Fri / Sat / Sun Jan 19 / 20 / 21

FRIDAY 19
[Ten/7:30pm] Smallville. “Hypnotic" Guest: James Marsters. At the end of the episode during its first airing, there was a "In Memory of Dana Reeve (1961-2006)" dedication along with the URL for the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

[Ten/10:45pm] Veronica Mars. “Versatile Toppings" When a private website for Neptune High's gay students is hacked, and the members blackmailed, Veronica finds it difficult to track down the culprit when the victims want to remain anonymous. Meanwhile, Hannah finds out Logan's true intentions, and Keith believes he has found an alibi for Terrence.

[ABC/8:30pm] Agatha Christie's Poirot : Death On The Nile. Death on the Nile, an Agatha Christie mystery starring David Suchet as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is filmed on location in Egypt and in England. This telemovie also features James Fox, Emma Malin (The Cazalets), David Soul (Starsky and Hutch), JJ Field and a cast of British acting luminaries. Jacqueline de Bellefort, a feisty and clever young woman is engaged to Simon Doyle (JJField) who is handsome and loveable but not very well off. When Simon loses his job, Jackie appeals to her old school friend, the rich and beautiful American heiress, Linnet Ridgeway, to give Simon a job. Linnet does more than that. Much to Jackie's despair, Linnet seduces and marries Simon herself. Seeking her revenge, Jackie follows the happy couple around, haunting every honeymoon destination. It is in Egypt where they bump into Hercule Poirot. The Doyles devise a secret plan to evade Jackie and book themselves on to a Nile cruise, but they are devastated when they discover her on the sun deck. Poirot is deeply concerned by events. Then Linnet is found dead, shot though the head with the letter J scrawled in blood on the wall next to her. Poirot sets to work interviewing all the passengers. As he begins to piece the crime together Poirot establishes that many of them have hidden secrets. Then Linnet's maid is found dead.

[ABC/10:55pm] Ronnie Wood(CC, Rpt, M* coarse language) Melvyn Bragg takes an exclusive look behind the public image of rock icon Ronnie Wood to see how he deals with fame by combining his two passions, music and painting.

[SBS/10:00pm] Diary Of A Teenage Nudist – 18-year-old Bianca Badham grew up in a “typical” British nudist club. Now, fascinated by the rise of teenage nudism on both sides of the Atlantic, she goes on a journey to discover why nudism is now so popular with British and American youth, and whether this is harmless fun or a paedophiles dream? On her journey, Bianca meets other young people who have discovered nudism to ask them what it’s really about and why they enjoy it so much. Along the way she wrestles with some of the pitfalls of an activity that for many is utterly taboo. As well as meeting young British nudists at a weekend event, she catches up with Ayman – self-conscious at being the only black man at a nudist beach – as well as teenage Ben, who takes part in a nudist bike ride. Bianca travels to America where nudist ideology is being actively promoted to children. She attends a nudist camp in New York State, and Nudestock 2004 in Sacramento – the biggest nudist rock festival in the world. Bianca also visits experts such as professors and sex therapists who raise questions about whether nudism has a sexual side, what its benefits might be, and whether in the current atmosphere of paedophile paranoia, it is still possible for teenage nudism to be pursued in the spirit it was originally intended. (From the UK, in English) MA (N,A) (Rpt) CC WS

[Ovation/7:00pm] The Scene

Cable movies: Virgin Suicides, Madame Sata, Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows,

SATURDAY 20
[Nine/1:00pm] Kelloggs Nutri Grain Ironman Series.

[SBS/9:50pm] Movie: Nathalie – When Catherine (Fanny Ardant), an upper class middle-aged obstetrician, finds out her husband Bernard (Gerard Depardieu), a busy executive, has occasional extra-marital affairs, she hires the services of a beautiful prostitute, Marlène (Emmanuelle Beart), to seduce him. Marlène pretends to be a respectable language student called Nathalie and does everything in her power to seduce Bernard. As part of her deal with Catherine, she must investigate his sex life and report back to her the intimate details, thus providing answers to the questions that now obsess Catherine regarding her philandering husband. Directed by Anne Fontaine, this film was nominated for the Audience Award at the 2004 European Film Awards. (From France, in French, English subtitles) (Drama) (2003) MA (A,S) WS

[Movie Extra/8:30pm] Nightmare and Dreamscapes. A wrong turn on a lonely road turns frightening for Clark and Mary Willingham as they stumble upon a town not on any map - Rock and Roll Heaven, Oregon. There is a free concert every night, but the price of admission is high - once the audience enters, it can never leave. Kim Delaney. Kristian Schmid. Andre de Vanny. Jacinta Stapelton. Damien Richardson. Mitchell Butell.

SUNDAY 21
[ABC/2:00pm] Living Famously : Peter Sellers (CC, G, Rpt)
The story of the life and career of one of Britain's true comic geniuses, Peter Sellers, whose prolific radio, television and film career masked a sad, insecure and restless "man of a thousand voices" unable to find his own.

[ABC/4:30pm] One Night Only! Rod Stewart In Concert (CC, G, Rpt)
Filmed at Royal Albert Hall, Rod Stewart performs some of his best-known hits accompanied by the BBC's 60-piece concert orchestra and special guests Chrissie Hynde, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, and new discovery, Amy Bell.

[ABC/7:30pm] Kidnapped (CC, PG) Davie and Alan are accused of the murder and are forced on a wild flight through the Scottish Highlands pursued by ruthless bounty hunters. CAST: James Anthony Pearson, Adrian Dunbar

[ABC/8:30pm] Shakespeare Retold. The Taming Of The Shrew. Katherine Minola (Shirley Henderson - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Bridget Jones's Diary), is an ambitious, talented politician, earmarked as a future leader. Blistering in her attacks on the Government, she lives for her work but has no time or interest in life outside Parliament. Her sister, Bianca (Jaime Murray - Hustle), is an internationally successful supermodel, who has the world at her feet and men throwing themselves at her. Among them are the gorgeous young Italian, Lutentio (Santiago Cabrera), as well as her devoted manager, Harry (Stephen Tompinson). Katherine is warned that to get the top job, she needs to be perceived as having a life and a husband. So when the overwhelming, eccentric, and titled Petruchio (Rufus Sewell - Tristan + Isolde, The Illusionist) bursts onto the scene and almost immediately proposes, she decides to take the plunge. She likes him and, more importantly, marrying him would do her career no harm at all… However, after their whirlwind romance, things go downhill very quickly, beginning at their wedding. Petruchio turns up drunk and wearing women's clothes. The photographers have a field day, and Katherine is humiliated beyond words. So begins a battle for power - both hilarious and disturbing - as these two extreme personalities seek to discover if anything does exist between them, aside from hurtled insults and rebuffs.

[ABC/11:55pm] Tipping The Velvet (CC, Rpt, M* Adult themes and sex scenes) Nan Astley works in her parents' oyster-parlour. All the family love the music hall and it's here that Nan first encounters Kitty, the woman who is to change her life forever. CAST: Rachael Stirling, Keeley Hawes

[Nine/10:00pm] Movie: Three Kings (US 1999) The story of a group of adventurous American soldiers in Iraq who are determined to steal a huge cache of gold hidden within the desert. Finding a map, they embark on a journey that leads to unexpected discoveries, enabling them to rise to a heroic challenge that drastically changes their lives. Stars George Clooney, Mark
Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Jamie Kennedy. Rpt.

[Nine/12:25am Mon] Movie: Goodbye Lover (US 1999) Ben and Sandra are hot and provocative lovers, but Sandra is unfortunately married to Ben's younger brother Jake, and soon Jake will find out about Ben. Stars Patricia Arquette, Dermot Mulroney and Ellen DeGeneres. Strong Violence [V] Some Coarse Language [L] Sex Scenes [S]

[Ten/9:35pm] The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2006. Performance by Justin Timberlake.
[Ten/11:35pm] Battlestar Galactica Scar

[Arena/8:30pm] Entourage
[Hallmark/8:30pm] The New Poseidon Adventure. (US 2005) With Steve Guttenberg, Rutger Hauer, Adam Baldwin and Bryan Brown.
[World Movies/10:25pm] Memories of Murder (South Korea 2005) Read more...

Trouble at the SBS desk?

Next Monday SBS launches its new hour-long World News at 6:30pm.

Joining Mary Kostakidis will be Stan Grant at the SBS desk.

There are reports that Mary isn't too rapt in having to share the gig. And one also has to ask, just how many reporters and crew does SBS news actually have? Many in the industry are smirking that the World News is little more than a news feed from satellite services.

While the network is still softly, softly handling an audience annoyed with ads, it seems the news will have three ad breaks.

And while we're on the subject, why didn't Anton Enus get the gig?
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Media launch: 1 vs 100

Last night I attended the media launch for 1 vs 100 at Studio Central at Docklands - the only place big enough to accommodate the whopping set Nine needs for the show.

And that's what people are going to be talking about with this show -the set, the set, the set. It's 3 stories high and when the lights are on and the music is spinning it looks quite a sight. I was one of the 100 trialling the game for the launch.

I was way up in the gods, peering down on Eddie McGuire and FOX FM's Matt Tilley (the "1") as they took us through the game. I've also seen the American production and in almost every way ours is identical. Okay maybe not so many "whoops" thank God.

1 vs 100 is very much Deal meets Millionaire (presumably the reason its being rested). For this trial version it didn't matter whether we got the questions right or wrong, we were just randomly buzzed out at some point (grr!). So I was out after about 4 questions, and I got pretty bored after that. I'm sure if I was a real contestant and there was real money at stake the adrenelin would be pumping. But this was all a bit of fun.

One of the curious aspects of the show's format is the phrasing of questions and answers. ie. "Which 2005 film won the Best Documentary Oscar in 2005?" The multiple choice answers showed: a) The one with the Farm Animals b) The one with the Cyclists c) The one with the Penguins? I'm not sure why they just didn't have the titles there, and I bet leaving such variance open for interpretation will come back and bite them in the bum sometime down the track.

The show's "lifeline" options also differ from Millionaire and I'm not sure we really understood them. This is where I think the simplicity of Millionaire, together with its stakes, works extremely well. They'll want to give away big, big amounts in the first few eps I imagine.

Eddie is also the right host for this. Whether you like him or not, he's very accomplished at this sort of thing, and I even agree he can juggle the CEO role and the hosting of this by just knocking over a few of these in back to back recordings. I'm told he's happier to do this from Melbourne where the crews are used to a high turnaround of live entertainment and there are less nosy Sydney execs peering over your shoulder. But if the show doesn't take hold here he will wear a lot of flak.

And there are 100 Sydney journos ready to take on the 1 of Eddie.

Disclaimer: I was one of 10 people who won a $100 electricals voucher as part of the media launch. Yeah!


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Jamie blitzes Nine for Seven.

So Jamie Durie not only quits Nine, but he signs with Seven. No wonder the press release from Nine announcing his departure included the words "the network will make no further comment."

There are lots of stories spinning about Jamie wanting more money, having no shows offered from Nine and even talk that small successes in the US have gone to his head. Sounds a lot like he went to whichever network could include his local / US schedule. What is clear is that Nine last year was on record as saying that they felt the gardening / lifestlye genre had been exhausted. Seven doesn't seem to agree, quickly adding Durie to a new show it already had in development, Best Backyards.

Personally, I happen to agree with Nine. Who wants to see more backyards in prime time? Half the country is in drought for god's sake.

That said, Durie is good talent and will make an ironic inclusion on Dancing with the Stars 6, particularly given he was host of Dancing on Ice (a show that thankfully seems to be permanently on ice now). Durie has of course had dancing lessons before with his ManPower strippers group, so we look forward to more cries of "foul" and media spin.
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