1993: July 25-31

Rivals or friendly neighbours?
Neighbours star Scott Michaelson gives a hint as to what new colleague Bruce Samazan can expect when he joins the show.  “I’ll probably put those things in his coffee, those little things that make you go to the toilet — Laxettes, that’s them,” Michaelson says with a laugh. “That will keep him on his toes!” For Samazan his new Neighbours role, chef Mark Gottlieb, is quite a departure from Max Simmons, the character he played in E Street. “The important thing for me is to get across that I am not Max Simmons anymore. I am now Mark Gottlieb,” he told TV Week. “The haircut was a necessity. It shows I don’t look like Max the squeaky-clean policeman any more. I’m having a lot of fun with him so far. He’s very cheeky and very flirtatious. I’m trying to make him charismatic.”

Alyce’s country comeback
Alyce Platt (pictured) is planning a showbusiness comeback after keeping a low profile for the past 18 months. The former Sale Of The Century co-host who has also starred in Sons And Daughters, All Together Now, Fast Forward and Family And Friends is set to feature in the upcoming Sydney production of musical Pump Boys And Dinettes. But the “country musical” is not Platt’s first stage role — she appeared as the torch singer in Torch Song Trilogy in 1990.

‘Give us a go!’
Tiffany Lamb (pictured), one of the cast of Nine‘s Paradise Beach, has lashed out at media criticism towards the new show. “This is a bit boring, this knocking,” she told TV Week. “If Robert de Niro had to do as many scenes as we do in the same amount of time, I doubt he could make them all sensational either. Down the track, when the cast is accustomed to producing two-and-a-half hours of television per week, then I think people will stop pointing the finger at us. They (the producers) did not cast a bunch of idiots who can’t speak… just give them a go.”

Briefly…

• Former Chances star Danielle Fairclough (pictured) is moving on to a much more child-friendly role, as host of Nine‘s new Saturday morning cartoon show What’s Up Doc? “In Chances I was acting a character who was nothing like me, but in What’s Up Doc? I will have to be myself. I’m terrified!,” she told TV Week.
• Neighbours star Lochie Daddo says that he has decided to leave the series as his character, Stephen Gottlieb, was never given a chance to get properly established. Within six weeks of joining the series the character was married off to the already-pregnant Phoebe (Simone Robertson). “His whole thing revolved around Phoebe and the baby,” Daddo told TV Week. “They never gave him a chance to be on his own.”
• Producers of Nine‘s Paradise Beach have put the call out to expand the show’s cast. Already former Home And Away star Nicolle Dickson has been offered a role, as has soapie stalwart Paula Duncan.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here

“Unlike a few other ‘new’ offerings from the US of late, Law And Order is one which has managed to survive in its domestic market, which at least speaks in promising tones about its future here. Law And Order will have its premiere on Network Ten at 9.30pm Tuesday, taking over the slot formerly occupied by Inside Edition.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, July 25-31):
Sunday:  It’s been months in the planning and has had numerous working titles, but the new sketch comedy series The Comedy Sale has finally arrived, starring Frank Woodley, Colin Lane, Mikey Robbins, Ross Daniels, Daina Reid and the Umbilical Brothers (7.30pm, Seven).  Sunday night movies are Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead (Seven) and Lock Up (Ten).

Monday: In A Country Practice (7.30pm, Seven), Harry (Andrew Blackman) and Kate’s (Michelle Pettigrove) marriage reaches breaking point when Jules (Loene Carmen) returns to Wandin Valley.

Tuesday: In GP (8.30pm, ABC), a father manipulates his daughter into having an abortion, causing Tessa (Marilynne Paspaley) to question her own recent abortion.

Wednesday: In Hey Dad! (7.30pm, Seven), Sam (Rachael Beck) feels old because she’s about to turn 19. Annette Shun Wah hosts The Young Performers’ Awards from the Perth Concert Hall (8.30pm, ABC). Sophie Lee, former host of the Sex program, is the guest on Face The Press (8pm, SBS).

Thursday: In Getaway (7.30pm, Nine), Anna McMahon travels to the Northern Territory where she investigates a new German holiday resort set up to protect Australia’s wild brumbies; and David Reyne discovers an Elvis museum in Western Australia.

Friday: AFL footballer Dermott Brereton is this week’s celebrity gardener on Burke’s Backyard (7.30pm, Nine).

Saturday: The Rugby Union First Test — Australia versus South Africa — is live from the Sydney Football Stadium (7.30pm, Ten).

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 24 July 1993.  Southdown Press.