Shirl's Neighbourhood [SEP] original network
Shirl's Neighbourhood
Shirl's Neighbourhood was an American/Australian afternoon children's television series aired on the Seven Network between 1995 and 1998. The half-hour show featured former Skyhooks frontman Graeme "Shirley" Strachan and co-host Liz Rule alongside a cast of characters including Norm The Kangaroo, Ol' Possum, Claude The Crow, Stanley The Snake, Greenfinger the Garden Gnome, Yippee the Bunyip, Bartholomew the Sheep and a band of monkeys. Franciscus Henri appeared in the show as a regular, both as himself presenting
to provide 'C'-classified programming targeted at children between 4-5pm, and a minimum of 30 minutes of pre-school programming prior to that. These regulations saw the establishment of a number of children's series including "Simon Townsend's Wonder World" and "Shirl's Neighbourhood".
News and current affairs, particularly on commercial television, grew significantly – the Nine Network's "A Current Affair", hosted by Mike Willesee began in November 1971, while "60 Minutes", on the same network, began