KAK was queen of breakfast TV and Liz Hayes will always be my Aussie Jane Pauley.
If we’re mentioning Grant Denyer I think Monte Dwyer and Brian Bury are honourable mentions, bringing their own charms, as did their chemistry with Eric Walters and Rosco. Winning combinations.
Ernie Sigley and Denise Drysdale were as winning as ever on In Melbourne Today. Was also my first introduction to Peter Ford as a Showbiz reporter.
And in the kids TV realm, my era of appointment TV was The Early Bird Show with Darryl Cotton, Marie Van Maaren and Marty Monster. I can’t count how many competitions I entered on that show.
And finally, I always had a soft spot for Joan McInnes on Til Ten. Good little show and a great set. A precursor to longer running The Morning Show with Bert.
Also notable for being Today’s first entertainment reporter. I only ever saw dollar signs when she appeared on screen. I preferred Maureen Duval but that probably had a lot to do with happy childhood memories in the David Jones cafeteria.
He’s on another list battling it out with Andrew O’Keefe and Richard Wilkins for top spot.
I probably would’ve placed Kylie Gillies & Larry Emdur (come on - they’ve been together on The Morning Show for 14 years now, that’s gotta count for something) somewhere in my Top 20 list. Having said that, all inclusions on your list were worthy of recognition nonetheless.
Wonder if we’ll eventually see a Best Newsreaders/reporters of all time thread? Now THAT is a topic likely to generate passionate debate amongst Media Spy…
Id rate Bert Newton slightly higher from 16th to maybe 11th. His time on Good Morning Australia dominated the “morning shows genre” in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies dominated soon after and would have them together on the list.
Top 10 seems pretty good.
Honourable mentions: Denise Drysdale (Denise 1990s, The Circle 2010-11); John Forman (Good Morning Australia); Chrissie Swan (The Circle: 2010-11)
Dishonourable mentions : Paul Henry (Breakfast: 2012); James Mathison (Wake Up: 2013-14)
It was clear with D&K that they were the best that Ten could muster up for a certain pay grade to do the job 5 days a week out of Melbourne after Bert wrapped up… The lack of chemistry and at times outright hostility was always quite cringeworthy.
Of course Ten Melbourne managed to produce The Circle not long after (which IMO would still be on the air today if they hadn’t swung the axe across the board at the time), so swings and roundabouts.
