1990: May 19-25

‘We’re not joined at the hip’
Neighbours twin co-stars Gayle and Gillian Blakeney (pictured) might look alike and share many similar interests but still stress that they are very different.  “We’re not joined at the hip.  We’re individuals,” Gayle told TV Week.  “People think that because we look alike we’re alike in everything we do and say.”  But they do concede to have had a number of uncanny experiences – sometimes one will start a sentence and the other will finish it off.  “We can pre-empt what the other is thinking and our moods follow suit.” 

‘I’d be fibbing if I said I didn’t miss it’
Former Coast To Coast presenter John Mangos has told TV Week about his disappointment about Graham Kennedy’s decision not to continue with the show after the end of 1989:  “I idolised Graham.  He was my boyhood hero and that’s why i left the States.  There were very few job positions I would have left that job for, and one of them was the chance to work with my hero.  It took the first few months for us to find each other and after we did, we had a good thing going.  I’d be fibbing if I said I didn’t miss it.”  Since the end of Coast To Coast, co-host Terry Willesee has now moved across to the Ten Network to present Good Morning Australia with Kerri-Anne Kennerley, and Mangos has stayed at Nine to present its Sunday night documentaries with the opportunity to make his own for the network.

Oh, what a lovely war!
The Nine Network mini-series The Private War Of Lucinda Smith is not your usual wartime drama.  The two-part series, starring Nigel Havers, Linda Cropper, Andrew Clarke and Vincent Ball, is an unashamed bawdy romp about a romantic love triangle in the South Pacific in 1914-15 when the outbreak of war turns friendly rivals for Lucinda’s affections into friendly enemies.  “It’s a good old Boys’ Own adventure story with plenty of romance, comedy and sex and practically no violence – perfect, really,” according to Havers (pictured, with Cropper).  “We enjoyed ourselves immensely making it, and I think Ray Alchin (the director) has a lot to answer for.  He never took anything seriously.”

Briefly…
Former The Flying Doctors star Peter O’Brien has scored the lead role in an upcoming American adventure film, The Diamond Triad.  O’Brien was offered the role after producers saw him in the London stage production of Butterflies Are Free.

Annie Jones has just returned from the US where she appeared on a cable TV channel to promote her Oz Beauty Video, a guide to successful grooming.  Now, the former Neighbours star is preparing for her next role in an SBS series about the lives of Australian immigrants.  Jones, who used to be Annika Jasko, is the only Australian-born child of Hungarian parents who settled here in the 1950s.  She is also fluent in Hungarian and will speak the language in the new role.

Nine Network series Family And Friends is about to turn back the years as some of its characters are taken back to the Seventies as the theme for a school social.  The social is also the scene for Renato’s (Gavin Harrison) seduction of Cheryl (Justine Clarke, pictured with Harrison) in an attempt to get her away from Marco (Adrian Lee).

John Laws says…
”British TV viewers are “soaps” – and mainly Australian ones – more than ever before, according to the latest statistics.  Of 30,000 viewers polled recently, more than 65 per cent chose either Neighbours, Home And Away or Prisoner (Cell Block H) as their favourite viewing.  And in England they are saying that the recent $20 million deal for hundreds of Home And Away episodes to be screened in Britain over the next few years actually saved the Oz soap from getting the chop.  At a time when the film industry in Australia is languishing, it’s at least reassuring to know that one section of our TV industry is creating new markets and turning a profit.  Let’s hope it stays like that.”

Program Highlights (May 19-25):
Sunday:  HSV7 crosses to Subiaco Oval in Perth for the AFL clash between West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears, followed by highlights of the game between Footscray and Essendon.  ATV10 presents Rugby League with the State Bank Big Game, direct from Sydney.  Sunday night movies are Young Guns (HSV7) and Red Heat (ATV10), while GTV9 presents the first instalment of mini-series The Private War Of Lucinda Smith.
Monday:  ABC screens the final in the Wendy Harmer series, In Harmer’s Way.
Tuesday:  Veteran actress Queenie Ashton (pictured) is a guest star in this week’s episode of GP (ABC).  HSV7 crosses live to the Sydney Cricket Ground for the AFL State Of Origin match between NSW and Victoria, presented by Bruce McAvaney.
Thursday:  Annie Jones guest stars in The Flying Doctors (GTV9).

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

Ten West ready for take off

Regional WA’s new channel, Ten West, is ready to start its rollout across WA – with viewers in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Mawson, Mingenew and Karratha able to receive programs from 9.00am today, 10 June.

Viewers in these areas with digital tuners will be able to access the full range of Network Ten programs, including Ten News, The Simpsons, Neighbours, The 7PM Project, Good News Week, MasterChef, The Circle and US hits including Glee and Modern Family.

Up until now, only a selection of Network Ten programming was made available to regional WA viewers via WIN. 

Viewers in Bunbury, Bridgetown, Mandurah, Manjimup, Margaret River, Nannup, Pemberto and Geraldton will be part of the next stage of Ten West’s rollout, due to be completed by 31 December.

Like similar channels that have launched in recent years in Darwin, Mildura and Tasmania, Ten West is being broadcast exclusively in digital and its rollout will coincide with the launch of digital broadcasts from existing networks WIN and GWN in the respective regions.

ABC and SBS are already broadcasting in digital in many regional WA centres.

Source: Kalgoorlie Miner

Adriana Xenides

Former television personality Adriana Xenides has died in a Sydney hospital after being admitted a few days ago with a stomach complaint.

Born in Argentina, model Xenides rose to fame in Australia as the co-host of game show Wheel Of Fortune. She was with the show alongside host Ernie Sigley when the Adelaide-based show began production in 1981 and continued with the show through until 1999. At the time she was recognised by the Guinness Book Of Records as the longest-serving game show hostess in the world. 

After Wheel Of Fortune, Xenides appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother and as a panellist on Beauty And The Beast.

In 2007 she appeared on Today Tonight to reveal that she was suffering from a digestive disorder thought to be genetic.

Source: Wikipedia

Lynda Stoner goes undercover for animal rights

In the 1970s and ‘80s, Lynda Stoner was one of TV’s glamour girls.  After being crowned Miss TV Times (pictured) in 1976, she went on to star in popular dramas The Young Doctors, Cop Shop and Prisoner.

But, in a report this weekend in the Sydney Morning Herald, Stoner’s latest ‘role’ is as far removed from the bright lights of showbiz as can be imagined.

A long-time vegan and campaigner for animal rights, Stoner reveals how she and an Animal Liberation colleague recently spent two days ‘undercover’ at a pig dogging workshop.  A black wig, dark-rimmed glasses and a $12 wedding ring from Paddy’s Market saw Lynda Stoner, actor and animal rights activist, transformed into ‘Linda Brown’, pig dogger and game hunting enthusiast:

''The only way to do it is to go in there and try to dissociate, to mentally put yourself in another place and know that you're doing it to try to get this terrible thing stopped.''

Pig dogging is where pigs are pursued and caught by dogs and then killed with knives. It has been legal in declared state forests since March 2006:

''It's such an underground culture. I've spoken to other hunters; they are so disparaging of pig doggers. They are the lowest of the low.”

''If they're proposing this is to reduce the number of feral animals, it's the most disgusting, most barbaric, most brutal thing they could do.''

The information that Stoner and a colleague collected from the workshop will be used for Animal Liberation’s campaign against pig dogging.

The full report is on the Sydney Morning Herald website.

ABT2 launch signals ABC milestone

The first stage of the national roll-out of ABC’s television network was Sydney and Melbourne, completed in 1956, and the second stage was to expand ABC to the so-called “BAPH” cities – Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart.  ABT2 Hobart was the last of these to go to air when it launched on 4 June 1960.

Thousands of viewers on a cold Hobart night watched as Postmaster-General Mr C W Davidson officially opened ABT2 shortly after the test pattern faded at 7.00pm. 

Dame Enid Lyons, Australia’s first ever female politician and Resident Commissioner for the ABC in Tasmania, was on hand to introduce on-camera the distinguished guests that had arrived at the new studios in Harrington Street.  The new studios, which started construction in November 1958, were built at a cost of £120,000 and would house all local operations for the national broadcaster, including an orchestral studio.

Mr Davidson also personally acknowledged the special efforts of the State Government, Hobart’s city council and the Hydro Electric Commission for their co-operation in assisting the Postmaster-General’s Department and ABC in getting the necessary infrastructure in place in very challenging conditions – in particular the extreme weather conditions at the transmitter site on top of Mount Wellington, with extreme winds, ice, snow and rain causing any number of challenges.

ABC chairman Sir Richard Boyer said that it was apparent, after three years of television on the mainland, that the new medium would represent a significant change to Tasmanian society:

“Television can be of great benefit to the community and can give enjoyment to thousands of people in the comfort of their own homes.  I think it is clear to all, now, that the coming of television is itself historic and socially critical.  Whether we like it or not it marks a new dimension in civilised life.

“Our homes, our habits, leisure, and our educational, religious and political life cannot fail to be affected by it.  It is just not a new toy.  It is something each of us, as the years go on, will have to make terms with – fitting the new into the old and, we hope, adding colour and meaning to life by its employment, while still retaining the essential values of our traditional culture.

After the opening speeches, ABT2 presented its first 15-minute news bulletin, followed by imported shows Wells Fargo, The Phil Silvers Show and The Square Ring.  A half-hour show, Preview, presented performances from local artists.

Flashbacks On The News featured ABC film footage of news events of recent years, including royal visits and significant local and mainland events.

Growing Up With Guba finished off the opening night’s programs.

ABT2 was launched only a couple of weeks after Hobart’s local commercial channel, TVT6, began official transmission.

The third stage of the national rollout of ABC’s national network started in 1962 with the launch of ABC3 Canberra and the planned launch of 32 regional stations around Australia over the next four years.

Source: The Mercury, 3 June 1960 and 6 June 1960.
Reference: 50 Years: Aunty’s Jubilee – Celebrating 50 Years of ABC TV.  Tim Bowden and Wendy Borchers.  ABC Books, 2006.

Michael Schildberger

Former journalist and broadcaster Michael Schildberger has died in hospital in Melbourne at the age of 72, after a 13-year battle with prostate cancer.

Schildberger started his career in journalism as a cadet reporter for The Sun newspaper in Melbourne in 1955. He later moved to GTV9 in 1958 as a reporter. During his many years at GTV9 he appeared on programs including Newsbeat and Federal File.

In the 1970s he became a producer and host of the original A Current Affair for the Nine Network – winning a TV Week Logie award in 1976 for best TV interviewer.

In 1979 he became news director at Melbourne’s ATV0, including a short stint as co-newsreader for Eyewitness News. He was also news chief at radio station Fox FM when it launched in mid-1980.

During the 1980s, Schildberger presented morning talkback on radio station 3DB (pictured) and later for ABC radio station 3LO. TV appearances included guest hosting HSV7’s local current affairs program Day By Day, and presenting a magazine series, Tech Talk, on Channel 0/28 (now SBS).

He later founded the media production and consultancy company Business Essentials and published an autobiography, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Michael Schildberger is survived by his four children. His wife Julia passed away some time ago.

Source: Herald Sun, Australian Television Information Archive, The Age 1 September 1983, The Age 4 April 1985.

1990: May 12-18

What a sweet cop!
Since leaving A Country Practice, Josephine Mitchell has worked in theatre in Perth, holidayed in the UK and formed a production company with fellow actors Sarah Lambert, Wendy Strehlow and Maureen O”Shaughnessy.  Now she is back at the Seven Network – as a policewoman in Home And Away.  Mitchell’s character, Constable Jane Holland, wins the heart of Grant Mitchell (Craig McLachlan).  But when comparing working for TV with working in the theatre, Mitchell says TV is definitely harder.  “I get much more nervous on television than I do on stage,” Mitchell told TV Week.  “You have more rehearsal time with a play, whereas on TV you do it on the spot a lot of the time.  TV’s harder, for sure.” Meanwhile, the new production company is planning to launch its first stage production, Dusa, Stash, Fish And Vi, later this year. 

‘Good ol’ sex… well, it beats violence!’
It is an old saying that sex sells – it worked for Number 96, and now another Network Ten series is following a similar path.  E Street has never been coy about discussing human relationships – a recent episode featured Sonny Bennet (Richard Huggett) in a late-night encounter with a topless waitress.  Now two of the show’s popular characters – Harley (Malcolm Kennard) and Toni (Toni Pearen) are also going to find out there is more to the old birds and bees as they take their relationship to the next level.  “What we are trying to do is make the show as identifiable as possible,” producer Forrest Redlich told TV Week.  “We’ve had no trouble with the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal at all, because what we’ve done is within the context of the story.  I think, seriously, that a bit of good ol’ sex is much more favourable a thing to be putting on screen at 7.30pm rather than violence.”

‘When John walked in I felt sparks!’
When US actress Cybill Shepherd first laid eyes on her new Australian co-star John Waters (pictured) she said sparks flew.  “It made me feel good,” said the 40-year-old former Moonlighting star.  “John has an interesting face and he is very attractive.”  The pair are working together on a new mini-series, Which Way Home, for the Ten Network and the American network TNT.  The $6 million production is being filmed on location in New Zealand, Darwin and Thailand.

Briefly…
Australian performer Kate Ceberano is in Monte Carlo to appear in the World Music Awards.  The event is a charity created by the royal family of Monaco to recognise creative music from around the world.

Nine’s 60 Minutes has assembled a group of nine elite athletes to battle it out in a gruelling 24 hours of physical endurance over eight events.  One of the competitors, Sports Sunday’s Lisa Curry-Kenny, did concede to having a slight disadvantage – she was the only one who was pregnant, though at the time did not know it.  “I was still doing my normal exercise routine and, other than a few ‘off’ weeks, I haven’t even been sick,” she says.

The Nine Network has reunited two former teenage stars as hosts of its Saturday morning children’s show, C Company.  Kristine Davis, 20, has been in television for ten years – starting as a junior reporter for Wombat at the age of 10.  Her colleague Tony Johnston was the host of the former music video program Jukebox, and the pair studied drama together as teenagers and appeared in various amateur theatre and musical productions.

John Laws says…
”Steve Vizard was probably pretty sure he could beat off the challenge of Clive Robertson on Nine, but that may not be the case, in Sydney anyway.  Robbo knocked him off 9 to 8 in a recent ratings period.  This could be ominous, given the enormously high cost of producing the Vizard show (Tonight Live).  Even a slight downward trend in the ratings could see the Seven management’s bean-counters begin to work feverishly.  And, in the end, it will be dollars and cents that decide everything.”

Program Highlights (May 12-18):
Saturday:  ABC crosses live to Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup Final – Manchester United versus Crystal Palace.  The telecast starts at 11.40pm and continues for three hours.
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Agatha Christie’s The Man In The Brown Suit (GTV9) and Bat 21 (ATV10).  HSV7 presents the first instalment of mini-series Roses Are For The Rich, and ABC’s Sunday Stereo Special features the 1989 Kirov Ballet production of The Sleeping Beauty, performed in Montreal.
Tuesday:  SBS presents a new program, Common Cents, aiming to provide financial advice in lay terms for the average Australian.  This is followed by an Italian short film, Rabbit On The Moon, which focuses on an Italian girl growing up in Australia.
Wednesday:  Jason Gilkison and Molly Meldrum (pictured) are guest judges for the First Series final of New Faces (GTV9), hosted by Daryl Somers.
Friday:  HSV7 crosses to the Sydney Cricket Ground for live AFL – Sydney Swans versus Geelong.

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

50 years of NZ TV

While New Zealand television is not normally covered on this blog, we would like to extend congratulations across the Tasman on the occasion of 50 years of television in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s first TV station, AKTV2 Auckland, signed on at 7.30pm on 1 June 1960.  Transmission was initially limited to two nights a week but was extended to four nights the following month.

Although New Zealand television was funded by viewers’ licence fees, a limited amount of advertising was allowed to boost funds – but advertising was limited to only a couple of days a week.

Television extended to Christchurch (CHTV3) and Wellington (WNTV1) in 1961 and Dunedin (DNTV2) in 1962. 

All four channels, though owned by the national broadcaster NZBC, were basically operating in isolation of each other.  It was in 1969 that all four channels were first linked up via a temporary microwave link to allow simultaneous transmission of the moon landing – although viewers were still seeing images after the event, as New Zealand was yet to establish satellite-receiving facilities and had to rely on film sent over from Australia.

A satellite link was established in 1971, and in 1972 New Zealanders watched the Melbourne Cup live via satellite.  Nationally networked programming was launched in 1973.

Colour television began in New Zealand in November 1973 – over a year ahead of Australia – but it was not without its challenges.  Colour coverage of the 1974 Commonwealth Games from Auckland was limited only to swimming, track and field and boxing events as the network did not have enough facilities to allow colour broadcast of all events.

A restructure of the nation’s public broadcasting interests was implemented in 1975 – with NZBC split up into separate radio and television divisions, and the splitting up of the single television network into two competing networks – TV One and TV2 – giving New Zealanders a choice of TV channels for the first time.

By 1980, the two networks are brought back under the one organisation, TVNZ, but maintaining the two-channel structure.

The end of the 1980s marked the arrival of New Zealand’s first privately-owned commercial television network, TV3.  The new network, bringing an end to almost thirty years of the state-owned monopoly, collapsed into receivership shortly after going to air – not able to compete with the Auckland Commonwealth Games and a stockpile of first-run programming being thrown against it by the two-channel TVNZ giant.  TV3 is later bought out by the Canadian CanWest organisation, a company that also bought a share of Australia’s Network Ten as it too was recovering from financial decline.

CanWest also supplemented TV3 with a second network, TV4, in 1997.  The new network, providing youth-focused programming, is later reworked into a music and entertainment channel, C4.

Pay television entered the New Zealand market in the 1990s with Sky Television, and a new free-to-air commercial network, Prime Television, is formed as a joint venture between Australia’s Nine Network and regional network Prime.  Prime in New Zealand is now owned by Sky.

Digital television commenced transmission in New Zealand in 2007 with the broadcasters providing a joint initiative, Freeview.  All free-to-air networks are carried on Freeview, with the addition of extra channels such as TVNZ6 (family and NZ-based programming) and TVNZ7 (news) and niche-format channels covering various genres including indigenous, multicultural, religious, public affairs and community programming.

To commemorate 50 years of New Zealand television, and to coincide with a special to go to air on 1 June, TVNZ has produced a special website, Cheers To 50 Years, including archival footage, trivia and tributes to half a century of television.

Source: TVNZ, Wikipedia, Freeview

1990: May 5-11

Love is on the air!
The frustrated relationship between nurse Lucy Gardiner (Georgie Parker) and Wandin Valley vet Matt Tyler (John Tarrant) takes a new turn when, in episodes to air this week, Tyler decides to propose marriage when presenting his “Valley Vet” radio show.  But, despite the engagement, marriage for the pair (pictured) is still a long way off.  “There are more twists and turns,” Parker told TV Week.

Skippy bounces back
The legendary children’s series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo is about to make a comeback in a new series for the Nine Network.  Nine’s drama chief Alan Bateman says that the new Skippy will be more in tune with the modern-day concerns for the environment.  “Skippy in this generation is going to be very environmentally aware.  The storylines will focus on genuine environmental issues such as preserving our native forests, land degradation and protecting endangered species,” Bateman told TV Week.

Soapie saga stumbles on!
While Nine’s evening soap Family And Friends is struggling to find an audience a far less likely ‘drama’ is giving the network a ratings spike.  A Town Like Dallas, created as a send-up of daytime soaps and, in particular, the Seven Network’s daytime drama The Power The Passion, is a weekly segment on Midday With Ray Martin and has become a hit with viewers.  The mock soap opera, featuring in the show’s last quarter hour each Friday, has clocked up 50 episodes with guest stars including John Mangos, Don Burke, Glenn Shorrock, Geoff Harvey, Queenie Ashton, Angry Anderson, Yahoo Serious and US actors Emma Samms and Thaao Penghlis appearing alongside segment regulars Gretel Killeen, David Argue, Ross Daniels and Shane Bourne and the show’s host, Ray Martin.  Within a few weeks of its launch, A Town Like Dallas was getting ratings of 17, a huge ratings figure for a daytime timeslot, and The Power The Passion was rating two.

Kate’s a class act!
It’s hard work being a child on a TV series – that’s the verdict from 11-year-old Kate Ritchie who has played orphan Sally Keating in Home And Away for the last three years.  “Sometimes I wish I could just be at school,” she says.  “It’s very hard work, but I do enjoy being on Home And Away very much.  I’m so fortunate to be doing what I do.”  Ritchie names Tracy Mann and Nicole Kidman as her favourite actors.  “I worked with Tracy on the mini-series Cyclone Tracy.  I was the little girl who got sucked out of the bathroom!”  But despite her years in showbusiness, Ritchie is thinking of other pursuits for the future.  “I want to be an architect.  I also hope to keep acting.”

Briefly…
Former Neighbours co-stars Peter O’Brien and Elaine Smith have called an end to their four-year relationship.  The split is said to be amicable, caused largely by the actors working apart – with O’Brien spending a lot of time in the UK and Smith commuting back and forth.

After a “disappointingly quiet” couple of years, actor Andrew Clarke is returning to TV in a guest appearance on the US series Mission: Impossible, being filmed in Australia.  Clarke is also currently working on a children’s series, The Girl From Tomorrow, for the Nine Network.

The somewhat touchy topic of hair loss is being tackled on Seven’s comedy series Hey Dad! – with Simon Kelly (Chris Mayer) contemplating a bald future after sister Debbie (Simone Buchanan) plays a prank to make him think he is losing his hair.

John Laws says…
”At time of writing, my viewing of Skirts (starring Tracy Mann, pictured) has been limited to the opening two-hour telemovie – but it was more than enough to convince me that the Simpson Le Mesurier production house has come up with the most significant Australian TV drama series in years.  All it needs is to avoid slipping into the Cop Shop “soapie” mould and it can become a long-distance runner in the ratings game.”

Program Highlights (May 5-11):
Saturday:  HSV7 presents the 1959 four-hour movie epic, Ben Hur, starring Charlton Heston.
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Once Upon A Texas Train (HSV7), The Holcroft Covenant (GTV9) and Colors (ATV10).  ABC presents the debut of a new documentary series, Hindsights, hosted by Geraldine Doogue and Chris Masters.  And SBS presents its annual telecast of the Eurovision Song Contest, this year being held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, with 22 countries competing for the right to host the event next year.
Monday:  In A Country Practice (HSV7), Bob Hatfield (Gordon Piper) fights for his life after a bee sting.  And Luke (Matt Day) and Shirley (Lorrae Desmond) visit Father Moore’s refuge in Sydney.
Tuesday:  Andrew Clarke and Patrick Ward are guest stars in this week’s episode of Mission: Impossible (GTV9).
Wednesday:  ABC presents a one-hour special, Tales Of Helpmann, a profile of Sir Robert Helpmann, one of the theatre world’s most controversial, outspoken and flamboyant identities.  ATV10 presents a late-night delayed telecast of the Rugby League State Of Origin from the Sydney Football Stadium.
Thursday:  SBS makes an early-morning (4.00am) cross to Sweden for the final of the European Cup Winners Cup.  For those that are not early-risers, SBS repeats the match at 10.25pm.

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

1990: April 28-May 4

Cover: Linda Hartley and ‘Bouncer’ (Neighbours)

‘It started as an innocent relationship…’
Former Neighbours star Rachel Friend has spoken publicly for the first time about her relationship with former co-star Craig McLachlan.  The TV Week Logie award-winning actress said the relationship started very innocently.  “Going to the pictures, that sort of thing.  People picked up on that, but there was nothing to pick up on.  Since then, I can’t deny there is more to it.  We are very happy together.”  Since leaving Neighbours, Friend has been in the UK to film Mission: Top Secret for Grundy Productions and has now moved to Sydney to be with McLachlan, who is now starring in Home And Away.

It’s a deal… no joke!
Media Arts, the production company run by Ian McFadyen and Maryanne Fahey, has signed a lucrative deal with Crawfords Australia.  Terry Ohlsson, chief executive of Crawfords, has said that a new comedy project is being devised by the partnership and is under consideration from one of the networks.  Meanwhile, Media Arts – producers of The Comedy Company – are set to go ahead with another series, Let The Blood Run Free, a sitcom set in a hospital, starring Jean Kittson, Peter Rowsthorn, Lynda Gibson and Brian Nankervis.  There is also speculation that The Comedy Company, that went into extended hiatus at the close of 1989, could be back on air soon in a new series.

Doctors warn Maurie: ‘Take it easy!’
Hey Hey It’s Saturday and The Flying Doctors star Maurie Fields has been told by doctors to take it easy after a recent health scare.  Fields, who suffered a mild heart attack last year, took ill following a working holiday in Hawaii with wife Val Jellay.  “Maurie was having a bit of trouble breathing but he thought it was the humidity and jetlag,” Jellay told TV Week.  “But it was because he was a bit overweight and there was fluid on his lungs.  He has since taken off 9 and a half kilograms and he’s on a very strict diet, but he’s fine.”  The couple (pictured), who performed their famous vaudeville routine while in Hawaii, also used the trip to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.

Briefly…
Home And Away star Rebekah Elmaloglou has spoken of some of the unwanted attention gained from starring in a popular soapie.  “In the early days it was easy for people to get my phone number with a name like Elmaloglou!  We had people ringing all the time.  I didn’t mind saying hello and having a bit of a chat, but then older boys – men – started ringing.  We had one really bad, sexually abusive call.”

E Street’s new bad boy, Sonny Bennet (Richard Huggett, pictured) is moving into the neighbourhood after five years in prison – but the character does bear something of a resemblance to E Street’s former bad boy, Wheels (Marcus Graham).  Despite the similarities, Hugget is not worried that the producers may be using his character to resurrect Wheels.  “There is no need.  Sonny is a good character,” he tells TV Week.

Steve Vizard (pictured) reflects on the first few months of his new late-night show, Tonight Live.  “It’s actually like having a big toy,” he says.  “Someone lets you into a studio and says, ‘Well, here it is.  Here’s all the cameramen and all the facilities, now you make a show.’  And we can do anything we like.  We have to con them into giving us OB (outside broadcast) vans occasionally.  But, if we want, we can do the show from a pizza shop or a submarine or even from my place.”  Tonight Live has given Seven some pleasing late-night ratings, helping the network win its first ratings survey in two years.

John Laws says…
”One program that has had a significant impact in the past year is ABC’s Media Watch – The Last Word.  It’s an impressive 15 minutes of television because it pulls no punches in making a point.  Presenter Stuart Littlemore adopts a slightly supercilious and a schoolmastery approach, but perhaps this is exactly what’s required when you are skinning alive your mates in the media.”

Program Highlights (April 28-May 4):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses live to Carrara, Queensland, for Brisbane Bears versus Melbourne in AFL.  Later in the evening, ABC crosses to Wembley to a live telecast of the Silk Cut Challenge Cup Final.
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Challenger (HSV7), Police Academy V: Assignment Miami Beach (GTV9) and House On Carroll Street (ATV10).
Tuesday:  SBS presents the 1977 UK special, Twenty-One, the third chapter in the 7 Up documentary series which has interviewed its subjects every seven years from the time they are 7 years old.  SBS follows this up on Wednesday night with the latest instalment in the series, 28 Up.

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