The Footy Show, Before the Game, League Teams: AFL television shows we loved, loathed

Surely at a time when AFL players wives and girlfriends are commanding more of the spotlight, it’s time for TV show by the WAGS, for the WAGS and the game. Here’s some other shows about our great game.

Thank goodness for The Front Bar and The Sunday Footy Show, two free-to-air shows that provide some light relief on the game of AFL.

Footy has always rated and over the years there have been some great shows, and some not so crash-hot efforts, to entertain the fans outside of game day.

And what about the WAGS? Surely in this day and age where the ‘significant others’ of players are commanding more and more of the spotlight it is time for show by the WAGS, for the WAGS and the game.

Would you watch a TV show about the AFL’s power WAGS?

It has been done before — so is now the hour to unleash the power partners of footy heroes in prime time?

Check out the footy shows we loved and loathed.

WORLD OF SPORT

World of Sport was must-watch viewing for any sporting fan. It ran on Sunday mornings on Channel 7 from 1959 to 1987. It was a Melbourne institution and made stars of its panellists such as Mike Williamson, Jack O’Toole, Bob Davis, Bob Skilton, Lou Richards, Jack Dyer, Gus Mercurio, Bill Collins, Peter Landy, Crackers Keenan, Peter McKenna, Kevin Bartlett and Sam Newman.

THE FOOTY SHOW

This show kicked a goal for football shows in prime time and set rival networks hunting for their version of the simple but successful format. The Footy Show ran from March 1994 until its final show on September 25, 2019. It was a goldmine for Channel 9 for all but a handful of those 25 and a half years.

From 1994 until 2006 with Eddie McGuire at the helm the show was unchallenged as a ratings smash, a headline generating machine and a star factory for dozens of ex-players finding their feet and confidence in prime time media. The show continued to be successful when Garry Lyon and James Brayshaw and then Brayshaw and Rebecca Maddern co-hosted. He might be a polarising figure but Sam Newman was the true star of the show. By 2019 the show had been radically overhauled by 9 but the changes were not embraced by the audience.

LIVE AND KICKING

Live and Kicking was launched by Channel 7 in 1998 as a rival to The Footy Show. It was produced by The Footy Show’s former executive producer Harvey Silver and featured the likes of Jason Dunstall, Doug Hawkins and James Hird. The show, playing on the idea of being a sporting variety program, encouraged footy players to perform each week with a band. It lasted two seasons.

4 QUARTERS

Seven launched 4 Quarters in 1995 as a one-hour studio-based show with Sandy Roberts, Tim Watson, Wayne Carey, comic Michael Veitch, Brigitte Duclos and a studio audience. The show was designed to warm up the pre-game TV audience. It is a show that sort of came and went probably because it was not unique enough to stamp itself as a ‘don’t miss’ offering for viewers.

BEFORE THE GAME

A much loved show on Channel 10, viewers were perplexed when the axe fell on the show in 2013. The show started out in 2003 as After The Game. It evolved into Before The Game in 2004 and clicked with viewers. The panel included Mick Molloy, Dave Hughes, Anthony Lehmann, Peter Helliar as Strauchanie, Anthony Hudson, Sam Lane, Damian Callinan, Andy Maher and Neroli Meadows.

ANY GIVEN SUNDAY

Any Given Sunday lasted two seasons on Channel 9 starting in 2005 with presenters Garry Lyon, James Brayshaw and Sam Newman. It was a Sunday morning sports wrap show. In 2006 it was overhauled with Mick Molloy and Nicole Livingstone stepping in as co-hosts. The show’s primary focus remained the AFL. It was axed at the end of 2006.

LEAGUE TEAMS

Without League Teams there would not have been The Footy Show. In many ways this show, which ran in the 1960s and 1970s, set the scene for so many shows decades down the track. League Teams was screened on Channel 7 and featured former players Lou Richards, Jack Dyer and Bob Davis. As the name suggests it rolled through the team lists on a Thursday night for the upcoming round of footy.

LIVING WITH FOOTBALLERS

The cult of the WAGS was on the rise in 2004 when Foxtel launched Living With Footballers. It was a show before its time and would definitely attract interest if polished up and relaunched today. Sixteen years ago this was a quiet but curious panel show where partners shared their experiences in the football bubble. Lisa Lloyd, the wife of Matthew Lloyd and Eloise Southby, daughter of former champion Carlton fullback Geoff Southby, were among the panel regulars.

WAG NATION

WAG Nation was a Real Housewives reality type show featuring wives of prominent sportsmen. It was a clever idea, tapping into the cult of celebrity that was enveloping the wives and girlfriends of sportsmen. Wag Nation featured Terry Biviano, Lynette Bolton, Jana Peterson, Jackie Spong, and Chantelle Raleigh. It aired on Foxtel in 2012 and is another show that could work as a reboot.

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