2002

S1Frank Sinatra in Australia - Pilot

Sat, Oct 05, 2002

Frank Sinatra loved Australia - he must have - he visited here seven times over five decades. On one of those visits, in 1974, Sinatra fell foul of the Australian trade union movement after he called the local media "hookers and pimps". With the help of archival footage, Mark Trevorrow takes us on a musical journey through Frank Sinatra's Australian odyssey.

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S1.E1 ∙ Kid's TV

Fri, Jul 09, 2004

Why did people get worried about "square eyes"? Is children's television just a cheap babysitter? Or do we really expect it to be educational as well? The Way We Were: Kids' TV looks at children's television and how it has changed over the generations. Australian kids today watch on average 30 hours of TV per week, and over the years mass media has changed the experience of childhood. However, increasingly, computer technologies are absorbing children's time through interactive programs, and since the birth of Harry Potter, a resurgence of reading.

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S1.E2 ∙ Flying

Fri, Jul 16, 2004

Australians pioneered flying and broke records. We have used planes to develop the nation. But is flying as glamorous as it was once? Tonight we look at flying - how it's changed and how it has changed us. We meet Charles Kingsford Smith's first student, hosties with the 'mostest' and blokes just plain crazy for flying... Few people realise that American escape artist Harry Houdini claimed to be the first person to fly an aeroplane in Australia. This is one of many amazing pieces of archival film showcased in The Way We Were: Flying.

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S1.E3 ∙ Dancing

Fri, Jul 23, 2004

Are we dancing when we walk? Is social dancing going to fade away? This week isn't about dancers dancing - it's about people dancing - from waltzing to jitterbugging, twisting, stomping, disco dancing and beyond. This week we dig up some archival film treasures: from debutantes, partners in thongs, learning to dance for an outback ball to news reports warning of shocking new dance crazes sweeping the nation. Among the highlights is the Countdown Xanadu Dance Competition, which illustrates how Australians wholeheartedly adopted lycra and disco dancing as their own.

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S1.E4 ∙ Sharks

Fri, Jul 30, 2004

Tonight we plunge into Australia's love-hate relationship with sharks. We've gone from fearing and killing them to admiring and conserving them. Are they really man-eaters? Or is man consuming THEM to extinction? Mark Trevorrow speaks to people whose lives have been changed forever by the shark, people who fight to save sharks and people who've had very close encounters of the other kind. In the 70s, the film Jaws helped instill fear of sharks across the globe and many sharks were killed as a result. But today, the Great White shark is protected in some Australian waters. There is a greater push for conservation, especially as some species like the grey-nurse face extinction.

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S1.E5 ∙ For Better or Worse

Fri, Aug 06, 2004

At the start of the 21st century one in three children is born out of wedlock. Many people choose never to wed, yet others have two or more wedding ceremonies. What happened? Marriage was an institution our society was built on. Marriage meant sex, children and financial security. To live in sin or have a child out of wedlock created shame and humiliation. But then came the pill, women working, the rise of feminism and the permissive society. In 1975, "no-fault" divorce laws were introduced. Was this a defining moment in history that changed society forever?

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S1.E6 ∙ Hair

Fri, Aug 13, 2004

Why do we care so much about hair? How has it been used to express and repress? What does it tell us about the times we live in?

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S1.E7 ∙ Intoxication

Fri, Aug 20, 2004

The Ladies Lounge and the Beer Garden are synonymous with Australian pub culture. Beer is still Australia's favourite drink but in the last 30 years wine sales have more than quadrupled and our wine industry is now applauded internationally. Despite know knowing all the risks and health hazards we're still a nation of drinkers. Drinking is accepted but public drunkenness is not. Responsible drinking is encouraged, drink-driving laws have been introduced, and now more women drink. Has this changed the way we get intoxicated?

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S1.E8 ∙ Sunshine

Fri, Aug 27, 2004

We love our sunburnt country, yet the sun has caused such heartbreak and hardship. We have the biggest hole in the ozone layer, the highest cases of skin cancer, drought and fire, yet we still can't get enough. We're a surfing, swimming and sun-baking loving nation. 'The Outback' is the image often conjured up when people think of Australia - a vast expanse of red desert and kangaroos. In reality, more than 85% of the population live within an hour's drive of the coast.

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S1.E9 ∙ Clocking On

Fri, Sep 03, 2004

First there was the industrial revolution - when machines and factories changed society forever. The next two great waves of change came within living memory for many of us: women's liberation and the information technology age. Both had an enormous impact on Australian working lives and are the focus of The Way Were Were: Clocking On. We are reminded of the panic caused when computers started replacing people in jobs and examines whether the dire predictions came true.

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S1.E10 ∙ Making Babies

Fri, Sep 10, 2004

According to the ABS, the number of births is on the decline. So, how have our attitudes to making babies changed over the years? Are the declining marriage rates and increased divorce rates a contributor? Or are we just leaving it until later? Scientists and doctors, spurred on to find cures for infertility by groups of infertile women pressuring them to continue with their research, turned to what were once treatments solely for sheep and cattle - In Vitro Fertilisation. IVF - a huge scientific breakthrough in Australia - was actually instigated by the ingenuity of vets.

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