March 2009 archive

Queensland’s 50 years of news

The year 2009 marks a number of significant anniversaries for Australian television.  One of them is the fiftieth anniversary of TV in Queensland – as Brisbane channels QTQ9, BTQ7 and ABQ2 all begun transmission during the second half of 1959. QTQ9 was the first station to air in the Sunshine State, opening on 16 August …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/queenslands-50-years-of-news.html

Hitting the G-Code spot!

Since the advent of the home video cassette recorder it had been a running joke that it was a mammoth, if not perplexing, task for anyone – or at least, anyone over the age of puberty – to attempt to pre-program the VCR to tape programs in advance. No two VCR models were the same …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/hitting-the-g-code-spot.html

1979: March 17-23

Julie Anthony’s singing the blues away This week, the Seven Network will screen The Julie Anthony Special, a one-hour production taped late last year on the Gold Coast. But since the special was taped, the former South Australian farm girl who grew up to charm London audiences in the stage production of Irene, has lost …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/1979-march-17-23.html

Louie the footy TV legend

Despite retiring from the game of Australian rules in the 1950s, former Collingwood premiership captain Lou Richards (pictured) has become, unofficially at least, a legend of the game. Last week, Richards’ former football club put out a call to the AFL Commission to have his legend status officially recognised in the league’s Hall of Fame …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/louie-the-footy-tv-legend.html

Neighbours star quit fame for family

The previous blog entry highlighted some of the pressures faced by young stars going into soap operas and the sudden fame it brings. Some of these actors do indeed go onto bigger things – names like Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Jason Donovan, Craig McLachlan and Natalie Imbruglia all got their big break in soaps before …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/neighbours-star-quit-fame-for-family.html

1979: March 10-16

Instant stardom, and how they handle it With TV soap operas turning young, unknown actors into national celebrities overnight, it is easy for these young stars to let their newfound fame get to their head. But some of these young actors – including The Restless Years‘ Victoria Nicolls, Julieanne Newbould and Michael Smith (pictured) – …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/1979-march-10-16.html

Sgt. Gilroy on bedroom patrol

As Sargeant Frank Gilroy in A Country Practice, Brian Wenzel (pictured, centre) was the face of law and order in the quiet town of Wandin Valley for over a decade. Now, fifteen years later, 80-year-old Wenzel is back on TV but as a cop of a different kind – as “bedroom police chief” in a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/sgt-gilroy-on-bedroom-patrol.html

Amazing trivia!

New Zealander Phil Keoghan was a TV presenter in his home country before heading to the United States where he has since fronted thirteen series of award-winning reality show The Amazing Race (a fourteenth series is now in progress).  But it seems that Keoghan (pictured) made his own pit-stop on Australian TV as a reporter …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/amazing-trivia.html

1979: March 3-9

Tickling the Peter! Cop Shop‘s Peter Adams hasn’t always been cast in the macho roles he has become familiar for. In fact, he made his acting debut playing a chubby woman in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta at age 10. But in his adult career, mostly in the theatre, New Zealand-born Adams (pictured, with co-star …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/03/1979-march-3-9.html