| Family and Friends | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Bevan Lee Greg Haddrick |
| Starring | Roxane Wilson, Renato Bartolomei, Jonathan Hardy, Dinah Shearing, Rachael Beck, Simon Westaway, Ross Newton, Sean Myers |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Bruce Best |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nine Network |
| Release | February 7 – December 27, 1990 |
Family and Friends is a short-lived Australian television soap opera by the Nine Network which debuted on 7 February 1990. [1]
The series was intended to be the networks response to the already successful soaps on the rival channels - Neighbours and E Street on Network Ten and Home and Away on the Seven Network.
Family and Friends was set in a suburban community the series and focused on two families - the Chandler and the Italian-Australian Rossi families - who were linked by a long-standing vendetta stemming from an accidental death in the 1950s. Old enmities were renewed by the Romeo-and-Juliet style romance between Jennifer Chandler (Roxane Wilson) and Robert Rossi (Renato Bartolomei).
Despite a strong cast which included actors known for previous soap roles including: Anne Phelan ( Prisoner as Myra Desmond [2] ) and Maxine Klibingaitis (from Prisoner and Neighbours ) [3] ), Justine Clarke ( Home and Away ) and Abigail and Alyce Platt (both from Sons and Daughters ), the series failed to catch on with the viewers. Episodes were initially broadcast in one-hour installments up against Ten's E Street on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 19:30–20:30, but ratings were disastrous. The show was promptly reformatted as half-hour episodes stripped at 17:30 weeknights, but ratings remained very low. And now that it was lead-in to National Nine News's 6pm bulletin its low ratings meant it remained in a precarious position.
The series then underwent a major revamp which included the loss of six cast members and addition of new cast members including Rebecca Rigg. A week's worth of episodes were produced in the new format, when the series was abruptly cancelled on 26 April 1990. The final episodes went to air in a late-night timeslot during the 1990-1991 summer non-ratings period. In total 96 episodes had been produced. [4]
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