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After 30 years Nine dumps Entertainment Tonight

After some 30 years on Australian television Entertainment Tonight has been dumped by the Nine Network.

After some 30 years on Australian television Entertainment Tonight has been dumped by the Nine Network.

The Hollywood magazine show is the longest-running entertainment news program in the world.

Now it will be replaced by another US showbiz series, called Extra.

Entertainment Tonight began in 1981, with Mary Hart becoming host in 1982 and its team having included such names as Leonard Maltin, Leeza Gibbons, John Tesh, Robin Leach and Rona Barrett. Current hosts Mark Steines and Nancy O’Dell have presented since 2004 and 2011 respectively.

The show has included interviews with countless celebrities, covered endless red carpets, given thousands of movie reviews and filed a never-ending cavalcade of news and gossip. Its theme song is practically an institution.

Nine even launched an Australian edition of ET in the 1990s, co-presented by Richard Wilkins.

Nine has been screening the CBS show on afternoons for many years, and sometimes on GO!, but from Monday it replaces it with the Warner Bros.-produced show Extra, hosted by Mario Lopez and Maria Menounos.  Extra has been airing in the US since 1994. Amongst the correspondents is former Australian MTV presenter Renee Bargh.

A Nine Spokesperson confirmed to TV Tonight, “Our contract with ET came to and end and we are replacing it with Extra.”

Entertainment Tonight continues to air on Pay TV via Arena.

29 Responses

  1. A shame really.This could have worked as a 7pm option in the absence of More Reality TV shows.But lets not forget this is Nine The Same Channel who gave Postcards the Chop not so long ago and couldn’t pay Humphrey Bear off and the same network that does US sitcoms to death.

  2. OMG! I really can’t believe it. When I read it in the TV guide I just thought they were removing it from the 3pm slot but that it would still be on at 1.30 on GO! before TMZ. And just as the Tom/Kat thing has happened, bummer. I have watched this show every day since 1992 and it seems strange to think it’s gone. I just hope 10 (or 11) pick it up and soon!

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