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A Chronological History of Australian Soap
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<blockquote data-quote="Carrie Fairchild" data-source="post: 257368" data-attributes="member: 673"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Class of '74/'75 - 1974 to 1975</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://televisionau.com/wp-content/uploads/classof74_0002.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Having passed on Crawford's offerings in 1974, Seven were still on the lookout for an evening soap and turned to a man who would become synonymous with Australian soaps. Reg Grundy had up until this point been successfully making game shows but was looking to move into drama and between himself, ex-Crawford producer John Edwards (not to be confused with more recent super producer John Edwards of <em>The Secret Life of Us</em> et al) and Alan Coleman (later creator of <em>The Young Doctors</em>) came up with the idea for <em>Class of '74</em>. The show would follow the lives and loves of the senior students and staff of co-educational secondary school Waratah High. Seven insisted on no nudity, as they planned to air the show earlier in the evening than it's saucier Network Ten rivals but hoping to attract similar heat to said shows, Grundy's threw caution to the wind with their promotions in the lead up to the launch. And that's when they trouble began.</p><p></p><p>"Schoolroom Scandals Shock The Censor" screamed TV Week. "Young girls who are pretty and very sexy" said John Edwards. Pupil/teacher affairs! Black magic! Porn! It all lead to record breaking ratings for the show's first week but also put the show into the line of fire of the Broadcasting Control Board before it even went to air. Cuts were ordered from the first batch of episodes (the loss of virginity in a tent being one of the scenes that ended up in the bin) and timeslot changes were demanded as it was deemed unsuitable for the 7pm slot. This put Seven at odds with Grundys, as they had specifically ordered a G rated show because they had nowhere to put an adult rated soap in their schedules. Crisis talks took place between Grundy, Seven and the BCB as they tried to negotiate on the timeslot issue but the BCB won out and any further scripts had to be submitted to them for clearance before anything went to air.</p><p></p><p>Onscreen, the dramas never quite reached the heights of what was going on behind the scenes. The promised scandal of the student teacher love affair was wiped out when Mr Evans (played by Vince Martin, future <em>E Street</em> villain Mr Bad) was killed in a cave collapse. A planned priest and teacher fling didn't transpire while the students never did conjure up any black magic. The show still remained popular as it settled into the usual school drama stories of romance between students and the private lives of the staff, however more backstage upheaval was just around the corner. After just two months on air, it was announced that 10 out of the 17 regular cast were being dropped from contract status to a kind of recurring / freelance status, with a three month on, three month off rotation of characters planned. Some returned on rotation, others didn't. To fill the gap of those dropped, a slew of new pupils and teachers arrived but there was such a turnover of cast that only two pupils actually appeared on air continuously throughout the year (one being played by Megan Williams, later to appear in <em>The Sullivans </em>and <em>Return To Eden</em>). As the Class of '74 prepared for graduation, talks began on what shape the show would take when it returned in 1975, with Grundy's stating it would be more of a family show.</p><p></p><p><em>Class of '75</em> relaunched in January 1975 with a new comedy drama approach and a few familiar soapy faces including Anne Charleston, Briony Behets and Abigail, who was masquerading as a French teacher (including a dodgy French accent) but was actually an undercover cop! Waratah High had also become a boarding school during the summer break. The changes bombed and it wasn't long before Melbourne had shoved the show from it's primetime 7pm slot to 8am on Saturday mornings. Sydney remained a bit more optimistic and moved it to 5pm weekdays but it didn't fare much better there and after 290 episodes, the show bowed out with an all singing, all dancing finale as the show's various romances were resolved and the cast tap danced and sang 'Roll Out The Barrel' and 'Auld Lang Syne'. While it's run was brief and not particularly memorable (bar it's catchy theme tune), <em>Class of 74/'75</em> does leave a legacy in that it was the show that brought the legendary Reg Grundy to the soap genre and set the template for the many teen oriented Aussie soaps that would follow.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[MEDIA=youtube]8SuKElb2HUE[/MEDIA]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Carrie Fairchild, post: 257368, member: 673"] [CENTER][B]Class of '74/'75 - 1974 to 1975[/B] [IMG]https://televisionau.com/wp-content/uploads/classof74_0002.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] Having passed on Crawford's offerings in 1974, Seven were still on the lookout for an evening soap and turned to a man who would become synonymous with Australian soaps. Reg Grundy had up until this point been successfully making game shows but was looking to move into drama and between himself, ex-Crawford producer John Edwards (not to be confused with more recent super producer John Edwards of [I]The Secret Life of Us[/I] et al) and Alan Coleman (later creator of [I]The Young Doctors[/I]) came up with the idea for [I]Class of '74[/I]. The show would follow the lives and loves of the senior students and staff of co-educational secondary school Waratah High. Seven insisted on no nudity, as they planned to air the show earlier in the evening than it's saucier Network Ten rivals but hoping to attract similar heat to said shows, Grundy's threw caution to the wind with their promotions in the lead up to the launch. And that's when they trouble began. "Schoolroom Scandals Shock The Censor" screamed TV Week. "Young girls who are pretty and very sexy" said John Edwards. Pupil/teacher affairs! Black magic! Porn! It all lead to record breaking ratings for the show's first week but also put the show into the line of fire of the Broadcasting Control Board before it even went to air. Cuts were ordered from the first batch of episodes (the loss of virginity in a tent being one of the scenes that ended up in the bin) and timeslot changes were demanded as it was deemed unsuitable for the 7pm slot. This put Seven at odds with Grundys, as they had specifically ordered a G rated show because they had nowhere to put an adult rated soap in their schedules. Crisis talks took place between Grundy, Seven and the BCB as they tried to negotiate on the timeslot issue but the BCB won out and any further scripts had to be submitted to them for clearance before anything went to air. Onscreen, the dramas never quite reached the heights of what was going on behind the scenes. The promised scandal of the student teacher love affair was wiped out when Mr Evans (played by Vince Martin, future [I]E Street[/I] villain Mr Bad) was killed in a cave collapse. A planned priest and teacher fling didn't transpire while the students never did conjure up any black magic. The show still remained popular as it settled into the usual school drama stories of romance between students and the private lives of the staff, however more backstage upheaval was just around the corner. After just two months on air, it was announced that 10 out of the 17 regular cast were being dropped from contract status to a kind of recurring / freelance status, with a three month on, three month off rotation of characters planned. Some returned on rotation, others didn't. To fill the gap of those dropped, a slew of new pupils and teachers arrived but there was such a turnover of cast that only two pupils actually appeared on air continuously throughout the year (one being played by Megan Williams, later to appear in [I]The Sullivans [/I]and [I]Return To Eden[/I]). As the Class of '74 prepared for graduation, talks began on what shape the show would take when it returned in 1975, with Grundy's stating it would be more of a family show. [I]Class of '75[/I] relaunched in January 1975 with a new comedy drama approach and a few familiar soapy faces including Anne Charleston, Briony Behets and Abigail, who was masquerading as a French teacher (including a dodgy French accent) but was actually an undercover cop! Waratah High had also become a boarding school during the summer break. The changes bombed and it wasn't long before Melbourne had shoved the show from it's primetime 7pm slot to 8am on Saturday mornings. Sydney remained a bit more optimistic and moved it to 5pm weekdays but it didn't fare much better there and after 290 episodes, the show bowed out with an all singing, all dancing finale as the show's various romances were resolved and the cast tap danced and sang 'Roll Out The Barrel' and 'Auld Lang Syne'. While it's run was brief and not particularly memorable (bar it's catchy theme tune), [I]Class of 74/'75[/I] does leave a legacy in that it was the show that brought the legendary Reg Grundy to the soap genre and set the template for the many teen oriented Aussie soaps that would follow. [CENTER][MEDIA=youtube]8SuKElb2HUE[/MEDIA][/CENTER] [/QUOTE]
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