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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carrie Fairchild" data-source="post: 338446" data-attributes="member: 673">Something In The Air - 2000 to 2001 <img src="https://pics.filmaffinity.com/Something_in_the_Air_TV_Series_TV_Series-288284764-mmed.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />In 1999, ABC's evening ratings were on the decline, so they set about commissioning a new soap to air Monday to Thursday at 6.30pm, as a lead in to their faltering 7pm news bulletin. Seven production companies were shortlisted and were then tasked with submitting scripts for four episodes. The victor to emerge from this process was production company Simpson LeMesurier (Halifax FP, Good Guys Bad Guys and Stingers) and the soap was Something in the Air. It would be the production company's first foray into soap opera and they looked back to ABC past soap success Bellbird (incidentally, SITA would be the first homegrown soap to air on ABC since Bellbird went off the air in 1977) for inspiration. "There hadn't been a rural soap since A Country Practice and there was no need for a city based show like Neighbours. We also knew at the time that the ABC was very sensitive about their regional viewers not being serviced" explained creator Roger Simpson. ABC's Sue Masters echoed his thoughts "In our hearts we felt a rural based serial would give us great freedom to create a new TV world audiences would warm to - and we liked the idea of tipping our hats to the ABC's rich tradition of long running country dramas. We have real hopes that Something in the Air will become the sort of show that families grow up with". Roger Simpson further explained the show's premise "The rural recession was a big problem at the time so we set it in a town which the railway didn't run to anymore and that became the metaphor for the show. The theme song referred to the line being closed but you can still hear the train - which harked back to the good times when the bush was profitable. The new guy to arrive from the city would become a pied piper in leading them all to a rebirth of their town. So there was as strong political agenda behind it, even though the first thing you do is bury that within the drama as that's not why people watch soaps".The "new guy" was radio shock jock Tom Dooley (Colin Moody) who fled from the city to rural Emu Springs, a former gold mining town, after a radio stunt gone wrong threatened to land him in court. He started working at the local radio station 3ES and was soon riling up the locals with his controversial views. His new boss was ex-city banker Helen Virtue (Ulli Birve) who'd returned to her hometown with son Harry (Thomas Blackburne) following the death of her husband. Helen and Harry lived with her schoolteacher sister Sally (Danielle Carter) and her husband, farmer Joe Sabatini (Eric Bana). The local watering hole, Station Hotel, was run by ex-cop turned guidance counsellor, bookie and honorary sheriff Stuart McGregor (Frank Holden) whose teenage daughter Megan (Mariel McClorey) worked at 3ES and dreamed of a big break at a city radio station. Prisoner's Anne Phelan played Mon Taylor, who ran the general store with her husband Len (Ray Barrett) whose ailing health prompted son Wayne (Sullivan Stapleton) to return to town after being released from prison (although his parents had told everyone he'd gone off to join the army). Home and Away's Roger Oakley played cross dressing Senator Doug Rutherford, whose feminist wife Julia (Kate Fitzpatrick) had political aspirations of her own. Rounding out the cast were Dr. Eva Petrovska (Melita Jurisic), the local GP who travelled around the area on a motorised trolley via the disused railway line, Catholic priest Father Brian (Steve Adams) who played on the Emu Springs footy team alongside Ryan Cassidy (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) who harboured dreams of working in the radio station.<img src="https://hips.hearstapps.com/es.h-cdn.co/fotoes/images/media/imagenes/los-mil-rostros-de/eric-bana/2-something-in-the-air-tv/3255858-1-esl-ES/2-something-in-the-air-tv.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Launching on 17th January 2000, Something in the Air was ABC's biggest ever first series commitment to local drama at a cost of $14.5 million (including $5 million from Simpson LeMesurier). ABC seemed either clueless or uncomfortable as to how to promote their hot new drama but ratings were good and the show started garnering a fanbase. However, behind the scenes, things were about to be turned upside down. Jonathon Shier was appointed new head of ABC, bringing with him Gail Jarvis as the new head of drama. Sue Masters, who'd championed the show, left ABC and moved to Ten. Roger Simpson recalls "We had our first meeting with the new guard and one said straight out 'I don't like the show'. It was the worst meeting in 30 years of television I've ever had, aggressive and unpleasant". When an explanation for their disdain for the show was requested, they stated they didn't like one of the actors. "It didn't seem to be based on any intimate knowledge of the series or it's aims. From that day on there was extreme disinterest from the ABC. Morale was appalling and the whole place became a mess".<img src="https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.538%2C$multiply_0.7252%2C$ratio_1.776846%2C$width_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/q_86%2Cf_auto/79dffc35288a546bd110fe22530b044af3be25bc" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Things became messier when the ABC pulled the show from schedules to make way for two weeks of Paralympics coverage in October 2000 and then refused to put it back on until the production company agreed to reprogramming it for the second season. ABC also wanted the show to skew younger (despite ABC attracting an older audience) which meant older cast members had to go. "We didn't know who to write out and no actor volunteered to go. It was very difficult because we really loved all of the characters but in the end, we wrote out the doctor and the priest because they didn't have family". Dr Eva was replaced by Dr Annie (Nina Liu) while Father Brian disappeared after admitting he had feelings for Helen, making way for Mon's son Wayne to return as a regular. Something in the Air eventually returned to screens in March 2001, however it was now only airing two episodes a week, back to back from 7.30pm on Saturday nights (it's weekday slot had been given to a new lifestyle/current affairs show Dimensions that the new regime had commissioned). Disputes arose over the ABC asking for the end credits to be removed from the first Saturday episode and that the two episodes to be recut into one so it would run more seamlessly with Simpson LeMesurier pointing out that legally they couldn't do it because of different cast and crew working on different episodes "They ordered a serial and that's what we delivered". After poor ratings and complaints from viewers, the ABC eventually moved the show back to weekdays, albeit in the earlier slot of 6pm. "It was far too early" argued Anne Phelan, "but you have somebody in Sydney making these decisions, somebody who doesn't even bother to find out that in the country everyone watches their local news at 6pm. That's why it worked at 6.30pm. They would watch their local news at 6pm, us at 6.30 and the ABC news at 7pm". Eric Bana's departure from the show also caused issues with the ABC describing the decision to release him from his contract as "weak producing" whereas Simpson LeMesurier saying that they'd never stand in the way of somebody getting a break in Hollywood (Bana was leaving to star in Black Hawk Down).The final months of the show played out under the cloud of the team knowing that they weren't going to be recommissioned, although the official decision wasn't announced until the show wrapped up. Producers also lamented holding back on international sales "We made a strategic mistake because we could have sold it to (UK broadcaster) ITV but they only wanted to buy a year's worth because they were making their own soap Night and Day (which would ironically end up airing briefly in the 6pm SITA timeslot on ABC). We thought long an hard about it and thought after a year we wouldn't be able to sell it to any other English broadcaster. Had we known that Night and Day was going to be a complete disaster, an ITV audience might have demanded more after watching the first series, but by then the news was out that we were doomed. The ABC had killed off any potential to sell it overseas, so it was a double disaster". The show concluded with various characters entangled in new romances and Ryan finally realising his dream of working at the radio station as he spoke the show's finally word's as he broadcast on 3ES "All is right with the world here in Emu Springs on another perfect day".</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?