ACA interviews Reg Grundy

It is not often that this site actively promotes A Current Affair but will make an exception for this coming Monday’s edition as host Tracy Grimshaw interviews legendary television producer Reg Grundy (pictured) and wife, actress and author Joy Chambers at their home in Bermuda.

Grundy first appeared on TV in 1959 as the host and producer of an afternoon game show, Wheel Of Fortune, which had made the move from radio to Sydney’s TCN9.  He then went on to produce more game shows during the 1960s before branching out into TV dramas and movies in the 1970s.  The list of Grundy productions read like a timeline in the history of Australian television, including Ampol Stamp Quiz, I’ve Got A Secret (where he met his future wife), Temptation, Moneymakers, Class Of ‘74, Pot Of Gold, Family Feud, Blankety Blanks, The Celebrity Game, The Young Doctors, Chopper Squad, The Restless Years, Sale Of The Century, Prisoner, Sons And Daughters, Perfect Match, It’s A Knockout, Neighbours, Secret Valley, Wheel Of Fortune, Australia’s Most Wanted, Richmond Hill, Embassy and The Price Is Right. 

Wife Chambers, a winner of two TV Week Logie awards for most popular female personality in Queensland in the late 1960s before becoming Mrs Grundy, went on to appear in a number of Grundy productions including The Restless Years, The Celebrity Game and Neighbours (most recently appearing in the lead-up to the show’s celebrated 6000th episode).  She is also an accomplished author in her own right.

As well as many Grundy dramas selling internationally – most notably Prisoner (pictured), The Young Doctors, Neighbours and Sons And Daughters – he also successfully franchised various game show and drama formats overseas, producing international versions of Sale Of The Century, Prisoner and The Restless Years.  He also produced a game show, Scrabble, for US network NBC.

He sold Grundy Television Productions to UK-based Pearson International in the mid-1990s – it has since been incorporated into the global Fremantle Media group.

Grundy was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame in 1993 and received Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2008. 

Despite his many years in television, Grundy has remained a very private figure and has very rarely allowed to be interviewed and the appearance on A Current Affair came as the expense of Sunday Night and 60 Minutes which had both also tried to secure an interview.

The interview is said to coincide with the release of his autobiography.

A Current Affair.  Monday 20 September, 6.30pm.  Nine*

Source: The Daily Telegraph (via The Spy Report), Sydney Morning Herald.

 

* Melbourne.  Other areas, check local guides.

7mate: Opening Night

The opening night’s schedule for Seven’s new high-definition channel, 7mate, which launches next Saturday, 25 September:

6pm That ‘70s Show
6.30 Gene Simmons Family Jewels
7pm How I Met Your Mother
7.30 Scrubs
8pm My Name Is Earl
8.30 Punk’d
9pm Family Guy
9.30 Movie: Anchorman

Although 7mate actually makes its debut from 12.15pm next Saturday afternoon with the high-definition simulcast of the AFL Grand Final.

(Programs and times are for the Melbourne market, other areas or time-zones check local guides)

7mate will be available via a high-definition tuner or set top box, and can be found on digital channel 73 via the Seven Network (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Regional QLD) or digital channel 63 via Prime Television (Regional NSW, Regional Victoria, ACT, Gold Coast).

Regional update on digital channel roll-out

The Nine Network’s two major regional affiliates, WIN and NBN, have both announced that they will launch Nine’s new digital channel, GEM, in their respective regional markets on the same day as in the capital cities.

GEM, providing an entertainment-based line-up aimed at female viewers aged 35+, will be available in WIN’s and NBN’s respective digital coverage areas (excluding South Australia and Western Australia) on high-definition digital channel 80.  The new channel will be officially launched on Sunday 26 September.  WIN’s Perth and Adelaide channels, STW9 and NWS9, will also broadcast GEM from the same day on high-definition digital channel 90.

Viewers of the Nine Network’s Darwin channel will be able to view both channels GO! and GEM from early October, following upgrades to the channel’s transmission infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Tasmanian viewers may soon learn that they will be getting the Seven and Ten networks’ new digital channels, 7mate and 11.  Southern Cross Media, representing both Southern Cross Television and Tasmanian Digital Television, has previously said that they were not committing to carrying the new channels in the short term. 

It now appears that Southern Cross will be relaying the male-focused 7mate channel from mid-October, after the Commonwealth Games, while TDT could be carrying the new channel 11 from when it launches on the mainland in the new year.  There is no indication yet, however, whether Southern Cross Ten in regional NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT will be carrying 11.

Southern Cross has had to consider significant investment and upgrade of its Canberra-based broadcast facility to allow it to provide the new channels, at a time when the broadcaster’s parent company has had to wear a $82.7 million loss from the last financial year.  Most of this loss was attributed to an American subsidiary which has been sold off, but the pressure is obviously on the Australian business to off-set the losses as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Prime Television in NSW, Victoria, ACT and the Gold Coast is expected to carry 7mate from when it launches in the capital cities next Saturday, 25 September.

Source: The Mercury, Freeview, Ninemsn

Mal Walden back at 6.30

After twenty three years, newsreader Mal Walden (pictured) is heading back to the 6.30 timeslot as the presenter of Ten News’ new Melbourne-based news bulletin to launch next year.

Walden, with over 40 years in Melbourne television, is a firm favourite with Melbourne viewers – never more evident than back in 1987 when a tearful Walden announced to viewers of Seven National News that he had just been sacked by the station’s new management.  Ratings for Seven National News plummeted to zeros and ones after Walden’s dismissal and when he arrived in a minor role at Eyewitness News a month later, ratings for that bulletin hit record highs.  He has been part of Ten’s Melbourne news team ever since, taking over the role of chief newsreader from David Johnston when he left Ten to go to Seven at the end of 1995.

Replacing Walden’s spot in the traditional 5.00pm bulletin is George Donikian (pictured), probably still best known to many as the original SBS newsreader and now the principal newsreader for Adelaide’s Ten News, which is currently based in the Melbourne studio.  Donikian has been the relief newsreader for Walden for some years now and has also read the Saturday evening Ten News bulletins during the AFL season.

A major component of Network Ten’s ratings push for 2011 is its expanded news coverage which will comprise the usual 5.00pm news hour in each city, followed by a national 6.00pm news-based program (with a presenter yet to be announced) and then a locally-based news in each state at 6.30pm leading into The 7PM Project.

Network Ten has been rolling out its announcements for its newsreader appointments for each city as its 2011 launch has been working around the country: 

TVQ10 Brisbane: 5.00pm Bill McDonald and Georgie Lewis; 6.30pm Bill McDonald

TEN10 Sydney: 5.00pm Bill Woods and Deborah Knight; 6.30pm Sandra Sully (pictured)

ATV10 Melbourne: 5.00pm George Donikian and Helen Kapalos; 6.30pm Mal Walden

ADS10 Adelaide: 5.00pm Belinda Heggen; 6.30pm Rebecca Morse

NEW10 Perth: 5.00pm and 6.30pm – Narelda Jacobs

Having Walden reading Ten’s 6.30pm bulletin will certainly give the new bulletin a well-needed kick-start in the ratings in Melbourne as it establishes itself up against the well-entrenched national shows on offer by Seven and Nine in that timeslot.

This expanded news coverage in the early evenings will see Ten’s early evening stalwarts The Simpsons and Neighbours moved to the new digital channel 11 when it launches in the new year.

And just to show that Mal Walden likes to read the news at 6.30, here is a newsbreak from Seven National News back in 1984 where he reminded us no less than four times in the space of one minute that the news is indeed at 6.30pm:

Network Ten is certainly generating a lot of media buzz with its 2011 announcements – as well as the expanded news portfolio and the launch of digital channel 11 the network is also preparing to launch a new reality series, The Renovators, and a new prison drama as well as local versions of overseas shows Undercover Boss, Don’t Stop Believing and Class Of.  Popular shows from this year including Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation, Modern Family and MasterChef are also set to continue in 2011 and the new Melbourne-based drama Offspring has been given the green light for a second series.  The network certainly looks to be putting on a more aggressive front against Seven and Nine than in previous years, confidently setting some new agendas and taking some bold risks rather than being held back by conservatism.

Source: Media Spy
You Tube: panalouis

Ten goes back behind bars

Prisoner was a surprise ratings hit when it debuted on the otherwise-ailing 0-10 Network in February 1979.  The never-before-seen tale of life inside a women’s prison was groundbreaking drama and also presented a milestone in featuring a predominantly female cast (including Peta Toppano, pictured).

The series ran for eight years and 692 episodes, winning a swag of TV Week Logie awards, and was one of the few Australian dramas to get a cult following in the US before it went on to a similar following in Europe and the United Kingdom.  The series was later re-worked for the US market as Dangerous Women.

Such was the sustained popularity of Prisoner twenty years after its demise that all 692 episodes were released on DVD – the largest such DVD release in Australia.  Fans from around the world still come to Australia to pay homage to the series and some of the stars from the show (such as Maggie Kirkpatrick, who played Joan ‘the Freak’ Ferguson, pictured below) are still household names today.

Despite foiled plans to produce a spin-off series in the 1990s, the Ten Network is now set to reconnect to the prison theme with a new series unveiled at its recent 2011 launch.

Inside Out promises to tell the story of a woman who lands in prison after being wrongly accused and sets out for revenge.

Ian Bradley, a co-producer from Prisoner, is working on the new project which Ten hopes will spin-off into an ongoing series.

Ten’s programming chief David Mott told the Herald Sun:

“We’re very excited about it.  We’ve looked at Prisoner for some time now and wondered whether it’s time to revive the style of that show.”

A couple of years ago there were tentative plans by Ten to re-work another former series, The Young Doctors, to a new generation of viewers but this was soon abandoned.

Network Ten will be anxious for Inside Out to succeed now that it has announced plans to ship Neighbours off to its new digital channel, 11, where it may end up being excluded from counting towards the network’s required quota of local drama content.

Ten also announced at the 2011 launch that it has renewed its new Melbourne-based drama Offspring for another series following strong ratings results since its launch last month.

Source: Herald Sun, 15 September 2010.

Nine’s GEM balances gender ledger

The Nine Network has announced its new digital channel – GEM – targetting females aged 35+.

The new channel, which will broadcast in high-definition and replace the existing high-definition simulcast of the main Nine channel, is expected to debut on Friday 24 September – just a day before the launch of Seven’s new male-focused channel, 7mate. The channel will have its official launch on Sunday 26 September.

Programming details for GEM, an acronym for “General Entertainment and Movies”, are fairly scant at present (Updated: More details in Nine press release, below) but it is reported to include programs like Secret Millionaire, The Big C, Weeds and Wife Swap as well as re-purposed news and current affairs content and a commitment to maintaining some of Nine’s sports content in high-definition – how the latter ties in with the proposed target demographic is unclear though it is a move that will please sports fans.

There is also no word if GEM will be carried by regional affiliates such as WIN or the Nine-owned channels NBN in Northern NSW and NTD8 in Darwin.

The launches of GEM and 7mate, while they provide more channel choices, will effectively mean two fewer high-definition simulcasts of network television – leaving SBS as the only network providing a high-definition simulcast of its main channel.

While ABC and Network Ten moved away from high-definition simulcasts, they did so to launch well-defined and well-branded unique channels, ABC News 24 and One HD, while GEM and 7mate from the outset (with the limited information that either channel has released to the public) appear to be a thinly-spread array of re-run material, a lot of which pre-dates high-definition production, with a handful of first-run programs that vaguely resemble a demographic-focused approach – a line-up that could just as well have been used to boost the content offerings of their existing channels 7TWO and GO instead of short-changing viewers who will now no longer have the option to see Australia’s two most popular networks in high-definition. The networks will argue that this is the only means in which they can offer a third channel as they are limited in how they can deliver multiple channels pending the complete shutdown of analogue transmission in 2013.

A formal announcement of GEM is expected from Nine later today.

UPDATE @ 16:25 AEST 13.9.2010: Media Release from Nine:

NINE ANNOUNCES A NEW GEM

Following on from the outstanding success of the GO! multi-channel, the Nine Network today announced plans for a third channel, GEM, which will launch on Sunday, September 26 aimed at the sophisticated, discerning viewer.

GEM will be a mix of new content, classic comedies, cherished drama series, all-time favourite movies, and all of Nine’s sport coverage in high definition.

GEM is designed to complement Nine’s premium channel, and the network’s number one multi-channel, GO!, attracting females 35+ and grocery buyers.

Leading the GEM lineup is the acclaimed new US drama series The Big C, starring Laura Linney as a woman making the most of her life after being diagnosed with cancer. Also starring Oliver Platt and Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe, The Big C’s recent premiere achieved record ratings for the US Showtime network.

The cult favourite Weeds will also be seen on GEM in a new season. Other first-run imports include Southland, Miami Medical, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and the lifestyle programs Wife Swap, Secret Millionaire USA, The Chopping Block USA and How Clean Is Your House?

Also on GEM will be a new season of Random Acts of Kindness (previously seen on Nine) featuring Shelley Craft, Scott Cam, Dr Andrew Rochford and Simmone Jade Mackinnon, treating everyday Australians to well-deserved rewards.

Rounding out the schedule will be the classic comedy Friends, stripped to air every week night, Aussie gold dramas McLeod’s Daughters, Sea Patrol and The Alice, and the hit US crime shows CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, The Closer and Cold Case, along with great movies such as Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, 21 Grams and Being Julia.

Nine CEO David Gyngell said GEM would build on the network’s tearaway success with the GO! channel, which by a big margin is Australia’s most popular multi-channel across the key demographics and total people.

“GEM is what its title suggests – a general entertainment and movie channel, carefully crafted and targeted like GO! before it, to appeal to a wide audience cross-section and complement Nine’s existing successful brands,” Mr Gyngell said.

GEM will also include news and current affairs programs that will be different but complementary to those on the main channel. “We have a very significant investment in news and current affairs and some of that content will be repackaged to the style of GEM,” Mr Gyngell said.

High definition sport will be seen on GEM until the digital switchover in December 2013.

To receive GEM from September 26, viewers need to tune in to channel 90 on an HD-capable digital TV, PVR or set top box. If you have an analogue television you will need to connect your old TV to an HD-capable digital set top box, PVR, or digital recorder and tune in to channel 90.

Source: Media Spy

1990: September 15-21

Let’s party!
Next month, stars of past and present TV shows will gather with fans to pay tribute to the industry that has made them household names and will raise money for charity at the same time.  The Sprite-TV Celebrity Dance Party, hosted by Paula Duncan, will aid the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home for the intellectually handicapped.  Some of the famous faces attending the event include Georgie Parker and Craig McLachlan (pictured) joining cast members from shows including Sons And Daughters, Neighbours, Cop Shop, Home And Away, Prisoner, A Country Practice and The Flying Doctors.  TV Week is also involved in the event and is giving away ten double passes, including airfares and hotel accommodation for interstate winners.

Back to the boards
Lean times in the television industry are seeing many actors and actresses officially out of work.  Actors Equity says that 85 per cent of the 12,000 registered actors and actresses are out of acting work while many performers familiar to TV viewers are now making the move into the theatre – Alex Papps and Roger Oakley (formerly of Home And Away), Anne Phelan (pictured, last seen in Family And Friends), Kim Lewis (The Restless Years, Sons And Daughters) and Joan Sydney (A Country Practice) are just some TV performers who are now taking on theatre roles.  For Lewis, who is co-starring with boyfriend John O’Hare (recently seen in GP) in the Sydney production of Little Malcolm And His Struggle Against The Eunuchs, it is a welcome change from television.  “I was always yearning for theatre work,” she told TV Week.  “It’s a whole other world.  You can’t stop and just go over mistakes.  You’re there.  That’s it.”  For actress Anne Phelan, while she is grateful for her latest role in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s This Old Man Comes Rolling Home, says she is not as excited at the move into the theatre.  “I’m at the stage where I’m thinking I should never have been an actor,” she said.  “I’m feeling insecure because this role is massive and difficult.  If someone offered me six months of TV work I’d say yes.”  Joan Sydney, also starring in the MTC play, told TV Week: “Theatre is where the real acting is, but I enjoyed TV.  I don’t consider it second rate.”

The big match… but this time Dermie’s the loser!
The long-running, unresolved romantic tension between Dr Elly Fielding (Penny Cook) and Reverend Bob Brown (Tony Martin) on Network Ten’s E Street is about to be sealed with a kiss.  The pair are brought closer together after the owner of a local video store, played by AFL footballer Dermot Brereton (pictured, with Penny Cook), falls for Dr Fielding and she enlists the help of the reverend to tell Dermot that he is involved with her instead.  The irony is, of course, that Reverend Bob has always loved Elly, and this incident looks likely to finally bring them together.

Briefly…
Actor Jeremy Kewley, currently featuring in Network Ten’s Candid Camera, says it is surprising just how many people are with people they shouldn’t be when the camera catches them out.  “This happens often in restaurants.  You’d be surprised at the number of diners on dates with people other than their official partners,” he told TV Week.  Although he does point out that anyone they do play a trick on is asked to sign a form agreeing to have the segment shown on TV.

Former Neighbours star Geoff Paine was stunned when he was approached to join the cast of The Comedy Company.  “It had never occurred to me that one day I’d be working with this team. It was quite a surprise to be asked,” he told TV Week.  He is also thrilled at joining the show after Network Ten scrapped a proposed drama series, City Hospital, that was to feature Paine reprising his former Neighbours role of Dr Clive Gibbons.

Former Family And Friends star Gavin Harrison has a new-found confidence as a result of training for an upcoming episode of GP where he will play a boxing hero who has to rely on drugs to keep fighting.  “Working on GP was the best experience of my life,” he told TV Week.  “It was the series I wanted to work on and the character was a real challenge to me.  They wanted an actor who could box and make it look professional, so that was a hurdle I had to get over.”

Hey Hey It’s Saturday cast members John Blackman and Wilbur Wilde have had their breakfast show on Melbourne radio station 3UZ abruptly cancelled after the station decided to adopt a new full-time sports format. 

John Laws says…
”Ten’s decision to screen all-night news and current affairs from the CNN network in America will, no doubt, please those night-owl viewers who want a change from Seven’s rival NBC Today or third-rate movies.  CNN’s Daybreak, now screening on Ten, is a slick, rapid-fire news show, covering anything of world or national interest to Americans.  It was time, of course, for someone to to offer spirited competition to Bryant Gumbel and the NBC Today show.  I understand the program’s ratings have dipped recently in the US, which is not a surprise.  The Today show comes across as a tired, disorganised shadow of what it was a few years ago.”

Program Highlights (September 15-21):
Sunday:  GTV9 crosses to Phillip Island for live coverage of the Australian 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix .  Leading the coverage are Barry Sheene and Darrell Eastlake.  Meanwhile, HSV7 presents a two-hour afternoon special, The Season That Was, presenting highlights of the 1990 AFL season.  ATV10 presents live coverage of the Preliminary Final of the NSW Rugby League.  Sunday night movies are Year Of The Dragon (HSV7), Funny Farm (GTV9) and The Year My Voice Broke (ATV10).

Monday:  Andrew Denton presents a new show, The Money Or The Gun, on ABC – described as a “documentary/chat/comedy show where the real meets the surreal.”

Tuesday:  HSV7 and GTV9 both cross to Tokyo for a 90-minute presentation on the announcement of the host city of the 1996 Olympic Games.  Bruce McAvaney heads HSV7’s telecast, while Brian Naylor, prime minister Bob Hawke and A Current Affair’s Jana Wendt are part of the presenting team on GTV9’s telecast.  ATV10 promises to provide updates on the announcement during its Tuesday night movie, Prizzi’s Honour.  Melbourne is one of the six cities bidding for the Games, up against Athens, Manchester, Toronto, Belgrade and Atlanta.

Thursday:  In Acropolis Now (HSV7), after a disastrous theatre date with Liz (Tracey Callander), Jim (Nick Giannopoulos) decides to stage his own version of Romeo And Juliet.  Although Skirts star Nicholas Bell turns up to “addition” for the part of Romeo, Jim instead takes on the role and asks Effie (Mary Coustas, pictured) to be his Juliet.

Friday:  During the day, HSV7 crosses to White City, Sydney for the semi-final of the Davis Cup – Australia versus Argentina.  That night, HSV7 goes to the Glasshouse for the National Basketball League game between Melbourne Tigers and North Melbourne Giants.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  15 September 1990.  Southdown Press.

1990: September 8-14

Cover: Mat Stevenson, Emily Symons (Home And Away)

Mike Munro: ‘I go home and cry’
60 Minutes reporter Mike Munro says that for the past five months, working on the story surrounding the ‘Mr Bubbles’ case involving 17 pre-school children, has often reduced him to tears.  “I get so bloody depressed.  I go home to my wife and cry.  If people want me to say that I’m on a crusade, then good.  If being a crusader means not giving up until the truth comes out then I’m proud to be called a crusader,” he told TV Week.  

‘They’ve been beauties!’
During 25 years of TV, including his years as a foreign correspondent for ABC, a reporter for 60 Minutes and now as host of Midday, Ray Martin has interviewed more than his fair share of superstars.  Pop princess Kylie Minogue wins the award for the easiest to talk to, while Joan Collins was a different story.  “Joan was difficult, until she settled in,” Martin told TV Week.  “(She) preened herself and looked at herself and was in love with the monitor.  More than anyone else, apart from Bob Hawke.  Bob Hawke just about matches her!”  Whoopi Goldberg is described as “the most natural… terrific” and Jane Fonda was “interesting.  She was interested in any subject and didn’t want to do all serious issues.”  Nicole Kidman, Elle McPherson and Sigrid Thornton are also among his favourites, while Sophia Loren is one of the most beautiful women he has ever seen.

‘You have no idea some of the things that were invented!’
This year has been a busy one for actor Marcus Graham – moving on from soapie E Street to starring roles in mini-series Shadows Of The Heart and Ratbag Hero, a guest role in ABC’s GP and an upcoming appearance in The Flying Doctors.  But a possible lowlight this year has been media speculation of a relationship with actress Nicole Kidman.  Graham (pictured) had been dating Kidman briefly before she went to the US and met Tom Cruise.  On a recent trip back to Sydney, Kidman had called at his house but he was not home, but it was enough to prompt speculation of a romance.  “You have no idea some of the things that were invented!” he told TV Week.

Briefly…
Former A Country Practice star Anne Tenney (pictured) returns to TV this week in an episode of ABC series Fresh Start, playing the part of a sheepfarmer’s wife struggling with illiteracy.  It is only her second TV appearance since leaving A Country Practice in 1985, having recently appeared in the children’s series Elly And Jools.

Actress Linda Hartley has spoken to TV Week after her sudden departure from Neighbours where her character, Kerry Mangel, was accidentally shot dead while at a duck-hunting protest.  “Joe (Mark Little) and Kerry couldn’t have split up – that just wouldn’t have happened.  If you’re going to go, you might as well go with a bang!  Kerry has been a wonderful character to play and I won a Penguin Award for her, so I’ve had a very rewarding time,” she told TV Week. 

Former Neighbours star Guy Pearce is set to make a big impact on the big screen.  The 22-year-old actor is currently on location in Fiji for the film Young Flynn, portraying screen legend Errol Flynn from a 16-year-old schoolboy to when he made his first Hollywood feature at the age of 24.  Pearce also has a key role in upcoming film Heaven Tonight, co-starring John Waters, Kim Gyngell and Rebecca Gilling, due for release later this year.

John Laws says…
”There are some annoying little traits on television.  One of them is the oft-spoken line, “Thank you for your time,” which Jana Wendt uses on every interview she conducts.  Others have taken up the courtesy – some to an irritating extent.  But perhaps the most irritating trait of all is the one that they all use – every night, without fail – on news and current affairs programs.  It’s the two words “but first”.  Once you’ve noticed these words it becomes hypnotically riveting to wait for them to be spoken each night.  Example: “Later we’ll talk to Idi Amin about how he would handle the Gulf War crisis, but first…”

Program Highlights (September 8-14):
Saturday:  ATV10 wipes out its usual overnight schedule of B-grade re-runs and movies and from tonight replaces that with Ten Newswatch, a direct telecast of news coverage from US network CNN with emphasis on the escalating situation in the Middle East.  GTV9 crosses live to Flushing Meadow, New York, for the Men’s Semi-Final and Women’s Singles Final of the US Open tennis.

Sunday:  The Sunday night movie is Innerspace (GTV9), while HSV7 presents the first part of mini-series Poor Little Rich Girl and ATV10 debuts mini-series Blood Ties.  GTV9 then crosses to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix.

Monday:  GTV9 presents early morning coverage of the Men’s Singles Final of the US Open, live from Flushing Meadow, New York.  In A Country Practice (HSV7), on the eve of her wedding Lucy Tyler (Georgie Parker) is told by her mother Lois (Jill Perryman) that she is divorcing her father who is refusing to attend the wedding.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), reporter Simon Reeve finds out why Volvo is leading the way with the production of environmentally safe vehicles.  David McCubbin and Gia Carides are guest stars in this week’s episode of GP (ABC).

Wednesday:  ABC presents the debut of the 13-part drama series Embassy, tracing the story of Australian Embassy staff in strife-torn Ragaan, a fictional Islamic, South East Asian country.  The series stars Bryan Marshall, Janet Andrewartha, Alan Fletcher, Nina Landis, Frankie J Holden, Gerard Maguire, Nicki Wendt, Joseph Spano and Anthony Wong.

Thursday:  Maggie Tabberer and Richard Zachariah present ABC’s new lifestyle series, The Home Show, a weekly series focusing on how to get the best out of where you live.  In E Street (ATV10), a boxing match between Harley (Malcolm Kennard) and Max (Bruce Samazan) is staged to see who wins the affection of Toni (Toni Pearen) who appears rather dubious about the whole situation.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  8 September 1990.  Southdown Press

ACMA green lights 3D grand finals

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has granted temporary licences to both the Seven and Nine networks to allow them to broadcast the AFL and NRL grand finals respectively in 3D.

The temporary licences for both networks are applicable for the period from 18 September to 8 October and cover the markets of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

The AFL Grand Final is to be held on 25 September and the NRL Grand Final is scheduled for 3 October.

The broadcasts will be on digital channel 40 and will require a 3D compatible receiver and eyewear to view in 3D.  ACMA points out that because the trials are on a lower strength signal to normal television services that some viewers may still not receive the 3D telecast even if they have a compatible set and are within the relevant licence areas.

ACMA has also pointed out that it will not be issuing any further licences for 3D TV trials pending its review into 3D broadcasting on free-to-air television.  The authority is currently reviewing reports received from the Nine Network and SBS from their recent 3D TV trials conducted for the NRL State Of Origin and the FIFA World Cup.

Coverage of the AFL Grand Final in 3D in the major capital cities will be of cold comfort to viewers in Tasmania who appear unlikely to be able to view the game even in high-definition, as the high-definition broadcast forms the launch of the Seven Network’s 7mate channel which is not likely to air in Tasmania in the short term.

Source: ACMA

1990: September 1-7

Get me to the church on time…
The upcoming A Country Practice wedding between Lucy Gardiner (Georgie Parker) and Matt Tyler (John Tarrant) will continue Wandin Valley’s tradition of dramatic weddings.  “The problem is the parents,” Parker tells TV Week.  “And whether the ceremony is going to be held in an Anglican or Catholic church.  Matt’s father Gilbert (George Mallaby) is pompous and doesn’t think Matt is coping without good financial backing.  My parents are supposedly splitting up and my father Patrick (Jonathan Hardy) refuses to come because it’s not being held in a Catholic church.  My mother Lois (Jill Perryman) turns up without him.”  The lead-up to the wedding has also been marred by Lucy’s cancer scare and the couple’s house being burnt to the ground in recent episodes.  “Post-marriage is much calmer,” Parker hastily points out.

The Great Soap Shake-Up!
A number of key cast shake-ups are about to unsettle popular soaps Home And Away, A Country Practice and E Street, while cop drama Skirts is about to lose one cast member.  Julian McMahon and Sharyn Hodgson (pictured), who play Home And Away newlyweds Ben and Carly, are leaving the show over the coming months.  Their exit from Home And Away follows recent news that original cast member Adam Willits is about to leave the show – and Craig McLachlan is also planning to leave the show but will return for guest appearances during 1991.  James Davern, producer of Seven’s A Country Practice, has confirmed that the series is about to lose cast members Michael Muntz, Mary Regan and child actor Georgina Fisher.  Actors Muntz and Regan are leaving to pursue other opportunities, while the young Fisher is leaving after two years with the show.  “I spoke to her parents and two years are enough for a child actor,” Davern told TV Week.  Meanwhile, Network Ten’s E Street is about to lose cast members Paul Kelman and Lisbeth Kennelly, whose contracts have not been renewed.  Also tipped to be leaving E Street are Chelsea Brown and Rebecca Saunders.  And Skirts star Kate Gillick is leaving the police drama to return to the theatre.

Caught in the crossfire
Tragedy strikes Neighbours when Kerry Mangel (Linda Hartley, pictured, with Mark Little) is left fighting for her life after being accidentally shot while taking part in a duck-shooting protest.  “This storyline brings out the side of Kerry’s character that I’ve always liked the most,” Hartley tells TV Week.  “She has been in a very domestic situation lately, but no-one can forget their past.  I’m pleased the opportunity came up for her to be more forthright about things she cares about.”    

Briefly…
The Comedy Company producer Ian McFadyen (pictured) has admitted that the show’s return has been tougher than expected.  “We’ve obviously got a mandate to deliver a big audience pretty soon and that’s a lot of pressure to carry.  Our ratings are worse than I thought they would be.  60 Minutes has an enormous following – a very strong loyalty – and we’re working on that at the moment.”  Meanwhile, McFadyen’s other project, Mark Mitchell’s The Big Time, has been taken off air after a short time and is set to be re-worked.

Robbo’s World Tonight host Clive Robertson insists he couldn’t care less that his show is being beaten by Tonight Live With Steve Vizard in the ratings.  “If they don’t want my show after next March (when his contract runs out), that’s fine,” he told TV Week.  “I’ll do something else.  I wouldn’t mind going back to Seven or even the ABC.”  He also admits to not liking the name of his own show.  “”Robbo’ sounds a bit silly,” he says.  If he had his choice, he’d call it something like ‘The Final Word, With Mr Robertson’.

Denise Drysdale and Ernie Sigley have spoken to TV Week about their daytime show, In Melbourne Today.  “We really are like an old married couple,” Drysdale says.  “We can have a go at each other, and it’s all part of the fun.”  While Sigley says it is a battle to try and stay ahead of the gags that the studio crew have in store for them.  “They once blew up a chook on the set and scared the living daylights out of me,” he said.

John Laws says…
”SBS’ The Movie Show with David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz is certainly a reflection of two completely different personalities.  Pomeranz is bubbly, earnestly sincere and prone to gush the extremities of praise and criticism; Stratton is cool, laidback and possessed of both gentlemanly charm and viper-like attack.”

Program Highlights (September 1-7):
Saturday:  HSV7 starts its celebrity-led assault on the top-rating Hey Hey It’s Saturday with two new shows, Celebrity Family Feud and Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune.

Sunday:  With More Winners now finished up, ABC starts screening the original Winners series of children’s dramas that had originally screened on the Ten Network.  Tonight’s episode is The Other Facts Of Life starring Ken Talbot, Dennis Miller and Anne Grigg.  Sunday night movies are Stakeout (HSV7), Children Of A Lesser God (GTV9) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (ATV10).

Monday:  Tonight Live With Steve Vizard (HSV7) starts a week of shows presented live from London.

Wednesday:  John Bach, Oliver Tobias, Rebecca Gilling and Peta Toppano star in ABC’s new mini-series The Paper Man, screening over three consecutive nights.  Australian Democrats politician Janine Haines is this week’s guest on Speaking For Myself (SBS).  HSV7 screens the long-awaited telemovie Bony, starring Cameron Daddo, Burnum Burnum, Catherine Oxenberg, David Reyne and Tom Richards.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  1 September 1990. Southdown Press.