In Melbourne Today

Last updated

In Melbourne Today
Genre Breakfast television
Presented by Geoff Corke
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time3 hours
Original release
Network GTV-9
Release26 October 1957 (1957-10-26) –
20 July 1958 (1958-07-20)

In Melbourne Today was an early Australian television series, which aired in two versions in the 1950s, on Melbourne station GTV-9. It was Australia's first breakfast television series.

The first version aired on Saturdays at 7:30AM, and ran from 26 October 1957 to 5 April 1958, with episodes running for 3 hours. At the time, the other Melbourne stations usually began their broadcasting day in the afternoon, and as such In Melbourne Today was an early experiment in morning programming, pre-dating Sydney station ATN-7's October 1958 experiment. However, it would appear viewers weren't ready to watch TV at 7:30AM, as after the series ended GTV-9 stopped offering regular morning programs for several years.

Regulars in this version included host Geoff Corke, along with the Tune Twisters, newsreader Eric Pearce, Eric Welch (sports), Shirley Radford, Arlene Forrest, and Bill McCormack.

Occasionally the series aired live from a location, for example one of the episodes was broadcast from the beach at Sorrento. [1] A different episode was broadcast from Geelong. [2]

The second version of the series aired on Sundays at 4:00PM, and ran from 13 April to 20 July 1958. Again featuring Geoff Corke, Bill McCormack and Eric Pearce, this version also featured, Evie Hayes, Gretta Miers and Hal Todd. The Tune-Twisters presented a segment called "Music Shop" while John Casson did a segment called "I'll Tell You a Story". [3] [4] [5] Later it aired at 2:30PM, with regular features also including "Children's Doctor" with Margaret Mackay [6] and piano contest. [7]

Four of the segments, The Gallery Comes to You, Children's Doctor, Bill McCormack and the Tunetwisters segments, were later spun off into their own series following the end of In Melbourne Today, though the episodes of these series were very short. For example, Children's Doctor and The Gallery Comes to You were combined into a single 15-minute time-slot, while Bill McCormack's show was a 15-minute series (it later expanded to being half-hour).

Bert Newton, who became famous for his appearances on In Melbourne Tonight , has said he was originally meant to appear on In Melbourne Today but due to a hold up in production, he never worked on the breakfast program. After being afforded the opportunity to do a live commercial on In Melbourne Tonight, he impressed executives so much he was told to "forget the breakfast program". [8]

In 1989, Denise Drysdale and Ernie Sigley teamed up to host a modern-day version of In Melbourne Today which aired in Melbourne for several years before it aired nationally under its new title, Ernie & Denise. [9]

Related Research Articles

GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia, owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands.

3AK is the call sign of SEN 1116, and the earlier on-air name of a former Melbourne talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116. A number of unusual events and precedents throughout the station's history make its story of unusual interest. These events include :

In Melbourne Tonight, also known as IMT, was a highly popular nightly Logie award-winning Australian variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Newton</span> Australian media personality (1938–2021)

Albert Watson Newton was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer, and radio, theatre, and television personality and compere.

Bruce Mansfield was an Australian television/radio personality and narrator.

The Tarax Show was an early Australian children's TV program on GTV-9 in Melbourne running from 1957 to 1969.

Geoff and Judy was a short-lived television variety series which aired in 1959 on Melbourne television station GTV-9. Hosted by Geoff Corke and Judy Jack, the series aired at 1:00PM on Tuesdays. The obscure series is largely notable for pairing two then-popular figures in Melbourne television. At the time, Australian series tended to be aired on a single station only, something that would change in the 1960s.

The Bert Newton Show was an Australian television series which aired from 1959 to 1960. Aired at 6:30PM Saturdays on Melbourne station GTV-9, it was aimed at teenagers and featured acts lip-syncing their songs.

The Late Show is an Australian television variety series which aired from 1957 to 1959 on Melbourne station HSV-7. Aired on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and competing in the time-slot with GTV-9's popular In Melbourne Tonight, the series included a mix of music and comedy. People who hosted the series during its run included John D'Arcy, Bert Newton and original host Noel Ferrier.

Thursday at One was an Australian daytime television series which aired from 1957 to 1960 on Melbourne station GTV-9. A "programme for the housewife", the running time was as long as two hours.

Juke Box Saturday Night was a short-lived Australian television series which aired on Melbourne station GTV-9 from around November 1957 to January 1958.

Anything Goes was an early Australian television variety series which aired on Melbourne station GTV-9. Broadcast on Wednesdays at 8:00 PM, it aired from 23 January to 20 February 1957.

Stairway to the Stars was an early Australian television series that aired on Melbourne station HSV-7. The first episode aired 9 November 1956, with the series ending circa November 1958.

The Happy Go Lucky Show is an Australian television variety series which aired from 30 October 1957 to 4 November 1959 on Melbourne television station GTV-9. Originally hosted by Happy Hammond, by 1958 the series was hosted by Bob Horsfall. Horsfall sometimes had a female co-host, these varied during the run of the series and included Pat McCormack, Susan Gaye Anderson, Patricia Rumbold, and Joy Fountain. The series aired at 1:00PM on Wednesdays. During 1958, one of the segments included "community singing". Other segments included guests and competitions.

Open House was an early Australian television series, which aired on Melbourne station GTV-9 from 25 August 1957 to 6 April 1958. The hour-long series aired at 4:45PM on Sundays, and was replaced on the schedule with In Melbourne Today. Like most early Australian series, the series aired in only a single city.

Personal Album was an Australian television series, which aired on Melbourne station GTV-9 on Tuesdays, from 18 November 1958 to 12 May 1959. Originally the programme ran for 15 minutes, it was later expanded to 30 minutes. The series was hosted by Jack Little, it was an interview series.

Football Inquest is the name of two Australian television series, which both aired in Melbourne. The first aired 1957 on GTV-9, while the second aired 1960-1974(?) on HSV-7. There was also a South Australian version.

Mannequin Parade was an Australian television series, or possibly a highly unusual commercial break/TV show hybrid, which aired on Melbourne station GTV-9 from weekly on Saturdays 1 June 1957 to 24 May 1958.

Today is an Australian television series which aired from 23 July 1960 to 1961 on Melbourne station GTV-9. The series was originally hosted by Barry McQueen. By August 1960, McQueen had departed from both Today and GTV-9 owing to having disagreements about the show as well as "other matters, not connected with money". Most episodes were hosted by Hal Todd, for whom the role was his inaugural major television role. It was a morning series aired at 7:30AM, and running for 60 minutes. It included news, weather and exercise instruction. Following the end of the series, Hal Todd began hosting Toddy Time. Following the end of the series, GTV-9 stopped offering morning programming for several years. Previously, it had aired In Melbourne Today in a morning time-slot on Saturdays from 1957 to 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Corke</span> Australian radio and television presenter (1934–1993)

Cuthbert Geoffrey Corke was an Australian radio and television presenter.

References

  1. ↑ "Breakfast Session from Sorrento". The Age . 25 January 1958. p. 2. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Saturday Television". Radio/TV Supplement. The Age . 6 March 1958. p. 7. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Sunday Television". Radio/TV Supplement. The Age . 25 April 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Sunday Television". Radio/TV Supplement. The Age . 2 May 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "Sunday Television". Radio/TV Supplement. The Age . 9 May 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "Sunday Television". Radio/TV Supplement. The Age . 13 June 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Sunday Television". Radio/TV Supplement. The Age . 27 June 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Newton, Bert (23 November 2010). "Bert Newton recalls the good old days". Herald Sun . Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ding Dong Denise back on daytime TV". Television.AU. 18 January 2010. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.