1990: January 20-26

Matt goes in to bat for the street kids
A Country Practice star Matt Day (pictured) is fed up with the media focusing on sensationalist issues surrounding street kids and homeless youth, such as prostitution and drug abuse, while ignoring possible solutions. “The media should be dealing with issues that cover getting housing for these kids and better support. Instead they just want to talk about the tragic stories and sell a few more papers,” he told TV Week. These issues so close to Day’s heart will feature in upcoming storylines for his character Luke in A Country Practice, and he will also be volunteering his services for various refuges that need assistance.

grahamkennedy_4 Nine won’t admit it, but…
Graham Kennedy
(pictured) has not negotiated a new contract for hosting his popular late-night Coast To Coast program and he has advised Nine that he won’t be returning to the show in 1990.  Despite the shock resignation, Nine continues to show its lavish 1990 ‘Shout!’ promos, featuring Kennedy and co-host John Mangos, and has only issued a statement that “we have no further comment to make than discussions are continuing for Mr Kennedy’s return to television in 1990.”  Nine is keen to sign up Kennedy for later in the year and to keep him away from any other network.  Rumours that Kennedy’s resignation is connected to the upcoming launch of Steve Vizard’s new show, Tonight Live, for the Seven Network have been denied.  It is believed that Kennedy’s decision was related the strain of a recent court case against his manager, Harry M Miller.

marcusgraham Dynamic Duo!
Former Neighbours star Jason Donovan and E Street’s Marcus Graham (pictured) have been signed up for roles in the new $3.7 million mini-series, Shadows Of The Heart, being produced for Network Ten by the South Australian Film Commission.  The new series, which also stars Jerome Ehlers (Bangkok Hilton), Nadine Garner, Colleen Hewett, Harold Hopkins, Barry Otto, Robyn Nevin, Sherrie Krenn and NIDA graduate Josephine Byrnes, is set in the summer of 1927 and is described as “a romantic epic set in the Twenties with Nineties morals.”  Production commences this month on location in Adelaide and Kangaroo Island.

Briefly…
Former A Country Practice star Di Smith and The Flying DoctorsLiz Burch are set to bare all in the upcoming Melbourne production of the stage play Steaming.  The controversial comedy also stars Gwen Plumb, Rosey Jones, Valerie Bader and Jenny Hall.

Former Prisoner star Colette Mann has spoken out about her recent shock resignation from Melbourne radio station 3UZ.  Despite a number of consecutive ratings rises for her morning program, Mann says she “never felt comfortable working at 3UZ” and objected to a proposed service agreement that could have her “given verbal notice if I was deemed unfit for work (and if given that notice) I couldn’t work within a 50 km radius of Melbourne.” She also felt entitled to ask for “a little extra money” following the ratings rises, but station boss Clyde Simpson responded that Mann asked for a significant 43.5 per cent pay increase. Despite her controversial departure from the station, Mann has said that she would like to do radio again but in the meantime is currently planning some TV work, including a mini-series and some special event work for Network Ten.

julianmcmahon Model-turned-actor Julian McMahon (pictured) has spoken out briefly about his relationship with Melissa Cornell, daughter of The Paul Hogan Show and Crocodile Dundee producer John “Strop” Cornell. “Melissa and I have been together for just over a year now. She moved down to Melbourne with me when I was doing The Power The Passion. Now that I am back in Sydney for Home And Away, she has moved back with me. It is only now that we are beginning to realise where we are and what we are going to be doing.”

On The Grapevine…
Who is the celebrity hairdresser who how walks to work each day… and not by choice, either, courtesy of a blood-alcohol reading considerably in excess of the legal limit.

So desperate was one showbusiness reporter to secure an interview with one of Australia’s favourite daughters, that she had started to woo the star with chocolates and even had a jingle company pen a song for the lovely lady.

John Laws says…
”Sometimes it’s difficult to understand the reasoning of the ABC board members.  On the one hand, they complain of lack of funds; on the other, they refuse to agree to advertising on the ABC. Advertising is part of the lifeblood of economics in this country. There is nothing shameful about it. The ABC would attract only a minor percentage of the estimated $1.8 billion of TV advertising every year – but even the injection of a few million dollars would make a lot of difference to the ABC’s slate. So let’s not have too much humbug cluttering up this debate. After all, the ABC is not shy in aggressively advertising its own ABC Shop products on TV, is it?”

Program Highlights (Melbourne):
Saturday: ABC
presents the Coca Cola International Golf Classic, live from Royal Melbourne Golf Course, while HSV7’s coverage of the Australian Open tennis continues live from the National Tennis Centre.

Sunday: Sunday night movies are Gloria (HSV7), Liar’s Moon (GTV9), Blame It On Rio (ATV10).

Monday: Singer Maria Venuti guest stars in the first episode of A Country Practice for 1990, and the Nine Network’s breakfast show, Today, returns for another year.

Wednesday:  GTV9 presents live coverage of the opening ceremony of the 1990 Commonwealth Games from Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand.  Ken Sutcliffe, Ray Martin and Max Walker head the coverage.

Thursday:  GTV9’s live coverage of daily competition from the Commonwealth Games starts at 10.00am and continues through to 11.00pm, taking a break in the early evening for National Nine News, A Current Affair and US sitcom Growing Pains. ABC presents the first of a two-part documentary, The Way We Really Were, hosted by Caroline Jones – a retrospective and nostalgic look at life in Australia taken from film and documentary footage of the past 30 years.

Friday: For Australia Day, Today is broadcast live from Admiralty House, Sydney, for the presentation of the Australia Day Awards, including the announcement of Australian of the Year by Prime Minister Bob Hawke. In the evening, SBS presents a repeat of documentary Being True Blue and ABC presents the second part of The Way We Really Were, followed by the Governor General’s Australia Day Message. ATV10’s Friday night movie is Tudawali, the 1988 movie starring Ernie Dingo, Jedda Cole, Peter Fisher and Frank Wilson – and SBS presents two Australian movies, Silver City and Backroads.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 20 January 1990. Southdown Press. 

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2010/01/1990-january-20-26.html

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