1990: March 10-16 – Television.AU

Logies 1990: Who’ll grab the glittering prize?
Last year’s TV Week Gold Logie winner Daryl Somers has been nominated for the 1990 TV Week Gold Logie, but has some tough competition – Nine Network colleagues Jana Wendt (A Current Affair) and Ray Martin (Midday), and soapie heart-throb Craig McLachlan (Neighbours). Somers has already won three TV Week Gold Logies (1983, 1986, 1989) and another Gold will almost rank him with as many Gold Logie wins as predecessors Graham Kennedy (five Gold Logies) and Bert Newton (four Gold Logies and a Hall of Fame Award).

TV Week Logie Awards nominations (Publicly voted categories):
Gold Logie: Ray Martin, Daryl Somers, Jana Wendt, Craig McLachlan.
Most Popular Actor: Andrew McFarlane, Shane Porteous, John Tarrant, Craig McLachlan
Most Popular Actress: Nicolle Dickson, Rachel Friend, Dannii Minogue, Georgie Parker
Most Popular Series: A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, Home And Away, Neighbours
Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Program: The Comedy Company, Fast Forward, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Hey Dad!
Most Popular Sports Coverage: Cricket, Grand Prix, Tennis
Most Popular Telemovie or Mini-Series: Bangkok Hilton, Fields Of Fire III, The Heroes, The Magistrate
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair, Hinch, 60 Minutes
Most Popular Children’s Program: C’mon Kids, Play School, Wombat
Most Popular New Talent: Matt Day, Marcus Graham, Georgie Parker

Other public-voted awards: Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality, Most Popular Music Video, Most Popular Lifestyle Program, Most Popular Actor and Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-series, Most Popular Program (for each state) and Most Popular Personality (for each state).

The joke’s on us!
With Mark Mitchell at the helm, comedy will be the emphasis of this year’s TV Week Logie Awards, to be held at the Hyatt On Collins, Melbourne. Among those joining Mitchell on the Network Ten telecast will be Kim Gyngell (Col’n Carpenter), Steve Vizard (Tonight Live) and the cast of the Seven Network series Acropolis Now.

‘No commercial network could touch this…’
Gerard Kennedy, Terry Gill and Frankie J Holden are among the cast of a controversial ABC telemovie, Police Crop. The 100-minute dramatisation exposes the extent of police collusion with the Mafia in Australia over several years, leading up to the death of Superintendent Colin Winchester. The program is the culmination of painstaking research and goes to air the day after the Winchester inquest resumes. Director Ken Cameron says that such a program could never air on a commercial network: “No commercial network could touch this. They’ve been advised not to.”

What a shocker!
Jason Donovan’s role in the $3.7 million mini-series Shadows Of The Heart will no doubt shock his many fans. “They’ll certainly see something that’s a bit different and unexpected,” he tells TV Week. The former Neighbours star plays Alex Fargo, a dark-haired, drunken and unkempt farmer who has a relationship with his bed-ridden cousin, Indy (Sherrie Krenn). “My role as a singer and what I’ve done with Neighbours before has always been fresh and wholesome. But it’s nice to play someone different.”

Briefly…
John Waters (pictured) and Peta Toppano starred together as hippies in the stage production Godspell and have now been re-united as lovers in upcoming mini-series All The Rivers Run II.

William McInnes will be making a guest appearance in A Country Practice as the new love interest for Cathy Hayden (Kate Raison) in a storyline that will lead to Raison’s exit from the series.

US actress Cybill Sheppard is coming to Australia to star with John Waters in the $7 million mini-series, Which Way Home, a production of the McElroy brothers who also brought Dynasty star Linda Evans to the outback for The Last Frontier. Which Way Home will start production in New Zealand before heading to Thailand and then finishing up with seven weeks in Sydney. It is expected to air on Network Ten and the American TNT network in 1991.

John Laws says…
”What a pity Steve Vizard (pictured) got off to such a shaky start with his Tonight Live program on Seven. You’ll recall that I was underwhelmed by his first week’s antics. Vizard, to put it mildly, was unprepared for the challenge of hosting a live-to-air show. That first week was a shambles. But it’s a surprising what a few weeks in the “hot seat” can do. Vizard, through sheer grit, determination and hard work, has turned the show around. Vizard’s show rated a 9 in Sydney the other week, three points ahead of its chief rival, Coast To Coast (without Graham Kennedy) on Nine. Coast To Coast – let’s be frank – is struggling. Without Kennedy, the heart seems to have been ripped out of it.”

Program Highlights (March 10-16):
Saturday: ABC crosses to Auckland, New Zealand, for the One Day International Cricket – Australia versus New Zealand. Coverage starts at 7.55am and continues through to 3.45pm.
Sunday: HSV7 presents coverage of NBL, Sydney Kings versus Illawarra Hawks, from the State Sports Centre, Homebush – followed by the Australian Touring Car Championships, live from Tasmania. Sunday night movies are Perry Mason: Case Of The Avenging Ace (HSV7) and The Couch Trip (ATV10). GTV9 presents the first instalment of mini-series Something Is Out There.
Monday: ABC and HSV7 both cover the annual Moomba procession, from the streets of the Melbourne CBD. HSV7 then devotes the afternoon to Moomba Masters water-skiing from Melbourne’s Yarra River. After The 7.30 Report, ABC launches a new series, The Party Machine, featuring Andrew Denton as he takes an in-depth look at the upcoming Federal Election. GTV9 presents the second and final instalment to the mini-series Something Is Out There.
Tuesday: In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Simon Reeve examines a robot designed to shear 300 sheep in a single day, Amanda Keller investigates an alternative to hysterectomies, and Bryan Smith takes an amazing journey through the human body.
Thursday and Friday: ABC presents a late-night cricket highlights package of Day One of the Trans-Tasman Test – Australia versus New Zealand.