Underbelly: The Golden Mile

Woman sues Underbelly successfully

An Australian woman who sued the publishers of the book Underbelly: The Golden Mile has won her case in the NSW Supreme Court. Wendy Hatfield, who was portrayed on the TV series by former Home and Away actress Jessica Tovey, was awarded $59,000 in damages after the book and TV series implied she engaged in a sexual relationship with nightclub owner John Ibrahim.

Morgan to miss 30 Rock episodes

30 Rock actor Tracey Morgan is recovering from a kidney transplant and is expected to miss up to three episodes of the comedy series. Morgan underwent surgery earlier this month and it is believed that his absence will be written into the show as a breakdown of some form.

Baldwin to return to Gossip Girl

Billy Baldwin will return to Gossip Girl for at least two episodes to reprise his role as William van der Woodsen. The actor first appeared on the show earlier in the year in a three episode arc.

Lack of record deals for X Factor contestants

Following the conclusion of The X Factor last month, winner Altiyan Childs remains the only contestant to have snared a record deal. While Childs’ deal was part of the winner’s package, none of the other contestants have managed to pick up a deal as yet, including runner-up Sally Chatfield.

Hamish and Andy apologise following TV stunt

Australian TV comedians Hamish and Andy have apologised following a stunt for a new TV special which saw them dress in gorilla suits and frolic in a public zoo, playing with golf clubs and remote control cars. Several zoo patrons were fooled by the stunt despite the presence of cameras and signs warning of the filming in progress and later complained to zoo management.

Underbelly actor arrested on drugs charges

A former Underbelly and Home and Away actor has been arrested on cannabis charges following a raid on his home which saw several plants and bags of the drug found. Alan Cinis, who featured in the third season of Underbelly, was charged with four offences and now faces losing his place on the local council.

Brits employ octopus to predict X Factor result 

The Brits have employed the help of what they call a “distant relative” of Paul the Psychic Octopus in an attempt to predict the outcome of the latest season of The X Factor. The new octopus was born in the same tank as the original one was in Weymouth and is expected to be employed to predict other things leading up to Christmas.

Richie comedy pilot picked up

A new comedy pilot featuring Nicole Richie has been picked up by American network ABC. Details of the show are not available yet but it is expected that it will be focussing on a professional woman of some kind.

Canada launches Jersey Shore spin-off

A new reality show kicking off in Canada soon is billed to be far wilder than current MTV series Jersey Shore. The series, entitled Lake Shore, follows a group of eights partygoers as they fritter away their youth in a drunken haze of idiocy.

Victoria’s Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland has been accused of packing a sad over the fact he was not featured in the Underbelly series.

The news comes following the revelations the Office of Police Integrity had phone taps which the Victorian Opposition are claiming were obtained by the State Government.

The conversation in question is between then police assistant commissioner Noel Ashby and then police union chief Paul Mullett over why Mr Overland is appearing “tense”.

Ashby is claimed to have said it is because he’s “cracked the sads at the draft script of the Underbelly program because he’s not cast in it.”

The OPI summary of the call says: “The initial script shows VicPol taking their eye off the ball and has been reshaped a bit. Ashby says Overland raised it carefully today, thinking he should be represented by someone.

“Mullett says they wouldn’t be able to find anyone ugly enough to act on his behalf. Mullett says Magda Szubanski will be cast to represent the chief commissioner of police (Christine Nixon).”

Ashby said yesterday that Overland had hoped a character based on him would be included in the crime show.

“They were proposing the show and he wasn’t cast in it and he was a bit shitty, a bit put out,” he said.

Source: News.com.au

8:30pm – Sunday, June 27 on Channel Nine

Drug-dealer Michael “Doc” Kanaan devises a plan to knock-off John Ibrahim and Kiwi Steve to divert suspicion away from him over the murder of Danny “DK” Karam.

Ambitious Dennis Kelly fights off competition from Gerry Lloyd and Sid Hillier for the coveted role of Police Commissioner.

Kim Hollingsworth comes out of hiding and returns to Sydney intent on suing the NSW Police Force.

Joe Dooley and Strike Force Lancer, meanwhile, close in on Kanaan’s murderous crew and manage to restore peace on The Golden Mile – leaving John Ibrahim the owner of all he surveys.

Not so much a change, but more a succession … Nine’s Sunday nights.

Underbelly: The Golden Mile concludes 8.30pm, June 27, followed by new CSI at 9.30pm.

The following Sunday – July 4 – sees CSI move forward to its new timeslot of 8.30pm Sunday, followed by new episodes of Cold Case at 9.30pm. At 10.30pm, Sunday July 4, is the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final.

Earlier on Sunday night – the final of Customs is at 6.30pm Sunday June 27. The new series RBT premieres at 7pm. The following week – July 4 – sees RBT move to its new timeslot of 6.30pm Sundays. That will be followed by Send in the Dogs at 7pm.

60 Minutes, sandwiched between all of these changes, remains at 7.30pm as always.

With CSI not rating as well as it used to, and moving to 8.30pm Sunday from July 4, could explain why GO will be showing Adults Only Two and a Half Men at the same time. This programming should see Nine drop a little in shares, with GO to increase hopefully by at least the same as Nine drops. CSI, at the earlier time, however, could well grow back to rating the million plus it used to.

Nine’s Sunday nights in summary:

June 27:
6.30 Customs – Final
7.00 RBT Premiere
7.30 60 Minutes
8.30 Underbelly: The Golden Mile – Final
9.30 CSI – New
10.30 Wimbledon

July 4 onwards:
6.30 RBT – New
7.00 Send in the Dogs – New
7.30 60 Minutes
8.30 CSI – New
9.30 Cold Case – New
10.30 July 4: Wimbledon Men’s Final

8:30pm – Sunday, June 20 on Channel Nine

With the Wood Royal Commission wrapped up, the old lions of the drug trade jailed and the corrupt cops kicked out, Danny “DK” Karam recruits a crew of young western suburbs punks (led by Michael “Doc” Kanaan) and takes control of the Kings Cross streets.

Strike Force Lancer is formed to fight this new wave of crime, and Joe Dooley is the first officer to join up. But DK’s greatest threat comes from within his own crew.

We don’t normally talk about DVD releases here, but the release of Underbelly: The Golden Mile on DVD the day after the final show airs prompts the question as to whether more money is made by Nine from Underbelly ratings or through DVD sales.

The Golden Mile is the third Underbelly series and the poorest rating so far overall. Like the previous two series, the DVD release comes the morning after the last show of the series has aired on channel Nine.

Last Sunday night, Underbelly: The Golden Mile was watched by little over 1.3 million – the lowest five city ratings ever for the show. During this episode, the DVD release was promoted. Typical of long weekend Sundays, the ratings were way down on usual, and many would have missed the episode.

Now we know the DVD of the series will be out June 28, the day after the June 27 finale, is there any point to watch the remaining two episodes on Nine? Especially if you missed the episode aired last Sunday – as the ratings show many did – why watch the other two and just wait for the DVD.

At least if you watch Underbelly on DVD, you’ll be watching commercial free, without pop up ads and without excessive deep throat promos reminding us how Nine has the best crime Sunday night in the history of television.

It will be interesting to see how the final two Underbelly’s rate with the DVD release imminent.

Surely it would be better – for both ratings and DVD sales – not to announce the DVD release date until the season on TV has finished? While having a fast DVD release is a good point, is there any other show that does this? I couldn’t think of any.

Underbelly is under fire again from the former police officer who claims the character of Wendy is based on her.

Wendy Hatfield is now suing Nine and production company Screentime for defamation due to scenes depicting her engaging in activities she says never happened.

Hatfield is claiming the Jessica Tovey’s character Wendy is based on her and she is unhappy with scenes depicting her in a sexual relationship with King’s Cross club kingpin John Ibrahim. Hatfield says this was never the case in real life.

The ex-policewoman say her reputation has been “gravely injured” by the drama series which she tried to gain access to before it screened in order to stop it depicting her in such a way.

”She has been gravely injured in her character, reputation and has suffered hurt and embarrassment and will continue to suffer loss and damage,” Ms Hatfield’s lawyers claim.

Hatfield is attempting to claim special damages for her failed attempt to prevent the episodes going to air.

Source: SMH

8:30pm – Sunday, June 13 on Channel Nine

As part of the Royal Commission investigators’ campaign against corrupt cops Gerry Lloyd recruits drug-pusher Shaka to expose the links between cops and crims.

Kim Hollingsworth continues to risk her life going undercover against Eddie Gould. Dennis Kelly narrowly escapes criminal charges by betraying his best friend Jim Egan.

Meanwhile, John Ibrahim is hauled before Justice Wood to explain both his business interests and his sexual interest in Constable Wendy Jones.

Underbelly – Final three weeks.
Australia’s highest rating drama show at the moment Underbelly: The Golden Mile has just three weeks to go before it concludes. The final episode of the third series of the franchise will air on June 27, at 8.30pm.

The conclusion of Underbelly prompts the question as to what Nine will schedule in its place from Sunday July 4. Possible candidates could be the second season of Rescue: Special Ops which aired in that timeslot last year or one of their new cop dramas like AFP or Cops: LAC.

Seven Sunday nights:
Seven could well be waiting for Underbelly to end before committing to any new Sunday night programming from 8.30pm. This Sunday June 13, Seven have the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall on, with next Sunday’s (June 20) programming at this stage still “to be advised” although looking at the timing on that night, it would appear a movie is most likely. Pitching new programming against existing high rating shows can generally result in a poorer result and potentially damage the long term potential of a new show.

One thing seems to be for sure though – Seven will not be launching Dancing with the Stars on Sunday June 20 although with the night of Tuesday June 22 filled with three hours of “to be advised” Dancing could make a move back to Tuesday nights to fill the timeslot vacated by Australia’s Got Talent. Sunday Night remains in the program on Sunday June 20, as does Border and The Force. Last year, Dancing started the first Sunday of July.

Hey Hey: extended first run
Back to Nine, and it appears the network are going to extend Hey Hey’s first run beyond the ten weeks it had previously planned for. The 10^th episode of Hey Hey is due to air June 30, with the third State of Origin airing in the following week, July 7.

An extra five episodes of Hey Hey are to be played from July 14, meaning the first run will conclude (assuming no off weeks) August 18. This would give Hey Hey an opportunity to see how it rates without having master chef on Ten for its first hour.

A further five episodes would then air later in the year making up the complete order of 20. Surely it would be better for Nine just to keep going and play out the full 20 rather than filling Wednesday nights with alternative programming until Hey Hey returns?