News Free Zone

Last updated

News Free Zone
GenreComedy
Created by Maurice Murphy
Starring Grahame Bond
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes50
Production
Running time30 mins
Release
Original release29 July 1985 (1985-07-29) 
1985 (1985)
Related
Aunty Jack Show

News Free Zone was a 1985 Australian TV comedy show starring Grahame Bond. It was the idea of Maurice Murphy. [1]

Contents

Premise

It was intended to be an entire evening's entertainment in one half hour with no news (shown at 6pm, the same time the three commercial networks showed their evening news). It screened daily. [2]

The regular segments included:

Cast

Production

Murphy says the program was based on his "absolute hatred of anything journalistic and philosophical" and an "absolute love of enjoyment and fun and the light side in life". He says it was based on his "personal attention span. Some programs have one minute of plot and 27 minutes of fill in. I've always wondered why we just didn't have the minute and forget about the other 27 minutes." [3]

Apart from Grahame Bond, there are no well-known faces in the cast. "The aim is to try and develop a program that doesn't have to come off," said Murphy. "The idea is just to have I fun. I hope News Free Zone builds up new faces." [3]

It was filmed in Adelaide. [4] The series ran on every weekday for ten weeks. [3]

Reception

The show was the lead-in for the new ABC news program The National. Ratings were poor. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Broadcasting Service</span> Australian public radio and TV network

The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels and seven radio networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archibald Prize</span> Australian portraiture prize

The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919. It is administered by the trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and awarded for "the best portrait, preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics, painted by an artist resident in Australia during the twelve months preceding the date fixed by the trustees for sending in the pictures". The Archibald Prize has been awarded annually since 1921 and since July 2015 the prize has been AU$100,000.

<i>The Aunty Jack Show</i> Australian TV series or program

The Aunty Jack Show was a Logie Award-winning Australian television comedy series that ran from 1972 to 1973. Produced by and broadcast on ABC-TV, the series attained an instant cult status that persists to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Negus</span> Australian journalist

George Edward Negus AM is an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He was a pioneer of Australian TV journalism, first appearing on the ABC’s groundbreaking This Day Tonight and later on Sixty Minutes. Negus was known for making complex international and political issues accessible to a broad audience through his down-to-earth, colloquial presentation style. His very direct interviewing technique occasionally caused confrontation, famously with Margaret Thatcher, but also led to some interviewees giving more information than they had given in other interviews. Recognition of his unique skills led to him hosting a new ABC show, Foreign Correspondent, and Dateline on SBS. He often reported from the frontline of dangerous conflicts and described himself as an “anti-war correspondent” who wanted people to understand the reasons behind why wars were senseless. He was awarded a Walkley Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. He presented 6.30 with George Negus on Network Ten. He remains a director of his own media consulting company, Negus Media International.

Blue Hills, created and written by Gwen Meredith, is an Australian radio serial about the lives of families, set in a fictional typical Australian country town called Tanimbla. The title "Blue Hills" itself derives from the residence of Dr. Gordon, the town's doctor.

Grahame John Bond AM is an Australian actor, writer, director, musician and composer, known primarily for his role as Aunty Jack.

AM is an Australian radio program.

<i>Aunty Jack Sings Wollongong</i> 1974 studio album by Aunty Jack

Aunty Jack Sings Wollongong is an Australian album released in November 1974 as a spin-off from the cult ABC Television show Aunty Jack. It contains a mixture of songs and sketches and, along with the single "Farewell Aunty Jack", is the only audio release from the Aunty Jack crew.

CTC is a television station in Canberra, Australia. The station was the tenth to begin transmission in regional Australia, and the 26th station in Australia as a whole. CTC has an affiliation agreement to show content from Network 10. Just as it has had a number of owners, CTC has also had many different identities on-air – including CTC-TV, Super 7, Capital 7, 10 TV Australia, Capital Television, Ten Capital, Southern Cross Ten, Channel 9 and Channel 10. The station is owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo through Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd, as one of SCA's 10 stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney New Year's Eve</span> Annual multi-tiered event held every New Years Eve in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Sydney New Year's Eve is an annual New Year's Eve fireworks event in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The event currently consists of two fireworks shows, with an evening display known as the "Family Fireworks" held at 9:00 p.m. AEDT, and the main "Midnight Fireworks" held at 12:00 a.m. Fireworks are launched from barges in Port Jackson, as well as nearby landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which serves as the main focal point of the show via lighting and pyrotechnic effects.

John Saxon Tingle was an Australian politician, journalist and broadcaster. He was the founder of the Shooters Party in New South Wales, and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1995 to 2006.

Australia and Fiji have played each other a total of twenty-three times, of which Australia has won the most with nineteen, including three at the Rugby World Cup's (RWC) of 2007, 2015 and 2019. Fiji won two of the first four matches between the two teams, however did not beat Australia again until 2023, at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Rory O'Donoghue was an Australian actor, composer and musician, best known for playing the character "Thin Arthur" in the 1970s ABC Television sketch comedy series The Aunty Jack Show, and for playing the guitar solo on Kevin Johnson's biggest hit "Rock 'N' Roll ". The Aunty Jack Show featured O'Donoghue's long-time creative partner Grahame Bond as the title character.

Australian Playhouse was an Australian anthology TV series featuring the work of Australian writers.

"The Pigeon" is the first television play episode of the first season of the Australian anthology television series Australian Playhouse. "The Pigeon" was written by Peter Finnane and directed by Eric Taylor and originally aired on ABC on 18 April 1966.

Captain Bloody is an Australian musical comedy by Grahame Bond and Jim Burnett.

Love and War is a 1967 Australian TV series.

"How Do You Spell Matrimony?" is a 1965 Australian television play by Colin Free. It appeared on a double bill as part of Wednesday Theatre with The Face at the Club House Door.

References

  1. "Series takes the Australian slant". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 July 1985. p. 59.
  2. "Chatterbox poet lost in secluded paradise". The Canberra Times . Vol. 59, no. 18, 214. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 12 August 1985. p. 26. Retrieved 22 December 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  3. 1 2 3 "The ABC believe no news is good news". Sydney Morning Herald. 29 July 1985. p. 54.
  4. "From 30 hours to 105 on ABC More Australian drama next year". The Canberra Times . Vol. 61, no. 18, 896. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 29 June 1987. p. 1 (TIMES TV & RADIO). Retrieved 22 December 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Here is the news". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 August 1985. p. 1.