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The Great Outdoors in great limbo

Not entirely axed, but The Great Outdoors has just had its passport held by Seven.

A question mark hangs over the future of The Great Outdoors with no new episodes due to be filmed for the Seven travel show.

With more than 16 years under its belt the show is likely to be officially axed when it comes up for review next year, claims news.com.au.

No production time has been scheduled for this year and the show has not been given an allocated timeslot. Unscreened episodes filmed last year will be shown in “filler” positions.

“There is no room for it, there is no timeslot for it, we are all full,” a Seven spokesman said yesterday.

“It is not in the production schedule for the first half of the year.”

All of the hosts including Andrew Daddo, Jennifer Hawkins, Tom Williams or Ernie Dingo, remain contracted to Channel 7.

A year ago Shelley Craft was let go by Seven, but found success with Nine. Reporters Di Smith and Laura Csortan were also dumped as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

The show was moved to a Saturday timeslot after being a long-running hit on Monday nights for Seven.

Source: news.com.au

22 Responses

  1. Hi! This is a question for Ernie Dingo regarding the story he did up in Cape York in 1995 or1996. I need to ask questions regarding this documentary. There was a mention about a “Lost Treasure Box”. This would help with my History story.
    Thanks

  2. i agree david that aussie holidays would be the way around the GFC but it would run the risk of becoming a cheap postcards, holidays for sale type show, which i can’t see rating in a primetime position.
    also if 9 found it so easy to dismiss long running shows like temptation and mcleods after ok ratings because of their demos i can’t see a reason they’d hold onto getaway.

    either way i’d say getaway is going to have a tough year this year.

    does anyone have confirmation that it starts in February i haven’t seen many promos

  3. Getaway still rates comparatively for Nine given a lot of shows are tumbling. But it’s some distance from its glory days. I agree that with changes in economies the show is going to have a hard time. We do love escapism so maybe the answer is to feature more Aussie holidays until the cycle rolls around again.

  4. Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure. The only difference between Getaway and TGO, was TGO had a shocking timeslot. Give Getaway a bit of competition, and it will this year with either Ghost Whisperer or HIMYM/Earl on 7, and Loser/Bondi Vet on 10, and it could be on it’s last legs.

    Add to the mix how innapropriate and out of wack the show now is due to the GFC, along with it skewing old (on a network that is refocused on younger demos), and it doesn’t look too promising.

  5. doubt getaway will follow, its a better production and its ratings have been very consistent for many many years. 1.2 million consistency, that sort of reliability for nine will surely mean no exit soon.

  6. Wouldn’t surprise me if Getaway will follow. …Unless it already has.

    People aren’t interested in seeing places they can no longer afford to go to. Perhaps we may see a rebirth once the economic crisis has passed.

  7. well i have never gotten into these travel shows but had this continued for the next few years it would have been impacted by the global financial crisis and would have just been a tease. i’m sure there will be little market for getaway in the coming years let alone 2 primetime travel shows.

    i hope to see something like it again in the future but i doubt any network would put that much money into a low rating saturday night filler.

    @gerrard, don’t know what you’re on, 58% of all aussie product is on 7. it is 9 and all the other networks that need more aussie shows, maybe 9 should stop relying on 2.5men and CBS cop shows to get them over the line. exactly what US show does 7 “rely on” to get good ratings, all their top raters are aussie.

  8. You can’t discount the effect many US hit shows have had on 7. Shows such as Lost & Prison Break were once huge hits and helped 7 out of the mire that was 2004. Still their aussie stuff is doing well albeit only with the over 55 audience these days..

  9. I agree Outdoors has had a year too long but I’m not sure what guide you are looking at. Seven has risen to the top because of its strong Aussie programming, while Nine production lays off staff or shifts them to project-only.

    As requested by email, please discontinue the signature plugs at the end of every comment Gerrard, along with caps / shouting. Thanks.

  10. Don’t really care, but it’s still sad to see a long-running show getting axed. I’m so happy that Shelly Craft has found stardom. I still remember when every Satday I’d wke up at 7:00am and watch Saturday Disney with her on it. She was one of the best hosts of that show. Domestic Blitz is great with her, she’s a bit too over the top at times, but overall she is fantastic.

    Channel Seven may have won last year’s ratings, but when you think about it, Channel Nine this year have so many aussie shows, while seven don’t have that many. Maybe channel seven should start producing locally made shows, instead of relying on the u.s. to get good ratings.

  11. I prefer Creek to Coast and local travel shows anyway. That kind of extravagence that they show on Getaway and it’s ilk is usually beyond the average aussie. Besides which, there’s the internet and travel channels for information.

  12. It’s basically a case of Seven’s bean counters preferring to divert funds to their new 6.30 pm Sunday night 60 Minutes-ish show, which won’t be cheap to
    make, hence the reason Seven dithered for so long in getting it off the ground..

  13. oh, i thought it was axed long ago. this is one of those shows that remained on seven fron the days that they were a 2nd rate network, but things have changed and things need to be let go. all of the hosts seem to have found new homes.

    would’nt surprise me if getaway is cut down to half a year, pushed to saturday, or axed in the near future, the ratings haven’t been that great even in very low competition. and it is taking up a big chunk of the years schedual.

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