Nine Catches Up with The View

Libby Gore should make a welcome return to our screens as one of four new faces on The Catch-Up, Nine's new daytime copy of The View (at least that's what we suspect). This was last mooted as The Watercooler for Liz Hayes, but never eventuated.

Personally I think it's a good idea, if the mix of ladies is right. There's been quite a hole since Midday vacated, and this should be much cheaper to produce, even if it will be live with an audience. There is speculation the inclusion of the new show will oust The Young & The Restless. Hopefully the show will feature a music spot from time to time too, a la The Panel. Gore can be wicked fun, especially when live with no safety net. I'll go on record now as saying she'll let fly with a few notions that get her and the network into hot water.. but as they say all publicity is....etc etc.

You can read the press release for The Catch Up here:

The Nine Network today announced a brand new daytime program for 2007: The Catch-Up, a locally produced weekday talk show which will premiere in February 2007. The Catch-Up will cover the hottest topics of the day in news, entertainment, lifestyle, beauty, fashion and gossip – all the up-to-date information that’s important to Australian women. From celebrity interviews to the latest in international and local current affairs, The Catch-Up will offer insight and expert support on important topics such as health, career, relationships and parenting, while also providing a good laugh and some light-hearted gossip. The Catch-Up will be co-hosted by a panel of four fabulously different women who will be joined by a rotating guest co-host. The Catch-Up panellists are TV and radio presenter Zoe Sheridan, author and adventurer Mary Moody, businesswoman and cancer survivor Lisa Oldfield, and comedian and media presenter Libbi Gorr. They have seven children and nine grandchildren among them and an unlimited number of diverse opinions covering the full political and social spectrum. “The Catch-Up was developed in response to the changing face of the daytime audience” said show creator, the Nine Network’s Mia Freedman. “We’re in the middle of the biggest baby boom in 20 years and the original baby boomers are redefining retirement. More women are working part-time or from home. But whether they’re on maternity leave, looking after small children, or grandchildren or planning their next grey nomad holiday, they may only have an hour a day to catch up on everything going on in the world. They want a laugh and they want to learn something.” A live one-hour weekday chat-fest with a studio audience, The Catch-Up will also offer viewer interaction via SMS, a dedicated ninemsn webpage and Woman’s Day magazine. Read more...

What's new?

More new timeslots have been announced, and more importantly, many TBA holes are appearing in the week of Feb 4, notably on weeknights for Seven and Nine. It means they have big guns they are holding off revealing until the last minute. Meanwhile here is what is new and confirmed for that week:

TEN:
Sunday Feb 4
12:30pm 35th Country Music Awards Of Australia
2:00pm Beach Cricket
7:30pm The Biggest Loser. Premiere.

Monday Feb 5
7:00pm The Biggest Loser (nightly)
7:30pm Bondi Rescue. Premiere.

Wednesday Feb 7
7:30pm The Con Test. Premiere.
8:30pm House. New Series.
9:30pm Medium

NINE
Monday Feb 5
9:30pm Allan Border Medal

Wednesday Feb 7
10:30pm Third Watch. New Series.

SBS:
Monday Feb 5
10:00am NFL Superbowl. Live.

Tuesday Feb 6
8:30pm Godless in America

ABC:
Sunday Feb 4
7:30pm Planet Earth. New Series.

Wednesday Feb 7
8:00pm New Inventors. New Series.

Friday Feb 9
8:00pm Collectors. New Series.
8:30pm Dalziel and Pascoe. New Series.

SEVEN:
Mon Feb 5
7:30pm The Rich List
8:30pm Desperate Housewives rpt.
9:30pm Brothers and Sisters. Premiere.

Tue Feb 6
7:30pm Dancesport Championships

Wed Feb 7
7:30pm Border Security
8:30pm Heroes
9:30pm Prison Break
10:30pm 24

Thu Feb 8
7:30pm How I Met Your Mother
8:00pm My Name is Earl
9:10pm Lost rpt.
Read more...

Wed Jan 24

[ABC/8:35pm] Monster By Dylan Moran is a 90 minute stand-up comedy special from the star of Black Books, Dylan Moran. Recorded in Dublin, Moran's musings cover the way we live, the amount of time we spend eating and the virtues of living well. He discusses all manner of issues - from getting older to the meaning of life - all with his unique brand of dry humour. At the age of 24, Dylan Moran was the youngest person ever to receive the Perrier Award for Comedy. He's since written and starred in his own BAFTA award-winning TV sitcom Black Books, and starred in the critically acclaimed films The Actors with Michael Caine, and Notting Hill with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.

[ABC/9:55pm] Tunnel of Love. The film is set in and around a fairground:in a free-wheeling community, underpinned by illegality, brutality and dark deeds - The Sopranos meets That'll Be The Day. Is this, as Roy argues, "The last great free, magical frontier in a Britain of air-conditioned sterility and shopping malls"? Or is it, as he also argues, "A muddy shit-hole"? Roy (Jack Dee) is the fairground's fixer, never far from a scam but basically trying to have a good time and some decent sex in his luxuriously appointed caravan. Roy's comfortable world is threatened however when two accidents occur in close succession and he is sued for substantial damages. Is this a wind-up or is the fairground's future seriously in jeopardy? Aided and abetted by babe-magnet Sean (Cristian Solimeno), Roy becomes an unlikely and yet curiously inventive detective.

[ABC/11:20pm] India's Ladyboys. (CC) Follows a group of Hirjas - those who were born hermaphrodites and those who were born men and have since been castrated - who, until now, have been misunderstood and are still considered outsiders in their own country.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/tv/indiasladyboys_photogallery.shtml

[Nine/8;30pm] Close to Home. Sex, Toys and Videotape. A bride-to-be is murdered the night before her wedding in what appears to be a violent sex crime, and the investigation reveals that she was not the chaste person she pretended to be. Stars Jennifer Finnigan and Kimberly Elise.

[Nine/9:30pm] Men in Trees. Ladies First. The town of Elmo throws Marin a huge birthday celebration, but the unexpected arrival of her fun-loving younger sister conjures up some unexpected insecurities for Marin. Stars Anne Heche and John Amos.

[Ten/7:30pm] Australian Princess. Finale.
[Ten/8:30pm] Medium. “Knowing Her" Rpt.
[Ten/9:30pm] Numb3rs. Backscatter.

[SBS/8:30pm] Living With Refugees – This is the latest documentary by award-winning journalist Sorious Samura who is increasingly developing a reputation for creating ‘real’ reality TV – stories that offer a unique perspective into the lives of people facing terrible situations. In this documentary, Sorious sets out to become, for all intents and purposes, a refugee. He travels to Chad to live with a family in a refugee camp for one month, living under exactly the same conditions, eating what they ate and drinking what they drank. Sorious builds close intimate relationships with the other refugees, sharing their hopes and fears, so that this documentary provides a unique insight into what life is really like for them. Sorious meets Adam – a refugee who has 2 wives, 8 children, no money and all of whose friends have been murdered – at the Chad/Sudan border where he has been living on handouts. But he has outstayed his welcome. Even though he doesn’t know how far it is, he’s heading for a UN refugee camp further to the west in Chad, and agrees Sorious can follow his family on this journey. (From the UK, in English and Arabic, English subtitles) (Documentary) CC WS

[SBS/10:00pm] Festival Movie: Dogville – Winner of 13 international awards and nominated for the Golden Palm at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, this film stars Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and was written and directed by Lars von Trier (Dancer In The Dark). The beautiful fugitive, Grace (Nicole Kidman), arrives in the isolated township of Dogville on the run from gangsters. With some encouragement from Tom (Paul Bettany), the self-appointed town spokesman, the little community agrees to hide her and in return, Grace agrees to work for them. However, when a search sets in, the people of Dogville demand a better deal in exchange for the risk of harbouring poor Grace and she learns the hard way that in this town, goodness is relative. But Grace has a secret and it is a dangerous one. Dogville may regret it ever began to bare its teeth. Also stars Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, James Caan, Patricia Clarkson and Philip Baker Hall. (From Denmark, in English) (Drama) (2003) MA (S,V,A) CC WS Read more...