Blue Heelers star Lisa McCune won her fourth consecutive Gold Logie at the 42nd annual TV Week Logie Awards, held at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium on 30 April 2000.
McCune won the Gold ahead of her fellow nominees Don Burke (Burke’s Backyard), Georgie Parker (All Saints), Sigrid Thornton (Seachange) and Blue Heelers co-star John Wood.
McCune also won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actress for the fifth consecutive year, noting it came only months after her character Maggie Doyle made her on-screen exit. “This is such a lovely way to say goodbye to Maggie Doyle,” she told TV Week.
McCune’s co-star Martin Sacks won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor and Jane Allsop won Most Popular New Female Talent. Blue Heelers, a hit for the Seven Network since 1994, won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Program for the fourth consecutive year.
The Nine Network‘s Hey Hey It’s Saturday won Most Popular Comedy/Light Entertainment Program. Despite the show being axed only months earlier, host and producer Daryl Somers was upbeat about the win. “We’re all very proud of the award,” he told TV Week. “It says to us that we were delivering the goods last year, and it’s like a pat on the back as we walked out of the door and said goodbye.”
Nine also collected popular-voted wins for The Footy Show (NRL) for Most Popular Sports Program, A Current Affair for Most Popular Public Affairs Program and RPA for Most Popular Reality Program.
The Seven Network also had a win with Better Homes And Gardens awarded Most Popular Lifestyle Program for the fifth year in a row. “The more you win, the more rewarding it is,” co-host Noni Hazlehurst told TV Week. “It means the show is not just a flash-in-the-pan thing.” Veteran soap Home And Away scored one Logie — Justin Melvey winning Most Popular New Male Talent.
In the industry-voted categories ABC dominated, with drama series Seachange collecting three awards — Most Outstanding Drama Series with individual awards for William McInnes and Sigrid Thornton. “Part of the success of the show is the fact that it really is an observation of the special bond that does form in small communities,” Thornton told TV Week. Also for ABC, The Micallef Programme won Most Outstanding Comedy Program and the documentary Facing The Demons won Most Outstanding Documentary/Special Report In A Public Affairs Program.
Seven Nightly News‘ reporting from East Timor was awarded Most Outstanding News Coverage, and the Logie for Most Outstanding Sports Coverage was a tie between Network Ten‘s coverage of FAI 1000 Bathurst — Ten’s only award that night — and Nine’s coverage of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.
Nine’s pre-schoolers program Hi-5 won Most Outstanding Children’s Program.
Industry pioneer Bruce Gyngell was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards Hall Of Fame. A former ABC radio announcer, Gyngell was famously the first person to appear on the opening night of Australia’s first television station, TCN9 in Sydney, in 1956. He continued to serve at Nine in an executive role in the 1960s and again in the 1990s. In the early 1970s he was in charge of the Seven Network and by 1980 was instrumental in the establishment of SBS television. He was also the inaugural chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal and for eight years was managing director of TVAM in London.
The awards presentation was the second to be hosted by comedian Andrew Denton who won over the crowd, but as soon as it was over he’d already decided that there would not be a third. “The trick to comedy is to get out while you’re ahead,” he told TV Week, “and two (years as host) is that for me. I’m done!”
Special performances were led by Savage Garden and international star Macy Gray. Also a special guest presenter on the night was Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson.
The 41st annual TV Week Logie Awards was a ratings hit for Nine, scoring 2.01 million viewers (5 cities, AC Nielsen Australia) with commercial rivals Seven and Ten both serving up movie re-runs in opposition (The Rock and Mission: Impossible, respectively) in the key Sunday night 8.30pm timeslot.
TV Week Logie Award Winners 2000: Public Voting Categories:
Gold Logie — Most Popular Personality On Australian TV: Lisa McCune
Silver Logie — Most Popular Actor: Martin Sacks (Blue Heelers)
Silver Logie — Most Popular Actress: Lisa McCune (Blue Heelers)
Silver Logie — Most Popular Program: Blue Heelers
Most Popular Comedy/Light Entertainment Program: Hey Hey It’s Saturday
Most Popular Lifestyle Program: Better Homes And Gardens
Most Popular Reality Program: RPA
Most Popular Sports Program: The Footy Show (NRL)
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair
Most Popular New Male Talent: Justin Melvey (Home And Away)
Most Popular New Female Talent: Jane Allsop (Blue Heelers)
TV Week Logie Award Winners 2000: Industry Voted Categories:
Gold Logie — TV Week Logie Awards Hall Of Fame: Bruce Gyngell
Silver Logie — Most Outstanding Actor: William McInnes (Seachange)
Silver Logie — Most Outstanding Actress: Sigrid Thornton (Seachange)
Silver Logie — Most Outstanding Drama Series: Seachange
Most Outstanding News Coverage: “Timor”, Seven Nightly News
Most Outstanding Documentary/Special Report In A Public Affairs Program: Facing The Demons
Most Outstanding Sports Coverage: FAI 1000 Bathurst and 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
Most Outstanding Comedy Program: The Micallef Programme
Most Outstanding Children’s Program: Hi-5
Source: TV Week, 29 April 2000, 6 May 2000.
The 65th annual TV Week Logie Awards, Sunday 3 August, 7.30pm (Red Carpet 7.00pm), Seven and 7Plus.
