THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
September 14, 1996, Saturday
SECTION: FULLPAGE / LOCAL; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 966 words
HEADLINE: On his selection: Graham Kennedy picks the highs and the lows
BYLINE: GRAHAM KENNEDY
BODY:
Q. Do you watch television any more and if so, why?
A. I know it's fashionable to admit to watching only the ABC and SBS but I really do find myself watching those channels more often lately.
Here in the bush, I get a better quality picture on those networks, which could have something to do with it. If there's a good movie or series (like Cracker) I haven't seen on the commercial stations I will watch, and the local weather on Prime is a must. But because of advancing years (63 soon) and a fondness for Beefeater gin (that should be worth a case!
I'm quite often snoring by 8pm.
Q. After those exciting, frantic early days of TV, do you miss any of it, or are you happier now? How do you fill your days?
A. With 124 acres (I didn't ever conquer the metric system) of various noxious weeds, bracken and rabbits there's always something to do. I have horses and dogs which need feeding and worming and fencing repairs never cease. I don't miss the television business which I always found very hard work.
Q. After 40 years of television, you are still widely regarded as the King. Do you think this reputation is deserved?
A. That sobriquet was bestowed upon me by one of your colleagues many years ago, as was Gra-Gra and others.
It's all nonsense, of course, but of considerable help to subeditors.
Q. After your own personal controversies, any thoughts on censorship?
A. If you mostly watch ABCTV and SBS there seems to be no censorship!
Q. Your wit was laced with irreverence. Who on television carries your legacy today?
A. With nothing live any more, I would venture no one.
Q. Do you think the nature of what makes people laugh has changed in 40 years?
A. No. Some of the newer comedians feel that by adding four-letter words they are improving their routines but after five Fs in as many minutes they are devaluing the impact of the word and achieving nothing. Then again, perhaps I'm jealous: in my time not even a bloody was allowed.
Q. On whom do you now practise your wit?
A. Henry. He's a retriever with a great sense of fun. Of course, with a dog, it has to be visual.
Q. What images does Bendigo St, Richmond (GTV9 studios, from which IMT was telecast), summon up for you today?
A. I remember the former Wurtheim piano factory (and later Heinz) with a great deal of fondness. It was a most ungainly television factory but well-loved by all of us. Still is.
Q. Doing that quirky, latenight news was an odd thing.
How did that come about?
A. I invented the combination of news with comedy on 11am at the Seven Network. It's not easy to do without offending almost everyone but once you've learned to do it (there's a trick to it) it can be great fun.
The Nine Network asked me to do it again years later (News Show/Coast To Coast) and it was a huge success (and not very expensive either, which has immediate appeal to commercial TV networks).
Q. What reading is on your bedside table?
A. Howard Hughes, The Untold Story and Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language.
Q. You are known for communicating by fax. Any plans to upgrade to the Internet?
A. I refuse to read and learn any more manuals on anything. I can work my toaster and shaver: the instruction book that comes with the VCR has instructions in both English and Swedish - the latter makes just as much sense to me as the former.
Q. What's your fondest memory in 40 years of TV?
A. In nearly 50 years of broadcasting I can honestly say that I've never been in a show that I didn't like. Although, I'm ashamed to admit, I did a couple of movies for the money only. I've never had to work at anything else: a claim few Australian actors can make.
I've never had to drive a taxi between jobs. On TV I've hosted variety, game shows, had parts in mini series - even read the news, all of which I've enjoyed while being terrified most of the time.
Q. And your worst memory?
A. There have been terrible moments and I find it curious that the memory erases these as I get older.
Q. Any regrets?
A. No, not really. In 1957 it would have helped if I'd known about agents: I'm sure I would have fared better than six pounds a night!
But money wasn't important then: we all were in the beginning of an exciting new medium and we just wanted to learn it and do it - that was reward enough.
# # # In the history of Australian television only one personality stands out as the undisputed King. As the host of In Melbourne Tonight, and later the Graham Kennedy Show, Blankety Blanks, and even a late-night news program, Graham Kennedy was a live-wire, dazzling with his improvisational comedy routines, laughing at the stitched-up nature of television, lampooning everything and everyone mercilessly.
Audiences adored this man with his large, expressive frog eyes, his mischievous schoolboy manner and his utterly irreverent style. Many people still pay homage.
On the 40th anniversary of television in Australia, Graham Kennedy agreed to a rare interview with The Weekend Australian. But in these days of multimedia, we conversed not by satellite or video, not by phone or fax, not even by Internet. Instead, the man who was once at the forefront of the newest medium in town chose one of the oldest means of communication - the mail.
Surprisingly, he describes his experience in front of a camera as labouring, even terrifying at times. While he shrugs off the moniker The King, he ventures that no one carries his legacy today. At 62, he shuns the spotlight, recently declining an invitation to host a Nine Network special for the 40th anniversary of television. Instead his time is spent working on his property in the NSW Southern Highlands, sharing the precious Gra-Gra wit with his dog, Henry, and reading about famous recluse Howard Hughes.
