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Television City’s faces going for a song

I stood in the middle of an empty studio as Graham, Bert, Don, Daryl were all looking up at me. It was like a closed amusement park, the laughter had gone.

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Yesterday I wandered down to Khartoum Street, Richmond, where Studios 10 and 11 (once home to Stingers) of GTV9 were the allowing general public to view memorabilia being sold for auction.

I wasn’t sure whether there would be a crowd for the items that will be sold online next Tuesday.

Sadly, I was the only person in attendance when I arrived at about 2:30pm. In the spate of half an hour only one other person attended.

I stood in the middle of an empty studio where old photos were laid against the wall. The faces of Graham, Bert, Don, Paul, Ray, Daryl, Ernie, Denise, Eddie, and Sam were all looking up at me. It was like a closed amusement park, the laughter had gone. Nobody cares anymore.

Part of me thought I could grab a good bargain if the interest was so sluggish. I reckon many of these old photos will go for a song.

The best of them was a big, black and white Kennedy photo with the king in front of old newspaper headlines. But who will be there for Division 4, Rosemary Margan, or a photo of All Together Now?

There were two grand pianos, including a white piano once played by Elvis Presley.

Studio 9 doors and Graham Kennedy’s dresser and mirror weren’t on show.

I was told this wouldn’t be the last Nine memorabilia auction, as more material is being unearthed as Nine clears its offices.

If you want to bid for any of these visit Gray’s Auctions.

17 Responses

  1. The doors being marketed as the original studio 9 doors, actually arent..and are only a couple of years old and were put there when gtv updated the audience entry area..

    Also the graham kennedy dresser looks to me like a 1990’s at the earliest bench/basin and generic mirror with lights…i find it hard to believe he had anything to do with it

    The original GK kings throne that was publicised in various places looks like a replica to me, as it is totally different looking when compared to the one in the famous scene it was supposedly used on

    Sadly, where info on history is lost, so many places including tv stations simply make it up and i use the term “manufactured history”

  4. i would love to bid for some of these – especially the picture of GK in front of the newspaper headlines – but I just don’t have the spare dollars or the space to house it 🙁

    As was said on the Mediaweek podcast, it’s a shame that some of these items instead of potentially heading to landfull be donated to places like ACMI for preservation and public access, instead of Nine trying to milk whatever few dollars it can by selling them off.

  5. Its sad when companies do this, the department store i work for recently sold a lot of their history, when they moved coincidentally to our new Docklands HQ. Internally it disgusted many, many people internally with in the company and I know deep down, its occurring at nine two. I just hope they get more than what MyStore pun intended, got for all the vintage wood paneling and grand pianos we sold that dated back until 1889. We had a piano that Elvis played and it went for a song!

  7. It’s sad to think nine feel they don’t have any use for the items that are part of their rich history. Have they taken anything from their old studios, to their new?

  8. Why not have a area to one side at there new studios a hall of fame section at or near the entrance have it open to the public in office hours i am shore people would have a look.

  9. I feel like Nine, more than any other network has changed the most in terms of general culture & attitude. Whether it’s for the better depends on your point-of-view.

  11. 1) It would help if they spelt Rosemary Margan’s surname correctly!
    2) Curiously satisfied to see her and All Together Now have been bid on, but Sam Newman languishes on $9…

    Remember when the cinema always had Margan and Bert Newton reading local ads before the film? Such an institution.

  15. As an ex employee of nine, I see this as a two edged sword. Firstly it’s good of nine to invite the public to share in its history giving them a little piece of it.. On the other hand it seems that the creative channel 9 of yesteryear will be somewhat erased from history. It was part of the magic to walk though the corridors and see the programs and people of the past on the walls.

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