The Midday Show
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''Midday'' (commonly referred to as ''The Midday Show'') is an Australian award-winning daytime television program, based on the variety format that aired on the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
on 11 February 1985 until 27 November 1998. The show aired, like its title suggests, at
noon Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cl ...
, on a weekday schedule, and was a 90-minute variety programme with international and local guests. It featured interviews, musical performances and comedy spots. The format of the show was similar to that of its predecessor, ''
The Mike Walsh Show ''The Mike Walsh Show'' was an Australian variety daytime television series. Hosted by Mike Walsh. History An early version of ''The Mike Walsh Show'' was a Thursday night variety show broadcast on HSV-7, Melbourne, from August 14, 1969. It w ...
'', which it replaced in the lunch time slot.


Program history / hosts


Ray Martin (1985–1993)

Leading Mike Walsh's resignation from ''
The Mike Walsh Show ''The Mike Walsh Show'' was an Australian variety daytime television series. Hosted by Mike Walsh. History An early version of ''The Mike Walsh Show'' was a Thursday night variety show broadcast on HSV-7, Melbourne, from August 14, 1969. It w ...
'', Ray Martin was appointed as his successor in 1985, despite being known primarily as a journalist from ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
''. The program was re-titled to ''The Midday Show with Ray Martin'', which was later shortened to ''Midday with Ray Martin'', and finally ''Ray Martin at Midday'' in 1993. Although Martin was seen as a shock choice at the time of his appointment, he soon became increasingly popular with viewers. During his time on the show, a highly publicised on-air scuffle took place in 1991 between former pop idol
Normie Rowe Norman John Rowe (born 1 February 1947) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He rose to national prominence in the mid-1960s as a pop star and teen idol, backed by The Playboys. His 1965 double A-side " Que Sera Sera"/" Shakin' All Over" w ...
and radio personality Ron Casey. While Martin was at the helm, members of the ''Midday'' on-camera team included musical director Geoff Harvey; comedians Graham Pugh, Ross Daniels, Ewan Campbell; trumpeter Bob Bouffler; and pre '' Big Brother'' presenter
Gretel Killeen Gretel Killeen (born 3 February 1963) is an Australian comedian, television presenter, media personality and author. She is known for being the host of ''Big Brother (Australian TV series), Big Brother Australia'' from its inception in Big Broth ...
. Ray Martin remained as host until late 1993, when he was moved to replace
Mike Willesee Michael Robert Willesee, (29 June 1942 – 1 March 2019) was an Australian television journalist, interviewer and presenter. Early life and family Willesee was the son of politician, Western Australian ALP senator and foreign minister Don W ...
as host of '' A Current Affair'', which had seen a ratings decline over the previous year. Martin ended up being a popular host on the show. He won the
Gold Logie The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards. The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...
for his role 3 times – in 1987, 1993 and 1994. He was nominated for the award in 1986, 1990, 1991 and 1992.
Jean Stafford Jean Stafford (July 1, 1915 – March 26, 1979) was an American short story writer and novelist who shared the same name with country music singer Jean Stafford. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for '' The Collected Stories of Jean Staffo ...
was a regular on ''Midday with Ray Martin'' from 1986 to 1993 with over 47 performances.


Derryn Hinch (1994)

Following Martin's departure to '' A Current Affair'',
Derryn Hinch Derryn Nigel Hinch (born 9 February 1944) is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for ...
was appointed as host shortly after being sacked from his self-titled current affairs program on the
Ten Network Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...
. The show effectively reverted partially to its old title by becoming ''Midday With Derryn Hinch''. Hinch's appointment was seen by many as a shock decision, as he had previously been known as a hard-hitting, outspoken personality. Many were therefore surprised to see him showing a softer side in his role as ''Midday'' host. Gradually-declining ratings over previous years saw the show axed at the end of 1994 (Derryn had offered to resign for the good of the show, but stated in interviews that Nine Network executives made it clear that it was the ''show'' that was being axed rather than the ''host'').


Tracy Grimshaw and David Reyne (1995)

Following the announcement of the program's axing at the end of 1994, it had been stated that the show would be replaced by a new talk program. After a six-month absence, a lower-budget hour-long program using the ''Midday'' title began. In its new form, the show had a more generic feel to it, with no live band and none of the loose "variety show" feeling of the program in its previous incarnation. After the network had considered a number of personalities for the hosting job including
Larry Emdur Larry Emdur (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian Gold Logie award winning television presenter. Emdur is currently co-host of '' The Morning Show'' alongside Kylie Gillies, and host of '' The Chase Australia''. The duo also hosted the A ...
, Richard Wilkins and Monte Dwyer, it was announced that
Tracy Grimshaw Tracy Grimshaw (born 3 June 1960) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. Grimshaw is best known for her work with the Nine Network where she was the host of '' A Current Affair'' from 2006 to 2022 and the co-host of '' Today'' ...
and
David Reyne David Nicholas Reyne (born 14 May 1959) is an Australian actor, musician, television and radio presenter. Reyne was born in Lagos, Nigeria to an Australian mother and English diplomat father. The family moved to Victoria, Australia in the earl ...
were to be the co-hosts of this version. However, only six months later the program was again reformatted, effectively making it more reminiscent of the Mike Walsh/Ray Martin eras.


Kerri-Anne Kennerley (1996–1998)

In 1996,
Kerri-Anne Kennerley Kerri-Anne Kennerley (née Wright; born 22 September 1953) is an Australian television and radio presenter, actress and singer. She has more than 50 years in the industry, and is an inductee into the Logie Hall of Fame. Kennerley co-hosted Netw ...
was appointed to the new incarnation of the show, with the title becoming ''Midday with Kerri-Anne''. Geoff Harvey re-joined the show from a period of semi-retirement, albeit with a streamlined, six-piece band and not the full orchestra the show had had in previous days. Initially, Kerri-Anne caused a resurgence in ratings, with her enthusiasm and her tendency to physically interact with guests (i.e. doing dance steps with dancers, attempting to play the respective sports of sporting personalities) rather than confining herself to sit-down interviews. She gained three consecutive
Gold Logie The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards. The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...
nominations for her work on the show, and was widely praised for "bringing the magic back to ''Midday''". However, the show was eventually not able to compete with better rating, imported programs on other networks, and the general decline of locally produced daytime talk shows and budget concerns that prompted the 1994 axing caused the show to again be axed at the end of 1998. The final ''Midday'' program aired on 27 November 1998, running for a length of 150 minutes and featuring an array of guests including
Maggie Tabberer Margaret May Tabberer (; 11December 19366December 2024) was an Australian fashion, publishing and television personality. She was a dual recipient of the Gold Logie award for her television work. Tabberer founded her own fashion label and PR c ...
,
Brian Bury Brian Frederick Bury (born 14 June 1937) is an Australian former radio and television personality and weather presenter, best known for his tenure on the Nine Network's breakfast show ''Today'' as weathermen from the program's inception in 1982 ...
,
Doug Mulray Douglas John Mulray (1 December 1951 30 March 2023) was an Australian comedian, radio, and television presenter. Nicknamed Uncle Doug, he grew up in Dee Why on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Mulray was well-known for his bawdy humor and charismati ...
, Derryn Hinch, Don Lane, Ron Casey,
Barry Crocker Barry Hugh Crocker (born 4 November 1935
Official Barry Crocker website
) is an Australian
Dame Edna Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and portrayed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, ...
.


Guest hosts

The program would occasionally use guest presenters, usually personalities from other Nine Network programs, who would fill in for the regular hosts of the show. A notable guest host in 1985 was
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
who filled in for Ray Martin on 30 August 1985. Howard, who was deputy opposition leader at the time, was the network's second choice after initially approaching opposition leader and Liberal Party leader
Andrew Peacock Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the part ...
who declined the invitation to host the show. Howard is believed to have chosen his own guests which included political journalists Richard Carleton and Laurie Oakes, cricketer Bill O'Reilly and actress Carmen Duncan. Within a week of Howard hosting ''Midday'', Peacock unsuccessfully attempted to replace Howard as deputy opposition leader with John Moore which led to the 1985 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill which ultimately saw Howard replace Peacock as Liberal Party leader.


Awards

The show and hosts have won several
Logie awards The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The event is telecast live and ...
, and been nominated for several too.
Gold Logie The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards. The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...
: * Won: 3 times – Ray Martin (1987, 1993, 1994) * Nominated: 7 times – Ray Martin (1986, 1990–1992);
Kerri-Anne Kennerley Kerri-Anne Kennerley (née Wright; born 22 September 1953) is an Australian television and radio presenter, actress and singer. She has more than 50 years in the industry, and is an inductee into the Logie Hall of Fame. Kennerley co-hosted Netw ...
(1997–1999) ''Midday'' and its predecessor ''The Mike Walsh Show'' won a combined total of 24 Logie Awards for the Nine Network.


Post-''Midday'' and legacy

Following the program's demise in November 1998, the following year, Kerri-Anne was appointed to co-host the cooking show ''
What's Cooking What's Cooking? may refer to: * ''What's Cooking?'' (film), a 2000 British/American comedy-drama film * ''What's Cooking?'' (British TV series), a British lifestyle show * ''What's Cooking?'' (Australian TV series), an Australian cooking televisi ...
'', alternating host Geoff Jansz's cooking segments with her interviews which were not related to cooking. This was seen as an awkward change to the show, which was axed at the end of that year, causing Kerri-Anne to leave the network, openly criticising the format that ''What's Cooking'' was given. After spending some time in other media and a second stint at Network Ten, Kerri-Anne returned to Nine to host '' Mornings with Kerri-Anne (later shortened to ''Kerri-Anne'')'', a morning talk show with some similarities to ''Midday'', but without a live audience (except on an occasional basis) and with heavy
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...
content. ''Kerri-Anne'' was eventually replaced with a new incarnation of ''Mornings ''(now ''
Today Extra ''Today Extra'' is an Australian morning talk show, with an infotainment base, hosted by David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys. The show airs between 9:00 am and 11:30 am weekdays and follows the Nine Network's breakfast news program ' ...
'') presented by David Campbell and
Sonia Kruger Sonia Melissa Kruger is an Australian television presenter, actress and media personality. Kruger is currently the host of ''Big Brother (Australian TV series), Big Brother Australia'' and a presenter on ''The Voice (Australian TV series), The ...
in 2012. Kruger later resigned from the program and the network at the end of 2019, with former ''Today'' news presenter Sylvia Jeffreys announced as her replacement. ''Midday'' and various memorable events associated with the program continue to be regularly recalled in the Australian media, including an incident when an entertainer appeared to juggle chainsaws and live kittens which prompted complaints. Another ''Midday'' incident often referred to occurred in 1996 when host Kerri-Anne Kennerley, following a serious political discussion, coaxed Federal Treasurer
Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in Howard government, government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving trea ...
into learning the ''
Macarena "Macarena" is a song by Spanish pop duo Los del Río, originally recorded for their 1993 album '' A mí me gusta''. A dance remix by the electropop group Fangoria was a success in Spain, and a soundalike cover version by Los del Mar became ...
''. In 2020, media personality
Lisa Wilkinson Lisa Clare Wilkinson (Born 19 December 1959) is an Australian television presenter, journalist, and magazine editor. Wilkinson has previously co-hosted the Nine Network's breakfast television program, '' Today,'' with Karl Stefanovic (2007â ...
recalled a tense exchange she had with Nine boss
Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...
after being a guest on ''Midday'' in her capacity as the editor of '' Cleo'', also owned by Packer. During her appearance on ''Midday'', Wilkinson had revealed she had decided to discontinue the nude centrefold but had done so without consulting Packer which prompted him to immediately phone her to discuss the matter. In 2019, there were unsubstantiated reports the Seven Network was considering relaunching their own version of ''Midday''. Also that same year, the Nine Network launched ''Australia's Top 10 Of Everything'', a show featuring a look at all things nostagia including clips of interviews and segments from past and present flagship Nine programs including clips from ''Midday''. Since the programs inception in 2019,it has been rerun numerous times. Ongoing tension between ''Midday'' hosts Derryn Hinch and Kerri-Anne Kennerley has also kept attention on the program. In 2020, there was reported speculation that the Nine Network was considering relaunching the ''Midday'' show in the near future with Kerri-Anne Kennerley and
Samantha Armytage Samantha Armytage (born 4 September 1976) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. She was previously co-host of the Seven Network's breakfast television program ''Sunrise (Australian TV program), Sunrise'' from 2013 to 2021 alon ...
touted as potential hosts. Should a revival ever proceed, it is likely that the potential refreshed program would move away from the 80s, 90s variety halcyon days and replicate a format similar to ''Today Extra'' with heavy informercial content.


References


External links

{{IMDb title, id=0275143, title=Midday
Midday at the National Film and Sound Archive
Australian variety television shows Nine Network original programming 1985 Australian television series debuts 1998 Australian television series endings