Can you put We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High in the same room? According to TV Week editor Amber Giles, probably not.
“You’d argue that Summer Heights High wouldn’t exist without We Can Be Heroes,” Giles told Mediaweek. “So We Can Be Heroes walks, so Summer Heights High could run.”
And just like that, you’re in the middle of the kind of spirited, slightly chaotic debate that has been playing out in the TV Week offices for weeks – because someone had to figure out which 140 shows represent the greatest Australian television of the past 70 years.
Now, it’s the public’s turn to weigh in.
The TV Week Logie Awards has launched a public vote to determine the top 70 shows from the last seven decades, marking the 70th anniversary of Australian television.
Why 140 shows and not more?
Giles is the first to admit the shortlist required some hard calls – and a cap.
“We just wanted to cap it at 140 shows for scrolling purposes,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Otherwise, you would be scrolling all day trying to find your show. But I have to keep saying – people can add the shows that they want.”
The campaign marks 70 years since Bruce Gyngell opened Australian television’s first broadcast on 16 September 1956. Seven decades on, and the arguments about what belongs in the canon are, if anything, more heated than ever.
Working Dog Productions alone posed a headache.
“Do you put Utopia, Frontline, and The Panel all on the list?” Giles said. “Like, how many of their shows can you put on the list to get started?”
Honouring the full span of Australian TV
For Giles, the exercise was as much about breadth as it was about nostalgia.
“You can’t just think of the last 10 years. You can’t just think of the last 20 years, even,” she said.
“You have to really expand and make sure we’re showing that diversity of Australian TV – and the other thing that really came in, obviously, is streaming.”
Honouring the early decades was non-negotiable. “You need to make sure that the icons like Graham Kennedy are represented on the list,” she said.
There were also some trickier conversations about shows that may not have aged well.
“There might be some shows that have since had controversial moments with the actors that we might have had to remove from the list,” Giles said. “But we did probably stick with the line of – if it was big at the time, it stays in.”
The commercial opportunity
It is not just TV fans who are excited. Are Media’s Director of Sales, Anna Quinn, said the timing couldn’t be better.
“We’re really seeing that return to nostalgia, like it’s really having a moment, so this is absolutely bang on perfect,” Quinn told Mediaweek.
“And with all the chaos in the world, there really is that need to return home, celebrate Aussie heroes and deep dive into what is effectively really brand safe, really warm, really nostalgic. I absolutely love it from a commercial standpoint.”
For Quinn, the value extends well beyond the night itself.
“It’s a really great commercial property because it’s not just about the night itself – it’s the whole run-up into it. It’s the Gold Logie, it’s the voting. And what’s been great this year is that brands have been really interested in doing out-of-the-box things.”
What the public decides
For Giles, the most exciting part is yet to come.
“I’m actually just really excited to see what the general public votes on because, you know, we’re here talking about it and obviously it’s what we do day in and day out,” she said.
“But to get that feedback from the general public is really exciting to me.”
There is something bigger at play here too – a shift in how Australians see themselves and each other.
“As Australians, we’re realising that the tall poppy syndrome needs to kind of go away,” Giles said. “We do need to actually celebrate each other. We do need to have awards. We do need to applaud our peers and colleagues and celebrate winners.”
Voting is now open now and closes Sunday 21 June at 5pm AEST.