| Good Morning Australia | |
|---|---|
| Also known as |
|
| Genre | Talk show Variety show |
| Presented by | Bert Newton |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 14 |
| No. of episodes | 3,213 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Running time | 120–150 mins (inc. ads) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Network Ten |
| Release | 20 January 1992 – 16 December 2005 |
| Related | |
| |
Good Morning Australia (or GMA), also known as GMA with Bert Newton, originally titled The Morning Show, was an Australian breakfast television variety program on Network Ten hosted by Bert Newton between 20 January 1992 and 16 December 2005 featuring regular segments and celebrity guests[1]
The program aired from 9:00 am to 11:00 am or 11:30 am. The show was a lead in to the 11:30 News.
Program history
Good Morning Australia (GMA) debuted on Network Ten on 20 January 1992 with the title The Morning Show, changing its name the following year from 1 February 1993 to Good Morning Australia after the breakfast news program with the same name on the same network had previously aired between 1981 and December 1992.
Good Morning Australia itself replaced the long running Sydney based Til-Ten which was presented by Joan McInnes. GMA was Australia's first national morning talk program, unchallenged ratings wise until October 2002, when the Nine Network launched Mornings with Kerri-Anne.
For most of 1992, the program was produced in Melbourne from Ten's Nunawading Studios; from 1993 following the changing of the name to Good Morning Australia (aka GMA with Bert Newton), production of the show moved to level 4 at Network Ten's South Yarra studios.
The show featured numerous guests in each episode, often singers and actors. Regular segments included cooking, crafts, gardening, movie reviews and parenting. There was a segment called "In Bed with Bert", where four of his regulars answer questions that Newton reads. The questions were sent from viewers at home.
Often the off-camera crew acted as the studio audience. Starting in 2005 the public could view the taping on Fridays.
Bert Newton's sign off at the end of each program was: "We'll see you tomorrow [or ‘Monday’ on Friday's show] morning at 9:00".
Originally the program was live-to-air on Mondays and Tuesdays, and live-to-tape on Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays. From mid-2004 onwards, the show became live-to-air five days a week to compete with Mornings with Kerri Anne.
In October 2005, Network Ten announced that GMA would be cancelled at the end of the year after a fourteen-year run. Following this announcement and after months of speculation, Bert Newton decided to leave Ten and return to the Nine Network.[2][3]
The final live edition of Good Morning Australia aired Friday 16 December 2005, and included guest appearances by former GMA regular Susie Elelman and showbiz legend Maria Venuti. The following week, GMA switched to summer mode, with the summer show airing from 19 December 2005. The summer series of Good Morning Australia ended on 27 January 2006, a week before the premiere of 9am with David and Kim.
Musical direction
John Foreman was the program's musical director from the program's inception in 1992[4] for GMA until his retirement in 2004, when Mark Amato was appointed as his replacement for the final two years.[5]
Musicians, entertainers and singers
Some of the musicians that have performed on the show include:
| Performers |
| The Seekers |
| Toni Lamond |
| Tina Arena |
| Guy Sebastian |
| Rhonda Burchmore |
| Abby Joyce |
| Carmen Hendricks |
| Anthony Callea |
| Reverend Funk and the Horns of Salvation |
| Cosima De Vito |
| Gloria Gaynor |
| Tommy Rando |
| Susie French |
| Melissa Langton |
| Mark Jones |
| Get O Roukes The Gear |
| Ricki-Lee Coulter |
| Jimmy Cupples |
| Richard Mortimer |
| Kate DeAraugo |
| Hayley Jensen |
| Matt Amy's Really Big Band |
| Shannon Noll |
| Joey Dee |
| Jerson Trinidad |
| Tina Cousins |
| Lucy Gale |
| Angela Librandi |
| Matt Hetherington |
| Kellie Wright |
| Tracy Kingman |
Regular segment contributors
The program had many regular contributors to various topical segments. Robert Mascara, the floor manager and assistant director for the programme's entire run, appeared as "Belvedere", the official food taste tester during the cooking segments.[6]
Celebrity chefs
| Chefs | Specialist cooking style |
| Elizabeth Chong | Chinese cuisine |
| Iain Hewitson | Various |
| Gabriel Gate | French cuisine |
| Dorinda Hafner | South African cuisine |
| Ken James | |
| Tonia Todman (Note:[7]) |
Cast Regulars
| Name | Segment |
| Patti Newton | Various segments/singer |
| Lauren Newton | Reporter |
| Paul Bongiorno | Politics |
| John-Michael Howson | Entertainment reporter |
| Phillip Brady | Collectibles/nostalgia (milestones and tombstones) |
| Karen Moregold | Astrology |
| Jane Edmondson | Gardening |
| Chyka Keebaugh | Homemaking and styling |
| Tonia Todman | Crafts |
| Nicky Buckley | Parenting |
| Julie Summerfield | Pet care |
| Jemma Gawned | Beauty |
| Virginia Hey | Beauty |
| Colette Mann | Gadgets |
| Ann-Maree Biggar | Gadgets and DVD reviews |
| Val Jellay | Movie reviews |
| Shane Bourne | DVD reviews |
| Axle Whitehead | Music reviews |
| Robert Mascara | As Belvedere on-air personality/studio floor manager |
| Bruce Mansfield | Collectibles |
| Yves Hernot | Antiques valuation and art |
Shannon Watts joined GMA in May 2005 replacing Ed Phillips who went on to host Temptation for the Nine Network. Shannon was soon put out in the field hosting segments from the AFL Grand Final, the Australian Grand Prix and the Gold Coast Indy 300. Not long after, Shannon was appointed as an advertorial presenter on GMA. Shannon did over 160 episodes of Good Morning Australia. Shannon stayed with GMA until the show's end and went on to be a reporter on the replacement show 9am with David & Kim.
Fill-in presenters
A number of people have filled in for Bert Newton as presenter over the years when he was either ill or on leave. The people that have filled in for him include:
| Name | Tenure | Notability |
| Maggie Tabberer (AM) | 1998-1999 (various) | Fashion editor/media personality |
| Kerri Anne Kennerley | 1995 before Monday – Friday | TV presenter, host of Midday and Mornings with Kerri-Anne |
| Rove McManus | 2004– Friday 10 June 2005 | TV host/executive host of Rove Live |
| Daniel MacPherson | Monday 13 June 2005 | Actor and Dancing with the Stars host |
| Mark Holden | Tuesday 14 June 2005 | Musician and judge on Australian Idol |
| Stephen Quartermain | Wednesday 15 June 200 | Sports presenter of Ten News First Melbourne |
| Gretel Killeen | Thursday 16 June 2005 | host of Big Brother |
Advertorials
The show featured a number of advertorial presenters
| Name | Tenure | Reference |
| Moira McLean | 1992-2005 | ,[8] |
| Susie Elelman | 1993-1999 | [9] |
| Ed Phillips | 2000 – May 2005 | , |
| Shannon Watts | September 2005 – December 2005) | |
| Marianne van Dorslar | 199?–2005 | [10] |
The advertorials were for products from various local and international direct selling companies Danoz Direct, Guthy Renker and Global Shop Direct.
Related shows
Prior to Newton's tenure as host of GMA Network Ten in Melbourne ran a similar program titled Good Morning Melbourne hosted by Roy Hampson and Annette Allison During Hampson's tenure. The program had a number of different titles, such as The Roy Hampson Show and Roundabout.
Successor
Network Ten successor to GMA was 9am with David & Kim, hosted by musician David Reyne and journalist/news anchor Kim Watkins, which had a similar format, however 9am was not filmed in front of the live studio audience.[11]
See also
References
- ↑ Back to Bert, Brian Courtis, The Age, 30 May 2002. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ↑ Bert Newton says future unclear, The Age, 28 October 2005. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ↑ Goodbye Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 October 2005. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ↑ On the Couch with John Foreman, Arts Review, 16 December 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ↑ About Mark, Mark Amato website. Accessed 30 April 2017.
- ↑ Where are they now?: Belvedere from Good Morning Australia, news.com.au, 21 May 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ↑ Todman took on the dual role of presenting both the cooking segment and the craft segment.
- ↑ About Us: Here's Moira Archived 15 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Here's Moira website. Accessed 30 April 2017.
- ↑ Film & TV Tutors: Susie Elelman Archived 28 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Screenwise website. Accessed 30 April 2017.
- ↑ Speaker Profile: Marianne van Dorslar, Saxton website. Accessed 30 April 2017.
- ↑ Ten pins daytime hopes on 9am, Robert Fidgeon, Herald Sun via Vogue Australia website, 12 January 2006. Accessed 30 April 2017.