re-run of SMH article "I'll have an 'S' for Stupid, thanks Tony"
Andrew Bayley
few months back has been given a re-run at The Age. Nice
idea of The Age's, but would have been nicer to allow it to
be updated it as some things have obviously changed since it
was first published (ie. Jonathon Shier is no longer running
the ABC, and Ten has since picked up Big Brother II). And
in Melbourne, Neighbours was never given a 5.30 timeslot by
Seven. It was only in Sydney that Seven launched a one-hour
news at that stage, that pushed Neighbours to the earlier
timeslot although that alone probably led to its demise at
Seven.
Seven Melbourne didn't try a one-hour news until a few years
later in the dreaded (but thankfully brief) Fairfax era,
which in itself should have rated a mention here :)
http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/2001/12/21/FFXRTCAUGV
C.html
I'll have an 'S' for stupid, thanks Tony
By MICHAEL IDATO
Friday 21 December 2001
When it comes making to bad decisions, our TV industry is up
there with the best of them. Michael Idato fondly recalls 20
moments of madness.
Seven hires Tony Barber for Wheel of Fortune
Launched by Seven in 1981 (it had run on Nine for a few
years from 1959, hosted by Reg Grundy), the Wheel enjoyed
great success with hosts Ernie Sigley and, from 1985, John
Burgess. But when Seven ditched the popular "Baby John" for
Tony Barber in 1996, the show's loyal audience responded as
if they'd been offered a cup of cold sick. Adriana Xenides
checked herself into a mental hospital the same year,
leaving Kerrie Friend nervously manning the letterboard.
Nine sells Seinfeld to Ten
In the mists of comedy prehistory, Nine owned Seinfeld and
screened it at 11.30pm. The network eventually flogged it to
Ten, considering it "too New York for an Australian
audience". Bad call. While the show was never an unqualified
hit - the critics chorused more loudly than audiences did -
it certainly stood its ground, survives well in (endless)
repeats and is remembered as one of the finest TV comedies
of our time.
Seven is offered Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
As strange as it sounds, the format for Who Wants to be a
Millionaire? languished for several months in Seven in-trays
before Nine snapped it up and transformed it into one of the
most popular shows on the box.
Bob Shanks programs the Ten Network "on the hour"
In 1989, Bruce Gyngell declined Frank Lowy's offer of the
top job at Ten. Instead he recommended an American TV
executive, Bob Shanks. Shanks decided Ten's timeslots should
mimic the American model - ie, 7-8pm. 8-9pm etc - rather
than changing over on the half hour like the other local
channels. It was disastrous. Ten lost potential viewers by
moving out of sync with other channels and there were
classification problems (programs rated "Adults Only" could
not start until 8.30pm).
The ABC launches The National
Proving that not all its bad decisions are confined to
recent history, the ABC launched a nationwide news and
current affairs flagship, The National, in 1985. Produced by
Ian Carroll and reportedly costing a $25 million to produce,
it featured news from Richard Morecroft and Geraldine
Doogue, and current affairs from Richard Carleton and Max
Walsh. It was a disaster, and the following year it was
split back to a half-hour news bulletin followed by a
State-based The 7.30 Report.
Seven axes Neighbours (and Ten buys A Country Practice)
Launched into the 6pm slot with moderate success, Neighbours
was a casualty of Seven management's decision to expand the
news to one hour in 1985. That kicked the suburban soap back
to 5.30pm, where its audience dried up. Seven axed it, and
Ten - at the insistence of the director of public relations
at the time, Brian Walsh - took a punt that paid off.
Although past its glory days, Neighbours remains on air.
Not so successful in its transition from Seven to Ten was
the long-running country soap A Country Practice. Shifting
camps in 1994, it tanked the same year.
Hamble dumped from Play School
Few genres are as cut-throat as children's TV, and the shock
dumping of long-time Play School favourite Hamble caused an
outcry. The ABC claimed "terminal sticky eye", but insiders
knew better. There were rumours of on-set rows with Humpty,
a disastrous failed romance with Little Ted and a rift with
the show's diva-in-residence, Jemima.
Greg Evans quits Ten for Nine
As the host of the top-rating dating show Perfect Match,
Greg Evans was one of the most popular TV personalities of
his day. In 1986, at the apex of his fame, he was lured from
Ten with the promise of "big things" at the more successful
Nine Network. As it turned out, Evans spent the duration of
his contract "in development". When the legal dust settled
and he returned with 1991's Blind Date, lightning did not
strike twice.
Jonathan Shier appointed managing director of the ABC
Although he is not the first ABC boss to accelerate too
hard, brake too quickly and crunch the gears, none has
presided over such a long and difficult period of
transition. His first management team commissioned nothing
before walking the plank, and his second - headed by the
respected Sandra Levy - may be his last. As one senior ABC
source quipped: "She's far more qualified for Jonathan's job
than he is."
Seven axes Johanna Griggs by fax
The Seven Network learned an expensive lesson when it sacked
Commonweath Games medal winner and budding sports reporter
Johanna Griggs by fax in 1996. Aside from looking like
heartless bureaucrats, Seven had to eat humble pie six years
later when it re-signed Griggs for a six-figure deal.
The laugh-free Dog's Head Bay
Rarely are journalists handed a headline like they were when
this sitcom, starring the singularly unfunny Gary Sweet,
appeared in 1999. The actors dropped in pauses for a laugh
track that was never added, while producer Hal McElroy and
playwright David Williamson showed why they should stick to
top-rating cop shows and acclaimed plays, respectively.
Ten tries serious current affairs
Ten made its push into quality current affairs in 1988 with
Page One, featuring Chris Masters, Katrina Lee, Greg Hoy,
Maxine McKew, Jill Singer and Kerry O'Brien. Audiences were
unimpressed and newly appointed boss Bob Shanks ditched the
program in favour of the cheaper Public Eye. That show
folded the following year, with barely time to blink. That
didn't stop Ten trying it again in the '90s with
professional mouthpiece Alan Jones at the helm. Can anyone
spell T-i-t-a-n-i-c?
Ten adopts the 'X' logo
Ten's logo for 1988, inspired by the Roman numeral for 10,
was the brainchild of Ten's creative director at the time,
Lorraine Willison. It was abandoned after a year by incoming
boss Bob Shanks, who said it made the network look like an
"adults-only channel". Willison redeemed herself by
commissioning The Comedy Company in 1988. It was one of
Ten's most successful shows and the first to topple (albeit
briefly) Nine's juggernaut, 60 Minutes.
Nine gives Mick Molloy "creative control"
Understandable, perhaps, given Molloy's pedigree (Nine
clearly failed to notice his famously cool "Shitscared"
segment on The Late Show was a rip-off of Canada's much
cooler "Super Dave"), but in the end "creative control" was
the ruin of The Mick Molloy Show in 1999. First he didn't
want to show the network the script (some at Nine suggested
there may not have even been one), but the show hit rock
bottom when Molloy decided it would be a great idea if he
took a slash on national TV...
Seven loses Tracey Holmes
On the eve of the Olympics, Holmes was plastered across
Sydney as the "face" of the Games. Bluffed into making a
statement confirming her romance with married colleague Stan
Grant, a scandal erupted. Instead of supporting them, Seven
caved in to tabloid morality. Holmes was demoted, but both
resigned. The Olympics lost a great talent and Seven looked
gutless.
Elle McFeast launches her new talk show with a Chopper Read
interview
Elle McFeast, the comedic alter-ego of Lisbeth Gorr,
returning to TV in 1998 with a much-vaunted talk show,
stepped into an inferno of bad press when convicted murdered
Chopper Read appeared on the first program slightly under
the weather and boasting about how he had killed his
victims. The incident "blew us out of the water", Gorr later
admitted.
Seven loses the Warner Bros output deal
Seven learnt the hard way that no matter how cosy your
relationship with Warner Bros might seem, Nine is always
waiting in the wings with a bottle of Bolly and a better
line in schmooze than you. The loss of the deal cost Seven
considerably. Although it was spared the expense of Police
Academy: The Series and Mad TV, it also missed out on
Friends, E.R. and, more recently, The Sopranos and The West
Wing.
Ten neglects to sign Big Brother II
Big Brother handed Ten new respectability in the market and
strengthened its ties to key advertisers. The problem? When
the original contract was signed the possibility of a sequel
was left to a vague "first and last" negotiation option. The
result? The sequel is effectively up for auction, with Seven
and Nine able to make rival bids that Ten must match or lose
the show.
The wedding game show I Do, I Do
Hosted by Lisa Treloar and launched in 1996, I Do, I Do
ranks as one of the great stinkers of all time. The
hour-long wedding game show opened with couples competing
for wedding presents and ended with the winning couple
getting hitched on national television. Australian audiences
responded with a resounding, "We don't, we don't."
Nine launches The Bob Morrison Show
Every culture blessed with television has also been cursed
with a sitcom about a talking dog. Australia's shame was The
Bob Morrison Show, commissioned by Nine executive Kris Noble
in 1994 and greeted coolly by critics and viewers alike. Its
writing staff included Kate Langbroek, now writing her own
material for The Panel.
Wollongong Quokka
news:3c2c76e5$0$30287$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
> Michael Idato's excellent article that appeared in the SMH a
> few months back has been given a re-run at The Age.
Yep, noticed that. Was it in The Age last Friday?
It appeared in the SMH on 20 Aug 2001.
> Nice
> idea of The Age's, but would have been nicer to allow it to
> be updated it as some things have obviously changed since it
> was first published (ie. Jonathon Shier is no longer running
> the ABC, and Ten has since picked up Big Brother II). And
> in Melbourne, Neighbours was never given a 5.30 timeslot by
> Seven. It was only in Sydney that Seven launched a one-hour
> news at that stage, that pushed Neighbours to the earlier
> timeslot although that alone probably led to its demise at
> Seven.
> Seven Melbourne didn't try a one-hour news until a few years
> later in the dreaded (but thankfully brief) Fairfax era,
> which in itself should have rated a mention here :)
Yep. I think The Age has just accepted the 'S' for Stupid. :)
--
A Wollongong Quokka Experience
"Don't buy trash! See Sash and save cash!"
Andrew Bayley
SMH a
> > few months back has been given a re-run at The Age.
>
> Yep, noticed that. Was it in The Age last Friday?
It was actually in The Green Guide last week, December 20th.
Obviously there isn't much to write about at this time of
year so looks like they dug through the archives to see what
they could use to fill a couple of pages. Just would have
been nice for them to actually "read" what they are about to
publish.
Wollongong Quokka
> > Yep, noticed that. Was it in The Age last Friday?
>
> It was actually in The Green Guide last week, December 20th.
Ah, was wondering. On the website it was dated Friday, when I would have
expected it to be a GG lift of a SMH Guide article.
Julian Buczek
>
> Seven is offered Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Add to the list:
ABC refuses rights to the hit BBC game show The Weakest Link.
^^^^^^^
> The wedding game show I Do, I Do
Ten decided to premiere it in place of "Sliders", which had a
mere three episodes left to air to complete its second season.
> Hosted by Lisa Treloar and launched in 1996, I Do, I Do
> ranks as one of the great stinkers of all time. The
> hour-long wedding game show opened with couples competing
> for wedding presents and ended with the winning couple
> getting hitched on national television. Australian audiences
> responded with a resounding, "We don't, we don't."
But then Ten rectified itself...
"Sliders" came back on, and stayed there in the Friday night
timeslot for another four years.
Andrew Bayley
"Julian Buczek" <buc...@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:3C2C7F4A...@iinet.net.au...
> Andrew Bayley wrote:
> >
> > Seven is offered Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
>
> Add to the list:
>
> ABC refuses rights to the hit BBC game show The Weakest
Link.
> ^^^^^^^
I wouldn't have thought that a blunder as such. It would
have flopped on ABC, for a start they are not allowed to
offer cash prizes and that's all The Weakest Link does. The
show wouldn't have had the same bite to it if the only
prizes available were vouchers to the ABC Shop.
Sarch
wrote:
>"Andrew Bayley" <an...@NO.SPAM.4.ME.optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
>news:3c2c76e5$0$30287$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
>> Michael Idato's excellent article that appeared in the SMH a
>> few months back has been given a re-run at The Age.
>
>Yep, noticed that. Was it in The Age last Friday?
>
>It appeared in the SMH on 20 Aug 2001.
I'm sure somebody posted the URL to the SMH article in aus.tv way back then,
which would explain the "deja vu"-ness of the article (I'm in Melbourne so
there's no way I would be going to the SMH website unless somebody in here
said, "Hey, read this!!").
[snip]
>Yep. I think The Age has just accepted the 'S' for Stupid. :)
I agree. The Christmas/New Years period suddenly seems to make journalists
painfully lazy.
Sarch
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Sarch
<an...@NO.SPAM.4.ME.optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>Elle McFeast launches her new talk show with a Chopper Read
>interview
>
>Elle McFeast, the comedic alter-ego of Lisbeth Gorr,
>returning to TV in 1998 with a much-vaunted talk show,
>stepped into an inferno of bad press when convicted murdered
>Chopper Read appeared on the first program slightly under
>the weather and boasting about how he had killed his
>victims. The incident "blew us out of the water", Gorr later
>admitted.
THE LIVING DEAD!!!!
I'll shutup now. <g>
Regular John
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"Andrew Bayley" <an...@NO.SPAM.4.ME.optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:3c2c76e5$0$30287$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...