Agro's Cartoon Connection
Agro's Cartoon Connection was an Australian children's television show that aired on the Seven Network from 1989 to 1997. Shown on weekday mornings, it was primarily hosted by Agro, a puppet played by comedian Jamie Dunn. It was originally filmed at BTQ7 from 1989 to 1996, after which it moved to ATN7 in 1997.
| Agro's Cartoon Connection | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's Variety |
| Presented by | Agro Ann-Maree Biggar (1989–1994) Terasa Livingstone (1995–1997) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Brisbane, Queensland (1989–1996) Sydney, New South Wales (1997) |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Seven Network |
| Picture format | 4:3 PAL |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 23 January 1989 – 19 December 1997 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The Big Breakfast |
History
Over the years the show had a number of co-hosts including Ann-Maree Biggar, Terasa Livingstone, Holly Brisley, Michael R Gibson (who was known to the audience by the nickname "Gibbo") and guest hosts Ian Calder and Stacey Thomson.
It began as Seven's Super Saturday, later becoming The Super Saturday Show, which only aired on Saturday mornings and was originally only broadcast in Brisbane.
It followed on from a show called The Cartoon Connection which had been hosted for many years previously by Michael Horrocks and Alex Wileman, Wileman went on to do New South Wales lottery broadcasts.
The show consisted of playing a variety of cartoons including Popeye and Son, Samurai Pizza Cats and Sailor Moon while including small editorials presented between the cartoons in a variety of segments. One such example included Ian Calder appearing in a regular segment acting as a character, one of his more popular being Crikey the Clown where he would walk around the streets of Brisbane in an aggressive manner asking questions to anyone he met.
Other shows presented during the series' run included G.I. Joe, The Bots Master, Sonic the Hedgehog, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and Mega Man. The Sunday morning edition of the program ran under the name The Super Sunday Show and included skits performed by the regulars, as well as presenting the UK sci-fi program UFO.
Notably the show's humour was sometimes provocative but always done in a way that would escape the notice of the show's primary audience of children. The program was criticised in Parliament for including product sponsorship within the program itself, rather than simply running commercial breaks.
In its final years the show lost in the ratings to its competitor Cheez TV, causing the Seven Network to cut its running time and funding until it was cancelled. Ultimately, after several experiments, Seven decided not to continue aiming its breakfast programming at children, and eventually created the successful Sunrise program instead. This program currently occupies the morning timeslot.
Cast
| Name | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Jamie Dunn | Agro/Host | 1989–1997 |
| Ann-Maree Biggar | Co-host | 1989–1995 |
| Terasa Livingstone | Reporter | 1994–1995 |
| Co-host | 1995–1997 | |
| Holly Brisley | Reporter | 1995–1997 |
| Ian Calder | Various characters | 1989–1995 |
| Crikey The Clown | 1991–1997 | |
| Michael R Gibson | Gibbo | 1989–1997 |
| Stacey Thomson | Ranger Stacey | 1989–1997 |
| Brad Hills | Reporter | 1997 |
Awards
The show received 7 consecutive Logie Awards for Most Popular Children's Program from 1991 to 1997.