May 25 2013

1993: May 23-29

tvweek_220593Cover: Sharon Stone

Big screen rescue!
Nothing has been formally announced but there are plans for production of a film version of ABC‘s Police Rescue.  Producer Southern Star Xanadu is seeking funding for the project from the Film Finance Corporation and the ABC has already given the green light to go ahead.  Police Rescue — The Movie is expected to feature all the show’s regular cast — including Gary Sweet, Sonia Todd, Steve Bastoni, Tammy MacIntosh, Steve Bisley and Jeremy Callaghan — with production due to commence late in the year after Sweet finishes his commitment to upcoming mini-series The Battlers.

melissatkautzingorademacherParadise bitch!
Former E Street star Melissa Tkautz has scored a guest role in the Nine Network‘s upcoming series Paradise Beach.  Tkautz plays Vanessa Campbell, a scorned woman who arrives in Paradise Beach intent on causing trouble for Sean Hayden, played by Ingo Rademacher, who had ditched her after a three-year relationship.  ”She’s a bit of a psycho, a real bitch,” Tkautz told TV Week.  ”She is nothing like (her character) Nicki in E Street.  This one’s a real troublemaker.”  It is unknown if Tkautz will extend her stay in Paradise Beach beyond the initial guest appearance.  ”At the moment this is just a guest role and I’ve got my music to get back to,” she said.

Greg’s full frontal assault on Phoenix
Greg Fleet not only plays an undercover drug squad detective in ABC‘s Phoenix, but he also stars in Seven‘s new sketch comedy series Full Frontal — and both programs air in the same timeslot (8.30pm Thursday).  Fleet says that if Full Frontal decides to give a serve to Phoenix it is likely he will be cast as the same character!  ”It could prove to be very interesting,” he said.

theresapageBriefly…

  • Sydney model Theresa Page (pictured) walked into the offices of A Country Practice producer JNP Productions to drop off her CV… and she walked out with a guest role.  Page will play the part of Maryam Zahedi, a war refugee.
  • Former E Street star Bruce Samazan is soon to be a resident in Neighbours.  There are also rumours that producer Grundys are keen to develop a spin-off series for his character Mark Gottlieb and Scott Michaelson‘s character Brad Willis.  The word is that Ten may consider the spin-off project for the 7.00pm timeslot, ditching current affairs program Hinch.
  • The Seven Network has swooped in on a deal to buy the screening rights to Scarlett, the eight-hour mini-series sequel to Gone With The Wind, at the TV buyers’ market in Cannes.  The series was first thought to have been sold to Ten.  Seven is also in negotiation for the rights to Return To Lonesome Dove, the sequel to the late ’80s mini-series Lonesome Dove.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here

“With E Street now closed to traffic, Network Ten has been left with two gaping holes in its prime time schedule, and filling them, of course, has been a major headache.  And let’s face it, paraplegics who suddenly walk, serial killers, hit men and the occasional werewolf do take some replacing.  Melrose Place — the sort of poor cousin of the network’s only genuine hit, Beverly Hills 90210 — looks like being put in one of the hot seats.  Reruns of ABC‘s delightful comedy series Mother And Son are likely to fill the other.  Ten has bought rerun rights to five series of the Ruth Cracknell-Garry McDonald hit but, great as it is, Mother And Son can’t expect to be a blockbuster third time around.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 23-29):
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Deceived (Seven) and City Slickers (Ten), while Nine crosses to Lords, United Kingdom, for the third One Day International cricket match — Australia versus England.

Monday:  Wonder World, the ’90s remake of the former series hosted by Simon Townsend, makes its debut (4.30pm, Nine) — and Eden Gaha returns with a new series of Vidiot (5.30pm, ABC).  In A Country Practice (7.30pm, Seven), Harry (Andrew Blackman) is still guilt ridden about the accident, and Jules’ (Loene Carmen) husband is unable to cope with her paralysis.

haroldhopkins_0001Tuesday:  In GP (8.30pm, ABC), Tessa (Marilynne Paspaley) faces legal action four years after attending the scene of an accident.  Harold Hopkins (pictured) guest stars in Law Of The Land (9.30pm, Nine).

Wednesday:  In Hey Dad! (7.30pm, Seven), Martin (Robert Hughes), Ben (Ben Oxenbould) and Betty (Julie McGregor) decide to go on a fishing expedition.  The 7.30pm timeslot formerly occupied by E Street is filled by the final one-hour episode of US series The Wonder Years.

Thursday:  Re-runs of Mother And Son commence in the former E Street Thursday timeslot (7.30pm, Ten).

Friday:  In The Great Outdoors (7.30pm, Seven), Rex Hunt goes fishing off Coffs Harbour; Sofie Formica and Neil Crompton head up the highway for a Harley Davidson experience; Ernie Dingo visits the South Australian mining town of Burra; and Sharron Tyrrell visits Cadman’s Cottage in Sydney’s Rocks district.

Saturday:  Bert Newton hosts the Series Two final of New Faces (6.30pm, Ten).  In Beyond 2000 (7.30pm, Seven), Andrew Waterworth looks at an invention that enables paralysed people to walk without crutches; Amanda Keller finds a safer, friendlier alternative to insecticides; and Tracey Curro reports on the development of a drug delivery system — a remote-controlled electronic pill.  The Scottish Cup Final — Rangers versus Aberdeen — is broadcast live (11.30pm, SBS) from Celtic Park, Glasgow.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 22 May 1993.  Southdown Press.

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/1993-may-23-29.html

May 21 2013

1993: May 16-22

tvweek_150593Groomed for disaster
Neighbours star Scott Michaelson (pictured) is enjoying the emotional challenges coming up for his character Brad Willis, but is not so sure about his character’s choices — in particular having an affair with Lauren (Sarah Vandenbergh) just prior to his wedding to Beth (Natalie Imbruglia, pictured).  ”I would never do what Brad has done,” he told TV Week.  ”I think it’s pretty cruel.  I mean, it doesn’t get much worse, does it?  I don’t take any of it personally but I do get embarrassed by Brad.  Some of the things he is doing, I disagree with them totally.  But I still love playing him.”

Aaron’s amazing attitude
It could be easy to be resentful after your family has abandoned you, but for Attitude reporter Aaron Pedersen it was the turning point to a more positive life.  One of seven children, with no father around, it was a difficult life as his mother would move the family from one town to another.  ”I’ve lived all over… Port Augusta, Broken Hill, everywhere. Mum loved moving,” he said.  One day, at the age of 13, he returned home one day to find the house cleaned out.  ”They had just got up and left me.  I look back on it now and it’s quite funny.”  The homeless teenager ended up with a foster family, a more stable environment that enabled him to concentrate on his studies — leading to him being chosen for the ABC‘s Aboriginal cadetship scheme.  He worked for three years at the ABC newsroom in Melbourne before being picked up by Attitude.  After Attitude finishes its current series Pedersen will take up a new role for ABC’s Blackout series.  ”Blackout will give me the opportunity to paint some positive pictures about Aborigines, and I hope that will have a positive effect in the community.”

Rachael to quit
Hey Dad! star Rachael Beck is planning to quit the long-running sitcom in July, although her contract won’t have expired.  The young actress will be taking her one-woman stage show Young Judy: An Interview, based on Judy Garland, to Melbourne when Hey Dad! goes in a production break in July, and is seeking to negotiate out of her contract.  Hey Dad! producers deny any suggestion that Beck is planning to leave.  ”Yes, there is a production break when Rachael plans to take her live show to Melbourne, but we haven’t heard any talk of her leaving for good,” a spokesperson told TV Week.

Briefly…

  • Former Neighbours star Mark Little, now living in the UK, has scored a role in a pilot for an upcoming sitcom for the Granada Television.  No Worries is based around a group of Australians living in London.
  • erniedingo_0001The Great Outdoors reporter Ernie Dingo (pictured) has scored a deal to write a 13-part comedy-drama series for ABC.  The proposed series, titled The Third Angle, is expected to blend humour with reality — “straightening lies, correcting wrongs and redirecting reality,” he told TV Week.
  • Former Home And Away star Dee Smart was sent back to Australia after the British Home Office and Actors Equity denied her a work permit.  The actress had scored a role in the upcoming stage production Nightmare but was denied the permit on the basis that she would not draw in crowds.  ”I actually had the role,” she told TV Week.  ”The producers wanted me, we had signed contracts and I had put so much preparation and extra study into the role.  The producers tried so hard to get me the permit, but each time they were refused.”
  • melissabell_0001Former Neighbours and E Street star Melissa Bell (pictured) could be the next soapie star to land a recording contract, with negotiations now happening between her UK agents and a record label.  Meanwhile, the young star has already had multiple offers to work the Christmas pantomime circuit over in the UK later this year.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here

“By 1988, Degrassi Junior High was being shown in more than 40 countries and the following year the students all moved up to senior school and the show dropped the “Junior” from its title.  Degrassi High has been screening off and on in Australia on the ABC as part of Michael Tunn‘s The Afternoon Show and, while its ratings at 5.30pm have hardly had the commercial networks scratching for an answer, I know from the mail we receive here that Degrassi High has certainly struck a chord with a certain demographic.  On Friday, in the prime time slot of 8.30pm, the ABC will screen School’s Out — The Degrassi Feature, a movie which wraps up the school days of the show’s regular characters.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 16-22):
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Ricochet (Seven), Hudson Hawk (Nine) and The War Of The Roses (Ten).  Documentary series True Stories (8.30pm, ABC) presents Baseclimb, following two Australian adventurers seeking to BASE-jump from the tallest cliff in the world — the 6258 metres Great Trango Tower in Pakistan.  The 38th annual Eurovision Song Contest (8.30pm, SBS), from County Cork, Ireland, features a record 25 countries competing to find the Continent’s definitive pop song.

Monday:  In A Country Practice (7.30pm, Seven), Terence (Shane Porteous) fears for Harry’s (Andrew Blackman) life as the car accident has left him with a collapsed lung and a badly injured hand which could threaten his future career as a surgeon.  Ken Sutcliffe hosts the Rugby League State Of Origin, New South Wales versus Queensland (8.30pm, Nine), from the Sydney Football Stadium.

joansydney_0002Tuesday:  Kerry Armstrong makes her debut appearance in All Together Now (8pm, Nine) as the mother of twins Thomas (Steven Jacobs) and Anna (Jane Hall) who was thought to have died.  Moya O’Sullivan guest stars in GP (8.30pm, ABC).  Former A Country Practice and E Street star Joan Sydney (pictured with Lisa Hensley) guest stars as magistrate Hilda Danforth in Law Of The Land (9.30pm, Nine).

Wednesday:  A fire devastates the residents of Westside in E Street (7.30pm, Ten).  Comedy special World Series Debating: That Australia Needs The Royal Family (8.30pm, ABC) features Andrew Denton, Paul Lyneham, Senator Bronwyn Bishop, Wendy Harmer, Graham Richardson and Malcolm Turnbull.  Nine presents a delayed coverage of the One Day International cricket — England versus Australia — from Old Trafford, UK.  Coverage starts at 8.30pm and continues through to 4am.

Thursday:  In the final episode of E Street (7.30pm, Ten), it is two months since the fire in Patchett’s Pub; Jojo (Kelley Abbey) has her own cafe; Bonnie (Melissa Bell) has had a relapse and is now in a coma and Laura’s (Antionette Byron) younger sister has turned up unexpectedly. Maggie Tabberer and Richard Zachariah host the series return of The Home Show (8pm, ABC).

Friday:  The One Day International (8.30pm, Nine) moves to Edgebaston for the second of three one day matches between England and Australia.

Saturday:  In Beyond 2000 (7.30pm, Seven), Amanda Keller goes parachuting after she is taught how to control a parachute with the new simulator designed to reduce injuries; and Tracey Curro discovers a fleet of trucks using fuel made from recycled telephone books.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 15 May 1993.  Southdown Press.

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/1993-may-16-22.html

May 20 2013

Obituary: Penne Hackforth-Jones

pennehackforthjonesActress Penne Hackforth-Jones has died at the age of 64, only months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Born in the US, she was brought up in Australia and made her screen debut in the 1969 series Riptide.

She went on to appear in a number of productions during the 1970s including Bellbird, Number 96, Division 4, Matlock Police, Homicide, Ryan, Young Ramsay and Skyways.

She played the lead female role of Jessica Johnson in historical drama Cash And Company and its spin-off, Tandarra.

Later TV appearances included Mother And Son, Punishment, Butterfly Island, Rafferty’s Rules, Hey Dad!, A Country Practice, GP, Heroes’ Mountain, :30 Seconds, All Saints, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and The Doctor Blake Mysteries.

She also featured in films Muriel’s Wedding and Mao’s Last Dancer.

Source: The Age, IMDB

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/obituary-penne-hackforth-jones.html

May 19 2013

Number 96, Mavis Bramston and David Sale

davidsale_0001English-born writer David Sale (pictured) was the creative force behind two of Australia’s most groundbreaking programs — The Mavis Bramston Show in the 1960s and Number 96 in the 1970s.

The Mavis Bramston Show, produced by Seven, was a weekly comedy revue which did not hold back in satirising various social and political issues at a time when Australia was still very conservative.  The cast included Gordon Chater, Carol Raye, Barry Creyton, June Salter, Johnny Lockwood, Hazel Phillips, Ron FrazerBarbara Angell and Maggie Dence as the fictional Mavis Bramston.

Number 96, which ran for six years, portrayed more social taboos in the guise of serial drama — with topics such as homosexuality, rape, abortion, prostitution, drugs, racism, sex and nudity all tackled at various levels.

Last week Sale appeared on Seven’s The Morning Show to talk about his new book, Number 96, Mavis Bramston And Me, which goes behind-the-scenes of the two groundbreaking shows:

Number 96, Mavis Bramston And Me is published by Vivid Publishing

Source: The Morning Show, Vivid Publishing

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/number-96-mavis-bramston-and-david-sale.html

May 14 2013

ABC, SBS get boost in Budget

abc_2001National broadcasters ABC and SBS have both scored additional funding in the 2013 Federal Budget, handed down by Treasurer Wayne Swan this evening.

ABC is to receive just under $60 million over three years to enhance its news and current affairs services and $30 million over three years for online content distribution.

ABC managing director Mark Scott said the additional funding will help the broadcaster meet its obligations in the digital environment:

“This investment acknowledges two of the prime areas where the ABC is using its digital expertise to deliver on its charter obligations to inform, educate and entertain Australians.  The funding will better equip the ABC to provide the mobile and online content that audiences are demanding in ever-increasing numbers.

“It will also allow our news division to create new cross-platform content that showcases the best of the ABC’s journalism, including the work of our new specialist reporters, bureaux and regional resources.”

SBS_2008_0002ABC will also receive a $90 million loan to fund the expansion of its Melbourne-based facilities in Southbank to incorporate radio, television and online operations.

Multicultural broadcaster SBS is to receive an additional $20 million over three years to meet its chartered obligations in the new multi-platform environment.

SBS will also receive an additional $10 million over five years to meet the increased cost of sourcing and producing local content.

Managing director Michael Ebeid said the funding boost is recognition of SBS’ role in serving and promoting Australia’s multicultural society:

“In this budget, Minister Conroy and the government have recognised that demand for SBS’s services will only continue to grow as Australia becomes more and more culturally diverse.”

“This funding will equip SBS to provide the services that are critical to its responsibility to be a broadcaster for all Australians, in a climate where commercial growth is subdued, content costs are increasing and audiences are fragmenting across the myriad of channels, platforms and devices available to them.”

Last month SBS relaunched its secondary channel SBS2 into a youth-focused line-up and recently expanded its radio broadcasting schedule to present programming in 74 languages.

The Budget also commits to funding the expansion of digital television services for both ABC and SBS to an additional 39 areas across regional Australia plus converting 54 community-owned transmission sites to fully managed services to ensure these areas receive the full suite of digital channels.

Source: ABC, SBS, Budget 2013

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/abc-sbs-get-boost-in-budget.html

May 13 2013

Ten scores 2014 Winter Olympics

Network Ten‘s Hamish McLennan has scored his first win for the network since taking on the role of CEO less than two months ago.

Media reports indicate that Ten has been the successful bidder for the Australian TV rights to televise the XXII Olympic Winter Games to be held in Sochi, Russia, in February next year.

The network is believed to have bid $20 million for the coverage rights.

The deal marks Ten’s first Olympics coverage since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and their first ever Winter Olympics.

In the past the Winter Olympics have generally been covered on either Seven or Nine, with Nine sharing coverage rights with Foxtel for Vancouver in 2010.

With McLennan in charge Ten is making a concerted effort to increase its sports portfolio since previous management decided not to proceed with AFL coverage beyond the end of 2011 and failed in their bid to gain rights to NRL.

Network Ten is also reported to have bid $500 million for the upcoming Cricket Australia rights deal which if successful will take the sport away from Nine after over 35 years.

Ten already has the rights to cover the 2014 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow, Scotland.

Source: Daily Telegraph

 

UPDATE @ 10:45 AEST 14.5.2013:  Network Ten has issued a press release confirming it has acquired the rights to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games:

Ten Network To Broadcast 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Ten Network Holdings today announced it had signed an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to broadcast the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

The agreement covers the rights across all broadcast platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile phone.

Ten Network Holdings Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Hamish McLennan, said: “We are delighted that Ten will be Australia’s Olympics network in 2014.

“The agreement with the IOC delivers on our strategy to increase our investment in premium sport.

“Australia will field its largest-ever Winter Olympics team at Sochi and we are confident that some of those 56 athletes will be among the Games’ star performers,” Mr McLennan said.

“We are also confident that Australian viewers and advertisers will embrace our coverage of the Sochi Games.”

 

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/ten-scores-2014-winter-olympics.html

May 11 2013

1993: May 9-15

tvweek_080593Cover: Shannen Doherty (Beverly Hills 90210)

Shattered lives
Loene Carmen, best known for her role as teenager Freya in the 1987 film The Year My Voice Broke, makes a dramatic entrance into A Country Practice this week — playing the part of car-crash victim Jules Goodfellow.  ”I play a nurse who becomes paraplegic and, as a result of various circumstances, has an affair with Dr Harry Morrison (Andrew Blackman).  It’s a very dramatic storyline,” she told TV Week.  The preparation for the five-week stint in the series included Carmen spending time at the Royal North Shore Hospital spinal unit. “I would be in a wheelchair for most of the day,” she said.

andrewettinghausenET in alien territory
Rugby league star Andrew Ettinghausen (pictured) is learning all he can about television while starting out as a reporter for The Great Outdoors.  The Cronulla Sharks player is currently undertaking a three-year training contract with the Seven Network.  ”I want to gain enough knowledge in the next five years of my football career — and hopefully I’ve got that much time left — that I can go out and put together a worthwhile TV project,” he said.  ”I have no ambition to be in the sport side of television.  These days you have to be controversial.  If I have a choice about being a commentator or being somebody who can present positive things about our country… well, it’s an easy choice.”

Full pockets!
Comedian and Full Frontal star Matthew Parkinson says his dream job is to host Sale Of The Century.  ”You only work one day a week and you can spend the rest of the week just being a celebrity,” he says.  Parkinson instead had to settle with being a contestant on the quiz show — ultimately winning a prize package worth over $300,000, including two Nissan cars and holidays to Malaysia and Queensland.  Full Frontal, which debuts this week, is a step up for Parkinson professionally from his previous appearances on ABC‘s The Big Gig.  ”Artists Services (producer of Full Frontal) has so many resources.  At the ABC there was — well, nothing really,” he said.  ”Being on Full Frontal feels more like being involved in the industry in general, whereas the ABC is an industry unto itself.  There’s a sense that I have jumped up in exposure level.”

Briefly…

  • With E Street now out of production and due to finish on screen shortly, rumours around the industry suggest that Grundys are looking to rework classic soap Sons And Daughters or The Restless Years for a new series for the Ten Network.  Another possibility being discussed is the production of an Australian version of Grundys’ popular New Zealand soap Shortland Street.
  • Melbourne radio personality Jane Holmes is joining the line-up of Seven‘s Talk To The Animals. Her last TV work was on The Great TV Game Show for Network Ten in 1989.
  • ABC‘s youth affairs program Attitude has been renewed for a second series of 12 episodes, due to commence production in August.
  • Deborra-Lee Furness and American actor Jan-Michael Vincent are confirmed to star opposite John Waters in the Nine Network‘s upcoming $3 million telemovie Singapore Sling. Producers were hoping to reunite Waters with former All The Rivers Run co-star Sigrid Thornton for the project, but she was unavailable due to commitments to another Nine Network project, telemovie The Feds.
  • shiptoshoreProduction has commenced on the $6.5 million children’s series Ship To Shore. The series of 26 half-hour episodes is being produced by Barron Films in Perth for the Nine Network. Ship To Shore (starring Clinton Voss and Jodi Herbert, pictured) has already been sold for screening in Germany with sales to other European markets imminent.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here

“Words such as exhilarating and adrenalin-pumping usually don’t spring to mind when I am veged out in front of the television watching a documentary.  But the independent Australian production Baseclimb isn’t just any documentary.  In a nutshell, Baseclimb is about two Sydney men, Glenn Singleman and Nic Feteris.  Singleman likes to climb mountains.  Feteris likes to jump off them.  Teamed up, they are a literally death-defying pair.  Singleman, who produced and directed Baseclimb for his Icarus Films company, tells me the 52-minute documentary will be seen in about 80 countries as part of the National Geographic Voyager series.”

drnormanswanProgram Highlights (Melbourne, May 9-15):
Sunday:  Dr Norman Swan (pictured) presents the new four-part series Invisible Enemies (7.30pm, SBS), exploring the relationship between history, destiny and disease.  In the True Stories documentary Maria (8.30pm, ABC), Barbara Chobocky documents her mother’s experience as a migrant in Australia during the 1950s.  Sunday night movies are Children Of The Bride (Seven), The Godfather Part III (Nine) and Only The Lonely (Ten).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (7.30pm, Seven), as Harry (Andrew Blackman) and Kate (Michelle Pettigrove) prepare to leave for China, Sister Jules Goodfellow (Loene Carmen) prepares to take over from Kate.

Tuesday:  In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Helen’s (Anne Haddy) attempts to find new meaning in her life are unwittingly thwarted by her own family.  In GP (8.30pm, ABC), Tessa (Marilynne Paspaley) wants to treat Gabe (Paula Forrest), a friend of Steve’s (Michael O’Neill) who refuses to accept that she has a hormonal imbalance.  In Law Of The Land (9.30pm, Nine), a drug investigation goes horribly wrong when Clive (Richard Moir) shoots Nico (Vince Colosimo) in self-defence.

Wednesday:  In E Street (7.30pm, Ten), George (Les Dayman) is delighted when Alice (Marianne Howard) returns to Westside, and Sam (Simon Denny) becomes involved with some street kids and gets more than he bargained for.

Thursday:  In Getaway (7.30pm, Nine), Jeff Watson visits Apollo Bay, Anna McMahon takes an unusual sporting tour of the SCG, and Rebecca Harris goes shopping at the Floating Markets in Thailand.  Full Frontal — Presented By Fast Forward makes its long-awaited debut (8.30pm, Seven).

Friday:  Friday night AFL features live coverage of the match between West Coast Eagles and Fitzroy, live from Perth (8.30pm, Seven).  Kylie Minogue, Angela Punch McGregor and Bruno Lawrence star in the re-run of 1989 film The Delinquents (8.30pm, Ten).

Saturday:  The FA Cup Final — Arsenal versus Sheffield Wednesday — is broadcast live from Wembley Stadium, London (10.20pm, SBS).

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 8 May 1993.  Southdown Press.

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/1993-may-9-15.html

May 10 2013

Obituary: Barbara Callcott

barbaracallcottBarbara Callcott, best known to generations of viewers as Mrs Marsh from the Colgate commercials, has died peacefully at her home on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The character of Mrs Marsh, based on an identical American concept, was launched to promote children’s oral health for a series of Colgate toothpaste commercials in the 1970s.  Constantly armed with white chalk and blue ink, to demonstrate the strength of the fluoride on tooth enamel, Mrs Marsh appeared in an almost continuous stream of commercials for over 15 years.

Feedback from the early Mrs Marsh commercials indicated that parents found her a bit too authoritarian, so Callcott worked to give Mrs Marsh a gentler persona as the commercials progressed over the years.

She had much affection for the character but also had to deal with her work being mocked by comedy shows and some unflattering remarks on talkback radio, including from Sydney ‘shock jock’ Ron Casey.  ”He said, ‘I wish she’d put her face in a bucket and not come out again’,” she recalled with a laugh in 1990.  But at the time she said her own family were unfazed.  ”My son really enjoyed all the jokes about Mrs Marsh which went around the school.  He’d tell me a different one every night,” she said.  ”Sure, Mrs Marsh has irritated a lot of people over the years, and yet there are many who seem to be quite fond of her.”

Although the toothpaste commercials featuring Mrs Marsh were phased out from 1990, Callcott continued to campaign for better oral health in children up until last month.

Colgate managing director Chris Pedersen has told media that the company will be setting up an education grant in Callcott’s honour:

“In honour of her legacy, Colgate will be initiating an education grant in her name in recognition of her contribution to oral health education. Colgate staff are saddened by the news and extend their condolences to Barbara’s family.”

Source: The Age, TV Week
YouTube: George Patterson Y&R, retrooldcommercials

 

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/obituary-barbara-callcott.html

May 04 2013

1993: May 2-8

tvweek_010593A host of fun!
All Together Now star Steven Jacobs will be joining Jo Beth Taylor to co-host a special edition of Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show, with the show featuring some of his own bloopers from All Together Now. With production of All Together Now said to be winding up Jacobs is looking for a new gig whether it be hosting or acting. He is currently presenting a Saturday morning radio show that is broadcast across the country and last year co-hosted the short-lived Nine Network show Saturday At Rick’s. “Hosting, I got a buzz out of Saturday At Rick’s because it was live TV — that was great,” he told TV Week. “It’s more of a challenge because people have to like you.  You can’t hide behind anything.”

mollymeldrum_0001Hats off to Molly
Hey Hey It’s Saturday‘s Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum (pictured) has recently been honoured for his contribution to the music industry with a special achievement award by the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA), presented to him at the recent ARIA Awards.  It is only the second time ever that ARIA has made such an award.  Although he is best known for his role as host and talent co-ordinator for Countdown, which ran from 1974 to 1987, his career in the industry dated back almost a decade earlier with appearances in pop music shows Kommotion and Uptight and writing for Go Set magazine.  Since 1975 he had been TV Week‘s own pop music columnist and has recently started up his own record label, Melodian.  Former Countdown producer Michael Shrimpton paid tribute to Meldrum’s achievement:  ”He is the most extraordinary one-off personality.  He has no standard way of approaching anything.  But what he does have is an incredible dedication to, and love of, music.  His childlike enthusiasm just sweeps everything aside.”

margdowney_0002Here comes the judge
Fast Forward star Marg Downey leads the cast of comedians to feature in the upcoming Seven Network comedy special Fast Forward’s Royal Commission Into The Australian Economy.  Downey plays the part of Dame Victoria Market (pictured), the judge presiding over the commission.  Also starring in the special are Jane Turner, Steve Blackburn, Glenn Robbins, Gerry Connolly, Michael Veitch, Magda Szubanski, Geoff Brooks, Gina Riley and Frank Gallacher.  For Downey the role of Dame Victoria presented a welcome change to the normal pace of one-minute sketches that Fast Forward churned through.  ”It was nice to have a good, old, solid script to get your teeth into,” she said.  ”It’s a great role, a really good example of John Clarke‘s writing.”

Briefly…

  • It appears that Nine‘s sitcom My Two Wives is not going to be renewed for a second series — and that All Together Now is set to wrap up production for good over the next few months.
  • Former Home And Away star Rebekah Elmaloglou has signed up for a two-week guest role in A Country Practice.
  • Following recent reports of the legal battle between Seven and Nine over the services of Tracey Curro, it looks like Beyond 2000 has had to concede defeat and has put the call out for a new female reporter to take her place.
  • Annie Jones is looking forward to returning to the Seven Network studios for a second series of Newlyweds, set to go into production late in May.  This follows her work on the Nine Network‘s Snowy drama series, where she is playing the part of a Hungarian immigrant — a role that has personal significance as she is the daughter of Hungarian parents who settled in Australia in the 1950s.
  • jakeblundellJake Blundell (pictured), son of Alvin Purple star Graeme Blundell, has followed his father into acting.  The 18-year-old has already done some commercial work and has scored a role in the upcoming ABC-BBC co-production Dallas Dolls.  However, the young Blundell has confessed to have never seen his father in the role that made him famous.  ”Alvin Purple was made before I was even born.  I was probably sheltered from it, but now I’m at the age when I’ll probably appreciate it,” he said.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here

“The future of the ARIA Awards as a fully produced television special must be in serious doubt.  Despite that fact that some of the big names in Australian music participated in this year’s show — the second to be televised — the lukewarm ratings have left a bitter taste in the mouths of executives at the Nine Network.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 2-8):
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are My Left Foot (Nine) and Dying Young (Ten) up against the debut of two-part mini-series Jewels (Seven).  Compass (10.30pm, ABC) looks at the topic of euthanasia.

Monday:  Ken Sutcliffe hosts live coverage of the rugby league State Of Origin — New South Wales versus Queensland — from Lang Park, Brisbane (8pm, Nine).

Tuesday:  In All Together Now (8pm, Nine), when Tracy (Rebecca Gibney) goes away, Thomas (Steven Jacobs) arranges for his maths teacher’s wacky sister (Alison Whyte) to move in as a housekeeper.  Vince Colosimo guest stars in Law Of The Land (9.30pm, Nine).

Wednesday:  In Newlyweds (8pm, Seven), Peter (Chris Gabardi) is seen in a compromising situation with an attractive jeweller while buying a ring for wife Allie’s (Annie Jones) birthday.  The Australian economy comes under the scrutiny of the team from Fast Forward in the two-hour special A Royal Commission Into The Australian Economy (8.30pm, Seven).

Thursday:  In Getaway (7.30pm, Nine), Law Of The Land star Debbie Byrne and her husband, actor Neil Melville take viewers on a tour of their lodge and farm in Apollo Bay, Victoria.

Friday:  In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Lou (Tom Oliver) makes a shock discovery when he finds a pregnancy testing kit belonging to daughter Lauren (Sarah Vandenbergh), and Russell (Stephen Whittaker) starts to show his true colours.

Saturday:  In a special Saturday night screening of The Great Outdoors (7.30pm, Seven), Bridget Adams discovers fish feeding an unusual tourist attraction in Darwin, and Penny Cook visits Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 1 May 1993.  Southdown Press.

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/1993-may-2-8.html

May 03 2013

ABC looks back in Retrospect

abc_1956First it was for Tractor Monkeys, and now the ABC is again delving into almost 60 years worth of archival material for its new online series Retrospect.

Presented by Donna Field, Retrospect offers a glimpse at Australia’s past as captured by ABC cameras.

Included in the first episode are a range of ABC ‘firsts’ —  footage from the first current affairs program, a Tasmanian-based series called Line-Up (1960); the opening night of ABC’s first television station, ABN2 Sydney (1956); the first satellite link-up between Great Britain and Carnarvon, Western Australia (1966); and segments from the first edition of Four Corners (1961).

Retrospect can be viewed at ABC Online.  Viewers are also invited to offer their own suggestions for future editions of the program.

Permanent link to this article: http://televisionau.com/2013/05/abc-looks-back-in-retrospect.html

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