The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 63

her," he said, firmly squashing that one. wmmw Morning Australia this week. So where does this leave Gibbo, who seems to be absent from the brekkie show quite a lot lately? Is he coming back? "We're not farewelling him yet," said Gail Jarvis, the executive producer of the show. Gibbo will be off for a couple of weeks. A decision as to who will co-host the show the week after Murphy's stint on the dawn shift hasn't been reached.

"We're playing musical chairs at the moment," said Jarvis. will have to wait forever for theirs. But, in all, it was a good party. The food was good, the booze flowed, the 5,000 wine glasses brought in for the night were real, not plastic, and, so I'm told by those who lasted longer than I did, there was only one punch-up and a couple of minor snarls. However, some of the guests may not be too pleased when footage taken at the party turns up on Candid Camera.

More than a few were caught by the antics of a barmaid wearing' a very obvious blonde wig who slopped drinks around, took sips out of those she had poured before handing them over and broke glass after glass. "She must be doing drugs of some sort," whispered one party-goer as he watched her in action. If he had looked a little closer, he would have seen a hole in the wall behind the bar where the Candid Camera crew was recording the reactions of the barmaid's stunned customers. Sill! Jeff McMullen if JACQUELINE LEE LEWES THE pouring rain didn't dampen the spirits of those attending Channel Ten's exit party from its North Ryde studios. It went on until the early hours of the following morning, and hangovers were rife the next day.

hasn't left 60 Minutes; he's just been busy. MEDIA ARTS, the production company run by the Comedy Company's Ian McFadyen, is having heavy talks with Channel Nine over a new series called Let The Blood Run Free. A pilot with a cast including Jean Kittson, Peter Rowsthorn, Lynda Gibson and Brian Nankervis has already been made. "Yes," said a Nine spokesperson, "We are having discussions with him McFadyen." In Melbourne, a Media Arts spokesperson widened the field. "We are negotiating with all networks," she said, adding that a lot of interest was being shown in the pilot which, according to someone who has seen it, is very, very funny.

GRAHAM KENNEDY, the man so beloved of people who make paper for fax machines, is back in fax mode, sending messages off by the dozen to the GK's Funniest Home Video cottage at Channel Nine. The first to be received has been kept for posterity and for future comfort Addressed to the program's executive producer, Kris Noble, it has been put on the wall for all to see. It says: "You've probably heard stories about how 'difficult' I am to work with and how I shout and have tantrums! All these stories are true. It's all caused by nervous tension and very little of the abuse is meant if any. This note to you is simply to warn you that it WILL happen and I apologise in advance.

You'd better show this note to Magnus fVikering, the show's director too, for he won't escape either! God bless us all." Bill Cosby in search of gigantic renewal fees. TV FILM DIRECTING PRODUCING EitaMst. a amr as a v. i TV ptodMcar. da TntMaHitofltii court ftttfcJ Saturn 4m TaasM av Briaa Adams ana cop ptovusttiua.

3182727 SCREEN PRODUCTION ACADEMY 431 Efcabeth St Surry Mb 2010 Yo fli" AractoXJ oanaaafdais I maker. Hitching, the. piggy bank to a. star THERE was an odd whisper last week that Washington-based Jeff McMullen had very quietly left 60 Minutes, apparently prompted by his absence from the reporting line-up in recent weeks. "As far as I'm -aware, he hasn't left," Peter Meakin, the program's executive producer, said tongue-in-cheek.

According to Meakin, only the reporters who have a story on that night get to be introduced at the start of the program. McMullen was back on the program last night with a report about China and, says Meakin, he has three or four in the can ready to go and another two that have been shot As to the wild one that McMullen's name was on the list as a replacement for Mike Gibson should he leave GMA, Meakin pointed out that McMullen's wife, Kim, had a top job with the US Secretary of State, James Baker, in Washington. "At least now Jeff gets to see his wife every so often if he was on GMA, he'd never see million an episode to cover all "direct costs" associated with the show. Generally, networks license fees do not cover all of the costs to produce a show. Instead, producers make their profits on the "back when enough episodes have been made so the series can be sold in reruns to local stations.

In the case of Cosby, back-end revenues total an eye-popping SA765 million. Insiders expect NBC to renew Cosby, even at a loss. But both network executives and producers are apprehensive about what the renewal means for future negotiations, especially if marginal shows are dropped or financially squeezed as a result of mega-fees being paid for hits. If marginal shows are not given the time to develop an audience, some industry executives worry, the networks will become even more dependent on a handful of hit shows. Los Angeles Times BUT THE host of Candid Camera, Tony Murphy, caused a stir of another kind when he told a few people at the party he had quit the show.

Contacted later, Murphy admitted that leaving the show had crossed his mind. "And yes, I did mention it to a few people," he added with a laugh that could only be described as sheepish. Why? "I was tired but I've had a sleep now," he said. "We've reached a wonderful truce and I like what I'm doing and the show is working. We're all fine now." TONY MURPHY will in fact be standing in for Mike Gibson on Good Olympics or big-budget mini-series.

In these cases, huge investments have been justified on the grounds that the shows can be used to promote regular series, traditionally the money-making backbone of TV networks. Over the past eight weeks, the show's producers and Bill Cosby's agent have been engaged in a remarkable round of negotiations with NBC Entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff and other executives over the show's renewal. Sources say the producers first asked for the Then, to bolster their case, they hired an outside media consultant, who told network officials what the producers believed NBC has earned from Cosby since its debut in 1984. NBC sought a two-year renewal, but the producers countered with a request for a $100 million bonus and a one-year renewal. In addition, Car-sey-Werner wanted NBC to pay $13 CfllUNGBJIH Producers of The Cosby Show are demanding a huge financial share of the show's success, writes JOHN UPPMAN.

IN AN unprecedented negotiation, the Hollywood producers of The Cosby Show have asked the National Broadcasting Company for a $A130 million "signing bonus" to renew the hit comedy for next season, a fee that the network is unlikely to pay, but that illustrates the dizzying stakes at play if NBC wants to maintain its winning streak of the last five years. A renewal of Cosby on terms being SPECIALS YAMAHA multi io discs SLIGHT CARTON DAMAGE CD. PLAYERS REMOTE SOUND SURROUND A.V.X. 100 There was cast of thousands, although some notable ex-Channel Ten faces were missing, including Steve Liebmann, Geraldine Doogue, and Liz Hayes, plus many of the Page OnePublic Eye people whom Ten had told me were being asked. Some of the above were on the original party list, so perhaps their invitations are still in the mail.

Others who have had legal dealings over contracts with Ten in the past year discussed would be significant because it would signal a dramatic shift in NBC's thinking. Until now, the network television business has always been one of many failures occasionally interrupted by a hit Because of the bizarre process by which shows are developed, only a few ever get on the air, and fewer still succeed once they are on the air. Those that make it, however, can be immensely profitable for both the network and producers. Although Carsey-Werner Co, the show's producer, will not get its asking price, the eventual fee is still expected be high enough to wipe out NBC's profits on the show. If NBC chooses to renew Cosby, it means the network is willing to keep the show on the air to attract audiences to the shows that follow Cosby.

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