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Denton calls enough on Enough Rope

Denton's last episode of Enough Rope will air December 8th on ABC.

The final episode of Enough Rope With Andrew Denton will screen on December 8 after host Andrew Denton called it quits.

“It’s a good time to finish,” he says. “Not everybody gets to finish in their own time and on their own terms, and I certainly feel very lucky. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I really see my future behind the camera.”

Denton has earned a reputation as arguably the best television interviewer in the country. He has enjoyed a cavalcade of stars and personalities, luring them to share some of their most personal secrets. While appearing on camera he has headed up his production company Zapruder’s Other Films which is responsible for The Chaser’s War on Everything and David Tench.

Earlier this year, he had indicated to the ABC’s director of television, Kim Dalton,  that this season of Enough Rope was likely to be its swansong.

“Andrew has been saying for some time that he’d wanted to spend more time developing a range of projects in an executive producing capacity,” he told The Age.

“He wants his company, Zapruder’s Other Films, to be a broader-based production company. This program’s had an exceptional run, but not everything can go on forever.”

Enough Rope has been a major drawcard for the ABC since March 2003. Through six seasons and nearly 200 episodes, it has developed a dedicated core audience that fluctuated to some degree, depending on the guests.

Over the years, Denton says the show has enabled him to “talk to everyone from Pauline Hanson to Arundhati Roy”. The roll-call of interviewees is substantial and impressive, attesting to the program’s quest for a diversity of voices.

Tonight he chats with another first class interviewer, Sir Michael Parkinson.

Source: The Age

Amended.

Press Release:
Q: How much is Enough Rope?
A: 191 episodes and 500-plus guests. After six years of edge-of-the-seat television, multiple awards and a re-definition of the meaning of a talk-show, ABC TV and Zapruder’s other films are today announcing that ENOUGH ROPE will not return in 2009.

Andrew Denton said it’s been the most extraordinary ride, and an amazing privilege.

“I’ve loved every minute and appreciated the public’s support all the way through. The recent episode with Imran Khan won the ratings nationally – with another seven episodes to come.

“But I’ve always planned for a future behind the camera – and the future is now. From the end of this year, that’s where I’m heading,” said Denton.

ABC Director of Television Kim Dalton said “Along with millions of other Australian ABC viewers, I am personally sad to see the end of an era with no more ENOUGH ROPE programs on a Monday night. But I am pleased that Andrew will still be on our screens in a new Elders series.

“However I am very excited that our working relationship with Andrew and Zapruder’s other films goes from strength to strength, and 2009 promises to be another landmark year in that relationship,” he said.

That relationship has built strongly over the past six years as Zapruder’s has produced not just seven series of ENOUGH ROPE but also CNNNN (with the Chaser) and The Gruen Transfer.

Next year will see a second series of The Gruen Transfer, a new series of Elders and another major project for ABC TV that is in development for late 2009.

Denton: “I have met an unbelievable range of people over the last six years. To sit opposite the likes of Barry Humphries, Bill Clinton, Steve Irwin, Bono, Jane & Glenn McGrath, Alan Bond, Jerry Seinfeld, Gerard the taxi driver, Mark Latham, to name only a few.., it has been quite an education.

“I am grateful to the ABC for giving me the time and space, not only to do that, but also to make the documentaries Angels & Demons, Can I Write The Ending?, Gallipoli: Brothers In Arms and God On My Side”

Denton informed the ABC of his decision last month. “The most you can ask for in television is to get out in your own time on your own terms. I feel very fortunate,” he said.

6 Responses

  1. @ Richard H,

    For what it’s worth, I loved Tench.

    But Zapruder deserves credit for CNNNN / Chaser; and Gruen Transfer. As for film – well, I don’t think feature films fit the remit – documentaries, sure, but not features. And I think it’s fair to say that ‘God On My Side’ was a better television program than a cinema documentary (it screened in cinemas before it went to television). We need ‘better’ and original television, so let them stick to that.

  2. Tench was a terrible show. (also the ch ten thing reversed wasn’t clever either) Enough rope was a great interview show so i will miss it though it did start to go soppy but Andrew got a wide variety of guests who were extreamly interesting to listen too. (Michael Stipe from REM was a very intersting interview)

    I hope Andrew opens up his production company to newbies a bit(that’s the trouble with production companies in Australia they protect their patch too much), and let’s hope he does not limit the potential, and be involved in film as well as TV.

  3. Okay – so we all knew this was coming. Why doesn’t the ABC commission another interview series from Zapruder, and let Zapruder find the talent? There must be someone who knows how to conduct an interview ?

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