Australian television’s golden anniversary roadshow kicked off in September 2005 with the screening of 50 Years, 50 Shows on Channel Nine. Some twelve months were to elapse before the actual anniversary, on 16 September 2006. In 2005, Channel Nine was entering television’s anniversary year and, as the first station to go to air in Australia, determined to present its own history as synonymous with the history of television.

In 2006 Australian commercial television is racked by uncertainty, missing the behemoth that was Kerry Packer, observing pay-TV’s growing market share, demonstrating little patience with fledgling programs, lobbying the government over the media reform package, and putting on a spectacular, at times surreal, show of its own with the war of attrition between Channels Nine and Seven. Perhaps just one thing can be stated with any certainty: The Up Late Game Show, Quizmania and Midnight Zoo will not feature in the list of most celebrated shows when Australian television commemorates its centenary in 2056.