''Newlyweds'' is an Australian television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that originally aired 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 ...

for two seasons from 20 February 1993 to 16 March 1994. The series was created by

Ian McFadyen Ian McFadyen (born 8 July 1948) is an Australian television writer, actor, director and producer. He is best known as the creator and producer of the Australian television series ''The Comedy Company'', which he also directed and wrote episodes ...

and produced by David Taft. It was written by McFadyen,

Mary-Anne Fahey Mary-Anne Fahey (born 19 August 1955 as Mary-Anne Waterman) is an Australian actress, comedian and writer. Biography Fahey has starred in and written for numerous comedy programs including ''The Comedy Company'', ''Kittson Fahey'' (the first Au ...

and Graeme Farmer. The show centres on young couple Allie Carter (

Annie Jones Ann Jones (or similar) may refer to: Writers *Ann Jones (author) (born 1937), American writer on women's issues *Anne Jones (writer) (born 1955), Australian editor and administrator * Anna Jones (food writer), columnist and cookbook author * Cat ...

) and Peter Roberts (

Christopher Gabardi Christopher Gabardi (born 25 July 1969) is an Australian actor. He attended Wesley College, Melbourne (was School Captain in 1987) prior to graduating from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) with a degree in Performing Arts (A ...

) as they embark on married life, with constant interruptions from their families and friends.

Cast and characters

as Allie Carter *

as Peter Roberts *

Sandy Gore Sandy Gore (born 28 June 1950) is an Australian film, stage and television actress. She has had an extensive stage career in Australia with the Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company including playing Vivian in '' Wit'' (2000) and ...

as Irene Carter * Cathy Godbold as Jules Carter * Joseph Clements as Simmo *

Sandie Lillingston Sandra Lillingston is an Australian actress active between 1984 and 1997. Career Lillingston appeared as a presenter in a short 1983 documentary ''One Last Chance'' on the probation system in South Australia. Her first acting role was as the ...

as Marnie Phelps * Valentina Levkowicz as Bev Roberts *

Denis Moore Denis Neville Moore (26 September 1910 – 2 October 2003) was an English cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Gloucestershire between 1930 and 1936. Moore had a spectacular debut season as a batsman in 1930, ...

as Ross Roberts * Ross Williams as Eric Kaufman * Rod Mulliner as Kirby Hacker * Elisha Hall as Kelly *

Jason Torrens Jason Torrens (born 20 May 197in Melbourne) is an Australian actor and musician. Torrens is best known for his role as Peter Unwin George Wall ("Pugwall") in the 1989 children's television series '' Pugwall''. Other notable roles include Dill ...

as Duncan * Matthew Turner as Matt (series 1) * Brendan McAlpin as Matt (series 2)

Production

A pilot for the series was produced in Melbourne by

Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfords ...

in early 1992. Written by

and

, it starred

Lisa McCune Lisa McCune (born 19 February 1971) is an Australian actress, known for her role in TV series ''Blue Heelers'' as Senior Constable Maggie Doyle, and in ''Sea Patrol'' as Lieutenant Kate McGregor RAN. She has won four Gold Logie Awards. McCune ...

, Katrina Foster, Richard Healey, Cathy Godbold,

Rhys Muldoon Rhys Muldoon (born 17 October 1965) is an Australian actor, writer and director who has worked extensively in film, television, music, theatre and radio. Since 2012 he has starred as Mark Oliver in ''House Husbands''. Career Television Muldoon ...

, Stewart Faichney and Tenley Gilmore. In April 1992, Jacqueline Lee Lewis of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' reported that Crawfords would re-shoot the pilot for

after recasting several roles.

Reception

Peter Holmes of ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' initially observed that "''Newlyweds'' appears nothing more than ''Romeo and Juliet'', badly done for the millionth time." Holmes admitted to openly laughing four times, especially at scenes involving Gore's "ice-bitch" character. ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

s Mark Lawrence thought the show was the most promising out of the recent locally produced sitcoms. He praised Gabardi's performance, saying that he has "good timing and clearly relishes his opportunity", while he found Jones was "a perfect match" for him. Like Holmes, Lawrence enjoyed Gore's performance as Irene, writing "If one must single out a star in this series, it's her. Such is the presence she creates." Lawrence's fellow critic Geoff Slattery gave the show a more negative review, describing it as "a fatuous, demeaning, anti-intellectual series based on one sentence of concept: Newlyweds'' deals with problems familiar to all young couples.'" Slattery felt that the show was full of bad stereotypes and had "no redeeming social values, perceptions, or understanding of either newlyweds, or the Australia of the '90s."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Newlyweds Seven Network original programming Australian television sitcoms 1993 Australian television series debuts 1994 Australian television series endings Television series by Crawford Productions

Cast and characters

Production

Reception

See also

References

External links