Is this the non-scoop of the century? I've just received a press release saying Wally Lewis will speak exclusively to Channel 9 news tonight about his mystery illness. Of course he will; he works for Channel 9. It'd be a surprise if he told all to anyone else.
Update: Wally revealed he is epileptic and, of course, he deserves our best wishes.

After the departure of Tracey Spicer from Ten and Naomi Robson from Seven's Today Tonight, Crikey is calling it the "boning season" in television. Of course, officially neither of them were actually sacked - Robson made her own decision to move on and Spicer's contract expired. It makes one wonder, however, how many more departures will occur over the festive season. The rumour mill is already running hot, but I have it on good authority that one Brisbane TV program that is routinely written off around this time of the year will definitely be back in 2007.

This just in: Naomi Robson, whose future as host of Today Tonight has been the subject of much discussion in recent weeks, will make a "special announcement" on the program tonight.
Update: She's leaving; more here.

I guess it's a matter of how contrived you want your "reality" TV to be. Gold Coast chess champ and Dancing with the Stars contestant Arianne Caoli is under fire because she's allegedly a well-trained dancer - even though she told host Daryl Somers that she'd never had a dance lesson. My care factor's pretty low, but people are voting on this thing and the producers owe it them to preserve some integrity in the process.

For some reason, some people have been visiting this site for information about Paul "Fatty" Vautin. I assume it's something to do with a blog item I wrote after I ran into Fatty a few months ago at a Channel 9 function for The Footy Show (NRL version). All I can tell you about Fatty is that he grew up in vaguely the same part of Brisbane I did and that he played for Wests Mitchelton rugby league club before hitting the big time as an A-grade player and now a TV personality. He seems like a reasonable kind of bloke and he still makes time to support his old juniors club, which is a good thing. This site might be helpful if you want to know more.

Opposition leader Kim Beazley's gaffe in calling Rove McManus "Karl Rove" reminded me of former Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, whose clumsy way with words was legendary. When asked what he thought of (the satirical television program) The Gillies Report, Bjelke-Petersen purportedly replied "Well, it's a very long report and I haven't read all of it yet."

As I said on my other blog:

And the Michael Cole Award* for most boorish behaviour by a visiting celebrity involving a bottle of liquor goes to Johnny Knoxville. In other ARIA Awards news, didn’t Queenslanders Bernard Fanning, The Veronicas and Troy Cassar-Daley do well? I thought it interesting, though, that the two awards based on actual record sales went to industry “outsiders” (i.e. people who don’t fit the image that the music biz likes to present and don’t get played a lot on mainstream radio) - dance act TV Rock featuring Seany B (biggest-selling single) and reborn boy band Human Nature (biggest-selling album)..

* Michael Cole was the star of The Mod Squad who, in a tired and emotional state, swore during the Logies telecast in 1973.

"Market research is crap. It doesn't tell you what people are going to like, it tells you what they already like. What you want is bold, fresh ideas. You will never get that from advertisers, commercial people or businessmen." So said the obviously still feisty former ITV boss Sir Denis Forman, 89, in an interview conducted before university media and communications students. He also said: "In the 50s, we had at least two quiz shows in the top 10 ITV programmes, made for absolute peanuts. Now that's the way to run a TV service." Read more here.

"Diva-like conduct is certainly not unusual. You have a lot of egos there, and you have a lot of creative people who think they're more creative than the other." That's what TV historian Tim Brooks said when asked about reports of fights on the set of Grey's Anatomy between actors Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey. He cited incidents in Moonlighting, Desperate Housewives and Charmed.

There's no stopping Star Trek's William Shatner. According to reports from the US, he is about to host a TV game show called Show Me the Money. According to a BBC report, contestants in the show will have the chance to win millions of dollars by answering trivia questions but will also risk losing everything they have accumulated. Should be a doddle for a man who can pilot an interstellar aircraft.

Doctor Who has been officially confirmed as the longest-running sci-fi television show. The show debuted on November 23, 1963, and was revived in 2005 after 16 years off the screen. Nevertheless, it has clocked up 723 episodes featuring 10 different Doctors: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davidson, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. American series Stargate SG-1 holds the record for longest-running consecutive sci-fi show.
PS: In unrelated TV news, congratulations to new father Shannon Noll. There's more at the ie blog.

An article in today's Courier-Mail has Australia's Funniest Home Videos host Toni Pearen saying that she doesn't pay too much attention to criticisms such as a recent newspaper article calling her a "pissy" celebrity. I have no issue with Pearen at all - in fact, I met her many years ago when she was doing a stage show in Brisbane and found her to be a bright and charming person. I do have an issue with her show, though. I don't watch it, but from what I've seen on the promos, it just amounts to "funny" footage of people - often children - and animals being hurt. A few years ago, I saw a group of boys filming each other riding wheely bins down an innercity street in the hope of winning a prize on the show. How would Pearen, or her producers, have felt if these kids had

What a difference a day makes. Sometime soon after Jana Wendt went from Nine, the logo on the website for her former program, Sunday, was changed. Although the website does refer to the "new-look Sunday, it doesn't yet feature pictures or profiles of the people tipped to replace her, Ellen Fanning, Ross Greenwood and Stephanie Brantz. In fact, at the time of writing, Wendt's profile is still there.

Sunday host Jana Wendt has followed Rick Burnett and a host of others out the door at Channel 9. Would the last to leave ...

So, this is what we've been waiting 50 years for: Channel 7 will be celebrating a half-century of television in Australian with a reunion of the original cast from A Country Practice. A gala event hosted by Mel and Kochie (that's Melissa Doyle and David Koch for the benefit of the 19,500,000 Australians who don't watch Sunrise) on September 17 will also see a reunion of the Daddo brothers - Cameron, Andrew and Lachie - and will feature appearances by Hollywood actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly (who, presumably, will just happen to be in the country at the time flogging their latest film, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby). Other "big" names to take part will be John Burgess, Lindy Chamberlain, Alan Bond, Stuart Diver and Molly Meldrum. It's so exciting.

Longtime Extra host Rick Burnett has left the station to "spend more time with his family", according to a Channel 9 press release issued today. In the statement, Burnett says: "After 15 years with Extra I’m extremely proud of what we have achieved. It’s been tremendously hard work, but very fulfilling. I’m now looking forward to the new challenges ahead." As rumoured over the weekend, he will be replaced by newsreader Jillian Whiting.

In The Courier-Mail this morning, columnist Dianne Butler tips that Jillian Whiting will host Channel 9's Extra next year. I imagine this is based on the information imparted recently by a person from another station that Extra rated higher when regular host Rick Burnett was absent earlier this year and Whiting was in the chair. It's an interesting suggestion, and it certainly makes a change from the usual annual prediction that Extra - the only show of its kind in Australia - will be axed altogether.
PS: In other Channel 9 news, 4BC breakfast show producer Bruno Bouchet tells me he's leaving the world of radio to become a producer at A Current Affair.

As much as I'm aware that smoking is a health hazard, I can't agree with plans in the UK to edit-out smoking scenes from classic cartoons like The Flinstones, Tom and Jerry, The Jetsons and Scooby Doo. It is, quite simply, vandalism. If health officials are worried that kids might follow suit, the shows could carry warnings at the beginning and end. Just as Road Runner cartoons could carry warnings against putting on roller skates and strapping Acme brand fireworks to your backpack.

"This is what happens when you don't mock Scientology." That's what producer The Simpsons producer Al Jean said when accepting the show's ninth Emmy award for best animated series. The Simpsons beat South Park, which was nominated for its episode parodying Tom Cruise and his religion. There's more about the "creative arts Emmys" here. The real Emmys (which, presumably, aren't for creativity or art) get handed out next week.

I didn't catch the debut of David Tench Tonight on Thursday because I was at the theatre. But I did get a personalised DVD - which, unfortunately, seized up before I could play it all the way through (or copy the video). I managed to rescue this audio grab though. Pity he can't pronounce my name properly. It's deb-ritz, not de-britz. Before I start to feel too special, I notice that the Tench website offers you the chance to send a friend a message from the man himself (albeit only by email).