors.  Her character’s arrival in the outback drama leads to a romance with Dr David Radcliffe (Brett Climo).  For the former Neighbours star, Ramsay Street feels a million miles away:  “It was such an intense time and all of a sudden it was gone.  I was lucky I had something else (Jackaroo) to go to.”

Well, what a start!
The Nine Network’s new drama Family And Friends kicks off with a cliffhanger when two of the main characters are stuck in a well.  Young lovers Jennifer Chandler (Roxane Wilson) and Robert Rossi (Renato Bartolomei) are caught in a Romeo And Juliet-style romance as it brings together two families with long-standing feuds.  After a fight between the two lovers’ fathers, the pair are told to leave and not come back.  In their bid to secretly elope, they meet at an old well which is covered but as they walk across it, the cover breaks.  The new series also stars Sean Myers, Robert Forza, Simon Westaway, Anna-Maria Monticelli, Diane Craig, Anne Phelan and Dinah Shearing.

Briefly…
Nine’s long-running quiz show Sale Of The Century returns for its 10th year, starting the year with a masters’ challenge featuring world champions from the past three years over a two-week battle.  Previous Sale contests, such as “the Ashes” and “the Commonwealth Games”, have been a hit with viewers and it is hoped this latest contest will be a new year ratings hit.

A cast shake-up in Network Ten’s E Street will see no less than five characters written out of the series.  Lawyer Jennifer St James (Virginia Hey) will upset the pending nuptials between Daniel Windsor (Chris Orchard) and Dr Elly Fielding (Penny Cook), and will result in Jennifer departing with Daniel to Switzerland, taking three of his four children.  His eldest daughter, Toni (Toni Pearen), will remain in Westside.

Actor Paul Keane was ready to resign from his long-running role as Des Clarke in Neighbours, but has instead opted to take a four-month break and is expected to return in April.  Keane’s break from the show comes as cast morale is at an all-time low following the departure of several key cast members, but producers are confident that Des will return with some good storylines.

On The Grapevine…
The Vine was really knocked out by the astrologer who “predicted” that former Perfect Match hostess Kerrie Friend would be doing some travelling overseas this year.  This amazing prediction hit the streets after Friend, who’d announced her intentions well in advance, had left Australia for Los Angeles.

John Laws says…
”There’s some good news in the comedy area with confirmation of a new 13-episode series of Acropolis Now on Seven.  Making its debut last year, it provided one of the ‘sleeper’ hits, pulling in ratings in the low 20s in the major cities.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne):
Saturday:  GTV9 presents the last day of competition and the Closing Ceremony from the Commonwealth Games, live from Auckland. 
Sunday:  ATV10 crosses to Manly, Sydney, for the Ironman Super Series.  Competitors include Grant Kenny, Guy Leach and Trevor Hendy.  HSV7 presents live coverage of the Davis Cup tennis, from Royal Kings Park, Perth, and GTV9 crosses to the SCG for Australia versus Pakistan in the Cricket Third Test.  Sunday night movies are At Close Range (HSV7), Smokey And The Bandit (GTV9) and the first instalment of the re-run of mini-series Vietnam (ATV10), starring Nicholas Eadie, Barry Otto and Nicole Kidman.
Monday:  GTV9’s morning chat show, In Melbourne Today, returns for a new year with hosts Ernie Sigley and Denise Drysdale.
Wednesday:  The debut of GTV9’s new drama Family And Friends is up against E Street (ATV10).  HSV7 presents the AFL pre-season competiton, the Fosters Cup, featuring Footscray versus Richmond.
Thursday:  The second episode of Family And Friends is followed by The Flying Doctors’ return with a new series.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 3 February 1990. Southdown Press. 

Sun now rises on Saturday

The battle between breakfast rivals Sunrise and Today steps up another notch this week, the first week of the official ratings for 2010, with the announcement that Sunrise is now extending to Saturdays.

The move now sees the two perennial rivals competing seven days a week.  Today has, for a while, had a seven day presence, while Sunrise initially expanded only to a Sunday edition, Weekend Sunrise, leaving the Saturday early morning timeslot to long-running children’s program, Saturday Disney.  It is not known at this stage what will become of Saturday Disney, a show which has been on-air for 20 years now, in the wake of Weekend Sunrise extending to Saturday mornings.

The battle between the two shows also intensified last month with Sunrise re-launching, with a new-look studio, refreshed on-air presentation, the return of former weather presenter Grant Denyer and a move towards a more serious news focus – although the show’s recent “election”, over the issue of whether or not male presenters on the show should wear a tie, does blur this focus somewhat, but there has to be a balance between serious and flippant.

And while Sunrise and Today are fighting it out – and summer ratings data indicates that this year’s ratings battle will turn out to be the tightest yet between the two, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne – national broadcaster ABC continues its very serious ABC News Breakfast on ABC2 and gears up for the launch of its new 24-hour news channel.

John McCallum

Actor and producer John McCallum, co-creator of the iconic TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, has died in a Sydney nursing home at age 91.

Born in Brisbane in 1918, McCallum was trained at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before a career that included stage, film and television in both the United Kingdom and Australia.  In the mid-1940s, McCallum met actress Googie Withers and the pair were later married and would work together on numerous occasions during their married life.

In 1958, after a decade in the UK, McCallum returned to Australia to run theatre company JC Williamsons.

By the mid-1960s, McCallum had produced the popular Australian film, They’re A Weird Mob, based on the book about an Italian immigrant settling into life in Australia. 

The success of the film led to McCallum and producer Lee Robinson to devise an Australian-based TV series that would have wide international appeal.  Their co-creation would become Australia’s first global television hit, Skippy The Bush Kangaroo.  (Although McCallum later credited Robinson for being the brains behind the concept, devising the show’s premise around a boy and his pet kangaroo and for naming the pet Skippy)  The children’s series put an Australian twist on a well-travelled genre of overseas shows to feature multi-talented animal characters, such as Flipper, Lassie and The Littlest Hobo, and was sold to over 120 countries including syndication throughout the United States.

Forty years after production on Skippy ended, the series is still shown on a semi-regular, late-night basis on the Nine Network.

Apart from Skippy, McCallum also produced TV series Barrier Reef, Boney, Shannon’s Mob and Bailey’s Bird.

John McCallum is survived by wife Googie and children Joanna, Nicholas and Amanda.

Source: news.com.au, TV Eye, Talking Heads, ABC News, IMDB

Who you can’t vote for in the Logies…

It is that time of year when TV Week asks its readers, and the wider TV viewing population, to vote for their favourite personalities and programs for the annual TV Week Logie Awards.

This year’s presentation, to be held on 2 May, marks the 52nd annual presentation of the awards first named by Graham Kennedy, who decided that the middle name of TV pioneer John Logie Baird sounded like a good name for an award and, in naming the award after him, it would forever be a tribute to his achievement.  (It was remarked in later years that had Kennedy known just what an impact the Logies would have had on Australian TV culture, he would named them after his own middle name – Cyril)

These days, viewers can vote for the awards without having to buy a copy of TV Week.  In the past, votes could only be made via coupons printed in the magazine or by using a unique PIN printed inside the magazine when voting online.

However, despite the voting being conducted online for a few years now, the online interface used to collect the votes is essentially just a basic web poll.  None of the glamour or excitement of TV’s night of nights here.  No colour.  No pictures, or even video clips of the people we are being asked to nominate (and this can be handy when trying to identify some of today’s TV starlets who aren’t easily recognised by name alone). In fact, voting for your favourite TV stars and programs now looks to be as clinical and enjoyable as filling in your average tax return, especially now as the stars and shows are reduced to mere numbers or tick boxes. 

Also curious are the omissions from TV Week’s list of voting ‘suggestions’ (although they are our only options, there is no “other” allowed here).  Just a few that this author noticed missing from the categories:

Most Popular Actor: Tom Oliver (Neighbours), Alan Fletcher (Neighbours), Andrew Supanz (All Saints), Kip Gamblin (All Saints), John Waters (All Saints)

Most Popular Actress: Janet Andrewartha (Neighbours)

Most Popular Presenter: Larry Emdur (The Morning Show), Kylie Gillies (The Morning Show), David Reyne (9AM With David And Kim), Kim Watkins (9AM With David And Kim), Sandra Sully (Ten News), Dave Hughes (The 7PM Project), Peter Everett (Ready Steady Cook), Sam Pang (ADbc), Grant Bowler (Border Security), Ed Kavalee (TV Burp), Daryl Somers (Hey Hey It’s Saturday – The Reunion), Jonathon Holmes (Media Watch), Magda Szubanski (The Spearman Experiment).

There also seems to be some inconsistency in what qualifies as “presenter” – Masterchef’s three judges are listed as potential nominations for the category, but the show’s (then) host, Sarah Wilson, is not.  The Biggest Loser’s fitness coaches, Shannan Ponton and Michelle Bridges, are listed in the “presenter” category, but the show’s (former) host, Ajay Rochester, is not.  The Seven Network’s talent quest, Australia’s Got Talent, gets a guernsey, with host Grant Denyer and judge Dannii Minogue qualified for a mention, but no mention of Minogue’s colleagues, Red Symons and Tom Burlinson.  For rival show Australian Idol, Andrew Günsberg is listed as host, but no mention of any of the show’s three judges, Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson, Marcia Hines, Jay Dee Springbett and ousted judge Kyle Sandilands (who did appear in the preliminary stages of the show in 2009).  SBS newsreader Anton Enus qualifies for a vote, but his weekend counterpart, Lee Lin Chin, does not.

Australia’s Got Talent qualifies in the category of “most popular light entertainment program”, but a rival show of essentially a similar format, Australian Idol, is categorised under “reality”.

Most Popular Light Entertainment Program: TV Burp, Hungry Beast, Double Take, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, Hot Seat, The Einstein Factor and The New Inventors are all missing from the nominations list.  The one-off special Rove Presents Hamish And Andy’s American Caravan Of Courage is allowed to be voted, but another one-off special from the same network, Shaun Micallef’s New Year Rave, is not.

These are just the omissions noticed by this one author.  There may be plenty more that TV Week and the networks have failed to acknowledge as being worthy of a vote – and yet the Logie Awards are intended to be the ‘people’s choice’ awards covering all the various genres of television and allowing all on-air talent – with the only eligibility being that they appeared in a credited role during the 2009 television year – an equal opportunity of being voted for.

It is surprising that, after 52 years, TV Week and the publicity agents from all the networks can not get together and muster up a complete list of eligible personalities and programs and be consistent in what, or who, qualifies for a particular category.  The gaps in these voting categories only serve to add ammunition to growing public sentiment that the Logie Awards are no longer a credible recognition of the achievements of our television industry.

TV Week’s Logie Awards site (with the link to vote online) is at tvweek.com.au.