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Agro & Ann-Maree Biggar to reunite

Kid's favourite Ann-Maree Biggar tells TV Tonight about a reunion with Agro - the first in 15 years.

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Yet another TV reunion is about to take place, this time one of the most iconic duos in Kid’s TV: Agro and Ann-Maree Biggar.

Biggar is the host this evening of the 40th Anniversary of Toyworld Australia at the Regent Plaza Ballroom in Melbourne.

Fittingly, she will re-unite with that irascible puppet Agro for the first time in 15 years.

Biggar worked with Agro (Jamie Dunn) from 1989 – 1995 on Seven’s Agro’s Cartoon Connection. Hosting segments in between cartoons, the two had a cheeky rapport that became more interesting than the cartoons themselves.

“If you put our show on television today it would probably get shutdown straight away because we were so politically incorrect. We would say some of the naughtiest things,” she told TV Tonight.

“We would call them F1-Elevens, they would just go straight over the heads of the kids but the adults would get them. So it was always two streams of comedy -and of course it was live. We just flew by the seat of our pants!

“They would say ‘You’ve got 3 minutes here and then you’re throwing to The Flintstones,’ and we’d say ‘Yeah ok’ and just run our own race.”

While Agro , or the monobrow bathmat as he is often called, may have worked with other co-hosts including Terasa Livingstone and Holly Brisley it was with Biggar that the chemistry sparkled.

“It was a partnership like Daryl & Ossie, or Daryl & Jacki MacDonald. I’ve had so many years with Agro our working relationship was quite special because I could pre-empt what he was about to do and vice versa. I think in this business if you can do that that’s half the battle,” she said.

Similarly, Biggar worked with both Marty the Monster and Fat Cat.

“I’ve worked with a lot of stuffed animals!” she laughs.

“But Agro was a working relationship that I don’t think I’ve had with anybody again.

“We were always on planes, always doing shows, it was a very busy time. In those days it was the hey-day of television.”

After Cartoon Connection Biggar worked on The Great Outdoors, In Melbourne Tonight, Good Morning Australia, 9AM with David & Kim.

Now she is a mother of two and prefers to spend time with her children while they are still young.

“Jamie and I had a chat the other day and we’re actually really happy to be working with one another. We haven’t worked with one another for a very long time and I know he’s looking forward to it.”

Proving she still has has fire, Biggar has her eyes on the 7 Logie Awards won for Most Popular Children’s Program, held by Jamie Dunn.

“I told him he better bring those bloody Logies down. I said ‘You’ve already got 6 of them, but those others are mine’

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  3. What a shame it isn’t televised! Any Channel 7 execs reading, Reunion show of all the old cast would be great!

    I remember the craft segment, where anne-marie would try to make something to agro’s continual putdowns. Then the “Mr Scribble” when agro would gaffa tape a pen to his nose and draw, I think the ABC threatened to sue at the time or something for copying Mr Squiggle…

  6. Go Agro and Ann-Maree,

    I loved this show back when I was at school. They were hilarious and you could tell they were enjoying themselves. I especially loved when they had the dog Rommel on set… he was a massive Great Dane-type dog and would regularly ‘attack’ Agro and it made for fun TV. At one point when trying to read out viewer letters he tore Agro’s clothes off! Comedy gold.

  8. I have fond memories of the chemistry between Agro and Jill Rae. I had probably outgrown Agro by the time the Ann Maree era came around but remember that they provided great fodder for blooper programs around the World.

    1. Stupid Channel 7 replacing it with Sunrise from the start of 1998 onwards.I was 20 at the time the axe fell on it but still Send Kochie and Sam over to 7 two and put Sunrise on there and give the kids of Today something fun to start the day before school.It sucks now They have handed that part of the day to offerings on Channel 11 and the ABC 3 for the younger lot.

  12. As much as I liked Agro’s Cartoon Connection, growing up it was its predecessor from 1979 – 1983 that I really enjoyed: Shirl’s Neighbourhood.

    Ah the days of Norm The Kangaroo, Ol’ Possum, Claude The Crow (such a cynical crow) and the late great Shirley Strachan, such a shame we cannot get a reunion of this show and have this included in the Anniversary of Toyworld Australia.

  14. These were the great days to be a kid having stuff like Agro and Cartoon Connection before going to school.Starting the day with Sunrise from 6am is not the same

  15. Now this was one great show, I watched it every morning before school. If you look at the cartoon hosts of today they just don’t have the magic that these two had. Long live Agro!

  16. This show was kick ass back in its time 90s. I remember watching Agro’s Cartoon Connection in the midd 90s. I was really young back then. i also remember Agro had a short return to tv when he co hosted a new version of Perfect Match with Shelley Craft in the early 2000s, that only lasted 2 months i think at a late time slot on 7. Agro is just one of the awesome stuffed animal characters. Ratus p ratus, Modigliana, Deryn the dog, Mixi and Keith the koala and Kylie the Kangaroo on the Ferals. Plus the characters from Johnson and friends although they were toys. What a great era that was when Tv was awesome.

  18. I grew up watching Agro’s Cartoon Connection – I used to Love it. Ann-Marie Biggar is definitely a talent which has been missed from TV. The rapport between Agro and Ann-Marie was great and they were hilarious fun to watch.

  24. Growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, I always watched this show (plus Agro’s preceding shows, ‘Wombat’ and ‘The Super Saturday Show’, the latter ended up being replaced by Saturday Disney). As a kid I could never understand why my father seemed to enjoy Agro so much. Now I know why. 🙂

    (for some real laughs hop onto YouTube and do a search for ‘agro outtakes’ – makes the Agro we saw on TV seem so tame by comparison)

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