| Aerobics Oz Style | |
|---|---|
| Format | Exercise |
| Starring | Taryn Noble (Polovin) Mia Baker June Jones Erin Jayne Gard Helen Tardent Wendi Carroll Kate McCracken |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 24 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-Camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Network Ten |
| Picture format | PAL |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original run | 1982 – 2005 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Aerobics Oz Style was a long-running Australian aerobic exercise instruction television series, shown in Australia on weekends and then weekdays on Network Ten at 6:00 am then 6:30 am and distributed to many other countries. It was cancelled by Channel Ten at the end of 2005.[1] AOS will continue to be broadcast on Australian television via AURORA Channel 183 - on the Foxtel Digital, Optus and Austar platforms - which broadcasts Aerobics Oz Style every day at 6.30am AEST and also 2.00pm AEST. In Europe Aerobics Oz Style is broadcast daily (weekends included) on Sky Sports 1 or Sky Sports 2 at 6:00 (GMT) and it's repeated daily on Sky Sports 3 or Sky Sports 4 at 11:30 and sometimes has an additional airing at 18:30, on Sky Sports 3 or 4.
The series began in 1982 and had run continuously through until 2005, with over 4,500 episodes produced, by production company Zero1Zero (now Silk Studios). The format remained consistent throughout its run. Each show was 30 minutes divided into four segments, one of warmup exercises, two main exercise segments, and a stretch/cool-down segment. One instructor leads the exercises, with four demonstrators following to the side and behind. Later shows were shot outdoors at scenic locations around Sydney, in earlier shows an indoor studio was used.
Each show had an exercise theme. The mainstays since inception included high and low-impact, legs, abdominals, body toning. Other later themes included kick-boxing, low impact with a mixture of Latin dancing and pilates. Older styles included light hand weights and dynabands. Fashions in exercise-wear moved with the times too, leotards over bicycle shorts in the early days giving way to halter tops and tight shorts.
A set of Aerobics Oz Style exercise videos are sold in a longer format than the shows broadcast, and include some exercise styles not otherwise featured, such as Swiss ball. These videos included music that remained unique and separate from the television show.
The instructors and demonstrators on the show were a mixture of men and women. The show was intended for any age or gender.
Australian band TISM parodied Aerobics Oz Style in their 1998 music video for "Whatareya?", in which all members start off following the instructor before drinking (and throwing) beer cans and jumping over couches.
In 1998 U NO HU, a UK songwriting duo, consisting of Gary Williams and Philip Barber were brought onboard and commissioned to write a mixture of more than three hundred instrumental dance tracks and chill-out tracks specifically for the television broadcasts and later exercise videos. The new, uplifting, music featured on over 1500 later shows increased viewer ratings by twenty percent - on the BSkyB Networks - adding to the already established popularity of the program.
In 2010 Aerobics Oz Style continues to encourage three continents to exercise on a daily basis and remains as popular as ever which is indeed a remarkable testament to the pedigree of all those involved in the production of television's longest running fitness show. Necessity certainly seems to have been the mother of invention in this instance because there are more people suffering from obesity in Australia, per head, than in any other country in the world.
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