The Footy Show (AFL)

The Footy Show
File:Footyshow afl hdr2.jpg
Presented by	Garry Lyon James Brayshaw Sam Newman Trevor Marmalade
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	15
Production
Running time	105 minutes (including commercials)
Original release
Network	Nine Network
Release	1994 – present

The AFL Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.

This show is the original of the two versions of the program, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football. The other relates to the NRL and rugby league on The NRL Footy Show. As they are shown in distinct geographical regions, according to areas where one or other sport predominates, there is little room for confusion.

On Air

Presenters

• Garry Lyon (2006 - )
• James Brayshaw (2006 - )
• Sam Newman (1994 - )
• Trevor Marmalade (1994 - )
• Billy Brownless (1997 - )
• Tony Jones (2006 - )

Former Presenter

• Eddie McGuire (1994 - 2005)

Scheduling

The AFL version of the show airs twice each week:

• A Thursday night program, shown at 9.30 p.m. AEST, and
• A Sunday morning program, shown at 11:00 a.m. AEST

Thursdays

In Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania The AFL Footy Show is aired. The alternate version of Thursday's NRL Footy Show would then go to air later that Thursday night. The alternate show on Sunday is not aired in addition to the regularly scheduled version.

Sundays

The AFL Footy Show on Sunday was followed by Any Given Sunday, a show that looked at all sports around the world, as well as previewing the AFL matches for that day. Any Given Sunday was discontinued in 2007.

Origins and Format

The AFL Footy Show had its origins in 1993 when a special Grand Final Edition of The Sunday Footy Show aired on the Thursday night before the AFL Grand Final. The program was then extended and started as a regular program in 1994, and was hosted by former Network Ten reporter Eddie McGuire, and joined by former Geelong champion John "Sam" Newman and comedian Trevor Marmalade. They are usually joined by three current and former football players in a panel format.

In 2006, after Eddie McGuire's appointment as CEO of the Nine Network, he stepped down as host of the program and has been replaced by former Melbourne star Garry Lyon and former state cricketer James Brayshaw.

The panelists discuss any news stories that arise during the week, review the last round of matches, and preview each match for the coming week including showing the lineups. Before 2000 no footage of any AFL games could be aired by the show as the rival Seven Network held the broadcast rights and refused to allow the show to air footage, in an attempt to stall the program's success. From 2001-2006, Nine had the rights to AFL broadcasts and footage was used liberally during the show. It would seem they will revert to not using footage from 2007, Nine having lost the rights to AFL broadcasting to the Seven network & Ten network until at least 2011.

Segments

Regular Segments

• Almost Footy Legends' (by Trevor Marmalade) - Showcases local footy highlights (such as big marks and great goals) Originally started so that some football footage could be shown.
• Sam's Mailbag (by Sam Newman) - Sam reads and answers letters from the show's fans, often including at least one video email.
• Street Talk (by Sam Newman) - A satirical take on the vox pop by interviewing and making fun of various characters on the streets of cities around Australia. Billy Brownless, Shane Crawford or Brendan Fevola fill in as host of this segment when Sam is unable to fulfill his position.

Other Segments

• "Fyfe's Footy Flicks" - Cartoonist Andrew Fyfe produced a weekly satiric animation sending up the weekly events in football.
• Bill's Wheel - Billy Brownless went around to local footy clubs to have a competition where they won what would come up on the wheel.
• Screamers - An AFL player talent quest competition.
• House of Bulger - 5-minute parody of daytime soap operas featuring AFL stars such as Shane Crawford (as Hank Bulger) and other guest appearances.
• Bulger, MD - The sequel to House of Bulger, ending with Hank being shot dead by Dr. Pink (Nathan Brown) on the Grand Final show.
• Hatchet Jobs - Featured during 2006 towards the end of the show. Footage from coach interviews is chopped up and edited resulting in facetious one-liners.
• Marstermind - Each week Eddie would quiz someone.
• Pillow Talk - James Brayshaw interviews a wife or girlfriend of AFL footballers. Started in 2007.

Sam Newman's Controversial Antics over the years

Sam Newman is the most controversial figure on the AFL Footy Show, and has been the subject of many complaints to the Nine Network. Some of the more controversial incidents involving Newman include:

• Having his chauffeur reverse his car into Trevor Marmalade's bar, destroying it.
• Wearing blackface after Aboriginal player Nicky Winmar did not appear as scheduled on that night's program due to car trouble.
• Publicly humiliating his teenage son in the 1997 grand final special for being a fan of the Adelaide Crows (Newman played for Geelong).
• Hitting David Schwarz in the face with a pie and being pushed to the ground by him afterwards.
• Getting punched in the stomach by Shane Crawford.
• Having his trousers pulled down by Crawford, exposing his genitals live to air.
• Exposing his genitals to the camera after stripping a la "The Full Monty" live to air.
• Drinking a full bottle of Jim Beam over the length of a show.
• Spraying Shane Crawford with a fire extinguisher after Crawford interrupted Sam's Mailbag.
• Getting sprayed with a fire extinguisher by Shane Crawford after he started discussing a newspaper article about model fire engines. Sam was later showed showering, returning towards the end of the show in a dressing gown.
• Antagonising guest panel member Jason Dunstall in a "Back to the 80's" special when Dunstall refused to show up in a retro outfit.
• Referring to James Brayshaw as dressing like a "girl".
• Chasing Shane Crawford with clear violent intent after Crawford appeared to draw on an Archibald Prize-entered portrait of Newman. It was later revealed to be a fake, much to the relief of the artist (and Newman).
• Undergoing a "nappy change" by Shane Crawford and Brendan Fevola, when Shane was disgruntled about comments Sam made about him not being a good father. He ended up being covered in talcum powder, and his underwear was doused with water.
• Annoying co-host Garry Lyon by repetitively showing Lyon writhing in pain on a stretcher after having broken his leg. The clip has aired many times, including being shown on a blimp outside the 2006 Grand Final edition of the show.
• Trying to simulate sex in a fake airplane toilet (due to the incident between Ralph Fiennes and former Qantas air hostess Lisa Robertson) noting how hard it would be to join the 'mile-high' club. The 'segment' first saw Sam try to "bonk" a mannequin and then a male midget dressed as an air hostess.
• Starting a 'fake' campaign to "bring the footy home" (back to Channel 9 from Channel 7) as he, believed that Channel 7's coverage of AFL games to be "absolute shocking". Sam had badges and banners to aid his campaign, although he failed miserably in 'raising' funds.
• Being sprayed with a super soaker by Fevola.
• Constantly referring to Fevola's poor behaviour on field, which lead to Fevola to throw a fake (albeit real-looking) snake at Sam. Believing it to be real, Sam fled from his seat (to the audience's delight).
• Annoying guest panelist Jason Dunstall by referring to him as "Uganda's National Symbol" (the Silver Back Gorilla).
• Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Garry Lyon's broken leg incident at Whitten Oval, which led to the infamous "stretcher vision"
• Getting involved in a scuffle with Jonothan Brown and Shane Crawford on air, where Brown lifted Newman and threw him into his 'Street Talk' hall of fame board, while Shane threw stuff at him. Later, Brown smashed one of the pictures from the board over Newman's head.
• Constantly replaying a street brawl between two females and getting a shopping hook thrown at him during street talk in Perth.

Newman has also had a number of well-publicised off-screen incidents that are often brought up during the show.

Sunday Footy Show

The Footy Show
Presented by	Tony Jones Brian Taylor Mark Bickley Danny Frawley Billy Brownless
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	16
Production
Running time	60 minutes (including commercials)
Original release
Network	Nine Network
Release	1993 – present

On Sunday mornings, the Sunday Footy Show airs, now hosted by Tony Jones and featuring Brian Taylor, Mark Bickley, Danny Frawley and Billy Brownless on the panel. The show discusses the weekend's matches so far, showing scores and highlights, and often interviews players from some of the sides that have played that round. Before the Nine network obtained the TV rights to AFL matches, it was a lighter look at AFL, with a panel featuring the likes of Max Walker, Ted Whitten and Lou Richards. Lou Richards is still a part of the Sunday Footy Show today, through his Lou's Handball segment. This competition now runs every week and features Lou telling a joke before each competition.

The Sunday Footy Show was the original Footy Show, and following its success in 1993, it was decided to present a special Grand Final edition from the Rod Laver Arena. The success of this special meant that the Thursday night show was to be instilled as a permanent fixture in the Nine schedule. The Sunday Footy show has had numerous formats over the years running over two hours, but currently is one hour.

There was controversy on the Sunday edition of the Footy Show on 12 August of 2007, when AFL legend and former North Melbourne Football Club captain and Premiership player Wayne Carey responded to criticisms from Nathan Thompson by mocking Thompson's well-publicised bout with depression. In addition, on returning from a commercial break, he was heard to make references to 'necking himself', to the apparent delight of other members of the Footy Show panel. Carey and the Nine Network were quick to issue an apology over the incident, although no mention was officially made of the 'necking himself' comment.

See also

• List of Australian television series

External links

• The Footy Show website
• The AFL Footy Show at IMDb