1995: March 25-31

Cover: Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher (Lois & Clark The New Adventures Of Superman)

Home And Away pregnancy shock!
With romance in the air, the wedding of Shane and Angel (Dieter Brummer and Melissa George) in Home And Away leads to a one-night stand between best man Damian (Matt Doran) and Selina (Tempany Deckert). “Ages ago Selina made a move on Damian, but he turned her down,” Deckert told TV Week. “But when he comes back for the wedding… I think for both of them it seems the time is right.” The fling results in a pregnancy. “Originally, when they told me it was like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do it… it’s too scary’, but it’s written really well. There are a few little twists and turns. It’s not your normal teenage pregnancy.”

From goldfields to Getaway
Western Australian TV newsreader Christine Morrissy (pictured) is now set for a national profile with her new job as a reporter for Getaway. “Getaway really is one of the best jobs on Australian television,” she told TV Week. “Then the enormity of it hit me — having to move to Sydney and make changes. The one thing I’m going to miss is my family.” Morrissy hails from the goldfields town of Kalgoorlie. After completing her degree in journalism and media at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), she worked for Perth radio station 6PR, then as newsreader for regional network GWN before joining STW9 in Perth in 1993.

Dale’s abuse anxiety
Actress Dale Stevens is understandably anxious about the Blue Heelers storyline which sees her character, Rose Egan (pictured), the victim of domestic violence. With no real life experience, Stevens had to rely largely on her imagination and her sociology reports from university to play the part. She also sought some advice from a friend who had endured domestic violence. “I hope people who have been abused are not upset with the episode,” she told TV Week. “It is an insight into what women feel when violence happens, but it also offers solutions.”

Briefly…

• Former A Country Practice star Anne Tenney is making a return to TV drama with a role in Seven‘s Fire. She plays the part of art dealer Anne Risdale who pursues a relationship with the much younger firefighter Banjo (Aaron Jeffery).”It’s great the producers chose me for this,” Tenney told TV Week. “It doesn’t happen much on Australian television that there’s an older woman playing to a younger man.”
• Craig McLachlan, now filming the series Bugs for BBC, has spoken out about his love scenes with Catherine Zeta Jones, his co-star in the American mini-series Catherine The Great. “The scenes between Catherine and I are pretty steamy,” McLachlan told TV Week. “But if anyone tells you that loves scenes are great, I’m convinced they’re full of s***. They are nerve wracking in the extreme. It’s as sexy as a stack of roof tiles!”
• Former E Street star Toni Pearen has accepted a job as a presenter for pay TV operator Galaxy‘s new music channel.
• Home And Away is continuing to bring back former characters in a bid to boost ratings. Latest to make a return to Summer Bay is Steven Matheson, played by Adam Willits. Willits was an original cast member when Home And Away started production in 1987 and left the show two years later.
• David Reyne is set to host a new late night show for the Seven Network. Electric Blanket is a four-night-a-week show being described as “like The Footy Show, but for current affairs”. Reyne will be joined by a panel of guest stars, with Merv Hughes and Tim “the Demtel man” Shaw rumoured to be involved.
• Seven has picked up the rights to screening The Elizabeth Taylor Story and the deal allows it to be aired as soon as it goes to air in the US in May. Seven, however, is likely to hold off screening it until June or July.
• Rupert Murdoch is rumoured to be interested in purchasing a 49 per cent stake in Steve Vizard and Andrew Knight‘s production company Artist Services, producer of programs including Fast Forward, Tonight Live and Full Frontal. Vizard’s only comment on the rumour is that “any company is for sale at the right price”.

TV’s Top 20 (Week Commencing 5 March): 

Caron James: The View From Here:

“He was known as Tricky Dickie. Former US president Richard Milhous Nixon was the brunt of thousands of jokes, cartoons, lampoons and effigies in the Seventies. “What did the president know, and when did he stop knowing it?” one comedian asked. But there was nothing amusing about Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal, as a new five-part BBC series shows. Watergate, to screen weekly on ABC from March 30, is a sobering look at the downfall of a president and his administration.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, March 25-31):
Saturday: Beyond 2000 (7.30pm, Ten) reports on new equipment to help you reach the peak of fitness — by climbing a mountain that never ends. The final of the Ansett Australia Cup (8.30pm, Seven) is live from Waverley Park, Melbourne.

Sunday: Live coverage of the Australian 500cc Grand Prix (11am, Nine) is hosted by Darrell Eastlake, Barry Sheene, Alan Jones and Ken Sutcliffe, joined by former 500cc Grand Prix rider Kevin Magee. Sports Tonight reporter Amanda de Pledge (pictured) hosts The Extremists (12.30pm, Ten), a new series that explores the excitement of extreme sports like sky surfing, bungee jumping, speed skiing and free-falling. Sunday night movies are Man Without A Face (Seven), The Rookie (repeat, Nine) and Used People (Ten).

Monday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Cheryl (Caroline Gillmer) has a romantic picnic organised for Lou’s (Tom Oliver) birthday. In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Shannon’s (Isla Fisher) friendship with Marcus (David Price) continues to grow. In Healthy Wealthy And Wise (7.30pm, Ten), Jim Brown travels to Queensland in search of the legendary swagman of Waltzing Matilda, who celebrates 100 years this year; and Tonia Todman shows some traditional Easter egg painting methods.

Tuesday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Mal (Benjamin McNair) is concerned about how Danni (Eliza Szonert) will feel about him being a virgin. David Letterman hosts the 67th Academy Awards (8.30pm, Nine) in a delayed telecast from Los Angeles. In Fire (9.30pm, Seven), Repo (Andy Anderson) cons Grievous (Tayler Kane) to do a strip show in front of 30 hungry women; and Nick (Peter Phelps) discovers that Morgan (Georgie Parker) is spying on the platoon.

Wednesday: In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Selina (Tempany Deckert) and Irene (Lynne McGrainger) resolve their differences once and for all; and Donna (Nicola Quilter) strikes out violently at Andrew (Adrian Lee).

Thursday: The half-hour special Shane And Angel — A Love Story (7.30pm, Seven) looks at Home And Away‘s teenage sweethearts (pictured). In Janus (8.30pm, ABC), Shane Hennessey (Johnathon Kernutt), the youngest of the Hennessey clan, is arrested for a vicious assault and burglary.

Friday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Philip (Ian Rawlings) finally works up the courage to ask Jen (Alyce Platt) on a date. Seven’s new football entertainment program Four Quarters (7.30pm) is hosted by Sandy Roberts, Wayne Carey, Tim Watson, Brigitte Duclos and Michael Veitch.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 25 March 1995. Southdown Press