Michael Usher on Seven’s ‘almost impossible’ anniversary special
Seven's 70th anniversary special had too many moments to fit, and Michael Usher admits its editors are still feeling it.
There are 70 years of Seven in the archive. Somewhere in there, a team of editors is still cutting, and Michael Usher is happy to admit he's part of the reason.
"It's taken months because it was too big," Usher told Mediaweek.
The veteran newsman will play host for 7NEWS' Spotlight special 70 Years of Seven, airing Sunday 11 October at 8 pm on Seven and 7plus.
"It's been an almost impossible task, and I think I'm at the point of almost ruining the lives of some of our editors because I only this morning woke up and went, oh, hang on, have we got these moments?
"It's almost too much."
The special marks the network's 70th anniversary. It brings together Bruce McAvaney, Georgie Parker, Larry Emdur, Sonia Kruger, Johanna Griggs, Natalie Barr, and Effie to look back at the programs, personalities, and coverage Seven has put to air since 1956. Viewers can expect rare archival footage, bloopers never shown before, and the guests' own memories.
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Lost in the archive
The team had to fit 70 years of drama, sport, comedy, lifestyle, and reality into a single broadcast. Usher said the job was spread across a wide group of people so that more recent moments didn't crowd out the older ones.
"We've literally farmed a lot of it out to other people so that we've got a lot of different age groups looking at this because it's very easy to go, well, oh gosh, I remember only 10 years ago, this was the best moment ever of the thing," he said.
He also pointed to a more personal problem. "Part of the challenge has been we get into an edit suite, or we get into an archive, and suddenly you lose about four hours watching back to those moments."
The shows that made the cut include Cop Shop, Kingswood Country, A Country Practice, Gladiators, Popstars, Fast Forward, Acropolis Now, and Kath and Kim. The special also covers Olympic wins, royal weddings, breaking news, and memorable live TV moments.
Comedy is the opposite of news
Usher said the format grew out of bringing together seven longstanding Seven personalities who are also friends, and letting them swap stories from their careers. He called it one of the best programs he has worked on, because the guests talk as both broadcasters and viewers.
For a newsman, part of the appeal was finding out how the other side of the building works.
"I've always been fascinated by how other parts of TV work. So, you know, comedy is the opposite of news," he said.
"I wanted this big event feel to the whole thing, because TV is a big event and most of our magic moments have been, you know, our major sporting moments, major Olympic moments in news. They've been bad, but they've affected the nation, and they've partly written our history."
When Australian TV found its own voice
Looking back at the archive, Usher noticed a cultural shift. For decades, he said, local television looked to Britain for its cues.
"Was it a reflection of us, or was it what some people thought that we should be like? So over 70 years, and this has been fascinating watching it, you can see TV literally change and reflect who we were," he said.
"Somewhere in the 70s, it shifted. We heard actual Aussie ads. We saw different people from different backgrounds in comedy. We took the mickey out of ourselves, accurately."
He believes comedy did the most to drive that change.
"It's not necessarily situational comedy. The Americans did so well. But it's having a bit of a lend of each other," he said.
"Through that, it reflected the culture of the day. And then the comedy was so good, it shaped culture and sayings. And terminology we've all used in our daily life that came out of TV shows."
The moment that stopped the nation
Usher didn't need to think long about his own favourite moment: Cathy Freeman's gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
"That's defining of the moment in our history. It's defining of culture. It's defining of sport," he said.
"It transcended sport, culture, you know, identity, everything in Australia."
Seventy years of television, all fitting into one Sunday night slot. The editors might want to book their holiday leave now.
7NEWS Spotlight Presents: 70 Years of Seven airs Sunday 11 October at 8 pm on Seven and 7plus.
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