1992: February 15-22

Just 18… and Kym’s got it all!
She might be only 18 years old, but Kym Wilson (pictured) has emerged from an acting novice to a talented professional, with acclaim for her performances in the film Flirting, stage production The Crucible and mini-series Brides Of Christ.  And she is optimistic that her decision to join A Country Practice is a positive career move.  “You have to choose roles that are going to fulfil you,” she told TV Week.  “That is why I chose A Country Practice as the soap I wanted to do.  It has been going for 10 years, the people I work with are fantastic actors and it has that extra dimension by dealing with issues in society, which perhaps the other soaps do not do.”  The young star has also taken on an additional on-air role as co-host of Seven’s Saturday morning Video Smash Hits, although is wary of becoming over-exposed or being pigeonholed as a “personality” rather than an actress.  “That was my concern when I chose to do Video Smash Hits – that I wouldn’t, without degrading Sophie, become another Sophie Lee, who is seen more as a TV personality than an actress because she did The Bugs Bunny Show before she did The Flying Doctors.”

Axe for Hard Copy?
It may be a ratings winner for the Ten Network, but its weekly “tabloid” current affairs show Hard Copy (hosted by Gordon Elliott, pictured) could soon be axed due to a falling out between the network and Paramount, the owners of the concept.  Paramount is believed to have notified Ten that it wants out of the deal when the current batch of 13 episodes is completed, due to Ten failing to comply with certain changes that had been requested of the Australian franchise.  The termination of the agreement would mean that the show’s title can not be used in Australia, or that any  reports from the US version can be broadcast here.  But Network Ten boss Gary Rice has denied any rift with Paramount and insists that production of Hard Copy is business as usual.     

Frozen out!
E Street star Alyssa-Jane Cook (pictured) always insisted that she wanted her exit from the show to be dramatic, but admits that her final scenes with the series have been her most challenging.  Her character, Lisa Bennett, finds herself at the mercy of E Street’s serial killer Mr Bad (Vince Martin) who has kidnapped her and locked her in a freezer in a bid to lure his targets Sheridan (Kate Raison) and Wheels (Marcus Graham) to their deaths.  Cook is not about to give away the outcome of the storyline, but says the scenes were amongst her most difficult.  “By the end of the 14-hour shoot, I was emotionally and physically exhausted,” she said.

Briefly…
TV Week has announced a new era as it embarks on changes to production techniques and its format.  This week’s edition includes a special eight-day program guide – Saturday to Saturday – as from next week the magazine will feature program listings from Sunday to Saturday, while the magazine’s on-sale day will change from Monday to Thursday.  This change, incorporated with tighter production deadlines, will see the magazine report more up-to-date stories and offer a more accurate program listing.  Despite the changes, the cover price of TV Week will remain at $1.70.

All Together Now star Rebecca Gibney has broken her silence on her private life by denying reports that while on a three-week holiday to the United States that she and her fiance, singer Jack Jones, had been secretly married in a Las Vegas chapel.  “Marriage crossed our minds at some point, but we decided against it,” she told TV Week.  “But we haven’t run off to Las Vegas to have a quickie wedding.”

Former The Flying Doctors cast members Lenore Smith and David Reyne (pictured) have embarked on a new project, appearing in the stage production of Love Letters which begins at the Sydney Opera House before touring regional centres in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.  Reyne has also started work on a new travel series, Getaway, for the Nine Network.  Getaway, which also features former Beyond 2000 reporter Jeff Watson and two yet-to-be-named female reporters, makes its debut on Nine next month.

John Laws says…
”Perhaps, as a nation, we should all have been watching the documentary about the Snowy Mountain hydro-electric project, aptly screened over the Australia Day weekend on the ABC.  By any standards the Snowy project was a heroic undertaking, in both engineering and human terms.  It took 25 years to complete and it ranks as one of this nation’s greatest achievements.  Here was a mammoth engineering feat brought to life by Australians and “new” Australians from Europe, most of them displaced persons from World War II.  The ABC documentary team interviewed a handful of the thousands of people who worked on the Snowy project, but their stories seemed to embrace all its spirit and courage.  Interestingly, the general feeling among them was that a scheme like the Snowy could never be built today.  Way back in 1949, when Ben Chifley’s government got it off the ground, there was no conservation movement!”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, February 15-22):
Saturday:  Saturday afternoon sport includes golf on both ABC (West Australian Ladies’ Classic) and Seven (Australian Masters), while Nine presents a highlights package of the Winter Olympic Games.  Nine’s evening is dominated by the return of Hey Hey It’s Saturday, followed by more live coverage of the Winter Olympic Games from Albertville, France.

Sunday:  More golf on ABC and Seven, while Nine presents highlights of the Reebok Blacktop Basketball, from Adelaide’s Clipsal Powerhouse Stadium.  Evening programs include the return of multi-lingual current affairs program Vox Populi (SBS) and Brian Naylor’s documentary Australia From The Outside Looking In (Nine).  Sunday night movies are Good Morning Vietnam (Seven) and K-9 (Ten), up against the Winter Olympics (Nine).

Monday:  In Mother And Son (ABC), Arthur (Garry McDonald) brings a pet budgie home for Maggie (Ruth Cracknell) after she is upset by her son Robert (Henri Szeps) – but how this leads to 10 naked dentists dancing on a golf course has to be seen to be believed! 

Tuesday:  ABC’s consumer affairs program The Investigators is back for another year, followed by drama series GP where a new locum (played by Christopher Bailey) arrives at the practice, only to have his wife turn up and reveal that he is not who he says he is.  In SBS’ current affairs program Dateline, reporter Maeve O’Meara profiles influential Irish writer Colm Tóibín.

Wednesday:  Astrophysicist Graham Phillips and journalist Cathy Johnson join ABC’s science program Quantum as it returns for its eighth year.  This year is the International Year of Space and, to mark the occasion, Quantum will begin a series of reports on everything from space junk to space technology.  The 40th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne is documented in a two-hour BBC special, Elizabeth R (ABC), following the Queen on her many official duties over 12 months and giving a rare glimpse of her more informal moments.

Thursday:  In Acropolis Now (Seven), Effie (Mary Coustas, pictured) suspects Suzanne (Nicky Wendt) of treachery and plots her revenge – murder by haircare products.  ABC’s documentary series The Big Picture presents When The War Came To Australia – Our Melancholy Duty, the first of a four-part series tracing the social history of Australia during World War II and the effects of Japan’s attack on Darwin, which occurred fifty years ago this week.

Friday:  Dateline (SBS) features a report on Simone Harvari, France’s top TV producer, who heads a company where the majority of employees are female.  In Neighbours (Ten), a reunion with old mates has devastating implications for Doug (Terence Donovan).

Saturday:  Nine debuts its new Saturday morning show, Saturday At Rick’s, hosted by Steven Jacobs with Tania Lacy, featuring cartoons, video clips and interviews.  Nine then crosses to New Zealand for the Benson And Hedges World Cup cricket – Australia versus New Zealand.  ABC also has cricket with live coverage from the North Sydney Oval of the Ladies’ International Super Test: Australia versus England.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  15 February 1992.  Southdown Press