Channel Nine's blog

Hi-5’s current generation – Casey Burgess, Fely Irvine, Lauren Brant, Tim Maddren and Stevie Nicholson – take the hit pre-school series into its 13th season when it premieres on Monday, October 17, at 3.30pm on Channel Nine and continues on weekdays.

The new season will feature a decade’s worth of favourite Hi-5 hits for a new generation of fans, including Hi-5 Songs of the Week from the first 10 years such as Ready or Not, L.O.V.E, 5 Senses and their favourite rock song, Making Music.

Refreshed with some great new dance moves and fabulous outfits, cast member Stevie said: “Hi-5 has had so many great songs over the past decade. It’s fantastic to be able to bring them to a whole new generation of children. I think my favourite from this year’s series is Some Kind of Wonderful. It’s very catchy and has great heart.”

Martin Hersov and Cathy Payne, Directors of Hi-5 Operations, said: “We are excited to share our favourite Hi-5 songs that past generations have known and loved so much. We know these will continue as hits with our new generation of fans.”

Bright, funny and packed with upbeat songs and dancing, Hi-5 is definitely not couch-potato viewing. Hi-5 is specifically designed for children between two and six with its vibrant mix of stories, investigation, imagination and adventure. Hi-5 invites children to actively share the excitement of exploring the world through movement, lots of music and laughter. 

Join Casey, Fely, Lauren, Stevie and Tim for this new series, guaranteed to become the kids’ favourite

The TODAY Show is now the number one breakfast TV show up and down the Australian east coast.

The show has won 23 of the 40 survey weeks in 2011, giving it an unbeatable lead over Sunrise.

This year TODAY has won Melbourne for the fourth year in a row, Sydney for the first time in eight years, and now the East Coast for the first time in nine years.

TODAY Executive Producer Tom Malone says: “We’re very grateful to our loyal audience and our new viewers for making us the most watched breakfast television show on the East Coast.

“It’s something we’ve been striving for, for several years and we’re humbled by it.

“But the job’s never done – we’ll keep producing the best possible television: first and accurate for news and entertainment.”

Next week, the TODAY team heads to New York City for a huge week of shows.

Broadcasting live from the Good Morning America studios on Times Square, the show will feature performances from Alicia Keys and Beyonce, and special guests Tony Bennett, Kim Kardashian, The Trumps, your favourite Sesame Street characters, and plenty more surprises.

Karl Stefanovic is especially happy about the trip: “They say it’s the city that never sleeps, and I’ve promised Lisa I’m going to test that theory for the whole week!”

Brand new episodes of The Big Bang Theory, fast-tracked from the USA, premiere Monday, October 10, at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.

In the season four finale, after having a few too many wines Penny (Kayley Cuoco) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) unexpectedly ended up spending the night together.

The fifth season premiere starts right where they left off as the gang deal with the aftermath of Penny and Raj’s hook-up. “It’s not what it looks like,” Penny says, sending Sheldon (Jim Parsons) into a tizz trying to figure out Penny’s brain-teaser.

When Raj confesses that he and Penny are in love, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) scoffs and tells him that he was in love with Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) just months before. Howard (Simon Helberg) is shocked at hearing this and the three boys start arguing. Sheldon tries to get them to discuss more important matters, like the upcoming paintball tournament.

At paintball Raj, Howard and Leonard are too upset with each other to even care about playing. Sheldon takes it upon himself to inspire his troops and commits “suicide” by running out into the game without his gun. Then the three guys, inspired by his matrydom, run out to avenge Sheldon’s death.

Meanwhile Penny worries that she has screwed things up permanently with her friends and considers moving back home to Nebraska.

All New, The Big Bang Theory: Monday, October 10, at 7.30pm

The Big Bang Theory: Monday, October 10, at 8.00pm

All New, The Mentalist: Monday, October 10, at 8.30pm

All New, CSI: Miami: Monday, October 10, at 9.30pm

Sunday, October 2 at 7.30pm on Nine

All of Me

It’s one of the strangest conversations Tara Brown has ever had. Kim Noble is just one person, but she has more than 20 different personalities, maybe as many as one hundred separate characters populating her mind. It’s among the most extreme cases of dissociative identity disorder ever recorded, triggered when Kim suffered shocking sexual, physical and emotional abuse as a child. To survive, her mind splintered into multiple personalities and on the day Tara met Kim, it was them, who did all the talking.

Reporter: Tara Brown

Producer: Stephen Taylor

The Butcher of Bosnia

It was genocide on a scale not seen in Europe since the holocaust. In July, 1995, a Serbian-backed paramilitary unit slaughtered eight thousand men and boys in the small Bosnian town of Srebrenica. The man who ordered the massacre was General Ratko Mladic – known, for his terrible cruelty, as the Butcher of Bosnia.  But the hunt for Mladic has taken 16 long years. It was two determined Australians who finally brought one of the world’s most notorious war criminals to justice.

Reporter: Liam Bartlett

Producer: Howard Sacre

The Pursuit of Happiness

In a lifetime of reporting, no one has ever asked Charles Wooley to go out and find ‘happiness’! Reporters get assigned to droughts, floods, earthquakes and wars, misery aplenty. But the elusive subject of human happiness? Where do you begin? Here in Australia, we’re living longer and richer lives than ever; yet we’re still complaining, a nation of misery guts. So Charles ventured forth on a strange journey of self-discovery to find out why we’re so unhappy and how to put a smile back on our dials.

Reporter: Charles Wooley

Producer: Danny Keens

Twenty-nine weeks of the 2011 NRL Telstra Premiership end in a rousing showdown this Sunday when the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles meet the Warriors from New Zealand in the grand final at ANZ Stadium – LIVE from 4.30pm AEDT on Nine’s Wide World of Sports.

New Zealand dominates the day with three teams making the grand final: the Warriors in the NRL and the Toyota Cup, plus the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup.

The Sunday Roast kicks off Nine’s massive grand final day at the special time of 10.00am with Andrew Voss, Mark Geyer, Terry Kennedy and Phil Gould. The Sunday Footy Show follows at 11.00am AEDT, LIVE from ANZ Stadium with Peter Sterling, Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler and Wally Lewis as they track the journey to the grand final for the Sea Eagles and the Warriors.

The on-field action starts at midday when the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs play the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup grand final. Retiring Bulldogs great Andrew Ryan will join Nine’s commentary team for the NSW Cup decider.

The Toyota Cup grand final between the Warriors and North Queensland Cowboys follows at 2.00pm. At the conclusion of the match, Peter Sterling will sit down with NRL superstar Darren Lockyer to look back on his illustrious career.

Nine’s coverage of the grand final entertainment extravaganza begins at 4.30pm AEDT. This will feature an 80-piece orchestra performing a farewell tribute to retiring rugby league stars including Lockyer, Mark Gasnier and Preston Campbell.

Grammy Award-winning US pop star Kelly Clarkson will headline the entertainment with her new single, Mr Know It All. Eight-time ARIA Award winners Eskimo Joe will perform their new smash hit, Love Is A Drug.

Then the fireworks really start when the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and Warriors meet in the NRL grand final.

Catch the top names in the game for the NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final coverage. The voice of rugby league, Ray Warren, will lead Nine’s commentary team. Joining him are Peter Sterling and Phil Gould, while

Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler and Wally Lewis make up the expert panel. Andrew Voss will join Phil Gould to call the NSW Cup before teaming up with Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler for the Toyota Cup grand final.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Sunday 2nd October

NSW Cup Grand Final

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Auckland Vulcans
   
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
   
1200 AEDT LIVE on Nine in:

Sydney @ 1200

Brisbane @ 1100

Darwin on Imparja @ 1030

Toyota Cup Grand Final

Warriors v North Queensland Cowboys
   
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
   
1400 AEDT LIVE on Nine in:

Sydney @ 1400

Brisbane @ 1300

Darwin on Imparja @ 1230

NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final 2011

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles v Warriors
   
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
   
1630 AEDT LIVE on Nine in:

Sydney @ 1630

Brisbane @ 1530

Melbourne @ 1630

Adelaide @ 1600

Perth @ 1330

Darwin on Imparja @ 1500

 
Regionally on WIN & NBN in:

Southern NSW (1630)

ACT (1630)

Qld (1530)

Vic (1630)

SA (1600)

WA (1330)

Tas (1630)

Australian Racing Hall of Fame trainer Lee Freedman joins the Wide World of Sports expert panel for Nine’s Spring Racing Carnival coverage which begins with Epsom Super Saturday at Royal Randwick, live from 2.30pm tomorrow.

Freedman, who has 124 Group One wins to his name, will appear on Nine’s Spring Racing Carnival for three race meetings beginning with The Age Caulfield Guineas Day on Saturday, October 8.

Nine will broadcast four Spring Racing Carnival days including Epsom Super Saturday, The Age Caulfield Guineas Day, BMW Caulfield Cup Day and Tatts Cox Plate Day – all LIVE on Nine’s Wide World of Sports.

Nine’s Epsom Super Saturday coverage gets underway at 2.30pm immediately following the Wallabies v Russia Rugby World Cup clash. Nine will broadcast four Group One races: the Epsom Handicap (worth $500,000, over 1600m), The Metropolitan ($400,000, 2400m), Spring Champion Stakes ($400,000, 2000m) and Flight Stakes ($400,000,1600m).

On Saturday, October 8, Nine’s racing coverage moves to Melbourne for The Age Caulfield Guineas Day at Caulfield, beginning LIVE at 12.00 noon AEDT. It will feature three Group One races: The Age Caulfield Guineas ($1,000,000, 1600m), Yalumba Stakes ($400,000, 2000m) and David Jones Toorak Handicap ($350,000, 1600m), plus the Group Two Herbert Power Stakes ($200,000, 2400m).

On Saturday, October 15, LIVE from 12 00 noon, Nine will present BMW Caulfield Cup Day. Highlights will include the Group One BMW Caulfield Cup ($2,650,000, 2400m) and two Group Two races: the Perri Cutten Caulfield Sprint ($201,000, 1100m) and the Tristarc Stakes ($181,000, 1400m).

Nine’s Spring Racing Carnival broadcast concludes on Saturday, October 22, with Tatts Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley LIVE from 2.00pm. The 2040-metre Tatts Cox Plate – the weight-for-age championship of Australia – is the Group One highlight of the day, with $3 million in prizemoney. The support card includes four Group Two events: the AAMI Vase (2040m), Schweppes Stakes (1200m), Patinack Farm Crystal Mile (1600m) and Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m).

The Wide World of Sports raceday hosts Cameron Williams and Simon O’Donnell will be in the trackside studio, with Lee Freedman joining the expert panel for The Age Caulfield Guineas Day, BMW Caulfield Cup Day and Tatts Cox Plate Day. Lee’s daughter, racing personality Emma Freedman, will reunite with Melbourne Cup and Golden Slipper-winning jockey Wayne Harris to share their expert tips throughout the Spring Racing Carnival. Claire Bird, strapper for the immortal mare Sunline and Nine’s horseback reporter, will interview the winning jockeys after the finish.

At Royal Randwick, Andrew Voss will be in the thick of the action in the betting ring and Roz Kelly will be trackside for the race presentations. Throughout the carnival catch all the betting advice and late mail from TVN’s Richard Callander. Ben Damon will report from the mounting yard while Giaan Rooney mingles with the stylish celebrities to bring the latest fashion and racing glamour to the coverage.

Nine News sports presenter Tony Jones and racehorse breeder Anthony Mithen will join Wide World of Sports for the Caulfield and Moonee Valley raceday broadcasts.

2011 SPRING RACING CARNIVAL ON NINE

Saturday, October 1: Epsom Super Saturday LIVE from 2.30pm, AEST

Saturday, October 8: The Age Caulfield Guineas Day LIVE from 12 noon AEDT

Saturday, October 15: BMW Caulfield Cup Day LIVE from 12 noon AEDT

Saturday, October 22: Tatts Cox Plate Day LIVE from 2.00pm AEDT

It’s The Footy Show’s Grand Final Show for 2011 and host Paul “Fatty” Vautin and the boys will broadcast from Sydney’s Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour on Thursday night from 9.30pm on Nine.

Catch “Fatty”, Brad Fittler, Andrew Johns, Darryl Brohman, Mario Fenech, Ray Warren and Footy Show funnymen Beau Ryan and Shane Shackleton in this massive two-hour special broadcast in front of a 3000-strong audience.

In the final Footy Show of the year, superstars Benji Marshall and Darren Lockyer will join the panel, there’ll be a full grand final preview – and David Gallop, the NRL’s CEO, will be a special guest to discuss the season in review with the boys.

Also on this bumper show, Hollywood star Hugh Jackman drops by to talk about his favourite NRL side (Manly) and his excitement leading up to the grand final. He’ll also chat about his new movie, Real Steel.

Manly Sea Eagles co-captain Jamie Lyon and Steve Matai, plus New Zealand Warriors captain Simon Mannering and TBA, will join the show to give their views on the grand final.

Popular cover band ACCADACCA will rock the crowd to AC/DC hits like Dirty Deeds and Shoot To Thrill, while country music great John Williamson premieres his new Men of League Anthem live on stage.

Michelle Mahone, Hollywood gossip and entertainment reporter for the Today show, comes down to Darling Harbour for a chat with the boys while she’s visiting from the United States.

Plus, we’ll see the Best of Beau Knows and Perfect Partners, relive the top five tries of the season, see the best of the big hits, and look back on the great moments of 2011. All that and a full grand final preview – and much, much more.

And to end the evening and The Footy Show’s year on a bang, a fireworks spectacular will bring the curtain down.

The Footy Show will air Thursday, September 29, at 9.30pm on Nine, NSW and Queensland.

In an all new Monday night lineup, Channel Nine will screen new episodes of The Mentalist and CSI: Miami fast-tracked direct from the United States from Monday, October 3, at 8.30pm.

In the last gut-wrenching episode of The Mentalist, Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) finally came face-to-face with his family’s killer Red John (special guest star Bradley Whitford) in an explosive confrontation leading to a shopping mall shootout.

Now, in the new season premiere, Jane is in prison for killing his nemesis and has to prove that the man he shot really was the elusive serial killer, Red John. Meanwhile, Lisbon (Robin Tunney) urges Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) to seek counselling in the aftermath of the violent death of her fiancé.

Then at 9.30pm it’s all new CSI: Miami, where a South Florida team of forensic investigators use both cutting-edge scientific methods and old-fashioned police work to solve crimes. Horatio Caine (David Caruso), a former homicide detective, heads a group of investigators who work crime amid the steamy tropical surroundings and cultural crossroads of Miami.

In its dramatic tenth season return, the lives of Horatio and Natalia (Eva La Rue) hang in the balance as Horatio stands between Natalia and certain death. Meanwhile, it’s a race against time for the team to capture escaped killer Jack Toller before he kills again.

Also returning this season is the show’s stellar supporting cast – Emily Procter, Adam Rodriguez, Jonathan Togo, Rex Lin and Omar Miller.

THE FARMER WANTS A WIFE – SEASON FINAL: Monday, October 3, at 7.00pm

THE MENTALIST: Monday, October 3, at 8.30pm

CSI: MIAMI: Monday, October 3, at 9.30pm

Send in the Dogs Australia, the show that follows man’s best friend in their fight against crime, returns on Wednesday, September 28 at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.

The observational documentary series highlights the extraordinary work of Aussie police dogs and their handlers as they track down criminals and missing people, uncover illegal drugs and weapons, and keep our streets safe.

Police forces in Australia use a vast range of high-tech devices in their fight against crime, yet these advanced technologies have failed to match the natural instincts of police dogs. With a skill set designed for police work, the abilities of these dogs will amaze you.

Following these canine detectives day and night as they help to keep the peace and uphold justice, Send in the Dogs Australia explores the special relationship between Aussie police dogs and their handlers. The intriguing series highlights the intense bond between dogs and handlers as they team up to do a job that no one else can.

In week one we meet police dog Zac who has not long returned to the force after a near fatal stab wound in the line of duty. Decked out in a custom-made armored vest, he is back and on the trail of three armed fugitives. Plus we see young drug detector Jazz in action at a weekend music festival. With hundreds of people to search, you will be shocked by what she finds.

Sunday, September 25 at 7.30pm on Nine

The Awakening

You’re about to witness conclusive proof that true love and devotion can produce miracles. Sam Goddard was a vibrant young man cut down in his prime by brain injury. Unable to walk and talk, he would have stayed that way if not for the dedication of his fiance, Sally Neilsen and the chance discovery of a remarkable medical breakthrough. After searching online, Sally decided on a desperate experiment, to give Sam a common sleeping pill called Stilnox. What happened next was beyond her wildest expectations. While scientists attempt to fathom what Stilnox unlocks in the human brain, around the world, this accidental wonder drug is offering new hope to families who, until now, have had none.

Reporter: Allison Langdon

Producers: Steve Burling, Hannah Boocock

Haunted

It would be an understatement to describe Robert Geeves as a man unlucky in love. Earlier this year, we told you how two of the women in his life met tragic and suspicious ends  - one shot dead, the other missing without trace. Geeves was investigated, but cleared of blame both times. On Sunday night, you’ll meet a third woman, who claims her life was shattered by Robert Geeves. For 25 years, Erica has tried to forget what happened, but after Liam Bartlett’s investigation on 60 Minutes last April, she’s decided to speak out about the man who still haunts her dreams.

Reporter: Liz Hayes

Producer: Stephen Rice

Drama Queen

St Tropez in the South of France and an audience with the legendary Joan Collins. What could possibly go wrong? She’s a star who emerged from the Golden age of Hollywood – a gentler era of style and grace. But, remember, Joan made her greatest mark playing one of the nastiest bitches in television history – the scheming  Alexis Carrington of Dynasty. At 78 years of age, she can still muster her inner Alexis, and has even created a stage show dishing the scandalous dirt on her former co-stars. What Liam Bartlett didn’t count on, when he sat down for a cosy chat, was ending up in the firing line.

Reporter: Liam Bartlett

Producers: Gareth Harvey, Sandra Cleary