''Family and Friends'' is a short-lived Australian

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

which debuted on 7 February 1990.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 169 The series was intended to be the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

's response to the already successful soaps on the rival channels - ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' and '' E Street'' on the

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

and ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...

'' on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

Synopsis

Set in a suburban community the series 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 Roxane Wilson (born 1965) is an South African actress best known for her roles in '' Water Rats'', '' Stingers'' and '' The Alice''. She was born in Durban, South Africa to an Italian mother and an English father. She lives in Los Angeles with ...

) and Robert Rossi (

Renato Bartolomei Renato Bartolomei was born in Australia of Italian descent. Starting his acting career in Australia, he is now a prominent actor in New Zealand, who had a prominent role as Craig Valentine in ''Shortland Street''. He starred in the TV2 series ...

). Despite a strong cast which included actors known for previous soap roles:

Abigail Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death ( 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married ...

(''Sons and Daughters''), Diane Craig (''Prisoner''), Anne Phelan (''Prisoner''), Justine Clarke (''

''), and

Alyce Platt Alyce Mary A Platt (born 19 December 1963) is an Australian actress and singer. As an actress, she had roles in the TV soap operas '' Sons and Daughters'' and '' Neighbours'', and worked as a TV presenter and game show host, including on ''Sal ...

(''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 Rebecca Rigg is an Australian actress. She is known for her roles in television and film. She started out as a child actor in ''Fatty Finn'' (1980), before also being featured in the films ''Hunting'' (1991), ''Spotswood'' (1992) and ''Ellie ...

. A week's worth of episodes were produced in the new format, when the series was abruptly canceled 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.Mercado, Andrew. ''Super Aussie Soaps'', Pluto Press Australia, 2004. pp. 300–303

Cast

- Doreen Stubbs *

- Robert Rossi * Rachael Beck - Claudia Rossi * Justine Clarke - Cheryl Brooks * Diane Craig - Pamela Chandler *

Robert Forza Robert Forza is an Australian actor. He has had guest roles in '' Homicide'' (in 1974 and 1975) and ''Prisoner'' (playing Spud Murphy, between 1980–83). He later had a recurring role as Rocco Cammeniti in '' Neighbours''. Film appearances incl ...

- Joe Rossi *

Jonathan Hardy Jonathan Hardy (20 September 1940 – 30 July 2012) was a New Zealand-Australian film and television actor, writer and director, he worked also in Australia. Early career Hardy was born in New Zealand in Wellington and began his training ...

- Brother Ignatius *

Gavin Harrison Gavin Richard Harrison (born 28 May 1963) is an English musician. He is best known for playing with the progressive rock bands Porcupine Tree (2002–2010; 2021–present), King Crimson (2008, and 2014–present) and The Pineapple Thief (2016� ...

- Renato *

Maxine Klibingaitis Maxine Koran Klibingaitis (born 17 May 1964) is an Australian actress. Maxine was born in Ballarat, Victoria and was married to the Australian television director, Andrew Friedman, they have one son, Zane Friedman. She is probably best kno ...

- Gloria Stubbs *

Adrian Lee Adrian Lee (born 9 September 1957, London, England) is an English musician, known especially for his brass instrumentation work with several well-known acts of the 1980s. Career Lee was first signed to Phonogram Records in the late 1970s as g ...

- Marco Rossi * Dominic McDonald - Greg Chandler * Anna-Maria Monticelli - Luciana Rossi * Sean Myers - Greg Chandler *

Ross Newton Ross Newton (born 20 February 1967) is an Australian actor born in Melbourne, Victoria, he graduated from NIDA in 1989, and is best known for playing Greg Marshall in the television soap opera '' Home and Away''. Career Newton grew up in the ...

- Bartholomew Purvis (Thommo) * Anne Phelan - Dawn Rossi *

- Stephanie Collins *

- Pasquelina * Mario Rossello - Mikey Rossi * Dinah Shearing - Antoinetta Rossi *

Wendy Strehlow Wendy Strehlow ( 1958) is an Australian actress, particularly in soap opera and theatre, she has appeared in numerous TV series and tele-dramas but is probably best known for her role as the much loved nurse sister Judy Loveday in the televisio ...

- Janet Simmonds *

Simon Westaway Simon Westaway (born 22 December 1958) is an Australian actor who has appeared in many television series, films and theatre productions. He is most remembered as portraying Sergeant Peter "Noddy" Faithful in the crime drama series ''Phoenix'', ...

- Damien Chandler *

Kym Wilson Kym Wilson (born 1 April 1973) is an Australian actress and former television host. Career Wilson made her television debut playing a minor role in the 1985 mini-series '' Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin''. Her first major role was in th ...

- Blondie *

- Jennifer Chandler

Notes

External links

* {{Romeo and Juliet Australian television soap operas Nine Network original programming 1990 Australian television series debuts 1990 Australian television series endings English-language television shows