111 Hits's blog

111 HITS celebrates one of the highest-rating drama series in television history with ER: A Retrospective premiering on Wednesday April 6 at 8.30pm, before screening the subscription television premiere of ER’s two-hour finale at 9.30pm.

ER: A Retrospective pays tribute to the doctors, residents and medical students who graced the halls of Chicago’s County General Hospital.  The producers and cast look back on a medical series like no other.

Then, relive the highly acclaimed drama from the beginning as 111 HITS presents the two-hour pilot on Thursday April 7 at the special time of 9.30pm.  From April 8, ER continues weeknights at 10.30pm.

ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital – Chicago County General Hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room.

A winner of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, ER also earned 22 Emmy® Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, and 122 Emmy® Award nominations, making it the most nominated show in any genre. 

Running for an incredible 15 seasons, ER made stars of George Clooney, Noah Wyle, Julianna Marguilies, Jorja Fox and Anthony Edwards.

                        ER: A Retrospective – Wednesday April 6 at 8.30pm
                        Australian Television Premiere

                        ER Two-hour Finale – Wednesday April 6 at 9.30pm
                        Subscription Television Premiere

                        ER Series 1 Two- Hour Pilot – Thursday April 7 at Special time of 9.30pm
                        Then the series continues weeknights at 10.30pm

Starts October 5, weeknights at 5.00pm

Diff’rent Strokes is responsible for discovering and delivering one of the greatest child stars of all time. Pint-sized Gary Coleman, with his pudgy cheeks, twinkling eyes, natural comedic talent and flawless timing made him seem like an old pro packed into the body of a small child from the very first episode.

When two orphaned African American kids from Harlem find themselves in the lap of luxury with a newly adopted family in a Park Avenue penthouse home, nothing will ever be the same again. Young Arnold, his brother Willis, and new sister Kimberly learn, through trial and error to love and accept each others differences with the guidance of their father and housekeeper Mrs Garrett. Diff’rent Strokes sensitively, but determinedly tackles America’s racial and economic divides delivered with warmth and humour making it a pop-culture phenomenon and one of the most iconic shows of the ‘80s.

Starts September 7, weeknights at 10.30pm

The Practice exploded onto television screens taking the Golden Globe for Best Drama and back to back Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series in its first two seasons, as well as being nominated for more than one hundred television awards across its eight year run( including more than a dozen Emmy wins for Outstanding acting). This provocative and hard-hitting court-room drama from the brilliant mind of David E. Kelley is without a doubt one of the most highly decorated and critically acclaimed television dramas of our time.

Young and ambitious, defence attorney Bobby Donnell could have had his pick of any number of high-paying jobs at one of Boston’s prestigious law firms. Instead, he chose to start his own firm of passionate like-minded attorneys. Their strength is in their clever and often unconventional legal manoeuvring, making even the most questionable arguments convincing. Pursuing justice, however, often sees them confronted with serious ethical and moral issues of conscience.

The Practice stars Dylan McDermott as Bobby, who is supported by a strong ensemble cast, including Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Camryn Manheim as Ellenor Frutt, Steve Harris as Eugene Young, Kelli Williams as Lindsay Dole and Lisa Gay Hamilton as Rebecca Washington.

The Practice still holds the Primetime Emmy Award record for most wins in the Guest Actor and Guest Actress categories for a single series. Among these recipients were James Spader and William Shatner, whose guest characters were developed into Kelley’s popular spin-off series Boston Legal.

Starts August 3, weeknights at 9.30pm

Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series, Mad About You received 33 Emmy Award nominations on its way to becoming one of the most successful and critically acclaimed sitcoms of recent times, and arguably the most definitive sitcom on the universal subject of married couples. Four-time Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and co-creator Paul Reiser stars alongside Helen Hunt in the role that saw her win four Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes, as well as becoming only one of three people ever to win the Golden Globe, Emmy and Academy Award in the same year.

Jamie and Paul Buchman along with their dog, Murray, are a young Manhattan family who, with only five months of marriage behind them, are still negotiating the difficulties of settling into a life together. Adding to the adventure, for better or worse, are their families, including Jaime’s sister Lisa (Anne Ramsay) and Paul’s cousin Ira (John Pankow), as well as friends, neighbours and a slightly off the wall dog walker (Hank Azaria). Mad About You can also boast a list of talented guest stars, including Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Carl Reiner and Cyndi Lauper, who all won Emmys for their roles.

Starts August 3, weeknights at 6.30pm

Winner of multiple Emmys, Golden Globes and American Comedy Awards, Roseanne burst onto the screen in 1988 as one of the first sitcoms to deal with everyday issues in a truthful, deglamourised and sometimes controversial way. Ranked among the highest rating shows on television for all nine seasons, including taking the coveted number 1 slot in only its second season; Roseanne became popular for its no-nonsense attitude and its humorously honest portrayal of family life.

Based on the stand-up comedy of its main star, Roseanne Barr who soon became the queen of television comedy, Roseanne’s characters were more like a regular working-class family than any other characters previously seen on television. Roseanne and her husband Dan (John Goodman) use brutal honesty and an acerbic wit to raise their three children: rapidly maturing Becky, sarcastic Darlene, and precocious DJ.

With strong, clever writing Roseanne attracted a slew of guest stars including George Clooney, Stephen Dorff, Shelley Winters, Brad Garrett, Alyson Hannigan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Neil Patrick Harris, Bob Hope, Wayne Newton, Bill Maher, Joan Collins, Sharon Stone, Ellen DeGeneres, Jenna Elfman, Jerry Springer and Hugh Hefner.

Starts August 3, weekdays at 2.00pm

111 HITS is proud to present the hilarious, multi-award winning series Ellen. This groundbreaking sitcom had everyone talking, not surprisingly winning the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Writing and along the way propelling Ellen DeGeneres into both international stardom and critical acclaim.

Ellen Morgan is a 30-something neurotic bookseller, who frequently and hysterically gets lost in the dating world. For support she relies on her band of quirky friends including outgoing Paige (Joely Fisher), her roommate Adam (Arye Gross), her cousin Spence (Jeremy Piven), sarcastic coffee shop guy Joe Farrell (David Anthony Higgins) and the irritatingly perky and optimistic Audrey (Clea Lewis).

With her quick wit, winning smile and hilarious motor-mouth, this series shows how Ellen DeGeneres rose from hard-working stand-up comedian to become the well-loved icon of good-natured fun we know today.

Saturday July 25 8.30pm

MacGyver – His mind is the ultimate weapon.

MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) is a secret agent unlike any before him, or since. He is laid-back, mild mannered and deeply principled, with a background in physics and chemistry. He isn’t a multi-linguist, a martial arts expert, or a master of disguises, you’ll never see him shoot a gun and he’s afraid of heights, but what he can do is work wonders with whatever household items are at hand in a crisis.

MacGyver, or “Mac”, as his friends call him, is a master of on-the-spot improvisation. With only his practical application of scientific knowledge, inventive use of common items and his ever-present Swiss Army knife to get himself and his companions out of trouble, wits are MacGyver’s weapon of choice.

Starts July 18, Saturdays, at 8.30pm

MacGyver – His mind is the ultimate weapon.

MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) is a secret agent unlike any before him, or since. He is laid-back, mild mannered and deeply principled, with a background in physics and chemistry. He isn’t a multi-linguist, a martial arts expert, or a master of disguises, you’ll never see him shoot a gun and he’s afraid of heights, but what he can do is work wonders with whatever household items are at hand in a crisis.

MacGyver, or “Mac”, as his friends call him, is a master of on-the-spot improvisation. With only his practical application of scientific knowledge, inventive use of common items and his ever-present Swiss Army knife to get himself and his companions out of trouble, wits are MacGyver’s weapon of choice.

Using a paper-clip, a rubber band and a piece of gum MacGYVER is saving the day in on 111 HITS in Saturday night double episodes, and without ever getting a hair out of place.

Starts July 13, weeknights at 8.30pm

For three big weeks in July treat yourself to a triple hit of one of the most popular comedy series of all time, with three timeless episodes of Friends in a row.

A smart, sophisticated comedy and winner of more than 50 television awards including Emmys and Golden Globes, Friends reminds us, through its six much loved and unique New York characters, that you can get through anything, love, careers, dreams and disappointments as long as you have friends to share the laughs.

Saturday July 4 at 8.30pm

Based on a gritty a non-fiction book, written by David Simon after spending a year with the members of Baltimore’s homicide unit, Homicide: Life on the Street is one of the most reality-based police dramas to have aired on television. Filmed almost entirely with hand-held cameras, Emmy award winning writer/director Tom Fontana was determined to provide viewers with a no-nonsense, police procedural-type glimpse into the lives of a squad of inner-city detectives.

Homicide: Life on the Street showed the members of the squad as real people; complex and honest, with a strong rotating ensemble which included Yaphet Kotto as Lt. Al ‘Gee’ Giardello, the ever strong Ned Betty as Det. Stanley ‘Stan’ Bolander, the comedic Richard Belzer as Det. John Munch (later on Law & Order SVU), the intense Andre Braugher as Det. Francis Xavier ‘Frank’ Pembleton.

The stories interesting and often funny, the cases pulse-pounding and involving. It shows the detectives’ human sides of failed marriages, the gentle jesting and camaraderie, as they solved baffling crimes, serial killers, hostage situations, and did with such human compassion, quirkiness and understanding that you cannot help be moved.