Television career Graham Kennedy

1 television career

1.1 in melbourne tonight
1.2 comedic style

1.2.1 advertisements


1.3 sam chisholm
1.4 rover
1.5 graham kennedy show
1.6 power without glory
1.7 blankety blanks
1.8 blainey view
1.9 eleven am
1.10 graham kennedy s news show

1.10.1 coast coast


1.11 harry m. miller
1.12 graham kennedy s funniest home videos
1.13 35 years of television
1.14 last television appearance
1.15 logie awards

television career

kennedy s first television appearance in march 1957, representing 3uz on gtv-9 red cross telethon. viewing performance on monitors, gtv-9 s general manager colin bednall , producer norman spencer ... turned 1 without exchanging word , shook hands.

in melbourne tonight

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.

comedic style

kennedy deliberately pushed boundaries of acceptability in staid era. inspired stage comedians such roy rene, style bawdy, irreverent, iconoclastic, smutty, deliberately camp, , laden innuendo , double-entendre. regularly overstepped boundaries of accepted taste , once telling fan there no limits, love, there no limits.

journalist megan gressor described kennedy s style having ... mongrel roots – hybrid of vaudeville, slapstick , endless suggestiveness, plus subliminal subversiveness own. seems pantomimic modern eyes, kennedy product of simpler times. , more complex. act predicated upon repression; naughtiness loses point in world without taboos, goes. wouldn t work today, when people don t fuck on television, it.

advertisements

drawing on radio experience nicky (who had routinely sent advertisers), kennedy transformed live commercials have otherwise been dull pro-forma obligations unique comedic art form. on 1 famous occasion, scheduled 20-second ad spot aspirin product spun out 33 minutes of improvised comedy.

newton has written:

the blood drain face of pelaco shirt-wearing executives in television, advertising , business until realised instead of televisual suicide, skinny little wiseguy commercial gold. , liked brand of humour lot.

a commercial shared graham, raoul merton ( of comfort re when wear raoul merton ) changed footwear buying habits of men.

sam chisholm

gerald stone recounts in book compulsive viewing cocky young salesman visited imt set hoping plug employer s product. young salesman sam chisholm, later became senior executive variously packer , murdoch media empires. may 2005 interview chisholm records:

sam chisholm: working johnson s wax @ time, , don t think believed ...
graham davis: sales pitch.
sam chisholm: assertions product. said, ll go , polish floors , prove you. did.
graham davis: on @ home?
sam chisholm: absolutely.
graham davis: got down on hands , knees @ home?
sam chisholm: yep. started off housekeeper , ended being boss.

rover

kennedy requested reject dog jack davey memorial guide dog centre , given labrador retriever named rover .

rover brought studio assist advertisements pal dog food. 1 night dog showed no interest whatsoever in product, kennedy himself proceeded eat apparent relish, straight can – or seemed.

rover achieved television immortality relieving himself – live air – upon 1 of huge cameras. studio audience collapsed in hysterics, duration , urgency of rover s impressively hydraulic performance might have led cynics question how impromptu event was.

biographer blundell quotes ernie carroll:

pal dog food, rover [...] time consuming [...] once fed him afternoon when came out commercial didn t want touch pal dog food. full of it. [...] on occasion had him drink before show, big drinks. when came out, peed on camera , around set [...] seemingly innocent dog manoeuvres planned.

kennedy exasperated decades questions whatever happened rover . late 1989, on graham kennedy s news hour (see below), answered viewer s question couched in words withering reply ... dog. think happened?

in june 2005, on 3aw programme nightline philip brady , bruce mansfield, patti (mcgrath) newton stated father had looked after rover when appeared @ gtv-9. seems kennedy had become increasingly irritated retrieving rover pound , so, when patti s father s dog died, rover went on long , happy life @ mcgrath (senior) household.

the graham kennedy show

after specials on 15 november 1971 , 2 march 1972, kennedy returned regular television graham kennedy show on 19 september 1972. series lasted until late 1973. in 1974, when kennedy claimed wanted rest, 9 allegedly paid him not sign network. frank packer paid kennedy $50,000 nothing, fearful work else. kennedy said in 1978:

it wasn t retainer. $50,000 not work. sir frank didn t know had no intention of working.

the graham kennedy show resumed in march 1975, , kennedy s first series in colour.

memorable, , controversial, moments, included crow call controversy where, on 3 march 1975, kennedy imitated crow call ( faaaaaark ) highly reminiscent of word fuck . led australian broadcasting control board request kennedy show cause why should not removed airwaves. kennedy replied not show cause, suggesting board take action limit appearances, while hinting @ legal action should so. rather removing him, abcb banned kennedy appearing live, forcing him pre-record show on videotape.

another notable moment 17 april 1975, when kennedy attacked senator doug mcclelland, minister media, on local content issues. comments edited, , voiceover recorded general manager inserted saying kennedy had made cowardly attack on labor minister unable defend himself.

following mcclelland incident, kennedy parted company 9 network, later returned.

power without glory

kennedy appeared clive parker in episode of 26-part abc drama power without glory, began on 21 june 1976.

blankety blanks

he returned television in 1977 network ten host comedy game show, blankety blanks. dominated evening television on 2 seasons, between 7 february 1977 , 15 september 1978. show featured friends earlier days including noeline brown, barry creyton, noel ferrier, ugly dave gray, carol raye , stuart wagstaff. after show became ratings success , network s profitable program revealed kennedy paid unprecedented $1 million per season.

in 1979, king became king of moomba complete famous motorised desk, second melbourne-born recipient after newton.

the blainey view

in 1982 kennedy provided voice-over narration ten-episode abc historical documentary blainey view.

eleven am

kennedy appeared host of channel 7 s morning news program eleven in 1983 , again – 8 weeks – in 1984.

graham kennedy s news show

nearly 60, kennedy accepted offer 9 network s managing director sam chisholm present graham kennedy s news show sydney, air 5 nights week @ 10:30 pm against clive robertson s newsworld on 7 network. 5 trial programmes recorded never broadcast.

kennedy pulled plug , withdrew show returned (see harry m. miller, below). kennedy s contract stipulated co-presenter sports commentator ken sutcliffe.

kennedy s writers, worked production cottage @ corner of scott street , artarmon road included jim pike, tim evans, larry burns, , ken stirling. blundell records:

they worked in room shooting out gags on typewriters , word processors, united in hatred of little guy , called him.

the writers referred kennedy little buggle-eyed bastard ,. however, admired talent. jim pike said, .. hate him, best there .

kennedy defied convention remarks tasteless, , yet hilarious. pointing out irony of how news show gets ratings said helpful show s ratings if pope s aircraft fly mountain while full of orphans. remarked queen elizabeth ii didn t have bad breasts ... woman of age , mocked 17 october 1989, san francisco loma prieta earthquake re-creation on set.

after heavy woman caught streaking @ cricket match, graham explained on air run footage had cover offending parts of body black. clip played black, except single spot revealed pubic hair.

he reprised chum song melbourne radio days, saying originated in 1920s children s newspaper column in scotland. in nancy lee s book being chum fun writes:

the chum song, believe, written , recorded jack hilton scottish newsboys club.

the lyrics of chorus are:

being chum fun,
that why m one;
always smiling, gay,
chummy @ work,
(and) chummy @ play -
laugh away worries,
don t sad or glum;
and know re a
chum, chum, chum!

sutcliffe corpse , tears in eyes, unable continue; became frequent kennedy managed coin catchphrase, love when cries .

kennedy called sutcliffe 2 dogs after delivering joke ending tag why ask, 2 dogs rooting?

graham kennedy s news show rarity in live news show had studio audience. 5 nights week of year, audiences lined @ 10:30 @ night see kennedy magic in flesh. funniest parts of show in commercial breaks when kennedy come down , join audience chat. made point of telling them particularly crude joke timed got punchline second before show on air.

coast coast

on 13 february 1989 show became coast coast, 9 journalist john mangos replacing sutcliffe[384], , ran until 8 december 1989.

harry m. miller

kennedy engaged harry m. miller agent. according biographer blundell, kennedy believed miller donate commission of $2500 per week wayside chapel kennedy s appearance on graham kennedy s news show.

miller later sued kennedy wrongful termination , 20 per cent commission on 1989 gross earnings. during court case miller painted picture of client of twenty years late-night drunk in habit of sending demanding faxes while under influence. justice brownie found against miller, , ordered him pay $75,699 , costs.

graham kennedy s funniest home videos

kennedy s last series graham kennedy s funniest home video show broadcast between 29 march , 15 november 1990 on 9 network.

35 years of television

kennedy presented introduction segment 9 network special 35 years of television in 1991. segment covered days of television variety, including own in melbourne tonight.

last television appearance

kennedy s last television appearance in february 1994 in interview ray martin presents graham kennedy s sixtieth. believing martin had ambushed him departing pre-agreed list of questions, kennedy ensured of interview unusable broadcast peppering responses obscenities.

in 2005 john mangos wrote:

he (kennedy) later explained experience in piece tv week in article called in own words .

ray martin , had worked before, , knows if have questions in advance, ll better interview. knows – politicians in particular. ray duly faxed questions me, on morning of recording changed them. bewildered (i think researcher let him down). terminated interview when didn t know talking , went upstairs lunch.

it critical turning point in career. vowed never television again.

ray martin denied ill intent, saying faxed series of general topics, clear @ outset depend on general run of interview [...] ambush not on agenda [...] had no complaints. there never suggestion unhappy.

logie awards

graham kennedy coined name logie award in 1960, after inventor of television, john logie baird.

kennedy received many logies, including:

5 gold logies popular personality on australian television (1960, 1967, 1969, 1974, , 1978).

he won tv week awards star of year award @ inaugural presentation in 1959, , counted first gold logie, give him 6 in total


a special logie award – star of decade in 1967
a hall of fame logie award in 1998. did not attend ceremony; award accepted on behalf bert newton.




^ stone, gerald (2000). compulsive viewing: inside story rocked tv industry. victoria: penguin books. isbn 0-14-029817-7.  when full face of kennedy alone came on monitor, spencer , turned 1 without exchanging word , shook hands. @ time, in desperate need of talent. @ glance, see boy on camera, cheap haircut , popping eyes, had gone endless pains rehearsing act , had outstanding ability. when talked kennedy made no attempt @ playing hard get. busting television.
^ stone (2000), p.93 terrified forty years can tell career , says now, confirming stories told of him having steel nerves before every performance. well, out of thousands of television shows , radio shows, once or twice quite comfortable, frightened.
^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gtbvaaaaibaj&sjid=h5udaaaaibaj&pg=5407%2c1560074
^ blundell (2003), p. 216
^ newton, bert (1977). bert! bert newton s own story. toorak, victoria: garry sparkes & associates. pp. 91–93. isbn 0-908081-24-3. 
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^ kennedy s crown fetches $17k news.com.au, 23 april 2007
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^ king of comedy, fears of clown : megan gressor, sydney morning herald, 26 april 2003
^ newton, bert (1977). op cit, p. 91
^ davis, graham. 50 years of television, part 2 (transcript) . sunday. ninemsn. archived original on 27 august 2006. 
^ tv week magazine, 11 march 1978 – graham hasn t conquered jitters ben mitchell pp58-59
^ kennedy faces total ban on tv . age (melbourne). 1975-03-05. retrieved 23 december 2014. 
^ kennedy case heard on tuesday . sydney morning herald. 1975-03-12. retrieved 23 december 2014. 
^ order kennedy producer - threat 2 tv shows . sydney morning herald. 1975-03-07. retrieved 23 december 2014. 
^ court threat kennedy . sydney morning herald. 1975-03-11. retrieved 23 december 2014. 
^ tv , radio ban on live kennedy . sydney morning herald. 1975-03-19. retrieved 23 december 2014. 
^ mike mccoll-jones (2008). graham kennedy treasures: friends remember king. miegunyah press. p. 49. isbn 0522855458. 
^ craig bellamy, gordon chisholm, hilary eriksen (17 february 2006). moomba: festival people archived 29 october 2009 @ wayback machine.: pp. 17–22
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^ cite error: named reference mangos invoked never defined (see page).
^ blundell (2003), pps. 409, 410