Why does this feel like a confession?
I know you’re going to laugh at me.
But I’m just going to spit it out and
you can judge me accordingly! I enjoy watching
the Logies.
There, I’ve said it! I almost-certainly never
know half the winners, but it takes me back to
my teenage years when I watched a lot more
television and lived for “TV’s night of nights”!
Remember when Kylie Minogue won the
Gold in 1988? I was 16, she was only three
years older than me and suddenly up there
with the likes of Graham Kennedy? At that
moment, I was convinced it was the end of the
world!
Now in my 40s, I will watch the Logies
on Sunday night, hoping the teenagers of today
are just as excited as I was.
Just as I hold on to the tradition that is the
Logies, I also enjoy the anti-Logies that have
popped up in recent years.
There were the
Fuglies, created in 2002 by social media marketer
Anthony Dever, who would fly from Brisbane
to Melbourne with a square of red carpet, stand
outside the Logies venue and announce the
online-voted winners to people walking past! The
Fuglies ran for seven years and included awards
such as Spunkiest Male on Australian Television
and Most Spankable Female.
Last year, Brisbane-based TV blogger Steve
Molk launched the Molkies, similar to the
Fuglies but culminating in a sponsored gala
awards night. The second annual Molkies
were held on 31 March with categories such
as Worst Product Placement (won by Coles for
Masterchef), World Program or Series (Kyle and
Jackie O’s Night With the Stars) and the Brown
Molkie for the Person You Always Change
Channels to Avoid (Kyle Sandilands).
Accepting his 2012 Gold Molkie for the
Person You Always Change Channels to Watch,
Adam Hills described the Molkies as “the true
gauge of quality in the Australian TV industry”!
But back to the Logies. I’m probably just
pining for that teenage Logie Award excitement,
but it’s 28 years since we had separate Logies for
each of the states. And I miss those awards.
In a moment, I’m going to ask you who
would win Most Popular Male and Female on
Queensland TV and Most Popular Queensland
show in 2012. But first here’s a little Logies
history, and why state-based awards won’t be
brought back in a hurry.
The first Logie Awards, in 1959, were part of
Channel Nine’s In Melbourne Tonight. No prizes
for guessing which show won Best Program.
In their second outing, the Logies had a
Best Presenter for each network! That lasted
just the one year. By 1961, the format and
categories started to settle down and statebased
Most Popular Male and Female Logies
were introduced.
Brian Tait and Nancy Knudsen were
Queensland’s inaugural winners, along with
Channel Seven’s The Late Show for Most
Popular Queensland Show.
Other Most Popular Queensland Male and
Female winners over the years included Jill and
Dick McCann, Paul and Rhonda Sharratt, George
Wallace jnr, Ron Caddee, Dina Heslop and for
nine consecutive years, Jacki MacDonald.
Theatre Royal, I’ve Got a Secret, Studio Nine
and the Dick McCann Show were among the
winners of Most Popular Queensland Show.
Inevitably, the downscaling of local television
production meant the Queensland Logies were
taking on a newsy hue.
From 1980 until the last
year of state-based Logies in 1984, Most Popular
Queensland Show was won by a 6.30pm current
affairs show, either Today Tonight (then on
Nine) or State Affair (on Seven).
When it came to Most Popular Male, the
variety show performers of the ’60s and ’70s
were pushed aside for the interviewers and
newsreaders, including Paul Griffin, Glenn
Taylor and Andrew Carroll.
Jacki MacDonald just kept on winning Most
Popular Female – from 1978 to 1984 – but
then Jacki always was the exception. Who else
could present Channel 0 News in Brisbane
then fly to Melbourne to co-host Hey Hey It’s
Saturday on Nine?!
In 2012, there are news, lifestyle and
children’s programs made here in Brisbane.
So, if state-based Logies were to be reinstated,
who would win Most Popular Male and Most
Popular Female? And what would be Most
Popular Queensland Show? Email your votes
to the email address below and I’ll report back
in a couple of weeks. And no, you can’t vote
for Jacki MacDonald!
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