In Melbourne Tonight Graham Kennedy

bert newton: hello, m bert newton.

graham kennedy: big deal.

bednall , spencer defied both gtv-9 boardroom , first sponsor (philips) choosing kennedy, began on salary of 30 pounds 5 one-hour evening shows per week called in melbourne tonight (or imt) began on 6 may 1957. 23-year-old kennedy began career of later said terrified forty years . show s theme song, gee, re swell , written abel baer , thomas tobias in 1936.

kennedy not gtv-9 s first choice – had planned use either 3uz personality john mcmahon or 3db s dick cranbourne. despite later reports programme s name had been intended late show, , rival station hsv-7 beat gtv-9 title 1 week, contemporary press reports several weeks before show s debut list title in melbourne tonight . program became extremely popular, although kennedy had detractors. kennedy quoted saying:

many women write tell me although husbands may not me, do. appears mail women have on household watching. , remember women buying of products advertise. bearing in mind try , design our commercials them.

imt devised copy of american tonight show format, host presiding on sketches, introducing star artists , reading advertisements live. colleague bert newton records in autobiography:

(norman) spencer mastermind of imt; don t let forget that. nothing happened on imt norm did not approve [...] norman spencer chose graham kennedy compère; norm kept eye on show day day; pushed buttons control room put tv shots viewers homes @ night; added talent around graham , set organisation.

spencer wielded other influence too. according hugh stuckey, writer on show, producer placed kennedy series of attractive young women displace rumours of kennedy s homosexuality.

this era in homosexuality was, well, horrifying. every , again kennedy had seen in case viewers thought him other persuasion. [...] cleverly manipulated – station had media @ disposal. give graham old hetero image though seemed unsexual.

by july 1959 program still popular in melbourne. recurring comedy players joff ellen , rosie sturgess became regulars. singer toni lamond joined cast. attempts made @ time launch kennedy national personality. special friday night editions of imt produced under title of graham kennedy show , recorded on videotape had come use. after being transmitted live in melbourne taped copies of show shipped adelaide, brisbane , sydney transmission there on subsequent evenings. producer spencer observed there critical , popular resistance kennedy in sydney. queensland had shown suspicion imports down south trumpeted queenslanders best in australia while queensland had apparently been left out of judgement.

the graham kennedy show began in february 1960 not popular in sydney. program judged stilted compared imt itself; kennedy seemed more subdued usual, tense, , comedy not working. critics in sydney , queensland disliked key components of show. judged flop, graham kennedy show in sydney dropped atn7 after 13 weeks. program picked tcn9 – general manager ken g. hall saw potential in program. after continued bad reviews popularity increased in sydney. july 1960 had reached twenty-fifth episode , had highest ratings in australia.

later in 1960 kennedy faced opposition when sir frank packer bought gtv-9. unlike previous owner, packer interfered directly station s activities. gtv-9 executive colin bednall reported packer hated kennedy , forcefully articulated desire have him removed imt.

packer had phobia homosexuals , believed kennedy one. insisted pick 1 mile off.

kennedy himself aware packer loathed him:

sir frank did suspect , others of persuasion. mean if in television industry fired because of that, there few around! [...] ve been accused of everything. ve been accused of being homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual , worst of asexual, means don t anything. s cruel.

packer s arrival prompted departure of imt producer norman spencer. imt continued run. other regular performers on imt patti newton , philip brady. in 1961 kennedy described presentation of program.

in whole of ten years have been working on radio , television, have been working majority of women. think women prefer men well-mannered, try watch manners. men dressed, best observe this. others bring notice fact make grammatical errors in speech; so, because of this, try watch grammar – @ same time bear in mind s more profitable me entertaining perfect in use of english.

by march 1961 national show had been renamed graham kennedy s channel 9 show , finding quiet acceptance nationally. @ time kennedy admitted there problems in weekly national show.

we clam , tense. think national show improve in next few weeks. want include best segments of imt in national show. imt lot more spontaneous national show – ve run hour overtime. audience participate , if can find interesting in studio audience throw away our scripts , adlib.

kennedy stage did not host imt. bert newton hosted on monday nights. september 1961 reshuffle had toni lamond host monday nights , newton hosted on thursday nights. kennedy took occasional nights off replaced fred parslow, jimmy hannan, , philip brady. despite resistance network executives varied hosting line-up, ratings remained strong.

in january 1962 national graham kennedy s channel 9 show cancelled , replaced channel 9 show hosted bert newton. kennedy continued fine-tune imt performances. kennedy had strong understanding of key technical elements of television , perfected comic timing, , watched lenses on tv cameras, adjusting performance depending on whether in wide shot or close up. compilation highlight programs of imt segments screened in sydney, perth, brisbane , adelaide in may 1963 under title best of kennedy. best of kennedy continued until december 1963. on imt, noel ferrier appointed new friday night host. in 1963 writer mike mccoll-jones joined. kennedy had disliked having writers on program, reluctant them publicly acknowledged, , ignored material. in case of mccoll-jones, kennedy seemed him , comedy material, apparently key requirement kennedy use writer s material. mccoll-jones continued writer on series several years. in 1963 ernie carroll joined writing team. kennedy had apparently relaxed attitude towards writers stage , seemed happy use material few complaints.

in 1964 bert newton abruptly disappeared program. not publicly acknowledged @ time had suffered nervous breakdown. after long absence returned appear on monday, tuesday , wednesday evening episodes. on 14 june 1965 imt reached 2,000th instalment , more people watched show per capita other television program in world.

by stage fred parslow established on program s writing team , confidante of kennedy s.

when down, depressed things. relationship had failed. rang me in terrible state , asked me go down house in frankston. joan, wife, said better go. sounded desperate. there wasn t such long time. of course, when did start brave, old going around , picking might enjoy. first of our mega stars; there seem mega stars everywhere now. in days, living in such sleepy hollow melbourne, found life terribly, terribly difficult. , can understand in days. times have changed. s compulsory homosexual now.

on 7 july 1965 kennedy appeared on then-innovative live split-screen link don lane, host of sydney tonight, via completed co-axial cable linking melbourne , sydney. starting late september 1966, imt transmitted in sydney via co-axial cable. coincided cameo in film re weird mob in kennedy plays himself. film s protagonist, kennedy in film finds sydney city unwelcoming towards migrants anywhere. december 1966 ratings kennedy s show strong in sydney. there increase 1 imt episode week in sydney, two, monday night broadcast added month.

by 1968 there regular roster of imt guest hosts, including bert newton, tim evans, bobby limb, don lane, kevin sanders, , michael preston. announcement of kennedy s intention leave imt made in october 1969 , left show on expiration of contract 23 december 1969. final episode features newsreader sir eric pearce placing on head crown made channel 9 prop department in style of worn henry iv, symbolising kennedy s reign king of australian television.

in 2007, crown (which private collector had recognised @ junk store in bowral nsw, , purchased $5) auctioned more $17,000 producer of 7 network s sunrise programme.