The Footy Show is an Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.
There are two versions of the program, one dedicated to the AFL and Australian Rules Football, and the other concerning the NRL and rugby league. They are officially respectively referred to as The AFL Footy Show and The NRL Footy Show, though most fans will just refer to either one as "The Footy Show".
Scheduling
Each version of the show airs twice each week in the form of a:
- A Thursday night program, shown at 9.30 PM AEST, and
- A Sunday morning program, shown at 11:00 AM AEST
The Thursday night programs are aired at different times. In Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia where Australian Rules is the more popular sport, The AFL Footy Show is aired. In New South Wales and Queensland where rugby league is the more popular sport, The NRL Footy Show is aired. The "alternate" version of Thursday's Footy Show would then go to air later that Thursday night. The "alternate" show on Sunday is not aired in addition to the regularly scheduled version.
The AFL Footy Show on Sunday is now followed by Any Given Sunday, a show hosted by Garry Lyon and featuring Sam Newman and James Brayshaw, that looks at all sports around the world, as well as previewing the AFL matches for that day. The NRL Footy Show on Sunday is usually followed by Boots N' All, a show replaying old footage and revealing the lighter side of rugby league.
The AFL Footy Show
In 1994, the AFL version began, hosted by former Network Ten reporter Eddie McGuire, and joined by former Geelong player Sam Newman and comedian Trevor Marmalade. They are joined by several current and former AFL players in a panel format.
An interesting footnote is that before 2002 no footage of any AFL games could be aired by the show as the rival Seven Network held the broadcast rights at the time. Nine currently has access to the rights and footage is now used liberally during the show.
In recent years, some members of the show have made short 5 minute parodies of daytime soap operas. These shorts are aired during the show.
The AFL Footy Show has also had its fair share of controversy, especially because of the on-air antics of Newman who has been the subject of many a complaint directed at the Nine Network. Some of these incidents include:
- Having his face painted black in response to Nicky Winmar, an Indigenous Australian player, not turning up to appear as scheduled on that nights program.
- Pieing David Schwarz in the face, then getting whacked by him.
- Being 'dacked' (having his trousers pulled down, exposing his genitals) on air by Shane Crawford
- Drinking a full bottle of what appeared to be Jim Beam over the length of a show. After around 400 calls about the incident during the course of the show, 6 people called Channel 9 and bet that he couldn't drink the rest (which was half a bottle). He then proceeded to finish off the bottle in one go.
Newman has also had a number of well-publicised off-screen incidents that are often brought up during the show.
The AFL footy show is much more about the game than the NRL footy show. This is obvious by Eddie proclaiming "what a BIG week it has been in football" at the start of every show. The panellists discuss any news stories that arise during the week, review the last rounds matches, and preview each and every match for the week, including showing the lineups.
As of 2006, Eddie McGuire will step down from his hosting roll of the program after being named the new CEO of the Nine Network. He will be replaced by sometime-panellist and Sunday Footy Show host Garry Lyon and football commentator James Brayshaw.
Sunday Footy Show
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On Sunday mornings, the Sunday Footy Show airs, hosted by Garry Lyon and featuring Dwayne Russell, Brian Taylor, Mark Bickley and Billy Brownless on the panel. The show discusses the weekends matches so far, showing scores and highlights, and often interviews players from some of the sides that have played that round. In the 1990s - before the Nine network obtained the TV rights to AFL matches, it was a lighter look at AFL, with a great panel featuring the likes of Max Walker and Lou Richards. Lou Richards is still a part of the Sunday Footy Show today, through his Lou's Handball segment.
The NRL Footy Show
Sydney Footy Show
Following the pioneering success of the AFL footy show, the Nine Network quickly developed a Footy Show for the Sydney/Brisbane market. The NRL Footy Show began in 1994 with and was hosted by 'Fatty' aka Paul Vautin, 'Sterlo' (Peter Sterling), 'Blocker' (Steve Roach) and Ray Hadley.
The Thursday night program was, and still is largely entertainment-based, with some football-related content included, such as previews of the weekend's fixtures. This is often ridiculed by those in the industry, including Hadley himself.
Hadley and Roach did not have a good relationship with the rest of the team, and left by the late 1990's. For around two or three years, Vautin and Sterling presented the show by themselves, often with guest hosts such as Phil Gould, the Johns brothers (Andrew and Matthew) and Ryan Girdler with his highly popular segment, Their House, the name parodying Australian TV program Our House (a lifestyle program).
In 2001, a contest was held to find a new co-host, via a parody of the hit show Survivor (also shown on Nine), and former Knights forward Paul Harragon, also known as 'Chief', was selected. In 2003, fellow former Knights player Matthew Johns joined as the forth host, following the success of his appearances as alter egos Reg Reagan and Trent The Flight Steward the previous year. A new character, Randy Bugatelli, based upon a American fitness instructor, was introduced in 2005.
Paul Harragon's introduction to the show brought popular segments such as 'That's Tops', which involves giving the 'thumbs up' sign with both hands simultaneously. 'That's Tops' ran from 2002 until the end of 2004. In 2005 'That's Gold' was introduced, which involves placing an upright clenched fist on an open palm, both of these have had huge successes around Australia and New Zealand and can often be seen 'performed' at sports venues across the country.
In May 2005, due to declining ratings, former host Ray Hadley was invited back to the show. However, he declined this offer due to his radio commentiments on 2GB. Rebecca Wilson was also invited to be part of the show and she accepted. However, Vautin and Sterling disapproved of this move. Wilson appeared for only one episode.
The show has spanwed 3 "best of" video/DVDs, a compliation CD, the Reg Reagan All of Me DVD and the single Am I Ever Gonna See The Biff Again? by Reg Reagan and the Knucklemen. Reg Reagan is a parody of a stereotypical 1980's rugby league fan, and Biff refers to barefisted fighting.
For a period of 10 weeks in 2005 the show was hosted by Matthew Johns, due to head injuries suffered by Vautin and a longer-than-expected recovery from the resulting concussion, however Vautin returned in September 2005.
The NRL Footy Show is a more fun-filled entertainment show than a show about the game itself. This is evident through the many games that the members play such as Going, Going, GOOONE! and segments such as Daredevil Dudes. Only one match is previewed in a through extent, it generally being the Friday Night showcase.
Brisbane Footy Show
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The Brisbane Footy Show was short-lived during the 1990s, but today the Sydney version is shown there.
Sunday Footy Show
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Awards
At the 47th Annual TV Week Logie Awards held on May 1, 2005, the NRL version of the program won the Most Popular Sporting Program award, beating the AFL version for the first time in several years.