Obscure TV shows you remember

[blueboy25]

Baby John still hosts a radio program on 6PR in Perth, he still sounds the same as when he was hosting WoF back in his heyday.

The Baby John nickname isn't appropriate anymore though, he got it when he was the youngest radio presenter and now he's 82.

Was still playing regular golf up at Joondalup until recently I believe

 

[brucetiki]

I don't remember Tony Barber ever doing it but my main memories of the show was being hosted by Baby John

He hosted it for 6 months in the second half of 1996.

It was part of a massive (and disastrous) revamp of the show.

• The show was moved from Adelaide to Sydney and a new set built
• John Burgess was sacked, replaced with Barber (Burgo found this out by accident apparently)
• There was a new theme
• Game play changed from 3 rounds (plus major prize round) to 4 rounds (plus major prize round)
• Round 1 started with a question for control of the board. Play would then pass on to the next contestant at the end of a round (for example, if the yellow player solved the puzzle, the blue player had control at the start of the next round).
• Major prize round changed from spinning the golden wheel to picking one of five envelopes
• If you spun up bankrupt, you lost your money regardless of whether you solved a puzzle or not
• The gift shop was replaced with simply winning a single prize

They rolled back as many of the changes as they could after about 4 weeks (such as reverting back to the previous theme, reinstating the golden wheel for the major prize round and getting a choice of 3 prizes if you solved a puzzle), but the damage had already been done. Surprisingly, the new bankrupt rule stayed in place for about 18 months.

Tony Barber was replaced with Rob Elliot at the end of the year (after Burgo declined an offer to come back and defected to 9 to host Catch Phrase). They also reinstated John Deeks as announcer (who had left the show at the end of 1995 to host Family Feud).

Adriana had a nervous breakdown at the end of the year as well, taking her off air for around 7 months while she recovered. Ultimately, Adriana would reunite with Burgo on Catch Phrase in 2000.

Below you can see how the show changed throughout the year:

Start of 1996 (still in Adelaide, Burgo/Adriana hosting)



Mid 1996 (Barber replaces Burgo and the significant game changes)



Late 1996 (Theme changed back, big wheel reinstated, guest co-hosts following Adriana's nervous breakdown)

 

[Cleavy]

Scavengers (UK show). I think it was on ch10?

 

[Butters and Pepper]

Not sure WOF was ever obscure.

Just weird when someone other than Burgess or Sigley hosted it.

 

[brucetiki]

Scavengers (UK show). I think it was on ch10?

Yeah Channel 10 showed it over the summer of 1995/96



The show was a flop in the UK and they only made 13 episodes - half of them burnt off on Monday mornings over the UK summer in 1995!

 

[JHF1870]

Pacific Pallisades
Passions
Atlantis High
Ship to Shore

 

[sherb]

 

[rocker_oz33]

I remember a show i think it was called players.They were ex cons hired by the police to help catch cons and crooks .
Pretty sure it had eagle eye Cherry in it.

Manimal a guy who could transform into panthers, tigers etc to help catch crooks for the police.

 

[rdhopkins2]

The Mysterious Cities of Gold was a favourite as a kid!

 

[Catfish Alley]

The Mysterious Cities of Gold was a favourite as a kid!

My avatar! I would like to watch it again with my kids. I have the DVD's but they're in PAL so don't work for me over here.

 

[rdhopkins2]

My avatar! I would like to watch it again with my kids. I have the DVD's but they're in PAL so don't work for me over here.

Download the SBS on demand app. It’s available on there

The Mysterious Cities of Gold streaming now on SBS On Demand
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/the-mysterious-cities-of-gold

 

[magpie_marty]

Twilight Zone

 

[Billy ray]

i vaguely remember some animated show, where a family went back to prehistoric times from the modern day, and the opener had them looking up and seeing a plane flying. did i imagine this?

 

[troybe]

Valley of the Dinosaurs - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[janty]

I like how I call him "Baby" John Burgess to this day because my Nanna did even though he's 50 years older than me.

Anyways, anyone ever watch Firefly or know what that show was called with Hotdogs hosting on Channel 10?

 

[RedmanWasHere]

I like how I call him "Baby" John Burgess to this day because my Nanna did even though he's 50 years older than me.

Anyways, anyone ever watch Firefly or know what that show was called with Hotdogs hosting on Channel 10?

The Up-Late Game Show.

 

[emuboy]

When I was looking up one obscure Australian TV Show on YouTube - 'Talk to the Animals' which was Dr. Harry Cooper's first TV show running from 1993-1996 but which has since been completely forgotten unlike the better remembered 'Harry's Practice' which ran from 1997-2004 - I found a promotion in its commercials for two completely forgotten American sitcoms screening after this show.

One was 'Nurses' which ran from 1991-1994 but which has faded to obscurity today, and the other was the short-lived and ill-fated Golden Girls spin-off 'Golden Palace' which saw Blanche, Rose and Sofia but not Dorothy running a bed and breakfast, but unlike its much-loved predecessor was a commercial and critical failure.

 

[Roobs321]

E.C. Plays Lift Off

remembered enjoying this as a little kid at the time and in the years since had long tried to track it down. Never realised it might be a spinoff from Lift Off, but makes sense.

Looks like all 13 eps are up on YT:


just on a quick skim of the first ep looks like Jeffrey Walker is a team contestant (under his Round the Twist S2 character name Bronson, which was filmed about 1.5 years earlier, this must've been shortly before filming started on Ocean Girl).

 

[Butters and Pepper]

Anyone old enough to remember Kimba (the White Lion)?

Just thinking about some random soapies that were generally just crap - Echo Point (mid 90s), Paradise Beach.

Then there's "Chances", probably been mentioned on this thread- but the storylines really were competing with Mr Bad on E Street, for the most nonsensical of all time.

Admittedly there were certain parts of "Chances" that I enjoyed!

 

[Wallaby]

Anyone old enough to remember Kimba (the White Lion)?

Who lives down in deepest darkest Africa? Yep, I remember Kimba.

The only lion with claws and teeth who nevertheless fought the bad guys by punching them.

 

[Plugger35]

I named our white cat Kimba when I was a kid I liked that show so much.

 

[Madas]

Yes
Brings back memories of watching cartoons in the air conditioner during summer because it was 40 + degrees outside most days

Secret squirrel and Squiddly Didley where my favourites

 

[Butters and Pepper]

Yes
Brings back memories of watching cartoons in the air conditioner during summer because it was 40 + degrees outside most days

Secret squirrel and Squiddly Didley where my favourites

I recall in school hols in the 80s, the ABC played hours of cartoons every day.

Quick Draw McGraw

Atom Ant

Snagglepuss

etc

 

[Madas]

I recall in school hols in the 80s, the ABC played hours of cartoons every day.

Quick Draw McGraw

Atom Ant

Snagglepuss

etc

Yep
Good times
Loved Atom Ant

I grew up in the country so only had ABC

When we visited family in Perth I got to watch the cartoons on that morning show with Humphrey Bear

 

[emuboy]

Anyone old enough to remember Kimba (the White Lion)?

Just thinking about some random soapies that were generally just crap - Echo Point (mid 90s), Paradise Beach.

Then there's "Chances", probably been mentioned on this thread- but the storylines really were competing with Mr Bad on E Street, for the most nonsensical of all time.

Admittedly there were certain parts of "Chances" that I enjoyed!

I remember that Chances was originally envisaged as a serious drama when it first went to air (hence actors such as the late Tim Robertson among its cast), but it soon - um - evolved into what it was.

There were two other Australian soap operas in this era that were failing to rate and were temporarily taken off the air for a complete makeover, then relaunched in a revised format to two very different results.

One was E Street, the first version of which was intended to be harder and more gritty than other shows, but ended up just being flat out depressing, with no comic relief, no lighter scenes. After its revamp to a more standard soap format, E Street proved a winner for the Ten Network during 1990, 1991 and 1992 and was very popular with fans. But when ratings began to falter towards the end of 1992, that's when increasingly outlandish plots were introduced before it was cancelled in 1993.

When Channel Nine's much hyped (and very expensive) prime time soap 'Family and Friends' flopped badly on its debut in early 1990 with ratings proving to be increasingly dismal in following weeks, the executives and producers at Nine took the same approach as Ten had done with E Street the prior year. Family and Friends was taken off the air for a complete makeover and then relaunched in a revised format. But while this worked for E Street the opposite was true for Family and Friends. All this did was antagonize and lose the few fans the show had acquired in its early weeks on air, and it was gone completely by mid-year.