Frontline (season 2) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This is a list of the 13 episodes of series two of Frontline

Frontline (Australian TV series)

Frontline is an Australian comedy television series which satirised Australian television current affairs programmes and reporting. It ran for three series of 13 half-hour episodes and was broadcast on ABC TV in 1994, 1995 and 1997.-Production:...

, which first aired in 1995. In series 2, Frontline (the fictional show-within-the-show) struggles with ratings, and the network's varying attempts to heighten the ratings. The series is shot in mockumentary

Mockumentary

A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...

style.

All of the show's episodes were written and directed by Rob Sitch

Rob Sitch

Robert Ian Sitch , is an Australian director, producer, screenwriter, actor and comedian.-Early life:Sitch attended St Kevin's College and graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Melbourne, where he resided at Trinity College. He worked at the Royal Womans Hospital...

(Mike Moore), Jane Kennedy

Jane Kennedy (actor)

Jane Kennedy is an Australian actress, comedian, radio presenter, and television producer best known for her work with the Working Dog Productions – a tight-knit group of performers responsible for a variety of television and films....

(Brooke Vandenberg), Santo Cilauro

Santo Cilauro

Santo Cilauro is an Australian television and feature film producer, screenwriter, actor, author, comedian and cameraman, a co-founder of The D-Generation...

(Geoffrey Salter) - who also did most of the camera work - and Tom Gleisner

Tom Gleisner

Tom Gleisner is an Australian director, producer, writer, comedian, occasional actor and author. He was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne, Australia.-Television, radio and film:...

Series 2: 1995

#	Title	Original Airdate	Overall Total
1	One Big Family	July 24, 1995	14
1	With the ratings down, Brian is fired from his job as executive producer. Although Emma is competent in the role, she soon begins to realise that as a young woman, she has no chance, particularly when Brian's sexist Sexism Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas... temporary replacement takes all the credit. Meanwhile, Jan (Genevieve Mooy) organises the network's new promo - One Big Family - but behind the scenes, Mike is offended by the size of his role and Brooke is refusing to shake hands with Geoff (Santo Cilauro Santo Cilauro Santo Cilauro is an Australian television and feature film producer, screenwriter, actor, author, comedian and cameraman, a co-founder of The D-Generation... ).

2	Workin' Class Man	July 31, 1995	15
2	When lower-income audiences start tuning out, Jan and Sam Murphy (Kevin J. Wilson Kevin J. Wilson Kevin J. Wilson is an Australian actor. He is best known for his performance as executive producer Sam Murphy on the satirical Frontline and as Sir Malcolm on erotic soap opera Chances.-References:... ), the new executive producer, attempt to change Mike's image: to make him a more down-to-earth guy. Elsewhere, Marty tries to stop Frontline from doing an exposé on a dodgy investment he's personally involved in.

3	Heroes & Villains	August 7, 1995	16
3	When a humble professor publishes a book of statistical analyses, the media (and Frontline) attempt to make it into a debate on racism Racism Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature... , and Sam manipulates Mike into passionate feelings on the issue, while the Frontline staff ignore their own racial prejudices. Elsewhere, Brooke attempts to make a heart surgeon look like a hero. The main storyline is a direct parallel to a contemporary book The Bell Curve The Bell Curve The Bell Curve is a best-selling and controversial 1994 book by the Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray... .

4	Office Mole	August 14, 1995	17
4	Mike starts tiring of his job, so Sam gives him an official-sounding but easy role as 'International Story Co-Ordinator'. A series of big stories are ruined when A Current Affair happens to do the same ones each night, leading Sam and Mike to pursue an office mole.

5	Basic Instincts	August 21, 1995	18
5	When Stu (Pip Mushin) captures a brutal beating on film, but doesn't attempt to help the man, Frontline becomes the centre of a debate about journalistic integrity. Mike, meanwhile, attempts to get a debate about euthanasia Euthanasia Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering.... underway, and Brooke grows frustrated with developments in Emma's lovelife.

6	Let the Children Play	August 28, 1995	19
6	Frontline sets up a community service project, having Jon English Jon English Jonathan James "Jon" English is an Australian rock singer, musician, actor and writer. English emigrated to Australia with his parents in 1961... build a playground for disadvantaged inner-city youth, manipulating the audience at every step.

7	Divide the Community, Multiply the Ratings	September 4, 1995	20
7	When the team get inside information on an attack at the Serbia Serbia Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans... n Embassy, Frontline gets exclusive graphic film of the attack. As they avoid the police and the public, Sam and Marty attempt to incite racial violence through a series of live debates, while an oblivious Mike tries to find a way to ease the racial tension.

8	Keeping Up Appearances	September 11, 1995	21
8	When a tragically scarred woman agrees to sell her story, the price is too high. But Sam comes up with a plan to raise the money.

9	All Work and No Fame	September 18, 1995	22
9	Mike's concerns about his role with the show are amplified when Brooke is given a series of nature documentaries. To calm him down, Sam forces Marty to take Mike along on a stakeout Stakeout Stakeout is a 1987 film directed by John Badham and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, and Forest Whitaker... .

10	Changing the Face of Current Affairs	September 25, 1995	23
10	With ratings still down, the network hires Larry Hages (Harry Shearer Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show... ), an American consultant Consultant A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public... who implements a series of changes in the way that Frontline runs.

11	A Man of His Convictions	October 2, 1995	24
11	Mike is accused of being a lightweight, so he sets out to have a strong opinion by joining an environmental protest Environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements... .

12	The Great Pretenders	October 9, 1995	25
12	Marty and Sam bail out a neo Nazi Neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements.... alleged murder but their attempts to pay him for his story run into trouble when they go up against the network's new legal adviser. And Mike is asked to appear on a celebrity game show Game show A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes... special, causing the producers to worry about whether he'll look stupid.

13	Give 'em Enough Rope	October 16, 1995	26
13	Mike is stunned when he learns that Frontline has been used for cross-promotion of other properties owned by Lloyd Walsh, the Rupert Murdoch Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate.... -esque owner of the network. When Walsh is suspected of breaking the cross-media ownership laws, he decides to appear on Frontline to save his reputation. But when Mike thinks (rightly) that the interview is really a puff piece and not hard-hitting journalism, he decides to set things right - with disastrous results for Frontline. This is Kevin J. Wilson's last episode. Although it is never mentioned what happened to Sam, it is likely he was fired for his role in the Walsh interview. This is also Genevieve Mooy's last episode. In the third season, the producers decided to go with a more down-to-earth publicist, who could conceivably be friends with the on-air talent.

External links

Frontline website (Extremely out of date circa 1997)
Interview with Rob Sitch on the tenth anniversary of Frontline
Frontline DVDs at the ABC shop online

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Series 2: 1995

See also

External links