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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»News & Sport
    News & Sport TV Shows - 1970s TV Shows - 1980s TV Shows - 1990s 2 Mins Read

    A Current Affair

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    1 9 7 1 – 1 9 7 8 (Australia)
    1 9 8 8 – current (Australia)

    An Australian magazine programme that started life as a bona fide current affairs news show (hence the name) but degenerated over the years to the point where it almost exclusively broadcasts “sensational” one-sided stories on things such as diet fads, welfare cheats, warring neighbours, miracle drugs, negligent doctors and dodgy builders.

    The programme has been successfully sued a number of times for defamation.

    It’s not news. It’s not current affairs. It has become tasteless, boring, irrelevant and bordering on illiterate – but it’s a massive ratings winner year after year. That says quite a lot . . .

    A Current Affair was first broadcast on 22 November 1971 with Mike Willesee hosting. It was essentially This Day Tonight transplanted to commercial TV. It screened at 7:00 pm on weeknights on Channel Nine and comedian and actor Paul Hogan had a comic social commentary segment on the early shows.

    When Willesee left the network in 1974, journalist Mike Minehan took over as the presenter. The show was cancelled on 28 April 1978.

    ACA returned in 1988 with former 60 Minutes presenter Jana Wendt (pictured) at the helm until she resigned in November 1992, unhappy with a story showing topless women.

    Original presenter Mike Willesee took over for a year and in February 1994, Ray Martin became the presenter and remained until the end of November 1998, when he was succeeded by Mike Munro.

    The show came under fire in 1993 for its role in a police siege in NSW where Mike Willesee interviewed the child hostages mid-siege by phone.

    And in 1996, ACA, then anchored by Ray Martin, sparked a nationwide outcry when it covered the Paxtons – a family of “dole bludgers” who refused to work.

    The follow-up by media maverick John Safran, in which he and one of the Paxtons door-stopped Ray Martin and went through his rubbish bin became equally famous.

    When Munro was axed from the programme in 2002, Martin returned until December 2005. The show was re-launched in January 2006 with new presenter Tracy Grimshaw, who has remained with the show since.

    Host
    Mike Willesee
    Mike Minehan
    Michael Schildberger
    Jana Wendt
    Ray Martin
    Mike Munro
    Tracy Grimshaw

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    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64442824 ... See MoreSee Less

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    Television frontman Tom Verlaine dies at 73

    www.bbc.co.uk

    His band rose to fame in the 1970s New York punk scene, scoring UK hits including Marquee Moon.
    23 hours ago
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    Mr Blobby costume sells for more than £62,000 on eBay

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    The character, made famous by BBC show Noel's House Party, had been in storage since the 1990s.
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    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

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    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

    More sad news 😪

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    US rock legend David Crosby dies aged 81

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Crosby, who co-founded both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, had been ill for some time.
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    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

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    All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .
    ... See MoreSee Less

    1 week ago
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    I thought we would have moving pavements by now when I was a kid 😂

    Totally agree!!!

    The new Tesla, 4.6 next century.

    We got transvestite story hour instead

    We appear to be going backwards

    There's actually a very good David Graeber essay on this very topic: thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit

    The Jetsons strike again.

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    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

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    That is so sad to hear 😥 rest in peace 🙏 🕊 xx

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    😍😍😍😍

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