Cover: Rebekah Elmaloglou (Home And Away)
Sun sets on Morning
Although no official announcement has been made, it seems that the axe is to fall on Good Morning Australia (Ten), currently hosted by Ron Wilson and Sandra Sully. A revamped morning line-up for Ten in the new year is believed to include a one-hour news bulletin, followed by children’s programs, Bert Newton‘s The Morning Show and then a new show fronted by Kerri-Anne Kennerley.
Kimberley moves into Scott’s neighbourhood
Model turned actress Kimberley Davies is moving in to long-running series Neighbours. The 19-year-old is currently the girlfriend of fellow cast member Scott Michaelson. “Scott told me a lot about the show,” she told TV Week. “But I was very nervous when I started. I didn’t expect to be so nervous.” Davies makes her on-screen debut in January as Annalise Hartman, an apprentice hairdresser. “She’s a bit of a wild one,” Davies said. “She sees what she wants and takes it without thinking too much.”
Norman Gunston meets Madonna
Self-confessed Seventies “multi-media personality” Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald) is returning to television and also launching a music career. Gunston (pictured at the time of his TV Week Gold Logie win in 1976) describes his new single Venereal Girl, a “tribute” to pop star Madonna, as “three-and-a-half minutes of trouser-straining sensuality”. His new series, comprising thirteen half-hour episodes for the Seven Network, comes after his 1989 TV comeback conducting the red carpet interviews at the TV Week Logie Awards.
Briefly…
- As Hey Hey It’s Saturday comes to the end of its 21st year, host Daryl Somers recalls that the show was close to being axed as far back as the early Seventies. “During the Nine Network reign of Sir Frank Packer there were major cut-backs,” he said. “Sir Frank’s hatchet man was going through all the shows making two piles — those to go and those to stay. He got to Hey Hey It’s Saturday and really wasn’t sure what to do. He remembered that his kids liked the show, so he put it on the good pile. It just shows how fickle this business can be.”
Aussie actor Cameron Daddo (pictured), now living in Los Angeles with wife Alison Brahe, has scored his first big US role, appearing in the ABC network telemovie In Between Love And Hate alongside actress Susan Lucci, best known from daytime soap All My Children.- Taffner Ramsay, the company that produces Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show for Nine, is now working on a new sketch comedy series for Seven set in a shopping mall. The new series is expected to go to air when Seven’s other new sketch comedy project, from Fast Forward and Tonight Live producer Steve Vizard, takes a break during the year.
- Former E Street star Marcus Graham has knocked back an offer to reprise his character Wheels yet again. “Enough is enough,” he said. Although the series still has a year to go under its current contract the rumours persist that the axe is about to fall.
Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
“There is usually a collective groan around this time of year as Australian television networks continue to disregard the weeks between late November and early February and go on extended leave. All those favourite, familiar faces and programs go into hiatus — or should that be hibernation — and if you’re not into tennis or cricket, too bad. The soap fans are left cliffhanging, those who feed off current affairs are put on a “summer edition” diet and, if you’re into comedy, prepare yourself for a bunch of British and American rejects that should never have been written in the first place.”
Loose Talk
- “Because there are so many Daddo brothers the Government has decided to give them their own TV network.” — Steve Vizard, Tonight Live, Seven.
- “Would Elle McFeast have any advice for Stan Grant…? A little more cleavage, perhaps.” — Elle McFeast (Libbi Gorr), Real Life, Seven.
- “I don’t think people look at us (rugby players) as bimbos.” — Andrew Ettinghausen, Hard Copy, Ten.
Program Highlights (Melbourne, November 29-December 5):
Sunday: SBS launches a new series, Positions Vacant, focusing on aspects of training and gaining employment at a time when Australia is experiencing its worst levels of unemployment in decades. SBS also presents a one-hour special Fringe To Folk, featuring performances from the 26th National Folk Festival in Canberra. Current affairs program 60 Minutes (Nine) goes into summer recess with The Best Of 60 Minutes. Sunday night movies are The Dirty Dozen III: The Next Mission (Seven), The Little Drummer Girl (Nine) and The Big Chill (Ten) — all are repeats as the summer non-ratings season is now upon us.
Monday: Ten’s nightly current affairs program Hinch goes into “summer edition” mode with guest host Anne Fulwood. Nine debuts game show Keynotes with Richard Wilkins (pictured), replacing Sale Of The Century over the summer months.
Tuesday: ABC commemorates World AIDS Day with a five-minute prime time speech by Justice Michael Kirby. SBS marks World AIDS Day with the US documentary Voices From The Front and the UK concert Red Hot And Dance.
Wednesday: Science program Quantum (ABC) presents its final program for 1992. In Neighbours (Ten), Helen (Anne Haddy) attempts to stop Pam (Sue Jones) and Jim’s (Alan Dale) relationship from developing further.
Thursday: Seven begins its four day coverage of the Johnnie Walker Classic from Royal Melbourne Golf Course, with commentators Sandy Roberts, Jack Newton, Renton Laidlaw, Bruce Critchley and Pat Welsh. ABC’s Lateline presents its final program for 1992.
Friday: Nine crosses to Perth for the Benson And Hedges World Series — Pakistan versus West Indies, with coverage running through until after midnight. In the series final of Neighbours (Ten) for 1992, Beth and Hannah (Natalie Imbruglia and Rebecca Ritters, pictured) are trapped inside a blazing cottage. Tonight Live With Steve Vizard (Seven) presents its final show for 1992.
Saturday: Drama series Bony (Seven) returns to play out its remaining episodes. Richard Wilkins hosts the Nescafe Big Break Awards (Nine), recognising and helping young Australians get their big break in life. Mal Walden hosts The Young Achiever Awards (Ten) from the Hilton Hotel, Melbourne, followed by a tribute to British comedian Benny Hill and the debut of sitcom Bingles, starring Tammy MacIntosh, Shane Bourne and Russell Gilbert.
Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 28 November 1992. Southdown Press.
