Game over for Wimbledon

Nine’s Wide World Of Sports just got a little bit smaller with news today that the network plans to end its long-term association with the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

Nine has cited falling viewer support for the event in recent years as the reason for the move and as a result has decided it would rather spend the $15 million in licensing and broadcasting the world’s premier tennis event each year on boosting its bid for the rights to cover AFL football when the current arrangement expires at the end of the 2011 season.

Nine’s bid for AFL is set to include more live coverage – something that the current incumbents Seven and Ten are less likely to do – and support for a high-profile Monday night fixture.

Wimbledon was first telecast in Australia on ABC in the late 1960s, with limited coverage of finals matches and highlights packages, at a time when satellite telecasts to Australia were still in their infancy. 

Nine’s broadcasting of Wimbledon dates back to 1977, forming part of Kerry Packer’s strategy of building up the network’s schedule with major television and sporting events.  Packer also used to head to Wimbledon where he had an elaborate marquee set up to wine and dine with friends and business partners.

The opportunity may exist for another network to pick up the Wimbledon rights.  The event would be a perfect fit for Ten’s sports channel, One HD, but the network may be reluctant to commit to any bid for the rights pending the review of the anti-siphoning legislation which currently prevents key sporting events being televised exclusively on digital television.

Source: Herald Sun
Picture: What’s On The Tube

ABC News 24 to launch 22 July

ABC has finally announced the launch date for its new 24-hour news channel, ABC News 24.

The new channel, broadcasting Australia-wide on digital channel 24, will launch at 7.30pm (AEST) on Thursday 22 July.

In an email to ABC staff, General Manager Mark Scott acknowledged the effort in getting the channel to air and looked forward to a new era in news broadcasting:

"It has been a remarkable effort to get us to this point and my thanks go to all concerned."

"We are keen to get on air and provide what I am sure will be outstanding coverage of the 2010 federal election campaign on News 24.”

"A 24/7 news channel is a significant challenge and doubtlessly we will face intense scrutiny from our competitors, but we are looking to make a strong start and to get better every day.

"I know our audiences are going to appreciate having the great work of ABC journalists in Australia and around the world available free of charge, at all times - on television, online and on mobile."

Launching the channel will be ABC News 24 Launch – ABC News Special which will be on ABC1 at 7.30pm and on ABC News 24 at the same time in the eastern states.  The channel will broadcast from new custom-built studios in the broadcaster’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney.

ABC News 24 will be broadcast live across Australia, regardless of timezone and will be instantly available through all ABC digital TV transmitters which currently cover around 97.7 per cent of the Australian population. 

Viewers will need a high-definition digital TV or set-top-box to access the channel.  Those with existing digital TVs or tuners may need to complete a re-scan to pick up the new channel. 

The new channel will also be available on Foxtel channel 202, Austar channel 24 and will be streamed live from ABC News Online, ABC iView and also via an iPhone application.

ABC News 24 will also be facing some fierce opposition, both on and off screen.  Since the channel was first announced back in January, News Limited (who is a joint venture partner in Sky News Australia with the Seven and Nine networks) has criticised the national broadcaster and through its newspapers, such as The Australian, has questioned and attacked the ABC’s ability to provide a 24-hour news channel and its appropriateness in doing so as a taxpayer-funded venture.

ABC and Sky News Australia will also soon be competing for the Government’s multi-million dollar contract to operate the international television service, Australia Network, on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the next five years.  The network, which broadcasts to 44 countries, is currently being operated by ABC.  

Source: ABC, ABC News

Prime shuts down regional studios

Prime Television, the regional Seven Network affiliate servicing New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT and Western Australia, is reported to be closing down two of its studio facilities as it faces the cost of digital conversion.

The Australian reports that Prime is set to close down its studios in the NSW towns of Orange and Wagga Wagga and will move ahead with plans to centralise local news production for those towns in Canberra.

The Orange-based station is the former base of regional station CBN8 which commenced operation in 1962 as one of the first regional stations in New South Wales.  The Wagga Wagga studio is the former regional station RVN2 which began broadcasting in 1964.

Both CBN8 and RVN2 were incorporated into the Prime Television network in the 1980s in the lead-up to the process of aggregation, the process used to expand choice to regional viewers in the eastern states.

Prime’s Tamworth studios, the former local station NEN9, is also said to be shutting down.

Prime will maintain some news staff in the affected towns but the stories will be compiled and half-hour news bulletins produced from Canberra.

TV Tonight reports that Prime’s Albury studios, the base of its Victorian network, has been upgraded to digital at a cost of less than $100,000.  Prime’s Albury studios currently produce a half-hour bulletin for the Albury-Wodonga region, while producing only brief news updates for other regions across the state.

It is unknown if Prime intends to make any changes to its production structure for its Western Australian operation, GWN, which covers the entire state outside of Perth from studios in Bunbury.

The move by Prime in NSW represents the continuing decline in regional television production since the advent of aggregation and the national conversion to digital transmission – but Prime are not alone in centralising regional production.  Prime’s main competitor, WIN, has centralised local production to one or two sites in each of the eastern states, and Southern Cross Ten operates a central production facility in Canberra for its regional network that spans the eastern seaboard from Cairns to Warrnambool.

Regional networks such as Prime, WIN and Southern Cross Ten do face significant costs in upgrading studio and transmission facilities to digital to cover smaller audiences over much wider areas when compared to capital city networks – and it does appear that not much of the $250 million licence fee rebate handed out by the Government to the commercial TV sector has made its way to the regional operators.

The pressure is also on regional networks to complete the transition to digital infrastructure as regional areas will lead the shutdown of analogue services as it progresses around Australia. 

Source: The Australian, TV Tonight

1990: June 30-July 6

Cover: Warren Beatty, Madonna (Dick Tracy)

Cancer scare!
A Country Practice star Georgie Parker is set to tackle her toughest storyline to date with upcoming episodes featuring a dramatic cancer scare for her character Lucy Gardiner.  The scare prompts Lucy to call off her planned wedding to Matt Tyler (John Tarrant) and she plans to leave Wandin Valley to go home to her mother.  “She’s an absolute mess of emotions,” Parker told TV Week.  “It was actually very hard because I’m a very logical person and I couldn’t understand this totally illogical behaviour.”

 

Knock the rock!
When Fast Forward’s Gina Riley heard Sinead O’Connor’s ballad Nothing Compares 2 U, she loved it.  But that didn’t stop her sending up the bald singer in a Fast Forward skit (pictured).  Since joining the cast of the Seven Network comedy series, Riley has performed parodies of other pop stars including Dannii Minogue, Madonna, Paula Abdul and Stevie Nicks.  “The great thing about rock ‘n roll is that everyone takes themselves so seriously, so it is perfect to send up,” Riley told TV Week.  “The sketches are not meant to be offensive.  I love most of the songs I do.”  Riley attributes the success of her sketches to the excellent work of make-up artist Barb Cousins.  So confident of Cousin’s abilities, Riley is thinking of taking off a male performer – although she did once attempt to do John Farnham’s You’re The Voice.  “And boy, they hated it,” she said.  “It was a bit like ‘you leave him alone!’.  People enjoy it if you sound a bit like the original song but, if not, it just sounds like you’re being bitchy.  It is hard to get that male timbre into your voice, but I’m sure it will come along soon.”

Murder at the Logies
Home And Away star Judy Nunn (pictured) has been busy during her spare moments on the set of the Seven Network series.  For the past year she has been working on what she hopes will be a best-selling novel and, possibly, a mini-series.  Having already written four children’s novels, The Glitter Game is Nunn’s first attempt at writing adult literature and promises all the ingredients of a best-seller.  “Sex, murder and intrigue – The Glitter Game has got it all,” Nunn tells TV Week.  The novel is a behind-the-scenes look at the Australian television industry, with the fast-paced story culminating in a murder at the TV Week Logie Awards.  But Nunn stresses that the story is entirely fiction.  “It’s inevitable people are going to want to play guessing games – but the novel is all tongue-in-cheek,” she says.  It is not the first time the actress has tackled the television industry – viewers will recall Nunn played the role of a bisexual reporter in the 1970s drama The Box, a series based on the workings of a television station. 

Briefly…
Rowena Wallace (pictured), Rebecca Smart, Gary Sweet, Robert Grubb, Bruno Lawrence, Maggie Dence and Penne Hackforth-Jones are just some of the famous stars to feature in More Winners, a series of children’s dramas about to appear on ABC as a follow-up from the original Winners series (screened on Network Ten).

Former Wombat host Jill Ray and her husband Michael Black have announced the birth of their first child, Joel, born in Brisbane last month.  Ray, a TV Week Logie Award winner in Queensland, has left the Seven Network for motherhood although she will be continuing her role as co-host on the breakfast show on Brisbane radio station 4KQ.

A Current Affair reporter Martin King has a reputation of being the hard-nosed “foot in the door” reporter, but he says that having presented more than 300 stories for ACA and its predecessor, Willesee, only about 15 to 20 have been walk-ins.  “But they’re the ones people remember most,” he says.

John Laws says…
”It’s easy to despair of Network Ten.  Bereft of much ratings-winning material and languishing behind Nine and Seven in the ratings, it at least has a surefire attention-grabber with its rugby league telecasts.  But what happens?  Ten botches it.  When the season began, Ten’s Friday Night League was live at 7.30pm, which should have been great.  The preponderance of commercial breaks – often at crucial moments during a game – led to complaints from viewers.  Lots of them.  Ten’s reaction was to halt the live coverage and switch to a delayed telecast at 8.30pm, a cure considered by most keen football fans as worse than the original disease.  As I see it, the only reason for switching to 8.30pm, and robbing viewers of the “as it happens” excitement, is to enable Ten to more easily slot in as many ads as they can.  Sure, Ten has to get in its commercials.  That’s what free enterprise TV is all about.  But all they needed to do was do it properly.”

Program Highlights (June 30-July 6):
Saturday:  SBS (and ABC regionals) present coverage overnight of the quarter finals in the World Cup, live from Italy.

Sunday:  ABC presents the debut of More Winners, a series of children’s dramas .  The first instalment, His Master’s Ghost, stars Jonathan Hardy, Simon Grey, Erica Kennedy, Cathy Godbold and Scott Major.  Sunday night movies are Witness (HSV7), Little Nikita (GTV9) and Thief (ATV10).  There are two more World Cup quarter finals live on SBS (and ABC regionals) after midnight.

Monday:  GTV9 starts its second week of coverage of tennis from Wimbledon, with coverage starting at 10.35pm and continuing to 4.30am each night.

Tuesday:  ABC presents The Big Gig Rejigged, a highlights package of comedy series The Big Gig with Wendy Harmer.

Wednesday/Thursday:  SBS (and ABC regionals) present early-morning coverage of the World Cup semi-finals at 3.30am on both days.  SBS also supplements its World Cup coverage during the week with prime-time screenings of the films documenting the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups.

 Friday:  HSV7’s Friday night AFL features Richmond versus the Brisbane Bears.

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

ABC previews News 24

The launch of ABC’s long-awaited 24-hour news channel, ABC News 24, is getting closer.

While no official announcement of a launch date has been made by ABC, earlier this week MediaSpy reported that an ABC insider had advised that the channel could be on the air as early as this Wednesday or next.  The channel’s launch, originally rumoured for early July, was said to have been postponed after concerns were raised over the broadcaster’s reporting of the recent political leadership challenge.

The coverage of the political upheaval highlighted some of the technical hitches in ABC’s transition to a new centralised playout facility, MediaHub, being set up as a joint venture between ABC and regional network WIN and which will co-ordinate the on-air presentation for the channels of both broadcasters, including ABC News 24.

Meanwhile, a preview of the new channel is now online on ABC’s YouTube channel and is now being rolled out across Australia on digital channel 24, the future home of ABC News 24.

ABC News 24 will feature a mix of live, continuous news reporting plus exclusive programming and time-shifted news and current affairs programming from ABC’s existing channels.

Some of the presenters to appear on ABC News 24 include ABC newsreaders Juanita Phillips and Jeremy Fernandez, 7.30 Report political editor Chris Uhlmann, ABC News Breakfast co-hosts Virginia Trioli and Joe O’Brien, former foreign correspondents Scott Bevan and Jane Hutcheon and Lateline Business host Ali Moore.  The channel will draw on the resources of 800 journalists based in over 60 locations throughout Australia and from a dozen international bureaux.

The channel will be based in a new purpose-built studio inside ABC’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney.

Source: ABC News 24, Media Watch

1990: June 23-29

Together again!
Home And Away star Nicolle Dickson is to be reunited with her former on-air partner Alex Papps on the English stage.  Papps, now starring in The Flying Doctors, and Dickson, who has just married fiance James Bell (pictured, with Dickson and Papps), will co-star in the production of Cinderella to be staged at the De Montford Theatre, Leicester, over the Christmas break.

‘The Hurricane’ roars back in!
The “Burrigan Hurricane” is on her way back into Wandin Valley!  Matron Hilda Arrowsmith (June Salter) is returning to the popular A Country Practice.  “Yes, she’s about to wreak havoc once again!” says Salter.  “Once every 12 months I get called in to upset the applecart and try and lure someone away from Wandin Valley to join me at Burrigan Hospital.  The victims this time are the new matron, Ann Brennan (Mary Regan) and Dr Terence Elliott (Shane Porteous).”  And with the doctor bedridden due an injured foot, he is an easy target for the fiery matron who also has a keen eye for him.  Dr Elliott decides that as he wants to get information from her, he gives the impression that he feels the same way about her.  The scenes between the two were said to have the crew roaring with laughter. 

Bert’s back… on Sale!
After a five-year absence, Bert Newton (pictured) is returning to the Nine Network as a guest contestant on Sale Of The Century as part of the show’s tenth anniversary.  The week-long Celebrity Challenge will also feature celebrities, politicians and sports stars including Cameron Daddo, Peta Toppano, George Negus, Lisa Curry-Kenny, Simon O’Donnell, Andrew Gaze, Gough Whitlam and Don Chipp.  “We’ve been talking about doing a ‘celebrity Sale’ since 1981 so it’s very exciting to see it happen,” host Tony Barber told TV Week. 

Briefly…
Steve Vizard is planning to send his Tonight Live show on a trip to the UK, with a week of shows to be hosted from London in September.  Vizard is keen to have the show “travel” from its Melbourne base more often, with more regular trips to Sydney in the pipeline.

Wheel Of Fortune host John Burgess has said there is pain behind his on-screen smiles, due to arthritis and injuries caused by a tennis career as a teenager.  “I’ve had problems for a few years,” he tells TV Week.  “It’s a legacy of playing tennis seven days a week for 12 hours from when I was nine to 19.”  And while flying his weekly commute from Perth to Adelaide does his injuries no help at all, he insists that the show must go on and the show’s popularity helps numb the pain.  “The show has been number one for the past two years,” he says.

The Sunday night ratings battle steps up a notch this week with the series return of ABC’s That’s Dancin’.  Due to its popularity last year the series has been extended this year from 13 to 21 episodes and there are plans to expand the format with a book and video to be launched.  There are also negotiations with a US network to create a local version there.

John Laws says…
”Kerry O’Brien’s Lateline on ABC has, after several months on-air, moulded itself into a slick, intelligent piece of late-night current affairs viewing.  It has, though, a couple of major problems.  Probably the most important is that it will never achieve any significant ratings.  Why?  Because it is pitched up against two heavyweight contenders on the rival commercials channels of Seven and Nine.  So it’s a tough task for Kerry O’Brien to weight in against Steve Vizard (Seven) and Clive Robertson (Nine) and attract any sizeable ratings for ABC.”

Program Highlights (June 23-29):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses to Brisbane for AFL between Brisbane Bears and Essendon.  ABC’s late night movie is the acclaimed Citizen Kane.

Sunday:  ABC presents the series return of That’s Dancin’, hosted by Paul Newman and Maureen Delacy with guest judge Rhonda Burchmore, as competitors aim for the title of 1990 Australian Television Dance Champions.  Sunday night movies are The Color Purple (GTV9) and Eyewitness (ATV10).  HSV7 presents the debut of mini-series From The Dead Of Night.  HSV7 then ends the night with an 80-minute special, Classic Hits, in simulcast with Melbourne’s new FM station, TTFM 101.1, which had launched the night before.

Monday:  GTV9 starts its annual two weeks’ coverage of Wimbledon, starting each night at 10.30pm and continuing through to 4.30am.

Tuesday:  HSV7 crosses to the WACA for the live telecast of AFL State Of Origin between WA and Victoria.  Sandy Roberts, Dennis Cometti and Bernie Quinlan head the coverage. 

Thursday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Andrew Carroll looks at a possible solution to save the Leaning Tower of Pisa from falling over.

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

1990: June 16-22

Cover: Josephine Mitchell, Craig McLachlan (Home And Away)

Wog out of work!
The Seven Network’s hit comedy Acropolis Now is now entering production of its third series but it will be without one of its key cast members.  Simon Palomares, who plays Ricky, has decided not to appear in the third series and will focus on a behind the scenes role.  “I think it got to the point where there were a few reasons for leaving,” he told TV Week.  “The main reason is that I’ve been doing ethnic humour longer than any of the three of us.  I think I’ve said as much as I can say on the subject.  There are a lot of other issues I want to get into.”  Palomares is preparing a pilot for a new comedy-adventure series and is planning a one-man show to go on stage later in the year.

Rebecca careers on
Actress Rebecca Gibney hasn’t looked back since she left the Nine Network’s The Flying Doctors last year.  As soon as she left the show, Gibney took on the role of Guinea (pictured) in ABC’s Come In Spinner and has just completed a new mini-series, Ring Of Scorpio, for Nine.  She is now about to start in a new sitcom for Nine.  Rhythm And Blues will feature Gibney alongside Jon English, whose character is a ‘60s rock star who hasn’t come to terms with the ‘90s.  “I’ve never done comedy before,” she told TV Week.  “When I shot the pilot I was terrified because I’d never worked in front of a live audience before.  That was very daunting.”  The new series is set to debut later in the year.

New York, here I come!
Andrew Daddo (pictured), former co-host of ABC’s The Factory, has landed a job with the US cable network, MTV.  Daddo caught the eye of MTV producers when the network screened an episode of The Factory, as part of the channel’s regular screenings of music shows from around the world.  “They do it to borrow ideas, which is the norm, and apparently someone walked past and my fat head caught in their eye.  They rang MTV in Sydney to find my agent’s number and asked me to send over a showreel.  A week later I was on a plane to New York,” he told TV Week.  The plum job is a far cry from Daddo being overlooked as a host for ABC’s new Countdown Revolution when it was formed last year, instead he was offered only a minor role on the new show which he left after only six weeks on-air.  “I have no bad feelings for ABC.  It was just one of those things.  In fact, seeing what Countdown is now, maybe they did me a favour,” he says.

Briefly… 
Actress Katy Brinson (pictured) played a barrister in the Seven Network’s Rafferty’s Rules.  Now she is taking on a far different role in Seven’s new series Skirts, playing the role of an alcoholic writer who beats her daughter. 

Former Neighbours star Rachel Friend is to star in a comedy pilot being made for Network Ten.  The new series, Lipstick Dreams, is based on a theatre production that recently had a successful run in Sydney and features four women who work on a beauty parlour in a country town.

Neighbours star Linda Hartley, who is about to tape her final scenes for the Network Ten series, is shortly heading off to the UK to star in the touring stage production of Prisoner and has also scored a pantomime role in the UK.  She will appear in the production of Mother Goose, joining former Neighbours castmate Kristian Schmid.

John Laws says…
”If the legendary Monty Python team were still around today they could find plenty of material to ridicule in the ABC’s new series Let’s Do Lunch.  My own impression was that the whole idea for the program had been dreamed up at a long, boozy lunch.  Usually, in the sober light of the following morning, such alcohol-inspired ideas are seen for exactly what they are.  Not, apparently, in the case of Let’s Do Lunch.  Whatever its origins, its entire theme is predicated around two people gorging themselves with food and booze, at lunch.  Along the way, we are treated to the self-indulgence of ths host, Maurice Murphy (pictured), who roams around clutching a video camera taking pictures of himself.  At which, I suppose, we are all supposed to laugh uproariously.”

Program Highlights (June 16-22):
World Cup:  SBS continues its daily coverage of the FIFA World Cup from Italy, with live coverage of matches screened overnight and replays the following afternoon, followed by a 90-minute highlights package at 7.00pm.  ABC takes on SBS’ overnight match coverage for regional viewers who don’t have access to SBS and also presents a nightly one-hour highlights package on all ABC stations.

Saturday:  Legal drama Rafferty’s Rules returns with new episodes screening on HSV7.

Sunday:  In the lead up to the return of dance competition That’s Dancin’, ABC screens a replay of the 1989 series grand final, presented by Paul Newman and Maureen Delacy.  Sunday night movies are In The Line Of Duty: The FBI Murders (HSV7) and For Love Alone (ATV10).  GTV9 screens the first part of mini-series Passion And Paradise, with the second and final part screening the following night.

Tuesday:  In ABC’s medical drama GP, Cathy (Sarah Chadwick) finds out she is pregnant but her relationship with Jack (John O’Hare) hits rocky ground when his initial reaction to the news is less than enthusiastic.

Thursday: In The Flying Doctors (GTV9), a troubled young man finally his past to rest when a seven-year-old car wreck is found, and the mystery of his parents’ disappearance is solved. 

Friday:  In Neighbours (ATV10), Paul (Stefan Dennis) is shocked to discover the identity of Caroline’s (Gillian Blakeney) mystery date.

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

June 30 is D-Day for Mildura

It is almost here.  This Wednesday, 30 June, marks the first analogue switch-off in Australia as Mildura/Sunraysia becomes the first region to be completely digital.

At 9.00am Mildura’s television broadcasters – WIN, Prime, ABC and SBS – will switch off their analogue transmitters, marking an end to almost 45 years of analogue television transmission in the district.  And no doubt by about 9.02am it will be apparent if the analogue shutdown will have caused any heartache for locals, particularly young children who could well be missing out on Play School!

Mildura’s first TV station was STV8, launched on Saturday, 20 November 1965, and the national broadcaster ABC was only a few days behind, with ABMV4 launching the following Monday. 

STV8 later partnered up with regional channels BCV Bendigo and GLV Gippsland and in the ‘80s they became known as Southern Cross TV8 and then Southern Cross Network.  In 1989, STV8 was sold to ENT Limited, owners of BTV6 Ballarat and GMV6 Shepparton, and joined their network, known as VIC TV, in January 1990.  In 1994, VIC TV became part of the WIN television network.

As Mildura was omitted from the Government’s aggregation policy mapped out for regional areas in the 1980s, it wasn’t until 1997 that Prime Television was licensed to operate a competing commercial television service.  SBS was expanded to the region also during the ‘90s.

In 2006, the region received a third commercial channel, Ten Mildura, which has always broadcast exclusively in digital – leading to Mildura having a faster transition to digital than most other markets in Australia.

In the last month, relay transmitters have been launched in the areas of Robinvale and Underbool to address pockets of patchy reception of the digital channels.  The transmitters will relay ABC, SBS, WIN, Prime and Ten Mildura and their associated multi-channels to viewers in the immediate area.

But while the Government is confident that the analogue switch-off will go without too much trouble, not everyone shares their enthusiasm.  The local National Party member John Forrest has repeatedly called on the Government to postpone the analogue shutdown while the remaining reception blackspots are resolved and any viewers still affected have time to access the recently-launched satellite service.  “There will be black screens,” he told The Australian.  “I'll find out (how many) on Thursday because the phone will run red-hot.”

To mark the occasion of the local analogue switch-off, there will be a sausage sizzle and Family Fun Day at Mildura Wharf from 7.00am on Wednesday.  As well as representatives from the networks and the Government, including the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, the event will be attended by Prime’s TV mascot, Prime Possum, along with Digital  Freddy, representing the government’s switchover campaign.

The national morning shows are also expected to cross to Mildura to mark the occasion and to remind viewers nationwide that the analogue shutdown will be rolled out progressively across Australia between now and 2013.

More information on the analogue switch-off in Mildura can be found at the Federal Government’s Digital Ready website or by contacting 1800 13 20 13.

Source: Sunraysia Daily, Sunraysia Daily, The Australian

1990: June 9-15

Cover: Sophie Heathcote, Georgie Parker (A Country Practice)

Why Linda’s quitting the neighbourhood
Neighbours star Linda Hartley has decided to leave the popular soap after a behind-the-scenes battle between producers Grundy Television and the Ten Network. Hartley had requested for a break from the series to allow time to travel overseas and to pursue an opportunity for a singing career, but Grundy’s were not keen to renew her contract, claiming the show had exceeded its casting budget. They had planned to write out Hartley’s character, Kerry Mangel, along with other characters Des Clarke (Paul Keane) and Beverley Robinson (Shauna O’Grady), but Ten then stepped in and negotiations between Grundy’s and Hartley resumed. However, negotiations again broke down and Hartley has decided to leave the series, with her final scenes to be taped next month.

The Foreign Legion wants you!
E Street star Bruce Samazan got the shock of his life recently when he received a letter from the French Government calling him to return to France for compulsory military national service. The actor was born in French Malagasy in 1970 but came with his parents to Australia in 1973. “I’ve grown up here living a normal Australian life as an Australian citizen. The only thing different about me is that I also have French citizenship,” he told TV Week. “I now have to prove my Australian citizenship to the French Consulate. If I can’t do that, they are within their rights to find me and take me back.”

How Col’n became Randy
Col’n Carpenter (Kim Gyngell), the lead character in the Network Ten sitcom of the same name, is stuck in bed with a fever and has dreams of being a debonair cabaret singer, Randy Lombardo, who is constantly surrounded by beautiful women. But the same can’t be said for Col’n (pictured), who has never had a girlfriend, but has eyes in particular for one TV presenter… Helen Wellings from The Investigators. “She has charisma and knows so much about household appliances,” according to Col’n. “And I like Magda Szubanski on Fast Forward because she’s a really good laugher. I like some of the SBS women, too. They speak my language, but sometimes the subtitles go before I finish reading them.”

Briefly…
The dreams of A Country Practice’s young couple Matt Tyler (John Tarrant) and Lucy Gardiner (Georgie Parker) are turned into ashes in episodes to go to air this week, when their future home is burnt to the ground in a bushfire that threatens rural Wandin Valley.

Beyond 2000’s globetrotting reporter Amanda Keller has managed some time out from her schedule to get married to her boyfriend of two years, Harley Oliver. The pair were married in Sydney and were soon on their way to Malaysia for their honeymoon.

John Laws says:
”The Couchman show is a carefully stage-managed production. Confrontations are contrived and expected, simply because the producers go to any lengths to bring together people who hold extreme and opposing views on the subject to be debated.”

Program Highlights (June 9-15):
Saturday: HSV7 presents the four-hour Earth ‘90 special, Prince Charles – Children And The Environment, where HRH Prince Charles gives a personal view of the environmental problems that face the world today. The program includes appearances by Debbie Gibson, Olivia Newton-John, Julio Iglesias, Audrey Hepburn, John Denver and the Vienna Children’s Choir. SBS presents a replay of the previous night’s World Cup opening ceremony and the overnight game featuring Argentina versus Cameroon. Live coverage resumes after midnight with United Arab Emirates versus Colombia, USSR versus Romania and Italy versus Austria. SBS’ coverage of the World Cup continues each night from midnight through to 7.00am, with replays of matches the following afternoon and a 90-minute highlights package each evening.
Sunday: Sunday night movies are The Principal (GTV9) and The Jewel Of The Nile (ATV10). HSV7 presents the Royal Variety Performance before HRH Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke Of Edinburgh. Later in the evening, GTV9 presents live coverage of the final of the French Open tennis and the Austrian 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix.
Monday: GTV9 presents the debut of children’s drama series Elly And Jools, starring Rebecca Smart (pictured), Anne Tenney and Dennis Miller.
Wednesday: ATV10 presents a delayed telecast of the Rugby League State Of Origin match between Queensland and NSW.
Friday: HSV7 crosses to Perth for a direct telecast of AFL featuring West Coast Eagles versus Hawthorn.

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

1990: June 2-8

Cover: Sharyn Hodgson, Julian McMahon (Home And Away)

Meet the new Pippa
The producers of Seven’s Home And Away have found a new actress for the key role of Pippa Fletcher.  Debra Lawrence, previously seen in ABC’s The Fast Lane, will take over the role of Pippa from Vanessa Downing who has decided to leave the series to pursue other ventures.  Producers had previously hoped to sign up Carol Willesee, who had played Pippa Fletcher in the show’s pilot episode, to continue the role but negotiations were unsuccessful.

Elaine and Marcus team up!
Popular actors Marcus Graham (formerly of E Street) and Elaine Smith (formerly of Neighbours) have signed up to star in a new Seven Network mini-series, Ratbag Hero.  The four-hour series is set in Victoria in the post-depression era of 1937 and is expected to screen on Seven in 1991.

On the ball!
Australia’s multicultural broadcaster SBS is about to embark on its most ambitious challenge ever with its coverage of the World Cup from Italy.  Joining host Les Murray (pictured) on the coverage will be former Socceroo captain Johnny Warren and sports journalists Kyle Patterson and Andy Paschalidis.  “What I’m excited about most is that the SBS team are all ‘missionaries’ of the game of soccer and this gives us an opportunity to transmit to all Australians the game’s sheer greatness,” Murray told TV Week.  Apart from a few occasions when two games are played at the same time at different venues, SBS will broadcast all matches of the World Cup live to Australia.  The network has also come to an arrangement with ABC to relay SBS’ World Cup coverage to areas that don’t receive SBS.  ABC will also present a highlights package each night of the competition.

Feud? ‘What feud?’
The Comedy Company producer and co-star Ian McFadyen has responded to rumours about a feud between himself and colleague Mark Mitchell.  “This was mentioned to me after the Logies during a radio interview,” McFadyen told TV Week.  “We’ve never had a ‘falling out’ … it’s just nonsense.  There’s never been any unpleasantness between us.”  Meanwhile, plans continue for the return of The Comedy Company and it is unclear if Mitchell will be part of the revamped show, but that is only because he is busy with his own show, Larger Than Life, to which Network Ten is committed until the end of the year.

Briefly…
Rebecca Smart might be only 14 years old but she is already a showbiz veteran with a list of movies and mini-series to her credit, though her most famous role was in The Shiralee with Bryan Brown.  Now the teen star is starring in a new Nine Network children’s drama, Elly And Jools, and is set to appear in a pilot for a new sitcom.

Nicholas Bell (pictured), one of the few males stars in the Seven Network police drama Skirts, admits he does not want to become TV’s most hated man but admits that the role of Sergeant Gary Block has presented very few redeeming features.  “He’s fairly brutal about certain things and appears chauvinistic… hopefully it will become clear why that is so.  His main motivation is to be a good cop and he feels this is the best way to go about it,” Bell told TV Week.

Sioban Tuke, one of the co-stars of The Comedy Company, is taking on a serious role in an upcoming guest appearance on A Country Practice.  Tuke will playing the role of Pam Duncan, an overweight housewife whose marriage is on the brink of failure and takes desperate measures to try to lose weight.

John Laws says…
”It’s my belief that the ABC has nothing to lose by introducing corporate sponsorship of programs.  In fact, there is much to be gained.  At the very least, there should be a 12-month trial.  This should enable everyone to have a good look at how it operates, and to see whether it has the “terrible” effect on the ABC that its vocal opponents predict.”

Program Highlights (June 2-8):
Saturday:  Mark Mitchell and his comic alter-ego, Con The Fruiterer, are comperes of ATV10’s half-hour special We Can Do It, to promote World Vision’s 40 Hour Famine.  Also featuring on the program is singer Neil Finn and Mental As Anything’s Martin Plaza.
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are The Fourth Protocol (HSV7), Like Father Like Son (GTV9) and The Money Pit (ATV10).  GTV9 later presents the three-hour global TV special, Earth ‘90.
Monday:  GTV9 crosses to Roland Stadium, Paris, for the French Open tennis.
Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Andrew Carroll searches for a male contraceptive pill.  Simon Reeve takes a walk over the French Guyana rainforests on an inflatable canopy walk. Maxine Gray investigates cooking with magnets.  GTV9 presents another late night of tennis with the French Open.
Thursday: On the eve of the start of the 1990 World Cup, SBS presents the final Viva World Cup program with Les Murray and Andy Paschalidis.
Friday:  SBS’ coverage of the World Cup in Italy begins with the opening ceremony followed by the first match, Argentina versus Cameroon.

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