1993: January 3-9

Cover: Scott Michaelson (Neighbours), Rebekah Elmaloglou (Home And Away)

Cameron goes to Hollywood
Cameron Daddo is enthusiastic about his future as he embarks on his first major US project, a role in the telemovie Between Love And Hate. The former model and Perfect Match host who had recently starred in the drama series Bony has been labelled “a series just waiting to happen” by Australian Ron Hardy, the director on the telemovie. “Cameron came in to audition and I told him whatever he did, not to sound like an Australian,” Hardy said. “He ran through his lines as an American, left and the producer said to the casting lady, ‘What a find!’ I think he’s going to do bloody well here.” Daddo said that the time was right to move into the US as the Australian industry was developing a cynicism over anyone with the Daddo name and that his agent is setting him with the right contacts. “I figure that by the time I’m 30… I’ll have a few more lines and wrinkles and a bit more character. So the time was good to get over here and establish myself now to see how it goes,” he said.

Werewolf in Westside!
E Street star Scott McRae has been sacked by producer Forrest Redlich from the Network Ten soap after a row over an upcoming storyline involving a werewolf. But while McRae (pictured with co-star Josephine Mitchell) was vocal in his opinion he insists he wasn’t alone among the show’s cast. “I certainly wasn’t the only one expressing concern over the storylines. There were a lot of others doing it,” he told TV Week. He claims he was let go because he was “the most expendable”. “My character, Jamie Newman, is not the sort of character who is going to be in the centrefolds. My character does not appeal to the people who are pushing the merchandising and hype side of the show. It is therefore easier to get rid of me. They wouldn’t dare give anyone else the boot.” But a spokesperson for Redlich said that McRae’s exit is not due to any row. “Scott’s character ran out of storylines,” she said. “There wasn’t going to be anything for him.”

River of happy returns
The cast and crew from popular mini-series All The Rivers Run and its sequel have re-assembled at Echuca, where the series were filmed, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its debut. Cast members Sigrid Thornton, Nikki Coghill and John Waters (pictured) were among those to celebrate the anniversary. “The mini-series was such a big part of my life I couldn’t wait to get back here for this,” Thornton told TV Week.

Briefly…

• Network Ten is planning a new one-hour news bulletin for the 6.00am timeslot as a lead-in to its new program The Big Breakfast. Also at Ten, Tony Barber‘s new game show Jeopardy is tipped for the 6.30pm timeslot, with Neighbours moving to 6.00pm. There are also rumours of a new daytime show featuring former Good Morning Australia hosts Mike Hammond and Kerri-Anne Kennerley, although Hammond says his contract with Ten has expired.
• Queensland university graduate Samantha Butler is tipped to have landed the job of host of ABC‘s new current affairs show Attitude. Although ABC has announced few details the program is aimed at a distinctly youthful audience and is believed to be set for prime time. Production is due to start in Melbourne next month.
• Nine Network sitcom All Together Now is set for some changes going into the new year as producers are shifting the show’s emphasis to give it a rougher edge to bring it closer to US sitcoms like Roseanne.
• Will Neighbours producers write out the show’s only remaining original cast member Anne Haddy? With the upcoming departure of cast member Alan Dale producers are believed to be reviewing Haddy’s role of Helen Daniels with a view to refreshing the show with some younger faces.
• Sophie Lee has scored the lead tole in a multi-million dollar mini-series, Typhon’s People, to be produced in New Zealand in co-operation with an English  production house. The mini-series, with a storyline based on the high-tech world of genetic engineering, also stars English actor Greg Marsh. Typhon’s People has yet to be sold to any Australian network.  Lee will also be back on Australian screens soon as the new-look The Flying Doctors, re-titled RFDS, debuts later this month.
• The countdown to the 35th annual TV Week Logie Awards begins with voting now open. The awards presentation, to be hosted by Bert Newton and produced by Ric Burch, will be telecast on Network Ten in March.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here:
“It was back in October when we announced that Bert Newton (pictured) had agreed, to the delight of everyone here, to compere the 35th anniversary TV Week Logie Awards. Ric Burch came on board in November, so, obviously, work on what is a landmark year for the Logies has been going on for some time. But it’s only now that we’ve officially shaken off the old year and jumped into our first issue of 1993 that it seems like we are really approaching the Logies again. So, it’s over to you again — the Logie Awards are TV Week‘s property, but you’re the ones who decides who receives most of them.”

Loose Talk

• “You’re meant to put a compact disc in a compact dick player.” — John Farnham to Pixie-Anne Wheatley (Magda Szubanski), Fast Forward, Seven.

Program Highlights (Melbourne/Regional Victoria, January 3-9):
Sunday:  Afternoon sport includes the Third Test (Nine/VIC TV) and Hopman Cup tennis (Seven/Prime). Sunday night movies are The Mean Season (Seven/Prime) and The Goonies (Nine/VIC TV) up against a repeat of mini-series Tanamera — Lion Of Singapore (Ten/Southern Cross Network). ABC’s Sunday Stereo Special presents the New Year’s Day Concert featuring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Monday-Tuesday:  More cricket on Nine/VIC TV and Hopman Cup on Seven/Prime through the afternoon.

Wednesday:  The Hopman Cup coverage (Seven/Prime) moves into prime-time as the contest progresses into the semi-finals. Cluedo returns with new episodes on Nine/VIC TV, featuring guest star Mary Ward.

Friday:  Nine/VIC TV begins a repeat screening of mini-series The Great Bookie Robbery, starring John Bach, Catherine Wilkin, Gary Day, Rebecca Gibney and George Spartels.  Seven/Prime cover the finals of the Hopman Cup.

Saturday:  Seven/Prime’s tennis coverage now moves to Brisbane for the Danone Australian Women’s And Men’s Hardcourt Championships. Nine/VIC TV cross to Brisbane for World Series Cricket — Pakistan versus West Indies.

Source: TV Week (Victoria Country edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  2 January 1993.  Southdown Press