Sep 23 2023

On This Day — 23 September

  • 23 September 2023

23 September 1989: Georgie Parker (A Country Practice)

23 September 1995: Tempany Deckert (Home And Away)

23 September 1963: Afternoon game shows include The Price Is Right with Horrie Dargie, Video Village with Danny Webb, Say When with Jimmy Hannan and Take The Hint with Frank Wilson.

23 September 1976: The documentary series Australians At War debuts on ATV0, Melbourne. Written by Fred ‘Cul’ Cullen and narrated by actor Tim Elliott, the six-part series had already been renewed for a second series of six episodes in 1977. It went on to be awarded Best Documentary at the 1977 TV Week Logie Awards.

23 September 1990: Network Ten crosses to Sydney Football Stadium for the State Bank Big Game – Winfield Cup Grand Final.

23 September 1993: Seven, Nine and Ten all provide coverage of the announcement in Monte Carlo of the host city of the 2000 Olympic Games. Bidding for the rights are Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul, Manchester and Sydney. Seven’s coverage starts at 10.30pm, Nine’s starts at 7.30pm and Sports Tonight (11pm, Ten) presents a special Olympic announcement edition. With the actual announcement due at 4.20am (AEST), Seven and Nine present a rare joint telecast hosted by Bruce McAvaney and Ray Martin which is also made available to other networks. Seven and Nine continue coverage through to 9am.

23 September 1994: Drama series Banjo Patterson’s Man From Snowy River (Nine) debuts with a two-hour episode, starring Andrew Clarke (pictured), Wendy Hughes, Guy Pearce, Victoria Tennant, John Stanton and Brett Climo.

 

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/on-this-day-23-september.html

Sep 22 2023

On This Day — 22 September

  • 22 September 2023

22 September 1973: Jack Thompson and Jill Perryman (Jill)

22 September 1973: Jack Thompson (Jill, Linehaul)

22 September 1973: Mary Hardy (Penthouse Club)

22 September 2001: Tammin Sursok (Home And Away) and swimmer Ian Thorpe

22 September 2007: Simmone Jade Mackinnon (McLeod’s Daughters)

22 September 1991: Ten crosses to the Sydney Football Stadium this afternoon for the Grand Final of the NSW Rugby League Winfield Cup, with commentators Graeme Hughes, Bill Anderson and Wayne Pearce.

22 September 1993: World Series Debating (ABC) discusses the topic That Football Is Stupid — featuring Wendy Harmer, Lex Marinos, Andrew Denton, HG Nelson and moderator Campbell McComas.

22 September 1997: The 11th annual ARIA Awards are broadcast on Network Ten from the Capitol Theatre, Sydney. Performing artists include Silverchair, Savage Garden, Tina Arena, Paul Kelly and Leonardo’s Bride. John Farnham and Human Nature perform the world premiere of their new joint single Everytime You Cry.

22 September 2008: Network Ten debuts Outback 8, featuring four children from each of Australia and the United Kingdom travelling to the outback to learn to be jackaroos. The series was a co-production with BBC.

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/on-this-day-22-september.html

Sep 21 2023

On This Day — 21 September

  • 21 September 2023

21 September 1963: Tommy Hanlon Jnr (It Could Be You)

21 September 1974: Gerard Kennedy (Division 4)

21 September 1974: Ernie Sigley (The Ernie Sigley Show)

21 September 1991: Sarah Chadwick, Nikki Coghill, Sophie Lee, Liz Burch, Rebecca Gibney, Lenore Smith (The Flying Doctors)

21 September 1996: Kate Fischer (What’s Up Doc?) and Lochie Daddo (Getaway)

21 September 2002: Libby Tanner and Jenni Baird (All Saints)

21 September 1969: The British documentary, Royal Family, is broadcast across three networks. The program, a joint-production between BBC and ITV, aired in the United Kingdom in July.

21 September 1976: The situation comedy Who Do You Think You Are? (pictured) debuts on ABC, starring Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Barbara Stephens and Stephen O’Rourke — Who Do You Think You Are… a sitcom? [2014]

21 September 1977: Bill Peach hosts the Australian Film Industry Awards for ABC, presented at the Regent Hotel, Sydney. Nominations for Best Film are Don’s Party, Break Of Day, The Picture Show Man and (winner) Storm Boy.

21 September 1987: Ian Turpie hosts Seven‘s new game show, Press Your Luck.

21 September 1992: Seven crosses to the Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne, for live coverage of the Brownlow Medal Count, hosted by Bruce McAvaney.

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/on-this-day-21-september.html

Sep 20 2023

On This Day — 20 September

  • 20 September 2023

20 September 1975: Mike Willesee (This Is Your Life)

20 September 1997: Tempany Deckert (Home And Away)

20 September 2003: Tammin Sursok and Sam Atwell (Home And Away)

20 September 2008: Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thomson (Packed To The Rafters)

20 September 1971: The 0-10 Network launches His And Hers, a panel show hosted by Sydney radio presenter John Laws and featuring Dita Cobb, Sue Becker and Bobo Faulkner. On the same day, the Melbourne debut of Brisbane-based game show Money Makers, marks the return to television of Philip Brady (pictured). The show was boasted as Australia’s first five-night-a-week prime time game show, with a top prize of $20,000.

20 September 1983: The debut of ABC’s Scales Of Justice, a three-part mini-series presenting a fictional account of corruption in various levels of Australia’s law enforcement.

20 September 2003: Livinia Nixon hosts a new series, Bark Off, presenting the search for Australia’s most popular dog.

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/on-this-day-20-september.html

Sep 19 2023

On This Day — 19 September

  • 19 September 2023

19 September 1987: Kylie Minogue (Neighbours)

19 September 1992: Kym Wilson and Lisa Hensley (Brides Of Christ)

19 September 2009: Tessa James, Todd Lasance, Axle Whitehead (Home And Away)

19 September 1961: ABW2, Perth, presents a screening of Burst Of Summer, a television adaptation of the award-winning play by Oriel Gray, starring Robert Tudawali and Georgia Lee. The broadcast was a “telerecording” of the play performed at the ABC studios in Melbourne in August.

19 September 1964: All four Melbourne channels present replays of the VFL Grand Final, as live coverage of the premiership final is not permitted in Victoria until 1977.

19 September 1972: The debut of The Graham Kennedy Show on Nine, featuring Graham Kennedy and regulars Rosie Sturgess, Bert Newton, Bruce Mansfield and Peter Smith. The new series comes after Kennedy’s two comedy specials that aired in November 1971 and March 1972.

19 September 1977: The premiere of ABC drama series Kirby’s Company, starring Willie Fennell, Edward Ogden, Vince Martin, Margaret Cruickshank, Tom Burlinson, Louise Howitt, Bunney Brooke and Margaret Nelson. The series focused on the stories of three generations of males from the one family.

19 September 1986: Nine screens the special Television The First 30 Years, a compilation of archival material from the history of Australian television.

19 September 1988: Includes daily coverage of The Games Of The XXIV Olympiad from Seoul, South Korea, on Network Ten. Coverage is hosted by Mike Gibson, Bruce McAvaney, Tim Webster and Graeme Hughes.

19 September 1991: The debut of Network Ten’s tabloid current affairs show, Hard Copy, based on the American program of the same name. The Australian version is hosted by Gordon Elliott.

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/on-this-day-19-september.html

Sep 18 2023

On This Day — 18 September

  • 18 September 2023

18 September 1971: Norman Yemm, George Mallaby, Alwyn Kurts, Leonard Teale (Homicide)

18 September 1976: Jacki Weaver and Graeme Blundell (Alvin Purple)

18 September 1999: Kimberley Cooper, Kylie Watson, Rebecca Cartwright (Home And Away)

18 September 2004: Australian Idol

18 September 2010: Christian Clark and Emily Symons (Home And Away)

18 September 1990: Seven and Nine both cross to Tokyo for a 90-minute presentation on the announcement of the host city of the 1996 Olympic Games. Ten 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.

18 September 2003: Kath And Kim returns for its second series on ABC — Kath And Kim turns 20 [2022]

18 September 2005: Nine airs the telemovie Little Oberon, starring Sigrid Thornton, Tasma Walton, Brett Climo, Peter Rowsthorn and Alexander Cappelli.

18 September 2006: Brian Henderson presents 50 Years Of Television News, a one-hour special as part of Nine‘s 50 years celebrations.

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/on-this-day-18-september.html

Sep 17 2023

Obituary: Joy Chambers

  • 17 September 2023

Joy Chambers, actor, author and wife of the late Reg Grundy, has died at age 76.

Named as the inaugural Miss Surf Girl by the Queensland Surf Life Saving Club in 1965, she was doing modelling work when she auditioned for a panellist role for Brisbane-based game show I’ve Got A Secret. She caught the eye of Grundy, the show’s producer, and stayed with the show for its entire run of almost ten years. She won Logies for Most Popular Female Personality In Queensland in 1969 and 1970.

She and Grundy formed a relationship, and were married in 1971.

Chambers went on to appear in a number of Grundy programs in the years that followed, but insisted that she be auditioned as any cast member and not given favourable treatment. She appeared in Everybody’s Talking, hosted by Philip Brady, and was one of the ensemble in the charades game show The Celebrity Game in 1976-77. She starred in the 1977 telemovie All At Sea and appeared as a panellist on Blankety Blanks.

She went on to play the scheming Rita Merrick, a brothel madam in The Restless Years, before a short stint in The Young Doctors.

In 1986 she made a guest appearance in Neighbours as Rosemary Daniels, businesswoman and step-daughter to Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy). It was a role that was to continue on a recurring basis until as recently as 2010.

Living with Grundy in Bermuda, Chambers became a key partner in his production empire and was elected to the board of Grundy Worldwide in 1985. After selling up in 1995, the couple launched media investment company RG Capital Holdings Ltd, and Chambers pursued a writing career, releasing a number of historical novels.

The couple did not have any children and Grundy died in 2016.

Source: Seven News. Reg Grundy, Reg Grundy, 2010. Super Aussie Soaps, Andrew Mercado, 2004. TV Times, 22 July 1970, 24 August 1976. Joy Chambers.

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/obituary-joy-chambers.html

Sep 17 2023

On This Day — 17 September

  • 17 September 2023

17 September 1977: Willie Fennell and Louise Howitt (Kirby’s Company)

17 September 1988: Ironman Grant Kenny and Annie Jones (Neighbours)

17 September 1994: Lisa McCune (Blue Heelers)

17 September 2005: Chris Bath, Ada Nicodemou, Nicky Buckley (Dancing With The Stars)

17 September 1956: The second day of regular transmission from TCN9, Sydney, starting with a new nightly religious talk, Give Us This Day, followed by the station’s first news bulletin, presented by Chuck Faulkner (pictured) — TV At 60: TCN9, Australia’s first channel [2016]

17 September 1987: Darling Downs Telecasters, owner of DDQ10 Toowoomba, purchases Brisbane channel TVQ0 from Christopher Skase for $123 million, and announces plans to convert its new station to the Channel 10 frequency.

17 September 1988: The opening ceremony of The Games Of The XXIV Olympiad from Seoul, South Korea. Network Ten, covering its second consecutive Summer Olympics, scheduled more than 15 hours of coverage each day of competition.

17 September 1990: 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.”

17 September 2006: Seven presents the 3-hour special TV Turns 50: The Events That Stopped A Nation, hosted by David Koch and Melissa Doyle and an all-star guest list as they count down the top 20 moments from 50 years of Australian television, as voted by the general public.


YouTube: ABC TV & iview

17 September 2009: ABC1 screens the documentary Skippy: Australia’s First Superstar, paying tribute to the classic TV series that ran from 1966 to 1969 and put Australia onto TV screens worldwide — YouTube: Revisiting Skippy [2008], Skippy turns 50 [2016]

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/on-this-day-17-september.html

Sep 16 2023

Obituary: Ron Barassi

  • 16 September 2023

Ron Barassi, one of the legends of Australian rules football, has died at the age of 87.

He died from complications suffered after a fall.

In a football career spanning 40 years he played 254 games, including six premierships, and coached 515. In 1996 he was named in the Australian Football League’s Team Of The Century.

As well as his significant football career, Barassi was also a profile media celebrity, particularly in Victoria.

Ron Barassi with In Melbourne Tonight‘s Panda Lisner

He appeared on HSV7‘s The Happy Show, hosted Barassi’s Clinic on GTV9 and was a panellist on ABC‘s Focus On Football in the 1960s and Seven’s World Of Sport. He made guest appearances on shows including The Don Lane Show, The Penthouse Club and The Late Show.


YouTube: l00pes

In the mid-1970s, he was a referee in the outdoor game show Almost Anything Goes and hosted a regular five-minute segment on ABC called 31 Tonight.

He was also featured on Seven’s This Is Your Life (1977), ABC’s Chequerboard (1973), Parkinson In Australia (1980) and Australian Story (1997). He was profiled on SBS‘ Who Do You Think You Are in 2009 and NITV‘s The Marngrook Footy Show (2013).


YouTube: TV Stuff

Source:The Age, IMDB, Wikipedia. TV Times, 25 August 1960. Ron Barassi

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/obituary-ron-barassi.html

Sep 16 2023

On This Day — 16 September

  • 16 September 2023

16 September 1972: Johnny Lockwood and Abigail (Number 96)

16 September 1972: Mary Jane Boyd (The Matt Flinders Show)

16 September 1978: Judy Lynne, Bartholomew John, Lynda Stoner (The Young Doctors)

16 September 2006: Home And Away, McLeod’s Daughters, Neighbours, Australian Idol

16 September 1956: TCN9 Sydney becomes the first TV station to begin regular transmission. Station announcer John Godson introduces the station on-air at 7.00pm, then Bruce Gyngell introduces the first program, This Is Television — TV At 60: TCN9, Australia’s First Channel [2016]

16 September 1958: Two years after TV begins in Australia and prime-time is still almost entirely made up of imported content apart from news and Seven‘s Sydney Tonight.

16 September 1973: Talent quest New Faces with Frank Wilson celebrates its tenth anniversary with a special tribute show. This is followed by Quest Of Quests, hosted by Bert Newton, to announce Australia’s representatives at the upcoming Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Young International and Miss Asia pageants.

16 September 1974: The popularity of Number 96 in prime time prompts Ten to begin repeating early episodes of the series in daytime.

16 September 1984: Sunday night movies are Rough Cut (Seven), The Last Wave (Nine) and The Goodbye Girl (Ten).

16 September 1996: Nine‘s celebration of 40 years of television begins with the two-hour special 40 Years Of Television: The Reel History.

16 September 2008: ABC debuts six-part documentary series Two In The Top End, featuring writer and satirist John Doyle (of Roy And HG fame) and environmentalist Tim Flannery as they tour Australia’s northern regions.

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2023/09/on-this-day-16-september.html