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30 years ticks over for 60 Minutes

Tick, tick tick. Sixty Minutes turns 30 years old today, to be celebrated with an archival special on its stories.

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60mToday marks the 30th Anniversary of 60 Minutes in Australia -a pretty impressive record by any definition.

The programme first went to air onNine on February 11th 1979 with its reporters Ray Martin, George Negus and Ian Leslie.

The show is set to returns on February 22nd following summer cricket commitments.

A spokesperson told TV Tonight, “Our first programme will be a 30 year special. There are over 3,500 individual stories with 1200 episodes. There is a huge archive.”

But producers are having a headache trying to figure out which stories to include in the special.

“It is an impossible question. My cup of tea might be war zones, your cup of tea might be interviews with movie stars, someone else’s might be adventure stories in Africa. We’ve done ’em all, and we’ve done ’em pretty well I think.

“There have been a number of issues along the 30 years that we’ve been at the forefront of reporting. We did our first story on global warming I think in ’88 or ’89. When these things crop up, invariably you see them early on in 60 Minutes.”

So here’s your chance to help shape the special guys, what stories do you remember across the years that are definitive 60 Minutes moments?

10 Responses

  1. I watched tonights new 60 minutes.s Great stuff!!

    I glimpsed a brief shot of Richard Carlton interviewing a mountaineer (chocolate bar survivor) which you had shown years ago, and would like to know what you could tell further tell me if anything. The climber was a medical studen who survived in a cave for a week on a chocolate bar.

    cheers
    Theo

  2. Another piece that deserves to be shown on any 30th special, is the final story that Richard Carleton did for 60 Minutes before he sadly passed away in 2006. A real gritty story, about Beaconsfield, that people will never forget.

  3. One story that should be on any tribute edition, is a piece from 1987, which talks about what happened after Fairfax bought Ch 7 Melbourne, which had interviews with the late Graham Kennedy, as well as appearences by Mal Walden, David Johnston, the late Brian Naylor, Greg Pearce, former Victorian Premier John Cain, all done by Jana Wendt… a virtual who’s who of 1980’s news in that piece.

  4. I wonder if they’ll do anything on the fire – they should do that as well so its not just looking back over the 30 years. Maybe at the end to show how after 30 years they’ve still got it.

  6. I agree with Mia.

    Channel Nine could have crossed Twenty to One. It could be Twenty to One meets Sixty Minutes, showcasing some of the best interviews/stories in themed episodes. Either way, the reporters on Sixty minutes are fantastic, especially Liz Hayes and the other lady.

  8. It’s a shame 9 couldn’t have put together a series of retrospective specials to mark the occasion. One on powerful/political figures, one on celebrities, medical marvels and heart-warming stories, stories that gripped the nation (Lindy Chanberlin, backpacker murders…stuff like that), etc.

    Seems like a missed opportunity to me. But that’s the short-sightedness of the 9 network for you.

  9. I absolutely love this show, cant wait for its return. I hope that it continues to rate as well as it has in previous yrs, as it is far better than the 7 copy, at least what ive seen of it. I have only been watching 60 mins for the last 4 -5 yrs and it still impossible for me to pick a moment, there are sooooo many. The most defining ones to me is the Bianca Renolds story as well as the story with Sophie Delizio.

  10. I actually automatically checked the guides yesterday seeing if 60 Minutes was back, sure they’d do a clear, concise summary of the Victorian bushfire tragedy.

    And then I realised it wasn’t 1983 any more.

    A “30 year special” to kick off the year is a ridiculous idea given the job they could have done. But then, it is coming from the home of 20/10 To One and 20/20 silliness.

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