50 Years of Television in Australia

by Nick Place

  > A 500-foot transmission tower collapses near Mt Gambier, delaying planned transmission of new stations.

  > Hundreds of viewers write or phone ABV-2, congratulating the station after the screening of Birth, a controversial documentary showing the birth of the producer’s daughter.

  > Gold Logie: Jimmy Hannan

  > Best Female Personality: Dawn Lake

  > Pan Am Logie for Best Overseas Show: The Beverly Hillbillies (below, appearing on The Happy Show)

  TV WEEK LOGIE AWARDS

  While many see the Logie awards ceremony as a celebration of the best on Australian TV, the event is a poor imitation of ‘real’ awards ceremonies like the Emmys. Whichever side of the debate you fall on, there’s no denying this annual glitter-fest is one of the most keenly watched events in Australian TV.

  And the Logie goes to ...

  So here we are on the red carpet at the TV Week Logie Awards, Australian television’s so-called night of nights. But is this really a time when the cream of the local TV industry gets together to pay tribute to our top shows and stars, or just an evening of mutual backslapping, fancy-frock wearing and copious champagne guzzling? Do the Logies actually recognise and reward excellence, or are they simply an over-inflated popularity contest? And dear God, what are Maria Venuti and Susie Elelman wearing? There’s only one way to find out: the envelope please …

  And the winners of the first-ever Logies in 1958 were … Graham Kennedy and Panda Lisner, the compere and barrel girl from In Melbourne Tonight. The Melbourne-only accolades were then called the TV Week Star of the Year Awards and the intricacies of double-sided tape were far from anyone’s mind. It was Kennedy who, upon receiving his award, named the statuette ‘Logie’, after the middle name of the Scottish inventor of television, John Logie Baird.

  Now please welcome to the stage a man who’s as synonymous with the Logies as over-exuberant, self-indulgent acceptance speeches … Bert Newton. Having hosted the awards 18 times since 1967, Newton’s not only mastered the art of adjusting the podium microphone, but also managed to feign surprise at his four gold Logie wins and induction into the Logies Hall of Fame in 1988.

  Mod Squad’s Michael Cole was a visiting international at the Logies in 1973. Somewhat inebriated after a series of pre-show drinks engagements, Cole dropped the s-word live on stage. The public outcry that resulted was only topped by the outrage when the telecast was replayed … with the offending word cut out. Rove McManus did his best Cole impersonation in 2005 by declaring his third consecutive gold Logie win was ‘f…ing awesome’. But the times they had a-changed and the only outcry the following day was over how Eddie McGuire’s dancing had slipped past the censors.

  But it’s now time to present the big one: the gold Logie for the Most Popular Personality on Television. Graham Kennedy leads the way in the art of ‘Logie arranging’ with the six gold statuettes he won through the years, while, at just 19 years of age, Kylie Minogue was the youngest recipient of the award in 1988. Norman Gunston (aka Garry McDonald) is the only fictional character ever to have won gold, taking home the top gong in 1976.

  When Jana Wendt won in 1992, she was the first gold Logie winner not present to collect the award. Almost as embarrassing was when a call of nature meant Mark Holden missed out on picking up his Logie for Most Popular Teenage Personality in 1978. Another to just miss out on Logies glory was SBS newsreader Anton Enus. The guys behind the show CNNNN campaigned hard for Enus to receive a nomination for gold in 2003, but finished up just a few votes short. If only they knew more hormone-fuelled teenagers, unemployed couch potatoes and listless housewives …

  Because that’s the reality of the Logies: the vast majority of awards are voted for by the readers of TV Week, die-hard fans whose credentials have been earned in front of the box. But if that means the Logies are more about who’s cool and sexy than who’s taking strides for the local industry, it may not be such a bad thing. Television needs audiences to survive, and Australian shows in particular need public support just to get off the ground, let alone become a success. If the Logies drum up enthusiasm and excitement over Aussie programs and stars, then that can only bode well for the local industry in the future.

  Big Brother’s producers? Keep working on that acceptance speech.

  Logies trivia

  > Pick-a-Box’s Bob Dyer won the first national gold Logie in 1961.

  > In 1963, the Logie awards ceremony had to be postponed after special guest presenter Tony Hancock was rushed to hospital in London suffering from pneumonia and had to cancel his trip to Australia.

  > In 1967 Graham Kennedy was awarded a special gold Logie for Australian Television Personality of the Decade.

  > In 1969, two kids found the 1961 Logie awarded to In Melbourne Tonight for Best Local TV Production wrapped in a plastic bag under a tree at their local school. It had gone missing from the station, but no one could figure out how it got to its resting place.

  > Members of the Apollo II crew, who walked on the moon in 1969, were awarded special gold Logies for creating TV history.

  > In 1969 there was no award for Best Australian Female Personality because the judges felt the voting did not reflect a genuine national female celebrity. Maggie Tabberer took home the reinstated award in 1970.

  > When Ernie Sigley and Denise Drysdale won the top gongs in 1975 it was the first time the two gold Logies had gone to people from the same show.

  > A Logie used to be awarded to the Best Commercial on Television; this was dropped in 1976.

  > In 1988 Kylie Minogue created Logie history by winning four awards on the one night.

  > Over the years, Crawford Productions has taken home over 70 awards in various categories, making it easily the biggest winner of the local production companies.

  1966

  Two stars who left big shows last year meet with differing fortunes this time around. Three young musical stars all seem headed for the big time, while the popularity of sporting brutality just continues to grow. And a revolution is in the air …

  Mavis star goes it alone

  Hopes are high for a new situation comedy series featuring one of the former stars of the Mavis Bramston Show, Gordon Chater. Chater left the hugely successful satirical series late last year, and will soon be seen in a new comedy vehicle called My Name’s McGooley, What’s Yours?

  Despite the unwieldy title, the new show promises plenty of laughs. Chater plays Dominic McGooley, a grumpy old derelict who is living in Balmain with his daughter Rita and her working-class husband, Wally – a situation sure to provide plenty of laughs.

  Chater, this year’s Gold Logie winner, will be joined in the show by comedienne Judi Farr and the highly regarded John Meillon.

  Chater said he had no hesitation about joining the show once he’d read the scripts.

  ‘I couldn’t put it down,’ he told TV Week. ‘I was completely captivated and immersed in it and I wanted to know what was happening all the time. I laughed and I felt moved. Here were completely universal characters in an Australian setting, using the Australian idiom. Here was something with which I completely identified. Here was the show I wanted to do.’

  Meillon, who plays the role of Wally Stiller, has apparently knocked back a film role in England to take on the series: ‘It was a big gamble, but I think it has paid off,’ he said.

  While Chater is seen as the star of the show, Meillon’s character is almost certain to share centre stage for much of the time. And Chater has been keen to deflect attention from himself, constantly crediting writer/producer Ralph Peterson for his vision and his scripts. Peterson has returned the compliment by saying this was ‘the greatest team I have worked with.’

  Australia does not have a great track record in the production of situation comedy shows, with only a handful having made it to air in the past 10 years. But insiders say McGooley could be different.

  Filming has already begun and the series is due to go to air in August or September this year.

&nb
sp; Turps wants to Go!! down the aisle

  April: The host of Go!!, Ian Turpie, has conceded he wants to marry sweetheart Olivia Newton-John before the year is out. Olivia has been overseas on holiday for two months and Ian has found himself missing her far more than he had expected.

  ‘I don’t know how Olivia feels, she hasn’t really said,’ Turpie told TV Times. ‘But I’m genuine when I say I’d like to become engaged to her as soon as she comes home.’

  Close friends have also been surprised at how Ian – a renowned social ‘player’ – has been affected.

  ‘Turps is a goner for sure!’ one of his friends said. ‘He’s been moping around ever since she went away. He plays the lovesick blues every time he gets near a record player and seems to come to all our parties “stag”. It’s quite a change of face for a bloke who was a real livewire. But we reckon it’s great – Olivia’s a real doll!’

  Helen is Reddy for stardom

  Get ready, world. Here comes Helen Reddy, the winner of Brian Henderson’s Bandstand Starflight International Contest.

  The half-sister of popular personality Toni Lamond, 24-year-old Helen is set to wow audiences overseas, having won a trip to the United States as part of her prize. Lamond told TV Week that she was confident Helen would be a major success, saying she had ‘the voice of the family’.

  Toni said she didn’t expect to see her half-sister too often from now on. ‘Helen will make so much of this opportunity to go overseas and I hope and pray luck stays on her side,’ Toni said. ‘I have a feeling it will be a long time before Australia sees Helen Reddy again once she goes to America.’

  ON DEBUT

  > Play School – ABC children’s program

  > Australian Playhouse – series of one-off comedy and dramatic plays

  > The Barry Crocker Show – twice-weekly comedy variety show

  > Dig We Must – teenage show with pop stars Bobby and Laurie

  > Casebook – medical discussion series

  > The House That Jack Built – family quiz show compered by Mike Williamson

  > The Col Joye Show – variety

  > Build Your Own Boat – 13-part series showing how to, ummm, build your own boat

  > Al’s Place – Saturday morning children’s show

  > It’s All Happening – teenage show with Billy Thorpe

  > Be Our Guest – musical chat show

  > Private World of Miss Prim – comedy

  > Bob Crosby Show – variety show

  > Nice ’n’ Juicy – comedy series

  > Come Fly With Me – quiz show

  > Wandjina – children’s science fiction series

  > Aweful Movies with Deadly Earnest – B-grade horror movies presented in a cult late-night movie show (below)

  > Club Wrestling – wrestling highlights and discussion And from overseas comes:

  > ‘F’ Troop – comedy series

  > Green Acres – comedy series

  > Flipper – children’s show about a dolphin

  > The Likely Lads – BBC comedy series

  > Thunderbirds – puppet sci-fi series

  > The Man From U.N.C.L.E. – espionage series

  > Hogan’s Heroes – army comedy series

  Jimmy makes the big switch

  August: Jimmy Hannan, who controversially left Channel 9 to start a new career on Channel 0, is already facing his first major test with a big change to his signature program.

  Hannan’s first show, Jimmy, launched on 0 in March as a lavish, one-hour musical variety series, on Wednesday nights. But audience response hasn’t been quite as strong as hoped, and so the show is about to relaunch as a 90-minute Saturday night variety comedy program called The Jimmy Hannan Show.

  While everyone at 0 is putting a positive shine to the story, it must be a worrying development for Hannan. At Nine he was compere of the Thursday night edition of In Melbourne Tonight, and his ratings rivalled those of Graham Kennedy. His popularity was further underlined when he won the 1965 Gold Logie.

  So it was big news when he was lured across to Channel 0 after the station failed in its initial bid to get Kennedy himself. The deal, announced last year, is reputed to have made Hannan the highest paid star in the country. At the time, Hannan said he’d rather be the biggest star on a new channel rather than remain as a permanent second string to Kennedy at Nine.

  Now it remains to be seen whether he can make that aim a reality.

  Videos to ‘revolutionise’ TV

  May: New do-it-yourself video equipment now available in Australia may one day change how we watch television. The equipment, consisting of a TV camera, microphones and a home-size video tape recorder, not only makes its own programs but can store your favourite TV shows on tape. Each unit costs about $4000, while each 45-minute tape costs $68.

  Every major company in the electronics industry is now trying to develop cameras and recorders cheap enough for home use by average Australians. Mr R.B. Hooper, manager of the electro-acoustic division of Philips, said the future was exciting.

  ‘When the video tape machines can be generally affordable, people’s TV viewing habits are likely to be revolutionised,’ he told TV Times. ‘It is conceivable that people will one day buy full-length tapes of films, plays and ballets for showing on their home screens.’

  Time is right for Young talent

  August: How’s this for a rise to fame! Two months ago, unheralded pop singer Johnny Young came to Melbourne from Perth to promote his new record, ‘Stepback’. He appeared on Go!! and the show’s producer, Julian Jover, liked him so much he made a spontaneous decision to ask Johnny to sing a second song in the same show. As if that wasn’t a lucky break for the fresh-faced 20-year-old from WA, he’s now been signed as full-time compere of the ATV-0 show, thanks to the sudden resignation of Ian Turpie, who was struggling to balance the workloads of Go!! and his role in HSV-7’s Time for Terry.

  Despite his youthful looks, Johnny has been a performer in Perth media since a radio appearance when he was four years old. He has even hosted a TV show over in the West, Club Seventeen, as well as working in radio.

  Sunnyside down

  June: The cast and crew of Sunnyside Up remain shocked by the popular show’s unexpected axing, dismayed that they’ve been dumped in the middle of some of the show’s best-ever ratings.

  Long-serving compere Bill Collins summed up the feelings of his team, bemused and disappointed by the news. ‘I’d been hearing rumours of something in the wind for weeks, but it still came as a big shock,’ he told TV Week.

  It appears that the high production cost of Sunnyside Up – estimated at around $200,000 per year – is the reason the show has been torpedoed. Even Graham Kennedy, speaking on IMT was dismayed at the show’s axing: ‘Everybody in the television industry, including me, will be sorry to see Sunnyside Up go. It’s a pity.’

  Aussie Thunderbirds are Go in Britain

  December: The Roller Game, TV’s favourite ultra-violent entertainment, has made it to the United Kingdom, with the Australian Thunderbirds thrilling British crowds with their full frontal attack. Greeted with wild enthusiasm by viewers, the Thunderbirds took on the Texas Outlaws in Australian footage that was screened as part of World of Sport, on English commercial TV.

  It’s been a big year for the roller-skating knucklefest. Early in 1966, the National Roller League Commission warned the skaters that they faced six month suspensions for overly violent action, especially the off-track fighting that had started to creep in to the circuit. But that just seems to have made the ‘sport’ even more popular!

  MEMORIES

  > The switch to decimal currency forces the Coles £3000 Question to become the Coles $6000 Question.

  > Sydney’s TEN-10 receives a bomb threat after screening an Irish movie.

  > Don Lane and Brian Henderson find interviewing folk singer Bob Dylan on Sydney’s Tonight show so unrewarding that they interview each other instead – with hilarious results.

  > GTV-9 newsrea
der and senior on-camera personality Eric Pearce stuns viewers and staff when he wears glasses with only half-lenses.

  > GK defends IMT from allegations of smut after reciting a ditty on the oral contraceptive set to the tune of Jack and Jill: Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jill, the dill, forgot her pill And now she has a daughter.

  > Widespread coverage of US President Johnson’s tour is a huge success.

  > Jackie Weaver (19) marries director David Price (27) and causes a stir in a mini-skirt wedding dress.

  > ABC-TV chiefs are thrilled about the success of a TV program that came direct from London via satellite. The signal took about one-sixth of a second to arrive.

  > Gold Logie: Gordon Chater

  > Best Overseas Show: Dick Van Dyke

  > Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Television: Magic Circle Club

  COP SHOWS

  Whether it’s in a rural bush haven or the mean alleys of a big city, Australian cop shows have been busting bad guys since TV’s earliest days. Apart from ridding our streets of scum, they’ve also provided some of television’s biggest names – and worst fashions.

  You have the right to remain silent

  Armed with their badge and gun, police shows have been keeping the peace in TV land since the early 1960s. Whether battling big-city crims or small-town attitudes, our TV cops have proved to be working-class heroes with an endearing mix of integrity and human frailty.

  But cop shows have done more for Australian TV than just offer a voyeuristic look at local law enforcement – they’ve tackled the crime of lagging local drama production and freed audiences to watch Australian stories told in Australian voices.

  When Homicide burst onto our screens in 1964, it shocked viewers used to the Hollywood cool of the detectives on 77 Sunset Strip and the Chicago underworld of The Untouchables. Here were Aussie cops, speaking with Aussie accents, driving Holdens and investigating murders in recognisable Melbourne locations. To audiences and an industry with little exposure to Australian drama, this was pioneering stuff, and it was in large part thanks to the trailblazing siblings, producers Hector and Dorothy Crawford.