The Bible comes to Australia

July 13, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
Add Comment

Bible Series

No, not the book, the miniseries.

The Bible was screened in the US back in March on a cable network but it’s about to be shown in Australia on free to air television. Channel 9 will begin showing the 10 part miniseries on Tuesday night.

The Bible is a television miniseries based on the Bible. It is produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett and was broadcast weekly between March 3 and March 31, 2013 on History. Burnett, best known for producing prime-time hit reality shows, considers the scripted 10-hour series to be the “most important” project he has undertaken. The project was conceived by Burnett and Downey, who are married, after watching Cecil B. DeMille’s version of The Ten Commandments for the first time since childhood.

The series is Mark Burnett’s first scripted project. In addition to Burnett and Downey, executive producers include Richard Bedser and History’s Dirk Hoogstra and Julian P. Hobbs. The first episode of the mini-series was seen by 13.1 million viewers, the largest cable television audience of 2013 to date. The second installment continued “to deliver blockbuster ratings” for the network, attracting 10.8 million viewers. The third installment on March 17, 2013 was once again the No. 1 show on all of Sunday night television with 10.9 million total viewers. In addition, the series garnered 4.2 million adults 25–54 and 3.5 million adults 18–49. In total, with subsequent airings, ‘The Bible’ has been seen by more than 95 million viewers.

Burnett has said that a three-hour theatrical film version, focusing on the resurrection of Jesus, is in the works. – wiki

Channel 9 will screen a double episode at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday. It’ll give Australians a chance to connect or reconnect to the world’s best selling book throughout history.

The Bible, the new 10-part docu-drama television series from Survivor producer Mark Burnett, premieres on Channel Nine with a landmark double episode next Tuesday, July 16, at 9.00pm.

The Bible, which features captivating stories from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation, is the number one new cable program of 2013 in the USA, where 13 million viewers watched the premiere.

Covering the Old and New Testament, The Bible showcases some of the greatest stories ever told and combines spectacular action and breathtaking vision against the backdrop of a powerful score by the Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer, Hans Zimmer.

I saw a lot of positive comments about the miniseries when it was screening in the US and I hope that it’ll gain a strong following here in Australia.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading The Bible comes to Australia? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Channel Nine’s Apology

February 18, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
Add Comment

I guess that’s one way to handle the issue. 🙂



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Channel Nine’s Apology? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Dancing with Flapper

March 23, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
6 Comments

Many years ago, in a studio in Tuart Hill, there lived a character named Flapper.

If you were a kid growing up in the 80s in Perth you might remember Channel 9’s Flapper and his show Flapper’s Factory.

Yesterday, during an outside radio broadcast for Activ at McCallum Park, we saw Flapper return to the stage in a one elephant show. Seeing him brought back memories but how could we have ever prepared ourselves for the absolute thrill of being invited to dance with the little blue elephant?

The video below shows fellow 98.5 Sonshine FM announcer and broadcast engineer Ash Wright, Flapper and myself dancing up a storm.

I did a little research on Flapper and found this recent article at Perth Now. Here’s part of the article talking about Flapper.

Jen Dunstan, creative director of production house, Elephant Productions was at Channel 9 with the Young People’s program department which was created by fellow director Keith Woodland in 1977.

“Keith came to the station with drawings of Flapper the elephant – so he is the father of Flapper,” said Ms Dunstan.

“This new creation was opposite to Fat Cat and Percy Penguin who were quite tall and on Channel 7.

“Some of the little children were finding these characters large and ominous in height, so he created a character which was more kid level.

“The head of the animator for five year-old Flapper lived inside his top hat and operated his eyes – the first time ever in Australia that had a character with moving eyes.”

Flapper became the Nine mascot and had his own show Flapper’s Factory, then came Flapper’s Super-heroes and at the demise of this program came Clash of the Creatures.

I love my job. Where else would you get paid to dance with a blue elephant?



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Dancing with Flapper? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.