Brief: Sea Patrol

Just taken my first look at Sea Patrol.

It's very good. Should do very well for Nine and kick off a new long-running franchise. Also very traditional in its storytelling which is a safe move by the producers. The choices seem to be shooting for a broad audience....

Full review to follow early in the week.
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Weekend with Sam

Samantha Armytage will become the new co-host of Weekend Sunrise beside Andrew O'Keefe.

Armytage has been reading Seven News at 4:30pm and been an occasional newsreader on Weekend Sunrise.

Producer Adam Boland has appointed (or is that annointed?) her after former host Lisa Wilkinson left to join Today.

Weekend Sunrise now outrates the languishing Sunday on Nine.

Source: Daily Telegraph. Read more...

Hey Hey it's a comeback?

Daryl Somers could be back hosting a Saturday evening variety show before we know it.

Seven is reported to be agreeable to a pilot allowing Somers to "reinvent Hey Hey It's Saturday" in 2007. Word is Somers has been keen to bring back variety to Saturday nights. There is speculation he has approached John Blackman to be a part of the project.

This sounds risky to me. Hey Hey is an institution and should not be tampered with. Ernie Carroll and Blackman helped make an indomitable force with Somers. But that was a long time ago. It's also a bit wrinkly around the edges, and there had become a strong boys club element about the show with Wilbur Wilde, Red Symons, Russell Gilbert, Blackers, Plucka and more..... Part of the popularity of Dancing with the Stars lays not with the host, although he remains entirely accomplished at the task at hand. There are few with Somers' skills at live and impromptu television.

It would be fantastic if Somers were behind the scenes on this one. What Somers knows about putting television together can't be bought. Find a protege to pass on the torch, Daryl?

Meanwhile, Seven has also agreed to a Tonight show pilot for Andrew O'Keefe. This could be hard to fathom week in, week out. Again O'Keefe is very, very skilled at his plentiful hosting duties. But as Daryl showed us all those years ago, you also need to be likable. Sometimes I feel O'Keefe would be a lot more watchable if he turned the velocity down. True, all his shows have been hits, but humility can be a wonderful thing on telly.

Finally it also seems strange that Seven has money th throw around with pilots but there was none in the kitty for The Naomi Show?

Source: Herald-Sun.
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Underbelly ready to shoot

Vince Colosimo is said to be in line for a key role in Nine's upcoming gangland miniseries, Underbelly.

An excellent cast is shaping up for this ambitious tell-all on Melbourne's gang wars, including Ben Mendelsohn, Kevin Harrington, Kat Stewart and Madeleine West. Further roles will go to Callan Mulvey and Gyton Grantley. What no Alex Dimitriadis?

Eddie McGuire was believed to be instrumental in the development of this series, which will be produced by Screentime (The Society Murders, MDA, Jessica).

It is set to air on Nine in 2008.

Source: Herald-Sun. Read more...