The Don Lane Show

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The Don Lane Show
GenreTalk show
Created by Don Lane
Directed by Peter Faiman
Presented byDon Lane
Narrated by Pete Smith
Opening theme"You Make It So Easy"
Country of origin Australia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons9
Production
ProducerPeter Faiman
Running time90 minutes
Release
Original network Nine Network
Original release8 May 1975 (1975-05-08) 
10 November 1983 (1983-11-10)

The Don Lane Show was an Australian television talk show which aired twice a week on the Nine Network from 1975 to 1983. [1] [2] The show was created by Don Lane who co-hosted it with Bert Newton. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Channel Nine was reluctant to cast Bert Newton, who had been associated with Graham Kennedy, but Lane insisted that he wanted Newton to do the show.[ citation needed ]

The theme music of the show in its later years was "You Make It So Easy", written by Helen Reddy and Carole Bayer Sager and first recorded for Reddy's 1976 album Music, Music . [8]

Legacy

The show became one of the most popular talks shows in Australian television history. Its broadcast time-slot varied in its early years, including a brief stint in 1980 when it ran four nights a week, but eventually settled on Mondays and Thursdays at 9:30pm on the Nine Network and many stations across Australia. Some regional and remote commercial stations would receive the program on videotape for delayed broadcast.

Alongside Blue Heelers , The Don Lane Show is the most awarded show in the history of the Logie Awards, with five wins [ citation needed ]. Lane was inducted into the Logie Awards Hall of Fame in 2003. [9]

DVD release

In 2010, a two-disc DVD was released. In 2015, a four-disc version with new covers was released. The DVDs include episodes from 1981 to 1983, including the 1983 bushfire appeal special and the final episode.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logie Awards</span> Annual Australian television awards

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The 10th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Friday 22 March 1968 at the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Bert Newton from the Nine Network was the Master of Ceremonies. British television actress Violet Carson and American television actors Christopher George, Peter Breck and Cheryl Miller appeared as guests. This article lists the winners of Logie Awards for 1968:

The 12th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Friday 20 March 1970 at Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Bert Newton from the Nine Network was the Master of Ceremonies. Miss World 1968 winner Penelope Plummer, British television actor Peter Wyngarde and American actors Peter Graves and Robert Young appeared as guests. Peggy Lipton, star of the US series The Mod Squad, was also originally scheduled to appear but cancelled at the last minute due to a severe middle-ear infection. This article lists the winners of Logie Awards for 1970:

The 16th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Friday, 8 March 1974 at Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Bert Newton was the Master of Ceremonies. Italian film star Gina Lollobrigida and American television actors Tige Andrews, David Cassidy and Macdonald Carey appeared as guests.

The 17th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Friday 7 March 1975 at Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. It was the first time the Awards were telecast in Colour. Bert Newton from the Nine Network was the Master of Ceremonies. American film star John Wayne and television actors Lee Majors and William Conrad, British actor Edward Woodward and his wife Michele Dotrice, and Australian-born British television stars Keith Michell and Diane Cilento appeared as guests. Each of the guest presenters were given special souvenir Logies.

The 19th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Friday 25 March 1977 at Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Bert Newton from the Nine Network was the Master of Ceremonies. American film star Burt Lancaster and television actors Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Susan Seaforth and Bill Hayes, British actors Robin Nedwell and Geoffrey Davies, and Australian actor Jack Thompson appeared as guests. Kate Jackson, star of Charlie's Angels, was scheduled to appear but cancelled at the last minute to start filming on the television movie James at 15.

The 20th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Friday 3 March 1978 at Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Bert Newton from the Nine Network was the Master of Ceremonies. American singer Sammy Davis, Jr., television actors Mike Farrell, Florence Henderson, Richard Anderson ,and Patty Weaver, and British television host David Frost appeared as guests. Bob Hope also made a brief introduction via cable from Sydney.

The 21st Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Friday 16 March 1979 at Hilton Hotel in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Bert Newton was the Master of Ceremonies. American boxer Muhammad Ali, film stars Henry Silva and Cicely Tyson, television actors Robin Williams, Susan Seaforth, Bill Hayes and Lauren Tewes, British actor David Hemmings and television actors Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy appeared as guests.

The 22nd Annual TV Week Logie Awards was held on Friday 14 March, 1980 at the Hilton Hotel in Melbourne, and broadcast on the Nine Network. The ceremony was hosted by Bert Newton. Guests included Cilla Black, Michael York, Paul Michael Glaser, Greg Evigan, Lee Meriwether, Nicola Pagett, Linda Gray and John Inman, as well as Sesame Street's Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

The 23rd Annual TV Week Logie Awards was held on Friday 10 April 1981 at the Centrepoint Convention Centre in Sydney, and broadcast on Network Ten. The ceremony was hosted by Michael Parkinson. Guests included Patrick Duffy, Gil Gerard, Lesley-Anne Down, Sam J. Jones, Adam Rich, Van Johnson and Lindsay Wagner.

The 24th Annual TV Week Logie Awards was held on Friday 12 March 1982 at the Hilton Hotel in Melbourne, and broadcast on the Nine Network. The ceremony was hosted by Bert Newton. Guests included Cindy Williams, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Urich, Lou Ferrigno, Britt Ekland, Rod Taylor and Genie Francis. Olivia Newton-John also appeared as a guest performer.

The 26th Annual TV Week Logie Awards was held on Friday 6 April 1984 at the Hilton Hotel in Melbourne, and broadcast on the Nine Network. The ceremony was hosted by Bert Newton. Guests included Christopher Atkins, Heather Thomas, Tony Randall, Dwight Schultz, Douglas Barr, Gerald McRaney, Rich Little, Bob Hawke, Dame Edna Everage, Pamela Stephenson and John Bertrand.

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The 9th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Monday 10 April 1967 at the Zodiac Room aboard the cruise liner Fairstar in Melbourne. Bert Newton from the Nine Network was the Master of Ceremonies. American television actor Vic Morrow was a guest presenter. This article lists the winners of Logie Awards for 1967:

The 11th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Friday 21 March 1969 at Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Bert Newton from the Nine Network was the Master of Ceremonies. American television actors Dennis Cole, Barbara Anderson, William Shatner, Ty Hardin, British actor Barry Morse and Skippy appeared as guests. This article lists the winners of Logie Awards for 1969.

The 52nd TV Week Logie Awards ceremony was held on Sunday 2 May 2010 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne, and broadcast on the Nine Network. The ceremony was hosted by Bert Newton, making it the 19th time he hosted the event as a solo host. The red carpet arrivals were hosted by Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson, Jules Lund and Ruby Rose, while Richard Wilkins and Natalie Gruzlewski presented the Myer Logie Minute during the ceremony. The Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki was one of the international guests. Musical performers at the event were John Mayer, Gabriella Cilmi with the cast from the stage musical Fame, k.d. lang and the Rogue Traders. John Foreman returned as musical director for the event. Susan Boyle was scheduled to perform but pulled out a few weeks before the ceremony, cancelling all her appearances in Australia. PJ Lane sang a tribute to his late father Don Lane. Early that year, Each network is restricted in the number of personalities and programs they can submit for consideration in the publicly voted category, including up to 10 names in both the Most Popular Actor and Actress categories, 15 names for Most Popular Presenter and 5 programs for Most Popular Drama. These restrictions often lead to controversy over those who are not listed in the voting form, and are not eligible to be nominated for an award.

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References

  1. "David Bowie on the Don Lane Show", by Thorsten Kaeding, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
  2. Knox, David. ""There will never be another Don Lane" | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au/. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. "Vale: Don Lane", by David Knox, TV Tonight, 22 October 2009.
  4. "Flashback: Debbie Reynolds on The Don Lane Show", by David Knox, TV Tonight, 29 December 2016.
  5. "The Don Lane Show (TV Series 1975–1983)", IMDb [ unreliable source? ]
  6. The Best of the Don Lane Show (TV Movie 1994), IMDb [ unreliable source? ]
  7. "DON LANE". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 45, no. 26. Australia. 30 November 1977. p. 31. Retrieved 8 February 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  8. P. J. Lane on 3AW's Remember When, 4 November 2018.
  9. "Don Lane's son on keeping his dad's legacy alive". 9now.nine.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2020.