Warne and Newman odd couple who might conjure TV magic
SAM Newman and Shane Warne might have flopped on their own TV series in the past, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be good together, writes Colin Vickery.
Opinion
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PLAY it again, Sam. That could be the catchcry with word that Sam Newman could team up with Test cricket great Shane Warne for a new television show.
Newman is set to have a meeting with Channel 9 today which will probably decide his future on The Footy Show.
Nine CEO Hugh Marks has said that the network’s top priority in coming weeks is to work out what to do about the ailing entertainment program fronted by Eddie McGuire and Newman with panellists including Brendan Fevola, Shane Crawford and Billy Brownless.
WARNE AND SAM PLOT NIGHTLY TV SHOW
NINE STILL WANTS AFL, DOES IT WANT FOOTY SHOW?
Marks has made no promises that The Footy Show will return with the same name or personnel but has said there will definitely be some sort of AFL program in the Thursday 8.30pm timeslot next year to take on The Front Bar.
Newman knows that leaves him in a tenuous position, which is why he made his emotional farewell address at the start of the The Footy Show on September 20.
But what would Newman do if he isn’t part of The Footy Show in 2019? Warne reckons he knows and is plotting a team-up with his golfing buddy.
“Sam is Channel 9. He should have his own show,” Warne has said. “There is an amazing opportunity for anyone who comes up with the right nightly show.”
That is true but I still have nightmares about Newman’s other television entertainment venture, Sam and the Fatman, and I’m sure the former Geelong champion does, too.
In the mid-2000s, someone at Nine had the brainwave of teaming Newman with then-NRL Footy Show frontman Paul “Fatty” Vautin — but the result was painful.
Newman and Vautin didn’t click like the Newman/McGuire combo. Newman will tell you that he was never comfortable on the show.
The fact that Sam and the Fatman was made by Nine’s Sydney production team rather than the experienced Melbourne hands so used to guiding the AFL Footy Show only compounded the error.
In 2010, Warne also had a crack at an entertainment show for Nine. Warnie was the result and despite guests including James Packer, Sir Michael Parkinson, Sting and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, it failed to fire.
Warne obviously had some big names on speed dial but he was no Parkinson when it came to interviewing.
Warne said at the weekend the original concept for Warnie was quite different from the finished product but that he wanted another crack if Nine allowed him.
“I’d love to do it,” Warne said. “My idea (with Warnie) was to have a 30-minute Larry King-style (show) … but it turned into a Thursday night, 9.30pm, hour-long show with live reads.
“I wanted it to be like people tuning in to see two guys just talking at the pub.”
The Front Bar has used that philosophy to great effect with three people — Andy Maher, Mick Molloy and Sam Pang — sitting in a pub chatting all things AFL football.
The success of The Front Bar is built on the chemistry between Maher, Molloy and Pang. The chemistry between Julia Morris and Chris Brown fuels I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!
Breakfast shows Sunrise, with David Koch and Sam Armytage, and Today, with Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner, also rely on chemistry.
But that special spark is elusive. That is one of the reasons Sam and the Fatman crashed and burned.
But if Newman finds that he won’t be alongside McGuire in 2019, then Warne could be the answer.
Both are colourful, larger-than-life characters and they obviously enjoy a laugh together. The banter they enjoy on the golf course could be the seed of a captivating television show.
“If Chris Martin comes to Australia and wants to promote his new album, what show does he go on?” Warne said.
“So maybe Sam and I have got something in the pipeline for a show.”
Newman didn’t fire alongside Vautin. Warne hosting solo on Warnie didn’t cut it. But put Newman and Warne together, and maybe you’ve got magic.
Colin Vickery is national TV writer
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