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Four faces join The White Room
Seven’s new ‘TV-based’ game show The White Room has announced its regular panellists ahead of its premiere next week.
They are Dave Thornton, Felicity Ward (pictured, centre), George McEncroe and Lawrence Mooney (pictured, right).
The four will join hosts Julian Schiller and Tony Moclair.
Seven says of its four: “Dave Thornton is one of the country’s hottest young comedic talents and is currently co-hosting breakfast radio on Nova Brisbane; Felicity Ward is a Melbourne International Comedy Festival Most Outstanding Newcomer nominee and made a big impression on the past series of Thank God You’re …
Seven 2010: Drama, factuals, epics and comedy
The Pacific, My Kitchen Rules, Cougar Town, ICU, The Marriage Ref, Damage Control, Hung and Royal Pains -just some of the new shows Seven has unveiled as part of its 2010 programming.
Following some time after announcements by opposition networks, Seven demonstrates another strong local slate, with several big international acquisitions. The titles may not be quite as lengthy as Nine’s promise for the year, but Seven has a good track record in delivering on its shows while some networks float titles that just never seem to eventuate (The Irwin Family’s Australia …
TV Tonight Awards 2009: The year of Shaun Micallef
The votes are in.
Readers have spoken on their best and worst television for 2009 in the third annual TV Tonight Awards.
The winners: Shaun Micallef, MasterChef and Packed to the Rafters.
Over 1000 surveys were completed this year, and there were some definite trends. Some choices were clear decisions, others were tight races.
Several “winners” were also “losers” elsewhere, showing a divided audience, and a number of populist shows proved their mettle by staying ahead of underdogs.
Shaun Micallef won both Favourite Male and Most Underrated Performer, while Talkin’ ‘Bout Your …
Merrick and Rosso ending radio gig
Comedy Channel duo Merrick and Rosso will finish their Nova radio show in Sydney next month after reports Tim Ross has opted not to re-sign with the station.
Both have been part of Nova since 2001, joined by Kate Ritchie in 2008.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Ross made his decision to leave following a “turbulent” meeting with network management last Friday. He is said to been keen to pursue other projects.
The duo, who have fronted several shows on television, hosted their latest series The Merrick and Rosso Show …
2008-09 Production Report
Screen Australia has released the findings of its annual Production Report on the state of film and television.
Never wanting to paint a bleak picture, it manages to find optimism with a healthy state of production, if boosted by the big investment of George Miller’s Happy Feet 2 and the $100m Hollywood animation Guardians of Ga’Hoole in Sydney.
TV Tonight has taken a look at the television sector separately, and the results are still very good. While series / serials were down, mini-series (which also includes telemovies) were up.
The …
Josh Lawson for US comedy series
Josh Lawson has landed a lead role in a new US comedy series opposite Alyssa Milano.
In Romantically Challenged he will play a thirtysomething man torn between his new girlfriend (Milano) and needy best friend (Kyle Bornheimer). The multicam comedy is written by writer Ricky Blitt (Family Guy) and will air on the ABC network.
In picking up the series from its pilot, ABC has replaced actor Eric Christian Olsen with Lawson.
In 2008 he struck an exclusive talent deal with FOX after impressing the network’s head of casting, Marcia Shulman. She described …
More than second banana
On the Hey Hey reunion he returned, albeit briefly, as ‘Raymond J. Bartholomeuz’ -the poet laureate who had his television start on Red Faces.
But Brian Nankervis is many things: writer, performer, producer and even audience warm-up man.
He was happy to don the Raymond J. beret once more, given the sense of occasion.
“The vibe in there was amazing. There was a great sense of excitement, and a really great sense of old friends coming together,” he told TV Tonight.
“There were lots of faces that you knew and you’d think ‘Who was that …
ABC2 down to The Wire
Marena Manzoufas isn’t a name that’s as well known as David Mott, Tim Worner or Michael Healy but it’s no less integral to our television viewing.
Manzoufas is Head of Programming for the ABC, a position she has held for the last 8 years. In the first of a rare two-part interview with TV Tonight, she talks about her approaches to ABC1 and ABC2, and the role of the public broadcaster.
Prior to working at the ABC, Manzoufas had roles in Programming & Acquisitions at SBS and in sales at Beyond.
At ABC she …
Talkin’ ‘Bout Amanda Keller
“My first on-air television job as a fully-fledged reporter was Beyond 2000. I was there for a couple of years so I assumed that’s how television worked,” declares Amanda Keller.
“Since then I’ve discovered you’re lucky if you get two weeks on a show before it’s axed. We did 17 episodes in this series, it’s such a shock to the system.”
The series in question is of course Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, TEN’s hit panel show in which Keller is resident Baby Boomer.
The show has proved something of a TV renaissance for her …
Trailer: Community
NBC’s new comedy Community, featuring The Soup’s Joel McHale has posted its entire first episode on FaceBook -but only to residents in America. Awwwww, no fair.
The single-cam series, which also features Chevy Chase, has McHale as a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked. With some help from his fellow classmates, he forms a study group who eventually learn more about themselves than their course work.
John Oliver from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart also appears. It is created by Dan Harmon (The Sarah Silverman Show) and directed by Arrested …
TEN wins second historic week
Network TEN has won the ratings week for only the second time since OzTAM people meters started in 2001.
The last time it won was April 2006 on the back of a week with The Biggest Loser finale leading into Big Brother and Thank God You’re Here.
This week it again won with reality television, the king hit MasterChef Australia. The show was number one for every one of its six nights this week powering to 2.36m viewers on Thursday. Unlike 2006, its share also gets a modest boost from having ONE HD.
As …
Network manoeuvres and the art of programming
In the second of a 2-part interview with TEN’s programmer, David Mott admits to apprehensions with his commissioning of MasterChef Australia. The apathy shown to the idea when it was announced was enough to make him question his decision. Thankfully for everyone, it was a move that has paid off enormously.
Mott says the industry was cynical, and so was the public.
“We were concerned about Masterchef, and many of your (TV Tonight) forums were quite critical when we commissioned it. It was an interesting read at the time. It made us …