Let the debate begin!

Firstly, the wine!

I have been a member of Pepper Tree Winery up in the Hunter Valley for a long time now. They do very good reds; from grapes across the Hunter, Orange, Wrattonbully - just to name a few places. Like a lot of wineries in the Hunter, Shiraz is one of the flagships. This Venator Shiraz is young but still is big enough to go quite nicely with the evening meal; from pizza, pasta to a steak straight off the BBQ. I bought six of these as part of my bi-annual members dozen which arrived last Monday...

...we only have three left.

Nostalgia and reflecting back to happier times is happening a lot on my various timelines & feeds. Not surprising either as we look to escape mentally to happier and more carefree times. That and I love a good bandwagon. So, as that particular one pulled up outside our place, I had a think about what I could add to the discussion. Must admit, it didn't take too long to decide on a topic; which is to share the most memorable TV shows from my childhood.

It did however, take a little longer to narrow down the initial list. When I first sat down, I wrote three pages of TV shows that I remember watching back at Bridge Street. I did decide in the end to go with my best eleven; the criteria for these being a) the show had to be on TV between 1980 & 1990 and b) had some personal meaning to me.

After you read these, please feel free to let me know which ones you agree, disagree, add or replace. I haven't added a comments section here because Wix wants you then to register and I don't want it to be too hard so feel free to let me know via comments in the socials I've posted on or email me at brett.moorgas@outlook.com Who knows? There could be a sequel to this post!

So here they are (in no particular order)

• MASH: To this day, I will watch MASH whenever it is on the screen. It was one of Mum's favourite shows (she was a big fan of Alan Alda) so it was on quite often at home and before long I was hooked as well (on the show not Alan Alda...he is a fine actor though). It had this mix of slapstick humour with moments of drama which ensured that it didn't make light of the fact it was set during the Korean War. It also created a set of characters that are loved by many to this day. One of which is the immortal Max Klinger.

• The Brady Bunch: I find very few people who didn't like the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls and met a man named Brady who was busy with three boys of his own. From "Mom's favourite vase" to "pork chops and apple sauce", many episodes create smiles as I remember them. However, it was when we went to Hawaii that I realised that the memories of the Bunch have stayed with me. From walking past the Sheraton Waikiki where they stayed to refusing to buy a souvenir tiki! If it gave the Bradys bad luck, I wasn't going near it!

• Sale of the Century: We watched TV as we ate dinner. There, I said it! One of the shows that we watched towards the end of dinner was Sale of the Century. From Tony Barber to Glenn Ridge. From Victoria Nicholls, to Delvene Delaney, to Alyce Platt, to Jo Bailey and Nicky Buckley. It also acted as a bit of a mental stimulus for the family and at times, some friendly (and not so friendly) competition. So it wasn't a surprise that after many years of battle hardened competition in the household, cousin Lynne went on the show and was a carry over champion for one night (sadly, after some searching this is not on You Tube).

• EastEnders: I don't really know what led us to start following the lives of those in Albert Square but we did for quite a few years. I am talking about the days of Pauline & Arthur Fowler, Pete & his wife Kath, Michelle & Sharon and of course, Den & Angie who ran the Queen Vic. The goings on in Albert Square kept you on edge night after night and not to mention, one of the most catchy theme songs for any TV show (also makes me hungry whenever I hear it).

• Neighbours: So Neighbours originally started on Channel Seven in 1985 where it was axed and then taken up in 1986 by Channel Ten...where it has remained to this day. I admit, I was a Neighbours fan during my school years and that was for one reason...Kylie Minogue. Yes, I watched as she played the role of Charlene Mitchell, the apprentice mechanic who went on to marry Scott Robinson and then embark on becoming one of the world's most popular artists during the 1990's & 2000's. I still remember collecting 'Neighbours' stickers from variety bags of potato chips and felt my first sense of achievement when I finally got the Kylie sticker...akin to completing the full set of footy cards for the first time.

• Kingswood Country: Ted Bullpitt (played by the immortal Ross Higgins) was a character that probably wouldn't reach a TV screen today (maybe on Netflix?). However, the reasons why he wouldn't were the same reasons why it was a funny show. You were meant to laugh at the logic and views of Ted as opposed to celebrating it. It was clever, uniquely Australian humour (in my opinion anyway). It also introduced sayings like "Leave the money on the fridge", "Pickle me Grandmother'"and "The Kingswood...you're not taking the Kingswood" - that was until Ted upgraded to a Commodore (my first car as well). That and I bet you whistle the theme tune for weeks once you hear it again.

• The Mike Walsh/Midday Show: This was a staple of mine during the school holidays when everyone else was working in the house and I spent the holidays left to my own devices; which mainly consisted of watching TV. Seven & Ten had the midday movie while Channel Nine had The Mike Walsh Show whose main demographic was the blue rinse brigade. Geoff Harvey headed up the studio band, John Michael Howson gave the Hollywood news and it was very, very light. Sometime during the 1980's, Mike was replaced by Ray Martin and the Midday Show was born - which added interviews; some serious and some fluffy. It was also around this time each day that Aunty Bobby would be coming home from work; meaning lunchtime was just around the corner!

• The Comedy Company: According to the interweb, The Comedy Company only lasted three years but it made a huge impact. Soon, Sunday nights wouldn't be the same without Kylie Mole, Uncle Arthur and Con the Fruiterer. However, my favourite was Colin Carpenter, played by Kym Gyngell.

The Big Gig: This live, mid-week comedy show on the ABC was like having a night of stand up in your lounge room every week - which back in the 1980's wasn't commonplace as it is now. Hosted by Wendy Harmer, we were introduced to the likes of Candida (Jean Kittson), Pate Biscuit (Glynn Nicholas) and the Doug Anthony Allstars who would try and offend as many people as possible every week. However, the most memorable episode was when DAAS sang "Heard it through the grapevine" at the end of one of their skits and waiting, just waiting for the punchline that never came.

The Wonder Years: The story of Kevin Arnold growing up in the US in the 1960's had me in after the first few episodes. From then, I keenly kept an eye on the lives of Kevin, his best friend Paul Pfeiffer and Kevin's on-again, off-again girlfriend Winnie Cooper. It also provided a history lesson about the 1960's; the cornerstone being the impact of the Vietnam War. In a weird way, it also got me interested in writing about what was happening in real life as well as loving Joe Cocker's version of a Beatles' favourite.

• Hey Hey It's Saturday: Ok, so there is this show that is hosted by a guy and a stuffed ostrich which sounds fine when it was originally a Saturday morning children's show with added cartoons. Very soon, it became an Australian icon as it continued on Saturday mornings, then evolved to a late night show and then to primetime. And it still kept the ostrich! Daryl, Ossie, Jacki McDonald, John Blackman, Dickie Knee, Red Faces, Molly Meldrum, Wilbur Wilde & Red Symons all became synonymous with the show before it ended it's 27 year run on Channel Nine. One of my all time favourite moments of the show was when they did an 'exclusive' night with John Farnham in the wake of the success of 'Whispering Jack'. The show that night was peppered with performances from Farnham and his band, including a cover of 'Women in Uniform' which turned into a Skyhooks reunion. It's also a great clip to finish this post off. Enjoy!