Young Talent Time headed for return?

ytt_1979The wave of nostalgia triggered by the recent return of Hey Hey It’s Saturday and the passing of Don Lane has sparked talk of the return of a family TV favourite.

Johnny Young, the host and producer of Young Talent Time and now back in his former home town of Perth as a breakfast announcer at radio 6IX, is reported to have been in discussion with the Ten Network about reviving YTT, more than two decades after it was taken off our screens.

A pop star and TV presenter in Perth, Young came to Melbourne in the late-‘60s and performed on and hosted local teenage shows such as Go!!  He formed Young Talent Time as a junior talent quest as well as a variety show with an ensemble cast of performers between the ages of 8 and 16.  The format was not entirely dissimilar to an earlier show, Brian And The Juniors, that had finished up in 1970.

ytt_1979a Young Talent Time made its debut on 24 April 1971 on ATV0 in Melbourne, featuring Young as host and a cast of performers including Debra Byrne, Phillip Gould, Jane Scali, Jamie Redfern, Vikki Broughton and Rod Kirkham – some of which were already known to viewers of Brian And The Juniors.

Despite its low budget, the show was an immediate hit and gave the channel some relief from the usual Saturday evening battering by football replays on rival channels.  YTT also got an early ratings boost when Graham Kennedy made a guest appearance on the show shortly after its debut.

1972 saw Young Talent Time win a TV Week Logie award for Best Variety/Music Program.  The show won the same award again in 1974, 1975 and 1976. 

In 1982, after celebrating a decade on air, Young Talent Time won a special Logie award for sustained excellence in television.

ytt Young Talent Time came to an end in 1988, having created a number of household names – including Jamie Redfern (who went on to tour the US after being ‘discovered’ by Liberace), Debra Byrne, Phillip Gould, Jane Scali, Sally Boyden, Karen Knowles, Tina Arena and Dannii Minogue.  The show also inspired a US-based spin-off, The New Generation.

Since its demise, there have been on-again off-again talks about reinventing Young Talent Time for a new generation.  A 2001 special, produced and presented by YTT cast member John Bowles, was well received by viewers and sparked more talk of a revival.

Hey Hey It’s Saturday, a long-time timeslot rival of YTT during the ‘80s, this year got a new lease of life after a Facebook-led campaign sparked two reunion specials on the Nine Network.  The ratings success and apparent public support for an ongoing series has seen negotiations for a possible Hey Hey It’s Saturday return again next year. 

With Young now reportedly heading negotiations for a return to YTT, the show is now also the subject of a Facebook campaign for a return.  The nostalgic appeal of the format plus the public’s leaning towards a return to family entertainment on television could see the show returned in some form.

Source: news.com.au
Reference: Australian Television Information Archive

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/11/young-talent-time-headed-for-return.html

50 years of BTQ7, ABQ2

btq7_secondday This weekend marks yet another television station’s 50th anniversary.  Brisbane’s BTQ7 was launched on 1 November 1959.  It was Brisbane’s second TV channel, following QTQ9 that had launched in August of that year.

Brisbane also didn’t have to wait long to get their third TV channel, as national broadcaster ABC opened its Brisbane channel, ABQ2, on 2 November 1959.

btq7_thelateshow Like QTQ9, BTQ7 was broadcasting from studios and transmission towers constructed up on Mount Coot-tha in Brisbane.  ABQ2 opted instead to have its studios in the suburb of Toowong but had its transmission towers at Mount Coot-tha.

Early personalities on BTQ7 included Brian Tait, children’s presenters Nancy Knudsen and Lester Foxcroft, women’s presenter Sybil Francis and newsreader Brian Cahill.

One of BTQ7’s earliest variety shows was The Late Show with Tait.  The program won the first TV Week Logie award for most popular program in Queensland.  In the early ‘60s, BTQ7 launched Theatre Royal, a show that took the vaudeville style of comedy onto television, featuring comedian and The Late Show star George Wallace Jnr and a team of performers including Eddie Edwards, Dick McCann, Jackie Ellison and a young actress by the name of Rowena Wallace (no relation to George).  Theatre Royal was immensely popular, screening every Friday night for six years, and was also shown interstate.  It won six TV Week Logie awards as Queensland’s most popular program.  The show ended after George Wallace suffered a stroke and died in 1968 at the age of 50, but his legacy continued as TV Week then initiated the George Wallace Logie for Best New Talent.

btq7_1960sAlso to come through BTQ7 in the ‘60s and ‘70s was Annette Allison, a performer on early variety and teenage shows before hosting her own daytime show, Annette.  She then went to Melbourne to ATV0 to read the news and co-host the morning show Everyday (later Good Morning Melbourne).  Dina Heslop was a host of the BTQ7’s children’s program Dina And Percy and was also a contributor to the national This Week Has Seven Days before becoming a producer for later shows like the Logie Award-winning WombatJacki MacDonald also had a stint at BTQ7 in the ‘70s, hosting her own show, Jacki’s People.  After Jacki left BTQ7, they then employed her sister, Fiona, to host a children’s program and was later a presenter on Wombat.

In the mid-‘70s, Reg Grundy produced a soap opera, Until Tomorrow, at the studios of BTQ7.  The series was a rare venture into daytime drama and screened nationally on the Seven Network, featuring Babette Stephens, Ron Cadee, former TV Week Gold Logie winner Hazel Phillips and a young Barry Otto.

Other programs to have come through BTQ7 over the years included  daytime show Bailey And The Birds, teenage shows National Top 40 and Teen Time, children’s shows Boris’ Breakfast Club and Seven’s Super Saturday, game show Family Feud and variety shows Top Of The Bill and Wak’s Works.

btq7_loveyoubrisbane Of course, it would be remiss not to mention BTQ7’s landmark promotional jingle, ‘Love You Brisbane’, that was produced for the channel in the early ‘80s and was used by BTQ for several years.  Sung by popular local performer Kim Durant, the song was even released as a single and was a top-seller.  The jingle was later adapted to TVW7, as ‘Love You Perth’, and regional Queensland broadcaster Sunshine Television (now Seven Queensland) before BTQ7 and Seven Queensland reprised it a few years ago:

Newsreader Brian Cahill had two stints at BTQ7, he was the channel’s first newsreader when it launched in 1959 and, after a stint at QTQ9, was there again in the ‘70s.  During the ‘60s, Cahill was joined at the news desk by former ABQ2 newsreader Ron Brady.  Others to have presented news at BTQ have included Mike Higgins, Nev Roberts, Donna Meiklejohn, Janne Rayner, Ken Hose, Garry Wilkinson, Frank Warrick and present-day newsreaders Rod Young, Kay McGrath and Sharyn Ghidella.

As well as news, BTQ7 produced local current affairs with programs including Haydn Sargent’s Brisbane, State Affair, Carroll At Seven and magazine programs PM Magazine and The Great South East.

btq7_bignews BTQ7 last week screened a special, Flashback – 50 Years Of Channel Seven, and tonight (Sunday) newsreader Brian Cahill makes a return to the Seven News desk to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his presenting the first news bulletin on opening night at BTQ.

And, by coincidence, BTQ7’s fiftieth anniversary coincides with a new era for the Seven Network as it launches its new digital channel 7TWO on the same day.

A lot of the material in this article, particularly related to the earlier years at BTQ7, is sourced by the book On-Air 25 Years Of TV In Queensland.  Compiled and edited by Christopher Beck. (1984)

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/11/50-years-of-btq7-abq2.html

7TWO starts tomorrow

7TWO_2 The Seven Network’s new digital channel 7TWO launches tomorrow afternoon  (Sunday) in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth from 12.00pm.

After an introduction to the channel, the first program will be Michael Jackson’s last ever televised concert, with the pop icon reunited with his brothers onstage as the Jackson Five for the first time in over 20 years.

Two Disney films, The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2, follow at 2.00pm and 4.00pm respectively.  Then, from 6.00pm, three episodes of US comedy Scrubs.

7TWO’s first evening will then include a triple movie feature: McHale’s Navy (1997), the premiere of The Ringer (2003) and the original The Taking Of Pelham 123 (1974).

Then from 1.30am, 7TWO continues overnight with classic AFL games.

southerncrosstvMeanwhile, regional affiliate Southern Cross Television has announced that it will be broadcasting 7TWO to viewers in Darwin from December.  It will be the first of the range of commercial Freeview channels to go to Darwin, as One HD and GO! have yet to appear there.  Though Darwin already has a digital-only channel, Darwin Digital Television, which relays the Ten Network.

Southern Cross’ announcement for 7TWO into Darwin follows last week’s news that they will also carry 7TWO into Tasmania from December.  Meanwhile, the Seven Network’s largest regional affiliate, Prime Television, has not made any announcement about its plans to broadcast 7TWO into its digital broadcast areas which includes regional NSW, Victoria, the Gold Coast and the Australian Capital Territory.

Source: 7TWO, NT News

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/10/7two-starts-tomorrow.html

7TWO to go to Tasmania

7TWO The Seven Network’s new digital channel 7TWO will be broadcast into Tasmania from December.

The island state’s Seven Network affiliate, Southern Cross Television, has announced that it will be carrying 7TWO from 1 December, one month after the channel’s launch on the mainland next Sunday.

Tasmania has one of the highest conversion rates to digital in Australia, with 70 per cent of surveyed households converted in the most recent government survey, largely due to the state’s third commercial channel, TDT, being broadcast exclusively in digital.

Source: B&T Today, Digital Ready

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/10/7two-to-go-to-tasmania.html

1979: October 27-November 2

tvtimes_271079 TV’s reluctant Romeo
Since John Waters first hit screens as Sgt McKellar in ABC’s Rush in 1974, he has carried the reputation of being the handsome romantic, though his roles following Rush have been very different.  “I’ve got nothing against those leading man roles, but I certainly don’t want to spend the rest of my life playing them.  I prefer character acting and I try not to let my own personality dominate a role.  To me that leads to typecasting, which in my view is fatal for an actor.”  Waters has joined the cast of The Sullivans as Christopher Merchant, a soldier who meets up with some of the Sullivan family in Changi and later adds a touch of romance to the life of Kate (Ilona Rodgers).  As well as The Sullivans, Waters is continuing his recurring role as a presenter on ABC’s Play School.  “I love doing it.  It’s one of the few shows that give children something of quality and I find that tremendously satisfying.  I get letters from people of all ages throughout the year and the mail that comes in from the children is very satisfying.  They rarely ask for anything, not even an autograph, although we always send out an autographed photo.  They want to share things.  They send in pictures they’ve painted, things they’ve made, always something of theirs to share.  I find that sort of thing so rewarding.”

belindagiblin Belinda Giblin joins Skyways
Belinda Giblin (pictured), former star of Crawford dramas The Box and The Sullivans, is joining another Crawford production, Skyways, for seven weeks.  Giblin plays the part of Christine Burroughs, acting manager of Trans Asia, the fictional airline depicted in the series.  Although she began work on the series in Melbourne this week, she won’t be on screen for some months.

Upstairs Downstairs star for Aussie series
Nicola Pagett
, star of the British series Upstairs Downstairs, has been signed for the romantic lead in the upcoming ABC mini-series The Timeless Land.  ABC head of drama Geoff Daniels said that Pagett’s profile in the United Kingdom and also in the United States, where Upstairs Downstairs has gained a following, should guarantee overseas sales for The Timeless Land.  The eight-part series, which also stars Michael Craig, Ray Barrett, Angela Punch and Earthwatch host Peter Cousens, begins production in November.

Briefly…
Recently-married couple Rod Kirkham, a former Young Talent Time member, and actress Barbara Llewellyn have left Australia to settle in England.  Gavan Disney, formerly Kirkham’s manager and now an executive at BTV6 Ballarat said: “They decided to live overseas.  That is all there is to it.  They have no particular plans other than getting to England.  Neither Rod nor Barbara have been exactly over-worked in Australia for the past 12 months, and both felt they had nothing to lose by giving England a go.”

Hollywood star Debbie Reynolds, whose new show opens for a two-week run in Sydney at the end of the month, will be appearing on The Mike Walsh Show over four days from 30 October.  Reynolds will also be appearing on The Don Lane Show on 1 November.  During her last tour, in 1975, Reynolds’s appearance on The Don Lane Show, including an impromptu song and dance routine, triggered a massive response by delighted viewers who jammed the channel’s switchboard.

Kerry Ford, one-time hostess of quiz show Casino 10, has left her job as publicity director for Lyle McCabe Productions to become a Qantas air hostess.

BTQ7 Brisbane presenter Bob Janssen is preparing to set off on a unique voyage – a wet-bike ride from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to Melbourne to raise funds for the Spastic Welfare League.  The wet-bikes, like a motorcycle on water, were first seen on a James Bond film and have been in Australia for about two years though only six are known to be in Queensland. Completing the journey to Melbourne could put him in the Guinness Book of Records.

mollymeldrum_2 Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Well, Countdown’s Molly Meldrum (pictured) has finally pushed me to the limit.  I can’t stand it any longer, and must write to say what I think of him – which is not very much.  For a start, why does he have to put on one of his silly predictions instead of the Number 1 single of the week?  Isn’t it plain enough for him to see that the people buy the record to promote it to Number 1 spot, so they can hear and see their favourite group performing?  Secondly, he raves on and on throughout the show, so if he does play the Number 1 single you never see it all the way through because he wasted time talking about nothing.”  S. McLaughlan, NSW.

“There is a group of us who haven’t missed a Doctor Who episode for years.  But why have Tom Baker (the fourth and current Doctor Who) coming out here on a promotional tour and then screening old repeats three or four times in a row?  Come on, get some new shows going.  Doctor Who is too good to be messed around with.  The good shows get messed up and the trash they treat with respect.  I love Doctor Who too much to stand by while this is done.” C. Robertson, VIC.

“Will somebody answer this question: why can’t a nation that gave us classic movies like All Quiet On The Western Front, Gone With The Wind and Mutiny On The Bounty, produce good TV shows?  We are fed a steady diet of preposterous piffle such as The Flying Nun, The Six Million Dollar Man and Mork And Mindy.  They also give us ultra-violent shows, of which Streets Of San Francisco, Starsky And Hutch and Kojak are typical.  Furthermore, it would appear most Americans are hard of hearing, as the majority of characters in US shows scream and shout at each other like demented persons!  They haven’t yet mastered the excellent, natural, low-key type of acting that is the feature of most English TV productions.  I won’t say much about Australian TV – the least said the better.  I don’t think any Australian TV scriptwriters have had an original idea since the day they were born.” C. Rowbottom, SA.

What’s On (October 27-November 2):
Saturday afternoon sport includes horse racing with the WS Cox Plate, live from Moonee Valley and telecast on HSV7, hosted by Bill Collins.  ABC presents live coverage of the CBA Westlakes Classic golf from the Grange course in Adelaide.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) looks at the political conflicts that have stirred Australia since the turn of the century, including the infamous Pig Iron Bob clash between Robert Menzies and the waterside workers.

GTV9 presents a two-and-a-half hour special, Goodbye ‘70s Goodbye, looking back at the news and events of the 1970s in Australia.

giltucker In Cop Shop (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), when a young apprentice is sacked from his job, a youth group decides to take matters in their own hands.  Baker (Gil Tucker, pictured) is knocked unconscious when he and Benjamin (Greg Ross) are called to investigate.

GTV9’s Friday night movie is Lassie: A New Beginning, featuring former Young Talent Time cast member Sally Boyden.

Sunday night movies: Scobie Malone (HSV7), Death Flight (GTV9), For Pete’s Sake (ATV0).  ABC’s series of Australian plays continues with Gail, the story of a 13 year old facing the problems of growing up, starring Sally Cooper, Terry Gill, Jackie Kerin and Nanette Wallace.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 27 October 1979.  ABC/ACP

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/10/1979-october-27-november-2.html

ABC is ready for 3

ABC3 National broadcaster ABC has announced that its new children’s-only channel, ABC3, will launch on Friday 4 December.

The new channel will broadcast daily between 6.00am and 9.00pm.

Heading the channel’s line-up during weekdays will be programming blocks Studio 3 (mornings) and Rollercoaster (afternoons) featuring a mix of factual and adventure series, wildlife and documentaries, game shows, news and current affairs, dramas and classic Australian animations.  Programs aimed at older children will screen in the evenings.

Presenting Studio 3 (pictured) will be Amberley Lobo and Kayne Tremills, with roving reporter Ben Crawley.  

Other locally-made shows to appear on ABC3 are Rush TV, (covering sports including snowboarding, BMX, skating, surfing and motocross), Prank Patrol (where kids get help to create, build and execute the prank of a lifetime on their chosen target) and Good Game SP (a junior version of ABC2’s Good Game).

Also featuring on ABC3 is My Place, a series based on the award-winning book about 13 kids, 130 years and a fig tree.  CJ the DJ, an interactive animation about a teenager who loves music. Drama Dance Academy, which centres around a group of male and female students training at the National Academy of Dance. Dead Gorgeous, a drama about three strong-willed sisters given a second-chance at life as ghosts.

Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab and documentary series Be The Creature will also feature, as will a repeat run of the ‘90s teenage drama Heartbreak High.

ABC3 will also have interactive features via the ABC website and will also have programming made available on ABC iView.  A selection of ABC3 programs will also be shown on the flagship channel ABC1 to account for households that do not yet have access to digital television.

abckidson2 The launch of ABC3 will coincide with an expansion of children’s programming on existing channel ABC2.  ABC For Kids On 2 will provide pre-school age programming between 9.00am and 6.00pm weekdays and 6.00am to 6.00pm on weekends.

ABC3 and ABC For Kids On 2 will be competing for young viewers with the range of children’s channels on pay-TV, including Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CBeebies, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr and Playhouse Disney, as well as dedicated children’s and cartoon hours on new digital channels GO! and 7TWO.

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/10/abc-is-ready-for-3.html

Seven catches up with 7TWO

7TWO_itstime Finally, the Seven Network has made a definite announcement about it’s long-long-awaited second channel.

Eight months after chief David Leckie said that an announcement of Seven’s digital plan was “imminent”, the network has told the public about their new channel to begin on Sunday 1 November at 12.00pm.

“It’s Time”, shouts the promos, for 7TWO (and yes, the promo is a light-weight take on the iconic political campaign of 1972.)  Perhaps the promo should shout “It’s About Time”, as Seven is the last of the three commercial networks to launch a digital channel, following OneHD in March and GO! in August.  Even SBS beat Seven to air when it re-worked its World News Channel to SBS2 in June.

The new 7TWO promises a raft of programming genres from classic Australian content (Sons And Daughters, Mother And Son and early episodes of Home And Away) to British and American comedies and dramas (e.g. Lost, Ugly Betty, 24, Heroes, Scrubs, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Gavin And Stacey, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Heartbeat), plus movies, lifestyle shows (featuring presenters including Jamie Oliver and Martha Stewart) and footy flashbacks from AFL.

7TWO The Jay Leno Show, which recently launched in prime-time in the US and is currently shown in Australia on The Comedy Channel, will also be shown on 7TWO five nights a week.

The new channel will be carried on Seven’s digital platform in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth on digital channel 72.  It is also expected to be carried via regional networks Prime and Seven Queensland and on pay-TV via Foxtel in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from dates to be advised.

The first week’s prime-time line-up looks like this:

Sunday 1: 6pm Scrubs, 7.30 Movie: McHale’s Navy, 9.30 Movie: The Ringer (premiere).

Monday 2: 6pm The New Jay Leno Show, 7pm Movie: Seabiscuit, 9.30 Movie: Master Spy – The Robert Hanssen Story.

Tuesday 3: 6pm Jay Leno, 7pm That 70s Show, 7.30 Ugly Betty (Series 3 premiere), 8.30 Reaper (premiere), 10.30 Strike Force, 11pm Last Comic Standing.

Wednesday 4: 6pm Jay Leno, 7pm That 70s Show, 7.30 American Gladiators (premiere), 8.30 Heroes (Series 4 premiere), 10.30 What About Brian, 11.30 Commander In Chief.

Thursday 5: 6pm Jay Leno, 7pm That 70s Show, 7.30 Fifth Gear (premiere), 8.30 Stargate Atlantis, 10pm Strikeforce Fight Night, 11.30 Monster Garage.

Friday 6: 6pm Jay Leno, 7pm That 70s Show, 7.30 Scrubs, 8.30 The F Word, 9.30 Fight For Life, 10.30 Escape To The Country, 11.30 Last Comic Standing.

Saturday 7: 6pm Destroyed In Seconds, 6.30 Air Crash Investigations, 7.30 Egypt, 8.30 Jamie’s Outdoor Room, 9.30 60 Minute Makeover, 10.30 How Not To Decorate, 11.30 Last Comic Standing.

Sunday 8: 6pm Scrubs, 7.30 Movie: Kate And Leopold, 9.30 Movie: Kill Bill, 11.30 Last Comic Standing.

The full program guide for 7TWO’s first week is online now at Yahoo7.

Seven’s approach to 7TWO as a broadly-based entertainment channel is in contrast to fairly focused efforts by Ten and Nine with their OneHD (sports) and GO! (youth-oriented entertainment) channels.  GO!, in particular, has helped the Nine Network’s audience share and ratings for Nine and GO! combined have taken some weekly wins away from the stand-alone Seven. 

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/10/seven-catches-up-with-7two.html

Don Lane

donlane_2 American-born entertainer and one of the greats of Australian TV variety, Don Lane has died after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 75.

Born Morton Donald Isaacson in 1933, Lane grew up in the Bronx district of New York. A nightclub performer in the US, he first came to Australia in the mid-1960s when he was invited to host a variety show, The Tonight Show, at TCN9.

grahamdon It was during The Tonight Show that Lane and his In Melbourne Tonight counterpart Graham Kennedy appeared together in a split-screen broadcast (pictured) from their respective cities in a technical link-up only made possible by the linking of the two cities by coaxial cable.

In 1968 Lane made news when he was charged with possessing marijuana and spent four days on remand in Sydney’s Long Bay jail before being acquitted.

In the early-‘70s, Lane made regular trips between Australia and the US, but was based in the US when he was invited to appear at the Nine Network’s Darwin appeal after Cyclone Tracy in 1974. That appearance led to an invitation by ATN7 Sydney to host a new tonight show but Lane declined and instead took up an offer to host a Monday night show for GTV9 Melbourne in the wake of Graham Kennedy’s hasty departure from the channel after his suspect ‘crow call’ incident saw him banned from appearing on live television.

The Don Lane Show began on 12 May 1975 and was an instant ratings hit. Airing twice a week, it was the show that was visited by some of the biggest names in showbusiness and also pioneered the live satellite interviews, a rarity in the ‘70s. Highlights of the show were also packaged for syndication across the United States.

bertanddon The Don Lane Show also formed one of Australian TV’s most famous double acts when it teamed up Bert Newton as Lane’s comic sidekick. Lane was the straight man to Newton’s comic performances and impersonations, and the pair also worked together on Melbourne radio station 3UZ.

The Don Lane Show won a swag of TV Week Logie awards including Lane winning the Gold Logie for most popular male personality on television in 1977. It was in his acceptance speech for the Gold Logie that he famously paid tribute to Newton, clutching the Logie and promising “here you are, pal! – six months at my place, six months at yours.”

Newton today said that Lane “reinvented variety” and paid tribute to his colleague and friend:

“Variety took on a new meaning. There were satellite interviews, world famous guests were coming onto the show. He shared the set with some of the biggest names in the business.”

“To me it’s a great loss.”

“I laughed at the time and I laugh now at the memory on this very sad day.”

After The Don Lane Show wound up in November 1983, Lane headed back to the US but was soon back in Australia when he joined Network Ten in 1987, hosting a game show, You’ve Got To Be Joking, and the TV Week Logie Awards. He followed these in 1988 with Late Night Australia, a five-night-a-week variety show that ended up against Graham Kennedy’s News Show on Nine.

In the ‘90s, Lane gained a following as a presenter of ABC’s late night NFL coverage and appeared as a guest on The Late Show.

donlane_3 In 2003 he was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.

Lane was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2005.

Nine Network CEO David Gyngell has paid tribute to Lane:

“Today Australia lost one of its finest all-round entertainers.

Don Lane was a stalwart of the industry and a great mate to so many of us here at Nine.

While Don may have passed, the memories and the laughs he provided will remain with us for many years to come.

Our deepest condolences are conveyed to Jayne Ambrose, PJ and Don’s extended family.”

A funeral for Don Lane will be held today (Friday) with a public memorial to be announced.

Source: The Age

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/10/don-lane.html

Number 96 on DVD again in 2010

janadele TV critic and self-confessed Number 96 tragic Andrew Mercado has announced that the third boxed set DVD of the famous Aussie soap Number 96 will be released by Umbrella Entertainment in 2010.

‘Aftermath of Murder’ picks up where the last DVD release (‘the Pantyhose Murderer’) left off and new characters in the series this time around include outrageous showgirl Trixie O’Toole (pictured, with Reg MacDonald played by Mike Dorsey), a recurring character in the series played by Jan Adele, and Vera Collins’ (Elaine Lee) new boarder Adam Shaw (Justin Rockett).

The episodes originally aired early in 1975.

Source: Mercado.tv, Have Phaser Will Travel

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/10/number-96-on-dvd-again-in-2010.html

1979: October 20-26

tvtimes_201079 Tom’s accent is on variety
Canadian-born Tom Burlinson has tackled Irish, English and American accents in various roles since leaving the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1976, but has found that playing Mickey Pratt in the 0-10 Network’s The Restless Years has presented the biggest challenge.  “Mickey’s Australian accent is one of the hardest,” Burlinson said.  But while Burlinson (pictured with co-star Penny Cook) admits to not always being keen on some of the tasks he called on to do as Pratt, he says there is a certain amount of leeway in the way he interprets the script and does accept the show’s widespread appeal:  “Whether The Restless Years is good or not, the fact is that it has mass appeal and many viewers accept it as real.  One therefore has a responsibility, particularly to adolescents who watch the program.”  However, Burlinson has said that after a year in the show he is ready to move on.  “I don’t want to become a TV star, I want to be a working actor.  One of the main reasons I want to leave The Restless Years is that I want to work in other areas such as films and stage.”

Big Country in the gun!
In ten years of production, ABC’s documentary series A Big Country has generated as many stories off-screen as it has on-screen.  On many occasions its reporters and crew have come close to injury and death.  In 1970, producer John Mabey and crew visited Jim Jim Plain, near Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, to investigate the latest methods of capturing buffalo.  They found a hunter and asked for an interview.  “I walked up to this man and said ‘I’m John Mabey from the ABC.  I’d like to talk to you about buffalo hunting,” Mabey recalls.  “He looked at me and then slowly reached down to his holster, pulled a .45 automatic from it and pointed it at my head.  He said ‘See this hole? Well you’ll feel one like it if you don’t get out of here now.’  Apparently Four Corners had been through the area some weeks before, filming cruel methods of hunting buffalo, and this chap obviously didn’t see eye to eye with the report.”  An earlier incident, recalled by producer and reporter Ron Iddon, saw the crew on a chartered single-engine flight from Geraldton, Western Australia, to the Abrohlos Islands, 70 kilometres of the WA coast.  On their way back to Geraldton the plane’s engine cut out:  “All of a sudden it was very quiet.  I was sitting two seats back and I remember looking at the pilot who was busy pushing and pulling things.  We were flying at 150 metres and I remember watching the altimeter registering our rapid descent.  When we got down to 31 metres I remember thinking ‘we’re going to crash.’  We were miles from any land and then only seconds from impact – the engine fired.”  The mid-air drama lasted about 90 seconds, but as Iddon said:  “It was the longest minute-and-a-half I can remember.”

paulcronin Cronin on nostalgia radio trip
As well as revisiting the 1940s in his role of Dave Sullivan in The Sullivans, actor Paul Cronin (pictured) is tackling nostalgia on Melbourne radio with a new weekly program, Remember When.  The three-hour program, on Melbourne’s 3AW, examines the events of the times from 1938 through to the present day.  It is Cronin’s first radio show but, according to 3AW’s Leveda Lynch, he settled right in: “He was nervous for the first five minutes and then he began enjoying himself.  We all thought he was very good, and we had a great reaction from the public.”  Remember When is scheduled to run for 13 weeks while football is off-season, but if ratings indicate public support then it may continue.

Rolf Harris for ABC
Rolf Harris
will visit Australia in December to discuss plans for seven one-hour variety specials to be produced by ABC in mid-1980.  The format of the shows will be discussed at the meetings, but Executive Producer Ric Birch said:  “Rolf’s management are very keen to do them although nothing has been signed yet.  We’ll be thrashing out all the details in December.”  The specials are likely to be made in Sydney, though Birch said that they would like to spend a week on location for filming, but this may be restricted by Harris’ scheduled club appearances in Sydney.

Briefly…
Actress Pat McDonald scarcely had her leg out of plaster, after a knee operation in August, when she was off to Perth to appear in a telethon.  Next week she flies to Adelaide for another.

Nine Network’s Pete Smith, a devoted football hater, has won the Anti Football League’s medal for least service to football in 1979.  The award was presented at an empty Melbourne Cricket Ground two days before the VFL Grand Final.

John Walton, the young actor who has starred in The Young Doctors and The Sullivans, is returning to the stage to play the title role of Hamlet with the Melbourne Theatre Company.

clivehale Clive Hale (pictured), the host of ABC’s Nationwide, has admitted that it has taken some adjustment to settling in to the new show after ten years on This Day Tonight, where he was often known to ad-lib or editorialise:  “The sort of flippancy on This Day Tonight would look out of place on a more serious program like Nationwide.  I must admit that after ten years on TDT, I enjoy being less flippant.”   A budding artist off-screen, Hale has admitted to wanting to approach ABC management about ideas for arts programs.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”When I read in TV Times that Peter Lochran had been nominated for a Sammy as best actor, I felt really pleased.  In my opinion, he is the best actor on Australian TV, and thoroughly deserves recognition.  The Young Doctors is the best show on TV and it deserves to win all the awards it can.”  F. Gregory, NSW.

“I want to thank TEN10 Sydney for putting on the late John Wayne’s movies.  I have been a fan of his for a long time and I enjoyed every last one of his movies.” N. Hunter, NSW.

“I was very disgusted with a program on ATV0 Melbourne recently called So You Want To Be A Centrefold.  I realise that this adults-only rated program was on at a reasonable hour, but I do think that the only reason it was shown was for men to gloat over.  It made me sick to see those girls flaunt themselves in front of the camera.  It seemed to me that this program was encouraging young girls to become nude centrefolds.  I think that females should think of themselves as being more than just cheap pin-ups for men’s girlie magazines.” S. Pye, VIC.

“I would like to thank TEN10 for screening East Of Eden, starring the late James Dean.  It is the most superb performance by any actor I have ever seen.” L. Madkasoa, NSW.

“If ABC has a transmission fault, they apologise and play some peaceful music while repairs are under way.  If our local commercial channel, RTQ7 (Rockhampton), has a fault they just put a silly picture on the screen… no apology, no music.” R. Ramming, QLD.

What’s On (October 20-26):
HSV7
presents live coverage of the Caulfield Cup race meeting on Saturday afternoon, hosted by Bill CollinsABC presents live coverage of International Men’s Hockey, from Melbourne’s Royal Park West.

Singer-songwriter Leon Berger represents Australia in the Pacific Song Contest, held in Christchurch, New Zealand, and shown in a delayed telecast on ABC on Saturday night. 

On Sunday afternoon, ABC presents live coverage of the Castrol Six Hour Race from Amaroo Park, while ATV0 crosses to Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion for the Custom Credit Indoor Tennis Championships with commentators Ray Warren, Bill Bowrey and John Newcombe.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) looks at the growth of Australia’s population over the last 80 years – from 3.7 million in 1901 to almost 14 million in 1979.  Host Peter Luck looks at the elements that make up Australia’s population, including racial composition and class structure.

On Monday night, HSV7 crosses to the Perth Concert Hall for a direct telecast of the crowning of Miss Australia 1980 and Miss Australia Charity Queen.  ATV0 presents a repeat screening of the movie version of the former TV series The Box.

Same as last week, TV Times lists American shows including My Three Sons, WKRP In Cincinnati, Diff’rent Strokes, Angie and Happy Days in place of Family Feud and The Sullivans due to industrial action at GTV9, though The Young Doctors appears to be back in the schedule.

Sunday night movies: Some Kind Of Miracle (HSV7), The French Connection (GTV9), The Paper Chase (ATV0).  ABC presents Mismatch, the second in the series of Australian plays, starring Jane Harders, Stephen O’Rourke, Margo Lee, John Bluthal and Michael Aitkens.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 20 October 1979.  ABC/ACP

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