Man O Man (Australian game show)

Program synopsis

The show was essentially a male beauty pageant, with ten men competing in various challenges. When a man lost, female models on the show pushed him into a swimming pool to eliminate him. The host, who was simultaneously performing in The Phantom of the Opera in Sydney, had to skip one night of the musical every two weeks to fly to Melbourne and record two episodes at a time. Although he hosted, John Deeks handled warming up the all-female crowd before taping and kept the energy up during any breaks. Deeks later called it the strangest TV show he had ever worked on. Before the first episode aired, the Seven Network threw a launch party for journalists. Cast members from the upcoming drama Blue Heelers and actor Gary Sweet, who was about to appear in the miniseries The Battlers, also attended. During the party, Seven’s director of programming, Glen Kinging, was giving guests a tour of the studio when a colleague, publicist Susan Wood, pushed him into the pool fully dressed—a planned stunt. Seven’s manager, Bob Campbell, also ordered a fig leaf to be placed over the penis of a naked male statue that was part of the set before the show premiered. The show was a ratings hit when it debuted, winning its time slot among commercial networks in both Melbourne and Sydney. However, the premiere of Keeping Up Appearances on ABC drew the same number of viewers in Melbourne. The following week, the return of Hey Hey It’s Saturday on the Nine Network proved to be tough competition in both cities.