| Screenshot |
Title |
Original airdate |
Production code |
# |
Overall Total |
 |
"The Soufflé Rises" |
May 9, 1994 |
FR101 |
1 |
1 |
| Mike wants to shed his image as the nice guy of current affairs, and tries to raise his status by interviewing people perceived to be soft targets, such as Dr. John Hewson, (not long after the infamous Birthday Cake Interview). |
|
|
"The Desert Angel" |
May 16, 1994 |
FR102 |
2 |
2 |
| A beautiful young woman goes missing in the desert. Frontline run a tribute on her, exaggerating her profile and qualifications. When she is found alive, Frontline think that they have hit the ratings jackpot when they clinch the interview, but are crestfallen when it turns out she is a mediocre student with a speech impairment. |
|
|
"City of Fear" |
May 23, 1994 |
FR103 |
3 |
3 |
| The Frontline team finds two stories about a murder and a kidnapping, with no likely connection, and decides to merge the two together claiming that there is a serial killer. This is a deliberate ploy to scare the audience, as Brian says that people watch current affairs for the emotional journey. When the kidnapped child is found, the Frontline team is exposed by Mediawatch. |
|
|
"She's Got the Look" |
May 30, 1994 |
FR104 |
4 |
4 |
| An attractive female athlete becomes a reporter for Frontline, to the dislike of everyone in the office except for Brian. She is inept at her job, and is only hired for her good looks. Brooke subtly convinces her to leave Frontline, only to her dismay when she discovers that she got the job she wanted, at 60 minutes. |
|
|
"The Siege" |
June 6, 1994 |
FR105 |
5 |
5 |
| Mike finds himself negotiating by telephone, live to air, with a gunman who is holding some children hostage – this was a thinly veiled reference to a highly controversial real-life incident, in which Mike Willesee interviewed gunmen and hostages on-air. [1] The media criticises Frontline for going too far to get a story, they are simply jealous that they didn't get the story, and that Frontline's ratings soared through the roof. Later in the episode a now confident Mike begins to talk to a second kidnapper, only for him to immediately kill his hostages. |
|
|
"Playing the Ego Card" |
June 13, 1994 |
FR106 |
6 |
6 |
| Mike's wish is granted, so that he goes to Bougainville to do a week's worth of stories on a civil war, fulfilling Farmer's objective to have Brooke host for a week. The story turns out bad, but as Emma is reviewing the footage, she discovers that the choppers donated by the Australian Government are mounted with machine guns, cracking a major story. |
|
|
"We Ain't Got Dames" |
June 20, 1994 |
FR107 |
7 |
7 |
| Eliott performs a low quality routine, and Mike requests he be fired from his job, which Brian promises to do. Separately, polls come in showing that women have been turning off Frontline because of its aggressive nature; the show turns down major stories such as Mike's expose of underpaid migrant textile workers, in favour of stories about diets and romance, and a gentle side of Mike is shown in a new promo. The search for a new Friday Night Funnyman grows weary, even looking at the idea of a funnywoman. Mike ends the show very distressed, as Elliot retains his job and Mike's serious expose of the textile industry gets transformed into a story about fashion shows. |
|
|
"The Art of Gentle Persuasion" |
June 27, 1994 |
FR108 |
8 |
8 |
| Marty secretly records a man who denied interviews after his wife was eaten by a crocodile. The show eventually resolves to pay him $25,000 to go live to air in an interview with Mike, where he criticizes the show. |
|
|
"The Invisible Man" |
July 4, 1994 |
FR109 |
9 |
9 |
| Brooke does a story about female thieves in clothing stores who go into changerooms to remove security tags, but it is done by showing pictures of women getting changed. Brooke defends herself against a media outcry, but she is later invited to a function where there is a hidden camera in her room, and a Current Affair broadcasts images of her topless. Also, labelled the "Invisible man of Current Affairs", Mike does a variety of publicity stunts, such as performing an embarrassingly bad version of Eric Clapton's Tears In Heaven while accompanying himself on guitar, is considered a clear dig at Stan Grant[citation needed], who is an amateur musician. It was claimed in the media at the time[citation needed] that Grant hated the show, was convinced that Mike Moore was a caricature of him and supposedly forbade any mention of the series in the Real Life offices. |
|
|
"Add Sex and Stir" |
July 11, 1994 |
FR110 |
10 |
10 |
| When a woman is dropped from the Australian Netball Team, she thinks it's because she's not a lesbian. Brooke interviews her, and the story rates well, despite the discredit it does to the sport. Brian wants to do a follow-up, but Emma doesn't, so she does a favour to Marty (giving him an all-expenses paid trip to Bali) in exchange for trying to get Brian to do a story exposing a gay member of the Australian Cricket Team, a sport close to his heart. Seeing the potential damage he would cause, he doesn't follow up the story. |
|
|
"Smaller Fish to Fry" |
July 18, 1994 |
FR111 |
11 |
11 |
| A mediawatch report critizies Marty's story about a fridge repairman, claiming that current affairs shows always go after small, easy targets. Mike receives a call from an old journalist who has video footage about major bank overcharing customers, making millions. The bank, with powerful connections, wants the story pulled but Mike threatens to leave the show if the story doesn't go to air. Soon, Mike and Domenica almost kiss, but she runs away. Brian reports the incident to Bob Caville, who threatens Mike with a sexual harassment charge if he continues with the story. Hugh's mislabeling of tapes leads to the tape being lost, which temporarily diffuses the situation, but he later finds it. |
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"Judge and Jury" |
July 25, 1994 |
FR112 |
12 |
12 |
| Please feel free to add a caption for this episode. |
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"This Night of Nights" |
August 1, 1994 |
FR113 |
13 |
13 |
| A fictional charity, "Street Aid", has just lost thousands of dollars, but to save their reputation, they ask the media to turn a blind eye. Brian tells Marty to do the story anyway, and Brian receives a lot of criticism, such that he regrets doing the story. Meanwhile, Mike's wish is granted, and he gets to present an award at the Logies. He travels home drunk, and is pulled over by the police, and is charged. One member of the media finds out about it, blackmailing Brian $5000 to keep it quiet; the cheque is made out to Street Aid |
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