1995: May 6-12

Ray’s super hat-trick
A Current Affair host Ray Martin (pictured with Lois & Clark‘s Dean Cain) has become the first person to win three consecutive Gold Logies. The 37th annual TV Week Logie Awards also saw co-host Andrew Daddo become the youngest to host the Logies, while his on-stage partner Noni Hazlehurst was the first mum to do so. “We were very glad we were there for each other,” Hazlehurst told TV Week. “My hat is off to Bert (Newton) and Ray (Martin) and all of those guys who have done it in the past, because on your own it’s scary.” The crowd assembled outside the Melbourne Concert Hall, which hosted the Logies for the first time, gave enthusiastic welcomes to international stars Dean Cain, Mark Curry, Holly Robinson and Big Bird. On stage the dance ensemble Hot Taps gave a musical tribute to 20 years of colour TV in Australia, while Big Bird was joined by Alyssa-Jane Cook and a group of talented kids to give a salute to children’s TV. The Logies after-party at Melbourne’s Grand Hyatt featured Mental As Anything while off-beat performance artists mingled with the stars.

My brother Jack
Actor Jack Thompson was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards Hall of Fame by his brother, film critic Peter Thompson. The award was a welcome boost for the actor who had just narrowly missed out on the role of Oskar Schindler for the film Schindler’s List. “If you took these decisions to heart you’d never last in this business,” he said. An emotional Thompson accepted his award following a standing ovation from the Logies crowd. Thompson’s acting career dates back to the 1960s in soapie Motel, followed by appearances in series including Riptide, Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, The Rovers and Matlock Police. His first major role was in the espionage drama Spyforce, leading to a string of roles in film and television, in Australia and also overseas.  The day after the Logies he was due to fly back to the Los Angeles to resume work on the film Last Dance, co-starring with Sharon Stone and Rob Morrow.

TV Week Logie Winners 1995: Public Voting Categories:

Gold Logie — Most Popular Personality: Ray Martin

Silver Logie — Most Popular Actor: Dieter Brummer (Home And Away)
Silver Logie — Most Popular Actress: Melissa George (Home And Away)

Most Popular Series: Home And Away (Seven)
Most Popular Drama: The Battlers (Seven)
Most Popular Light Entertainment Program: Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine)
Most Popular Light Entertainment Personality: Daryl Somers (Hey Hey It’s Saturday)
Most Popular Comedy Program: Full Frontal (Seven)
Most Popular Comedy Personality: Daryl Somers (Hey Hey It’s Saturday)
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair (Nine)
Most Popular Lifestyle-Information Program: Burke’s Backyard (Nine)
Most Popular Sports Program: Commonwealth Games (Ten)
Most Popular Children’s Program: Agro’s Cartoon Connection (Seven)
Most Popular New Talent: Lisa McCune (Blue Heelers)

TV Week Logie Winners 1994: Industry Voted Categories:

Gold Logie — Hall of Fame: Jack Thompson

Silver Logie — Most Outstanding Actor: Chris Haywood (Janus)
Silver Logie — Most Outstanding Actress: Monica Maughan (The Damnation Of Harvey McHugh)

Most Outstanding Achievement In Drama Production: Janus (ABC)
Most Outstanding Documentary: Fifty Years Of Silence (ABC)
Most Outstanding Achievement In News: “Rwanda Refugee Crisis” (ABC News)
Most Outstanding Achievement In Public Affairs: “Inside A Holocaust”, Four Corners (ABC)
Most Outstanding Achievement In Comedy: Frontline (ABC)
Most Outstanding Achievement By A Regional Network: Sandakan: The Untold Story (NBN)

​

Briefly…

• Dr Harry Cooper celebrated the upcoming 100th episode of Talk To The Animals. “I always thought it would be successful,” he told TV Week. “But what I didn’t imagine was the degree of success. We provide something for everyone, from pets to wild and exotic animals, from looking at the environment to looking after domestic animals.”
• Daryl Somers has just completed a fifth series of commercials for the Northern Territory Tourism Commission.
• Network Ten has announced some of the cast members to feature in its new soap Echo Point. Newcomers Diarmid Heidenreich (famous for appearing in TV commercials as a pizza delivery boy), Tom Long and Jack Ellis will join New Zealand actor Martin Henderson in the new five-night-a-week series expected to debut mid-year.
• Actor Tom Richards, best known from his long-running roles in Matlock Police and Sons And Daughters, is returning to TV with an extended guest role in Home And Away. He will play the ex-husband of Irene Roberts (Lynne McGranger).
• After three years hosting the US version of A Current Affair, Terry Willesee is returning home to Australia, citing concerns over his children’s safety in New York and to escape the harsh American winters. Once back in Australia Willesee will be reading the news for National Nine News in his home town of Perth.
• Veteran actor Maurie Fields will soon be appearing in Neighbours. In the six-week stint, Fields plays an old gardener who lives in a caravan and tries to sell vegies to Ramsay Street residents. But tempers flare when Erinsborough Council tries to evict him.

TV’s Top 20 (Week Commencing 16 April): 

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 6-12):
Saturday: In Beyond 2000 (5.30pm, Ten), guest star Mick Doohan shows off the technology of his grand prix bike.

Sunday: Sunday night movies are Fortress (repeat, Seven) and Mr Baseball (Ten). Ray Martin hosts two-hour special 50 Fantastic Years (8.30pm, Nine), highlighting how Australia has changed over the past 50 years — featuring segments presented by Daryl Somers, Reg Livermore, Deborah Hutton, Liz Hayes, Ken Sutcliffe, Mike Munro, Charles Wooley, Tracy Grimshaw and Richard Carleton.

Monday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Annalise (Kimberley Davies) makes an appointment with Dr Karl (Alan Fletcher) to see if her suspicions are correct. In Funky Squad (8pm, ABC), the team are drawn into a web of lies, cover-ups and killings as they investigate a massive drug operation.

Tuesday: Analysis of the Keating Government’s third budget is covered with one-hour specials on ABC and SBS (both at 7.30pm), with coverage on Nine and Ten restricted to their respective late news bulletins. In Blue Heelers (8.30pm, Seven), the arrival of two female backpackers leads to the male officers competing for their attention.

Wednesday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Dr Karl (Alan Fletcher) escapes from Sandy’s (Kim Trengove) clutches, until she appears at Billy’s (Jesse Spencer) birthday party. In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Dylan’s (Corey Glaister) future has been decided.

Thursday: In Wildlife With Olivia Newton-John (7.30pm, Nine), Rachel Friend joins an aerial rodeo of live game in Nelspruit, South Africa; and Michael Beatty meets Eric Olsen, a blind Swedish man determined to ensure the survival of the endangered great horned owl. In Police Rescue (8.30pm, ABC), Mickey (Gary Sweet) and Nipper (Steve Bisley) come across a terrible bus crash and are able to help out at the scene.

Friday: Friday Night Football (9.30pm, Seven) presents highlights of the Richmond versus Adelaide match at the MCG.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 6 May 1995. Southdown Press