19 February 1975: The Darwin Relief Appeal London Concert, held at the Prince of Wales theatre in the presence of Princess Anne, screens in colour (ten days before “C Day”) on TCN9. The appeal aims to relieve the distress of Cyclone Tracy victims.
19 February 1978: The BBC’s acclaimed, multi award winning Roman times serial I, Claudius begins airing on ABC-TV.
19 February 1979: Sandy Scott hosts expensive new 5.30pm game show $10,000 Winner’s Circle on TEN10. The format is based on the US game show $20,000 Pyramid.
ABC TV premieres new current affairs show Nationwide at 9.30pm. The show is a successor to This Day Tonight and is presented by Clive Hale.
19 February 1982: Believe it or not The Greatest American Hero premieres on TEN10 in the Friday 7.30pm time slot. The show had been airing on ATV10 on Monday nights since late January. ABC Studios recently ordered a pilot for a re-imagining of the Stephen J. Cannell cult classic.
19 February 1997: Jennifer Keyte returns to television following her dramatic departure from the HSV7 news desk. She begins presenting and reporting on Nine’s Good Medicine. The show also features Dr. Ric Gordon.
I get the feeling Nine never really knew what to do with her but, as Nine was known to do, would pay the big bucks to talent but not give them much to do, but enough to keep them from going elsewhere. IIRC they also had her hosting a local Friday 5.30 show, I guess not unlike the former Melbourne Extra program, but it did not last long.
I remember Nine brought her to Sydney a few times to increase her national profile before Good Medicine and a show called Moment of Truth started airing in prime time on Nine. It was odd to see her on the Sydney news set. I remember her doing a short stint presenting the news on Today at one point. Would’ve been interesting to see her co-host breakfast TV but I don’t think she ever did.
It’s to my understanding that they were both reporters on the show at different times. Mark Ferguson succeeded Simon Reeve as a reporter for the 2000 season of Good Medicine, although I’d imagine that Fergo had a reduced role on that program in 2001 as that was the year Fergo took over the news presenting roles (11am bulletin, bits and pieces of Sydney news/sport fill-in presenting) Peter Overton left behind as he became a 60 Minutes reporter.
I suppose “if Jennifer Keyte was chosen instead of Tracy Grimshaw as the successor to Liz Hayes in 1996” makes for another interesting “What could have been?” scenario to ponder!
As far as I can tell, both those programs rated dismally in 2001 and so too did KAK’s stint of presenting the afternoon program on 2GB.
20 February 1974: Julie Andrews and the Sesame Street gang star in a magical new special Julie on Sesame Street on ATN7 at 7.30pm. Seeds of The Muppet Show that would follow in years to come?
20 February 1979: Nanoo, Nanoo. Happy Days spinoff Mork and Mindy premieres on TCN9. Shazbot.
We missed a significant anniversary yesterday. 24 years since the launch of Australia’s first 24 hour news channel, Sky News Australia. The celebration for the 25th should be quite a shindig- Jones, Bolt, Credlin, Murray, Smith, Dean, Panahi, Richo on the Pimms and lemonade with 2CH playing in the background.
On the flipside, I’m sure the presenter who first introduced Sky News Australia in 1996 is very thankful that she long left the network and now has a stable position at the ABC!
21 February 1976: Bandstand '76 hosted by Daryl Somers, a revival of Brian Henderson’s legendary music show that ran from 1958 to 1972, debuts at 6pm on TCN9. Nine lures viewers with the promise of an ABBA film clip and the promotion of an appearance by the band in weeks to come.
21 February 1980: The number one rating show in the US comes to Thursday nights on TEN10 when comedy-drama series The Dukes of Hazzard premieres. The show had been on air in Melbourne since mid January.
21 February 1992: Having seen Nine build Married With Children into a ratings success over summer, Ten decides to cash in and begins airing double episodes on Friday nights following Beverly Hills 90210. Nine had acquired Married With Children from series four onwards in a deal with Columbia and continued to air new episodes on Tuesdays at 8pm. Ten, having aired the sitcom with little success in 1989 and 1990, still had the rights to the first three seasons.
21 February 1993: Mini-series Diana: Her True Story begins airing on Ten. This is a dramatisation of the controversial best selling Andrew Morton book that rocked the Royal family. The much hyped mini-series did not rate well.
22 February 1978: Six months after the death of Elvis Presley, ATN7 and HSV7 broadcast Elvis: The Farewell Concert. The one hour special features footage of a bloated and shockingly out of condition King of Rock and Roll on his final concert tour through mid-west USA five weeks before his death.
22 February 1985: Sketch comedy series The Eleventh Hour premieres on HSV7 at 11:05pm on a Friday night. The show nurtures the talents of performers and writers who would go on to have a significant impact on Australian pop culture through their involvement with subsequent sketch comedy shows The Comedy Company and Fast Forward.
While the series doesn’t air in Sydney, Seven airs a couple of Eleventh Hour specials nationally after The Comedy Company becomes a runaway success for Ten in 1988.
23 February 1981: For the first time since September 1974, when Network Seven Today was moved to an evening timeslot two nights a week, Australia has a breakfast news and infotainment program. Good Morning Australia launches on Ten with 24 year old Gordon Elliott and New Zealander Sue Kellaway co-hosting. Kellaway is replaced by Kerri-Anne Wright in late December 1981. Nine was expected to enter the battle for sunrise news ratings within months but their effort doesn’t fully launch until June 1982 with Kellaway as a founding presenter.
23 February 1982: Rock Arena the ABC’s weekly Australian music television show begins. The show features live music performances and interviews with bands and singers. The first show features “The Kinks”.
23 February 1987: Network Ten airs the first episode of mini-series Vietnam. It is lauded for its accurate portrayal of society’s attitude towards the Vietnam War. Vietnam wins the 1988 Logie award for Most Popular Single Telemovie or Miniseries. Stars Nicholas Eadie and Nicole Kidman are awarded most popular actor and actress Logies for their work on the show.
Talent show Pot Luck with host Ernie Sigley and resident hanging judge Bernard King debuts at midday on Ten the same day. Although the show only runs for one season it would provide landmark moments in Australian television when acts Piffy the Bell Ringer and Todd “Gaylord of the Dance” Rixon appear.
Also on this day in 1987, Nine debuts vox pop/game show Say G’Day at 5.30pm. Having lured Ten’s Greg Evans to the network and reeling from the effects his former show Perfect Match was having on early evening ratings this was an expensive gamble. The show proves to be a massive disappointment with ratings slipping to as low as four on some nights.
23 February 1998: Afternoon game show Hot Streak begins on Seven with James O’Neil as host.
