On This Day

Going up against the AFL on Saturday night - probably not the best idea.

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It was on Tuesdays initially before moving to Saturdays when they lost AFL

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5 February 1968: Adventure series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo debuts on Nine

5 February 1973: Mike Walsh returns to television with his new daytime variety show, The Mike Walsh Show, airing on the 0-10 Network. The show moved to Nine in 1977 and then to prime-time in 1985.

5 February 1979: Former Brisbane television presenter Annette Allison begins as newsreader at Eyewitness News in Melbourne, working alongside Bruce Mansfield. Both were let go from their roles (but kept at the channel) at the end of the year.

5 February 1993: The Seven Network launches travel series The Great Outdoors, featuring Penny Cook, Ernie Dingo, Sofie Formica, Rex Hunt, Jack Absalom, Ted Egan, Neil Crompton, Bridget Adams and Sharon Tyrrell.

5 February 2000: Molly Meldrum and Leah McLeod host the debut of Ten‘s new pop music show House Of Hits, incorporating video clips, live performances and guest co-hosts.

5 February 2001: The Australian version of game show The Weakest Link begins on Seven, hosted by Cornelia Frances.

5 February 2007: SBS, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN present coverage of Superbowl XLI, live from Miami Gardens, Florida.

5 February 2009: Network Ten launches new factual series Bondi Vet, featuring Dr Chris Brown at the Bondi Junction Veterinary Hospital.

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From memory this was The Block meets Survivor with couples competing to win a house that they were building in realtime.

In 2007 the show moved to Saturday nights in a bid to fix declining ratings. Not even that could help it.

Also on February 2: Spicks and Specks launches on ABC TV on this day in 2005. Thanks to Myf Warhurst for the remainder.

https://www.instagram.com/myfwarhurst/p/DFquGdsTmlK/

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February 5 of 2001: 10 undergoes a major revamp in its on-air presentation and modifications to it’s Blue and Gold circle emblem with the launch of the Seriously motto which lasted well into 2012. Only the News presentation and theme as well as “Classification” and “Paid Presentation” Notice Boards remained the same.

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6 February 1982: Channel 0/28’s afternoon test pattern is replaced by a test broadcast by public access organisation Open Channel. 0/28 would host several such test broadcasts over the following years in the lead up to regular trials and licencing of community television stations.

6 February 2000: The Seven Network debuts the new reality series Popstars, based on a New Zealand format, which resulted in the formation of the all-girl pop group Bardot.

6 February 2005: Network Ten debuts reality series The X Factor with hosts Daniel MacPherson and Chloe Maxwell and judges Mark Holden, Kate Ceberano and John Reid.

6 February 2006: SBS and ESPN cover Superbowl XL, live from Detriot, Michigan.

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7 February 1963: The 12-part series Alcheringa makes its Melbourne debut on ABV2. The series of 15-minute programs presented a re-enactment of the life, customs and practices of an indigenous family 200 years ago — before the arrival of Europeans. The series was filmed on location in Victoria and New South Wales.

7 February 1972: Melbourne’s ATV0 launches new daytime shows Surprise Surprise, with Tommy Hanlon Jnr and Ian Turpie, and Queen Of The House, hosted by Sean Myers and Joy Westmore, and after-school children’s show The Wonderful World Of The Young with Judy Banks and Fredd Bear (Tedd Dunn).

7 February 1977: The Mike Walsh Show debuts on the Nine Network after four years on the 0-10 Network.

7 February 1987: ABC debuts six-part mini-series Great Expectations — The Untold Story, presenting a different take on the Charles Dickens classic, starring Sigrid Thornton, Robert Coleby, Todd Boyce, John Stanton, Jill Forster, Bruce Spence, Noel Ferrier and Anne Louise Lambert.

7 February 1990: The debut of Nine’s new drama Family And Friends.

YouTube: 965886

7 February 1994: Midday returns for the new year with new host Derryn Hinch.

7 February 1997: Garry McDonald, Celia de Burgh, Brian Vriends, Lead Purcell, Geoff Morrell, Simon Chilvers and Ling-Hsueh Tang star in the new ABC drama Fallen Angels.

7 February 1998: The Seven Network begins coverage of the XVIII Olympic Winter Games from Nagano, Japan.

7 February 2004: ABC weekly drama series Fireflies, starring Jeremy Sims, Libby Tanner, Nadia Townsend, Anna Hruby and Russell Newman, debuts with a 90-minute episode.

7 February 2005: SBS and Fox Sports 1 broadcast Superbowl XXXIX, live from Jacksonville, Florida.

7 February 2007: Osher Günsberg and Brigitte Duclos host the premiere of Network Ten game show, The Con Test.

7 February 2008: The premiere of documentary series Saving Kids on Network Ten, hosted by Australian Idol winner Damien Leith.

9 February 1975: The Nine Network debuts new serial The Unisexers in a one-hour episode. The series, from the producers of Number 96, includes cast Walter Pym, Jessica Noad, Steven Tandy, Patrick Ward, Josephine Knur, Tina Bursill, Delore Whiteman, Tony Sheldon, John Paramor, Michele Fawdon, Anne Grigg and Sonia Hoffman. The series was axed after three weeks.

YouTube: TheMercadotv

9 February 1976: The Melbourne debut of Seven‘s new drama series Tandarra, starring Gerard Kennedy, Penne Hackforth-Jones and Gus Mercurio. (ATN7, Sydney, followed the next night) A 13-episode series set in the 1850s, Tandarra was the sequel to Cash And Company that aired the previous year. The 0-10 Network debuts its new charade game show The Celebrity Game, hosted by Mike Preston with Johnny Pace, Harriet, Joe Martin and Joy Chambers. Horizon-5, a daily rural affairs program, debuts on ABC. Hosted by Neil Inall.

YouTube: FrozenDoberman

9 February 1981: The Seven Network debuts game show Catch Us If You Can, a mix of studio and on-location games and Candid Camera-type stunts. The show is hosted by ’60s pop star Bryan Davies with presenters including Deborah Gray, Russell Newman, Grant Dodwell, Ian Macrae, Marty Morton, Mark Kounnas and Edith Bliss.

9 February 1992: Nine presents live coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the XVI Olympic Winter Games from Albertville, France.

9 February 1995: Andrew Daddo and Alyssa-Jane Cook host the new series Funniest People (Seven), featuring contestants performing everything from party tricks to impersonations — with the three best each week winning prizes to the value of $10,000.

9 February 1998: Sale Of The Century (Nine) returns for the new year with the celebrity contest ‘Battle Of The TV Shows’, featuring stars from The Price Is Right, Money, Good Medicine, Water Rats, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, The Movie Show, Getaway and Animal Hospital.

9 February 2002: Johanna Griggs hosts Seven‘s coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the XIX Olympic Winter Games from Salt Lake City, Utah.

9 February 2003: Former SBS Dateline host Jana Wendt returns to the Nine Network after ten years to take over as host of weekly current affairs program Sunday. Sketch comedy series Skithouse, from Roving Enterprises, debuts on Network Ten.

9 February 2005: The debut of ABC‘s music quiz show Spicks And Specks with Adam Hills and team captains Adam Brough and Myf Warhurst. Network Ten launches Aussie Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.

9 February 2009: Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities, a dramatised account the marijuana trade centred on the New South Wales town of Griffith, debuts on Nine. The series starred Andrew McFarlane, Roy Billing, Matthew Newton, Anna Hutchinson, Asher Keddie and Peter Phelps.

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The second series of Underbelly was filmed in and around Richmond NSW, my home town. I remember seeing the film crews set up all their gear.

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10 February 1973: The Seven Network telecasts the opening of Hobart’s Wrest Point casino — the first casino in Australia. The telecast is hosted by Seven Network personalities Bob Rogers and Tony Barber and includes a performance by Jerry Lewis.

10 February 1991: The Simpsons makes its Australian premiere on Network Ten, featuring two episodes – ‘Bart The Genius’ and ‘Homer’s Odyssey’.

10 February 1992: The Nine Network launches children’s quiz show Guess What?, the game show Supermarket Sweep with Ian Turpie, and a new Extra local current affairs shows in each of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

10 February 1994: Ray Martin hosts the one-hour special Graham Kennedy’s 60th Birthday (Nine), featuring various footage of Kennedy’s career including In Melbourne Tonight.

10 February 1996: The life of transport tycoon and media owner Reg Ansett is covered in the one-hour special RM The Ansett Story (Nine), hosted by Getaway‘s Jeff Watson, timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Ansett Australia airline.

10 February 2000: Amanda Keller hosts new series Switching Lives (Ten), which turns the phrase ‘walking a mile in my shoes’ into reality.

10 February 2002: Melbourne radio personality Matt Tilley hosts the debut of reality contest The Fugitive, a joint venture between the Austereo radio network and Network Ten.

10 February 2004: Network Ten screens Australian Idol: The Concert, featuring all 12 Australian Idol finalists from the 2003 series: Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll, Cosima de Vito, Paulini Curuenavuli, Rob Mills, Levi Kereama, Rebekah LaVauney, Kelly Cavuoto, Lauren Buckley, Cle Wootton, Peter Ryan and Mathew Chadwick.

10 February 2010: MasterChef Australia season one runner-up Poh Ling Yeow debuts her new cooking show, Poh’s Kitchen, on ABC.

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YouTube: Champagne Comedy Dot Com

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Surprised Ten didn’t do anything given that Ansett owned two of the stations (ATV and TVQ).

it was probably paid programming so i guess whoever network won the sales pitch won the gig :stuck_out_tongue:

And by 1996 there was probably nobody all that interested in Ten that Ansett used to run half the network.

11 February 1967: Australian soprano June Bronhill stars in her own ABC special, June Bronhill Sings, a variety show with a 19th century theme. The special co-stars Denis Quilley, Tikki Taylor, Alan Tobin and Robert Gard.

11 February 1974: Melbourne’s ATV0 screens the debut episode of The Box, Crawford Productions‘ serial based around the activities of a fictional television station, UCV12. The cast included George Mallaby, Belinda Giblin, Lois Ramsey, Paul Karo, Briony Behets, Fred Betts, Barrie Barkla, Helen Hemingway, Judy Nunn, Ken James, Fred ‘Cul’ Cullen, Kay McFeeter, Peter Regan, Monica Maughan and Ken Snodgrass. Sydney’s TEN10 aired the episode the following night.

11 February 1979: Nine’s big-budget current affairs gamble 60 Minutes makes its debut. Featuring reporters Ray Martin, George Negus and Ian Leslie, 60 Minutes got off to a slow start in the ratings but soon built up to become one of Nine’s flagship properties in the decades to follow.

11 February 1985: Midday With Ray Martin makes its debut, replacing The Mike Walsh Show, which moves to night time. Ten’s Good Afternoon Australia is revamped as After Noon, with Tony Murphy and Katrina Lee. Nine also launches Blankety Blanks with Daryl Somers, a revival of the popular game show hosted by Graham Kennedy in the late 1970s.

11 February 1987: Seven Network sitcom Hey Dad! debuts.

11 February 1990: Ten launches its new comedy double, Larger Than Life with Mark Mitchell and Col’n Carpenter, starring Kym Gyngell.

11 February 1993: The Norman Gunston Show (Seven) marks the return of the self-described Australian TV legend, played by Garry McDonald.

11 February 1996: The Nine Network commences its coverage of the 1996 Cricket World Cup, with the opening ceremony live from Calcutta, India.

11 February 2002: The Nine Network launches quiz show Shafted, hosted by Red Symons. The show replaced Sale Of The Century, which had wrapped up at the end of 2001 after 21 years on air.

11 February 2004: Ten debuts its new reality contest The Resort, hosted by rock singer Jon Stevens, based around a group of individuals building and running a Fijian resort.

11 February 2010: Seven debuts TV-themed game show The White Room, hosted by Tony Moclair and Julian Schiller and panellists including Felicity Ward, Lawrence Mooney, George McEncroe and Dave Thornton. The show lasted two weeks.

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That show didn’t last long; it would vanish by the start of April.

I remember a particular episode where Jan Moody (winner of The Mole in 2000) was one of the contestants. To my knowledge, no video footage of her episode exists on YouTube.

Was that something that Mike Walsh wanted to do or was it one of those things television executives decided was right? It seemed to end his career in television.

I suppose we’ll never really know but after 13 years of doing daytime TV it’s very possible he’d had enough. Publicly Walsh said he had ambitions to move into prime time and then hand over the midday slot to someone else. His company produced Midday initially.

His prime time show never really clicked and it was axed suddenly 6 months later , just after he’d given an interview in TV Week to say he wasn’t worried about ratings and the show was going well, yada yada.

He returned to TV briefly a couple of years later to host a limited-run talk show on ABC, and then the ill-fated Superquiz on Ten.

I suspect his interest in TV had waned anyway as he had moved into theatre production, etc.

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