An untimely end for one of our most beloved TV characters, and an all-too-rapid one for what was meant to be soapie-ville’s Next Big Thing. Meanwhile a former pop star makes his mark in kids TV, a former cop show actress makes it big in the UK and a series about women in prison turns into an unlikely hit.
Arcade opens – then shuts
March: The biggest production ever attempted by an Australian TV station, the multimillion dollar mega-soapie Arcade, has been axed after only six weeks and 30 episodes on air.
The series was launched on the back of a 90-minute telemovie in January, and was accompanied by a wave of publicity including the production of posters, beer coasters, stickers and a theme song from Aussie rock veteran Doug Parkinson.
But all the slick promotion couldn’t save Arcade when it went to air. It was greeted by blowtorch reviews for its production values (in one scene, an actress appeared to be reading her lines off a sheet of paper on the café table), dodgy scripts and often unpleasant characters. As a result, Ten has had to quickly give up on its dream of Arcade becoming the new Class of ’74 or Young Doctors.
An internal production by Sydney TEN-10, the program saw Ten’s Studio A, the largest TV studio in the southern hemisphere, converted into a full shopping arcade. Driven by the creative team behind Number 96, with three separate camera units filming the show, it starred Gold Logie winner Lorrae Desmond, former Number 96 star Mike Dorsey, entertainer Peggy Toppano, veteran actress Aileen Britton and promising youngsters including Tracy Mann and Jeremy Kewley.
The original idea for Arcade was in the mould of Number 96, with lots of affairs between shopkeepers and shop assistants, and a massage parlour with a hole in the wall through which the arcade’s resident photographer could shoot pornographic movies. By the time it went to air, such daring storylines had been wound back, although the series’ resident disabled character, Tina Marshall (played by Christine Harris) was left hanging off a cliff in one … um … cliff-hanger episode ending.
In a strange postscript, a second record from the show has been released – after its axing. This one, called the Arcade Parade, includes a song that was to feature in a commercial being filmed in the Arcade in a future episode that now will not make it to air.
Top movies could be yours – on tape!
February: Believe it or not, you may be able to watch your favourite Hollywood films on video cassettes in your own home as early as later this year.
According to Mr Andrew Blay, the president of Magnetic Video Corporation America’s largest retailer of cassette movies, his company hopes to have up to 40 titles available in Australia soon, selling for about $70 each.
On a fact-finding tour of Australia, Mr Blay told TV Week that Magnetic would not attempt to rent videos in Australia because ‘we have found that the people who own video cassette players are more interested in owning than renting’.
Mr Blay predicted the video cassette industry could become popular over the next 12 months. He also predicted a big future for the latest technology, video discs.
‘I suppose ultimately the discs will become bigger sellers, but I am confident that video cassettes will continue to co-exist with them, the same way that records and audio cassettes both sell well.’
The best of British?
June: Taking its lead from a number of British sitcoms that have made ‘Down Under’ episodes, Channel Ten has commissioned a local version of the popular British comedy, Are You Being Served? Six of the 13 episodes will star John Inman in his usual role as Mr Humphries, sent to work at Sydney’s Bone Brothers store.
Australians in the cast include June Bronhill as veteran saleswoman Mrs Crawford, Reg Gillman as Captain Wagstaff, Shane Bourne as junior salesman Mr Randall and Judith Woodroofe as Miss Buxton. In the first episode, Mrs Crawford collapses after her pussy becomes unwell.
Our Pam stars in Britain
October: Tall, blonde Aussie beauty Pamela Stephenson has hit it big in the UK, starring in a wild new comedy show, Not the Nine O’Clock News.
Stephenson is best known to Australian viewers as Rod Mullinar’s secretary in the series Ryan. But she has proven a hit with British viewers, especially male viewers, and appears set for big things in the Old Country. Her impersonations of leading public figures, including Margaret Thatcher, have hit the collective British funny bone.
Not the Nine O’Clock News is a sketch show, also starring Chris Langham – who has impressed Australian audiences with his one-man stage show – along with unknowns Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones and young rubber-faced – comedian Rowan Atkinson.
ON DEBUT
> The Last Outlaw – mini-series about Ned Kelly, with John Jarratt as Ned
> Work That Was – series of three documentaries examining the cause of today’s unemployment crisis in Australia, hosted by Keith Windschuttle
> Sale of the Century – quiz show hosted by Tony Barber and Victoria Nicholls
> Kingswood Country – the story of Ted, a man who loves his Kingswood, his overweight greyhound, Gay Akubra, and memories of the war – in that order
> Lawson’s Mates – six-part series based on Henry Lawson’s characters
> John Singleton Show – 90-minute current affairs and variety
> Lucinda Brayford – lavish four-part ABC serial based on the novel of the same name, starring Wendy Hughes
> The Great Outdoors – Mike and Mal Leyland join Seven for eight one-hour programs and some specials
> Farnham and Byrne – seven-part variety series premieres on the ABC, hosted by Johnny Farnham and Debbie Byrne
> Water Under the Bridge – series about Australian life from World War II to the 1950s, starring Robyn Nevin, Jacki Weaver, Rod Mullinar, David Cameron and Judy Davis
> Timelapse – series
> Players to the Gallery – series
> Locusts and Wild Honey – series
> Sam’s Luck – series
> Spring and Fall – series
> Trial by Marriage – series
> The Timeless Land – series
> Premiere – series
> Home Sweet Home – series
> All the Green Years – series
Prisoner captures captive market
March: It might not have seemed like a sure-fire international hit at concept stage, but that’s certainly what 10’s hit series Prisoner has become.
In just over a year the show has won legions of fans here in Australia and also in the US, where it is shown on 21 different stations. It won a Logie for the Best New Drama of last year, while Carol Burns also snared a Logie for Best Lead Actress in a Series for her portrayal of psychotic lesbian bikie Franky Doyle.
Doyle was the star of the show’s first year – despite the fact that she left the show early and was killed off well before the year ended. By that time the show had already captured many thousands of fans and Channel 10 had indefinitely extended the show’s initial 16-episode run.
Franky, played by actress Carol Burns – who smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day, and pigged out on steaks and banana sundaes to balloon her weight to play the role – spoke the first words in the drama (‘She bumped into me’) when it debuted. She attempted to dominate the jail, and single-handedly destroyed the recreation room when her then-girlfriend, Doreen, was moved to another cell.
Her death came at the end of an extended storyline which saw her escape from Wentworth Detention Centre and stay on the run for eight episodes. She was shot after an attempt to rob a hardware store went horribly, horribly wrong. Lying in Doreen’s arms, her last words were ‘bloody bastards’.
Her death even made waves as far afield as Los Angeles where 20 female bikies were reported to have laid a wreath for Franky outside local station KTLA-5.
Sale wows ‘em
September: Halfway through the ratings season, Channel Nine’s new game show Sale of the Century is proving a ratings bonanza for Nine.
Although it’s a re-badged version of the 1970s game show Great Temptation, host Tony Barber and the bubbly Victoria Nicholls have taken the new show to great heights in a short time. Viewers have fallen for the canny blend of general knowledge and great prizes, leading to a ratings performance that producers wouldn’t have dreamed of before it hit our screens. Even though it was launched halfway through the current ratings season, Sale still managed to set new ratings records in the crucial 7 pm timeslot.
There were emotional scenes in The Sullivans when the family learned that Grace had died during a bomb raid in London. The clan gathered to farewell her at a funeral that provided some of the most harrowing TV moments of the year.
Shirl is king of the kids
November: Graeme ‘Shirley’ Strachan was once best known as the strutting, confident frontman of pop band Skyhooks. But now he’s just as likely to be mobbed in the street by pre-teen fans of his TV show, Shirl’s Neighbourhood.
The show has just notched up its 200th episode, also celebrating its first birthday, and Shirl says he’s loving every minute of it. In July last year, Shirl and Neighbourhood identity Claude the Crow even jumped networks to host Countdown.
‘I’m a big kid,’ Strachan told TV Week. ‘I’ve had 12 months of silliness – no, joy! I’ve learnt more about kids in this last year than ever before.’
Shirl said the key to his success has been a willingness to dive in and get involved with his audience. ‘You can’t just sit on the fence and watch; it doesn’t work,’ he said.
Featuring characters such as Norm the Kangaroo, and brilliant puppets, including Claude, by rising artist Ron Mueck, Shirl’s Neighbourhood features studio-based fun and location shoots.
Lane ‘Piss off’ row
August: A furore has erupted after Don Lane angrily told visiting Canadian sceptic James Randi to ‘piss off’ on air during the Don Lane Show on 11 August.
Randi had queried the legitimacy of elderly psychic Mrs Doris Stokes – a Lane Show favourite – and the aspersions he cast clearly outraged the Lanky Yank.
He stood up from his seat, swiped Randi’s props off the table in front of him with an angry sweep of his arm and told Randi loudly that he could ‘piss off’.
Channel 9 received a number of complaints later about Lane’s language and reaction – but just as many applauding his actions and attacking Randi.
It’s new TV, in any language
October: Australian multiculturalism has a new voice. On Friday 24 October at 6.30 pm, the new Special Broadcasting Service (SBS -TV) goes to air, with transmissions to Sydney and Melbourne.
Believed to be the first station of its kind in the world, SBS will feature programming from non-English-speaking countries. It is headed by chairman Bruce Gyngell, who was the first man ever to appear on Australian TV in 1956.
The Age reports that the opening night line-up is set to include Three Sea Wolves, a local comedy starring Chantal Contouri and members of Melbourne’s Greek community, as well as an Italian variety show and a Yugoslavian film about a man who leaves home to look for work in Germany.
MEMORIES
> New-look Peter Couchman Tonight show is launched, with Couchman jumping into a cage full of tigers for the first show.
> Channel Ten news reporters discover a radioactive uranium ore dump in the Northern Territory, protected only by a warning sign.
> Computers play a part in Nine’s cricket coverage, a first for sport.
> The first 26 years of Australia’s colourful history come to life in the ABC’s big-budget mini-series, The Timeless Land.
> Former South Australian Premier Don Dunstan launches his own variety talk show on the ABC, called Capriccio.
> Paul Hogan stars in a special titled The Prophecies of Hoges, where he imitates celebrities and TV personalities.
> An insurance company tells 60 Minutes reporter George Negus he’s too hot to handle, and he couldn’t afford to pay for his own personal insurance because the premium would be astronomical.
> The ‘Who Shot JR?’ episode of Dallas screens in Australia and Larry Hagman uses the hype surrounding his character’s shooting to demand a pay increase from $12,000 to $100,000 per episode, finally settling on $50,000 and a percentage of all JR merchandise.
> Young Channel 10 newsreader Jana Wendt hopes to stay in newsreading or reporting, ‘until I die’.
> TV Times and TV Guide are acquired by TV Week. All three are incorporated into the TV Week masthead.
> On 20 January, Melbourne ATV-0 changes to ATV-10. The 0-10 Network changes its name to Network Ten.
> Gold Logie: Mike Walsh
> Outstanding contribution to children’s television: Simon Townsend’s Wonder World