The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 210

uwiniwc i Here's to an end to Sex IT was with a degree of pleasure that your chair-bound critic farewelled Channel 9's awful Sex program. Indeed it would be fair to say that the very best thing about Sex (on television) is that it's over. On the Sex program I saw things portrayed on television which I never thought could ever possibly be shown on any Australian network-things I don't even wish to describe here. Not for any prudish reasons, but because it concerns me that such descriptions could be offensive to some readers. What also concerns me was that Channel 9 camouflaged its Sex program with the trappings of education.

This was. according to Nine, a program designed to teach viewers everything they wanted to know about s-e-x. What absolute nonsense. This was a program designed purely and simply to win ratings. I recall one past segment which was allegedly incorporated in the program to teach adult males how to adequately wash bodily parts.

My point is that an adult male who didn't know how to wash his penis would probably also have trouble turning on a television set. of Sex. If the program had screened at midnight it would have been, almost, acceptable. But then Channel 9 would have missed out on the prime time ratings earned from Sex. Beginning next Thursday, also at 9.30pm on Channel 9, is a British import.

The Good Sex Guide. It couldn't possibly be as awful as Sex, could it? SUNDAY nights on the ABC are looking good with Realms Of The Russian Bear at 6pm and Heartbeat at 7.30 with Angela Pearman's News as the meat in the sandwich. However, The Russian Bear, a wildlife documentary series not surprisingly from Russia, would have benefited from an English sub-titles. Heartbeat is very watchable, despite being a mixture of melodrama and soap. It's very much a British version of A Country Practice, set, just like the Australian program, in a small country town.

In Heartbeat, the nice-looking new lady doctor in town (played by Niamh Cusack) is married to the equally nice-looking new local police constable (Nick Berry, from East Enders). The only obvious conclusion is that such a segment was in the program for purely prurient reasons. Almost everything I ever saw in Sex was there for purely prurient reasons. This also applies to a similar segment aimed at teaching adult females how to wash themselves, complete with a close-up scene in the shower which falls into the above-mentioned category of things portrayed on television which I never thought could ever possibly be screened on a free-to-air telecast. This segment was repeated in the final episode of the series which as introduced by the 1993 compere, Pamela Stephenson, with a promise that viewers would be offered a "best or' selection from previous editions of Sex.

This was one occasions when the "best of did not apply. All of the above, I know, makes me sound like some paid-up member of the Thomas Bowdler Appreciation Society, which is simply not true. There are young viewers in many household still switching channels at 9.30 at night, which is when Sex was screened, whose innocence needs to be protected from the sadistic sex scenes seen in that final episode JUNE 20 26 Special Michael Ayres (UK) Danny Myburgh (Sth Africa) WBC International Lightweight Title World Title Boxing Chris Eubank (UK) vLindell Holmes (USA) WBO Super Middleweight Title 8.30 Trans World Sport International sports Transponder 8 8.30 Adults Only 9.30 Sky Rock 1.00 Close THURSDAY 11.00 Big Hits 1 1 .30 Tennis 1 993 Wimbledon highlights 1 2.30 Sky Raceday Hawkesbury, Seymour, Lockyer Plus AFL Winners 5.30 Pole Position Australian Speedway Racing 6.00 National Nine News 6.30 Wrestling World Class Championships 7.25 Greyhound Racing San-down, Angle Park, Hobart, Albion Park 10.45 Sky Rock Music mix 2.00 Close FRIDAY 10.00 Club News 10.30 Test Card 1 1 .00 Sky's Country Collection 1 1.30 Tennis 1 993 Wimbledon highlights 12.30 Sky Raceday Corowa, Mur-willumbah, Stawell Harness Racing Cessnock 5.30 Inside Running John Tapp 6.00 National Nine News 6.30 Sky Harness Racing Harold Park, Mildura, Globe Derby Greyhound Racing Richmond, Geelong 10.45 Sky Rock 2.00 Close SATURDAY 10.00 Rugby League Test Match Second Test: New Zealand Australia, from Palmer-ston North 11.30 Late Mail 12.00 Sky Raceday Rand wick, Kembla Grange DD, Moonee Valley, Eagle Farm, Toowoomba, Victoria Park, Belmont, Mowbray 5.00 Tennis 1993 Wimbledon highlights 6.30 Sky Harness Racing Mait-land, Moonee Valley, Albion Park, Globe Derby Greyhound Racing Wentworth Park, Penrith 10.45 Sky Rock Party music 2.00 Close worth Park, Olympic Park, Angle Park, Launcestonk 10.45 Sky Rock 1.00 Close TUESDAY 11.00 Sky Music 1 1 .30 Tennis 1 993 Wimbledon highlights 1 2.30 Sky Raceday Newcastle, Yarra Glen Harness Racing Charlton, Fairfield 5.00 Cricket Second Test highlights: England Australia 6.00 National Nine News 6.30 Pole Position 7.00 Darts World Championship 7.30 AFL Winners 8.30 1993 Winfield Shuffleboard Titles Transponders 8.30 Adults Only 9.00 Gillette World Sport Special 9.30 Sky Rock 1.00 Close WEDNESDAY 11.00 Early Rock 1 1.30 Tennis 1 993 Wimbledon highlights 12.30 Sky Raceday Warwick Farm, Caulfield, Doomben, Strathalbyn, Belmont 5.30 Sky KO Boxing news 6.00 National Nine News 6.30 Sky Fight Night Two Hour SUNDAY 1 1 .30 Gillette World Sport Special 12.00 The Footy Show Rugby League with Paul Vautin 1 .00 The Footy Show AFL 2.00 Thoroughbred Racing Ten Great Champions (Part 1 3.00 Sky Racing Review Recap of Saturday Raceday 4.00 Golf US Open highlights 5.00 Cricket Second Test highlights: England Australia 6.00 AFL Replay of Saturday Game 8.00 Rugby League Test Match Replay First Test: New Zealand Australia, from Auckland 10.00 Sky Rock 12.00 Close MONDAY 11.00 Monday Blues 1 1.30 Golf US Open highlights. Final round 12.30 Sky Harness Raceday Harold Park, Moonee Valley, Globe Derby Thoroughbred Racing Kempsey, Quirindi 4.45 Cricket Second Test highlights: England Australia 5.30 Monday Night Football Rugby League. Winfield Cup Round 12 7.25 Greyhound Racing Went-.