The Graham Kennedy Show
| The Graham Kennedy Show | |
|---|---|
| Presented by | Graham Kennedy |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Don Silverman |
| Running time | Approximately 60 minutes (inc. commercials) |
| Production company | Screen Gems Australia |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nine Network |
| Release | 19 September 1972 – 17 April 1975 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Graham Kennedy Show is an Australian variety and comedy tonight show which debuted on 19 September 1972 on the Nine Network.
On 23 December 1969, host Graham Kennedy quit as host of In Melbourne Tonight (IMT) due to exhaustion and rested for two years. In spite of his fame and fortune, he later described that period as "years of misery".
After specials on 15 November 1971 and 2 March 1972, he returned with this series produced by Bob Phillips and Peter Faiman. The concept, regular cast and crew were mainly recycled from the IMT days, with Brian Rangott leading the GTV band for live musical performances. As the series began pushing more permissive humour boundaries from 1973, it received a suitable for Adults Only (AO) superimposed viewer guidance at the beginning.
Kennedy sparked controversy after a "crow-call", which sounded like the word "fuck", was broadcast in March 1975. Forced to prerecord from that point on, he abruptly departed following GTV-9 management's censorship of the 16 April 1975 edition.
Episodes from March 1975 were transmitted in "living colour from Television City Melbourne" according to the opening and closing voiceovers. Following Kennedy's resignation, the final two April shows were hosted by Noel Ferrier and Daryl Somers.