YAY for Dylan being on Rove last night...I love those 2 boys! Loved the way Dylan had a go at Rove for not going in the house....Rove would have been great in there!
What else can I say? Oh, YAY for Peter Helliar - he's gonna be a dad....awwwwwwwwwwwwww
Oh and YAY for Rove's mum!
Oh, and this is sad, but I'm gonna say it anyway...did anyone else hear or read that Belinda Emmett's really sick again? That's so sad. Poor Belinda and Rove.
Sorry Lou, Belinda Emmett is Rove's girlfriend, who has had breast cancer twice. She's also an Aussie actress...she was Rebecca in Home and Away (which may or may not mean something to you..lol!)
That is soooo bad!
Poor Belle! Apperently its really bad to....like bone cancer? or something..... So fecking terrible......always happens to the nice people....!
Im thinking of sendin an email to Rove just to say we're thinkin of em....see what happens..... Like I know she wants privacy and stuff, which is totally fair enough.....but i really dont think they'd mind getting emails and stuff from well-wishers, i think its more of a "Look just F--- off with all the cameras and reporters and stuff" totally fair call.
Ok...I love Rove as much as everyone else, you all know that, but I hate these Best Of shows (maybe 'cause I tape all the eps anyway?)...anyway, they REALLY annoy me, AND I don't think they put the good stuff on anyway...but maybe it's 'cause I just like all the bits no one else does...lol!
awww i love the way you guys count things in 'sleeps' hehehehehe. Makes so much sense, hehehe.
and yay i went to roveys site yesterday and yay coz it was all updated and stuff. and yay coz the eps sounded so cool.
but grrrrrr coz I WANNA SEE IT!!!!!!! i mean, if it's soooooo funny just READING it... i'd be dying with laughter if i actually SAW IT!!
And ooooohh, apparently the Will Smith interview (WOW-PATANG!! hehe) is gonna be on the Ali DVD. I take it that's the same for all of the DVDs everywhere - so I may have to persuade my brother to buy it (he has a DVD player, lucky boy) and then let me just watch the Rove bit! hehehehehehehehehe.
Oooooh and the NSFAQ was brilliant!! 'what noise does a giraffe make?' heheheehee - EXCELLENT. that man that sent in that Q deserves so many coconuts it's unbelievable. hehehehehehe. Moi is thinking that a good NSFAQ is 'do you like peas?' hehehehehe. (also along the same lines - I've put a NSFAQ onto my website, only it's not online yet coz it's all being smeggy and not letting me upload it. however, if you guys have a random Q (like the giraffe one! hehe) that you wanna ask moi, just email me and i'll prepare my answer for when the site's working again! hehe)
LOU! So send Rovey that NSFAQ - and like if it gets on the shoe and he could be like "this is from someone in the UK!!!!!" Wow - that would be WAY coool!!!!!!
Lol - mum just came in and said "I can't watch anymore of Matt...." and I was like "you watching Matt?!?!?!" and she's like "yeh...he's a bit of a spunk!!!"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Just thought you might like to hear that, and I'd share it with yas!
The best bit of Matt on Rove? Hmmmmmmmmm THE WHOLE THING! OMG he's the nicest guy ever! That biting the nails thing cracks me up, I love watching people do it for the first time, because they never actually think it's going to hurt...how wrong they are! And the Logie bit was funny, and the bit about Casey making that breakdancing story up...Casey is a legend!
I am a very happy girl.
Matt's sposed to be on The panel 2morro night, so fingers crossed he is!
YAY 4 Hillsy!!! WOO HOO!!
Matt was quite well...great! lol!!! But I dont find the finger thing THAT bad, I can think of more painful things!! Had to larf tho...."and right now all of Australia's going ARRGHH!!" so damn true!
Oh Lou, the biting nails thing is just stupid....but give it a go! Bite your two little finger's nails for about 10 seconds, and then link them together and pull.....and it kinda hurts a bit. Ok, why you'd do it after I told you it hurts beats me, but people always do! LOL!
...yeh it's a good thing.
But for someone u don't particulalry like, get them to bite theire 2 little finger tips, like said, and then push the 2 finger tips together...
Well, for the first time, I have got Rove on behind me, cept the sound it turned down.
I CANNNNNNNNNNOT stand that Judith Lucy women - omg - talk about annnnnnnoyance! I tried to listen just to Rove, but her wining voice is just sooooo draining.
can't wait till she's off!
Bring on Ethan! wooo hoooo
Judith Lucy rocks! I know her voice is annoying, but I think she's a very funny woman. In fact, she's pretty much the only female comedian I've ever liked....all the others really annoy me. But yeah, I love Judith!
YAY for Rove being in the Footy Record on the weekend!
LOl - I was flicking through and there was lots of liddle Rovey heads for 4 pages in a row and I was like "Awww yay!".
Don't have to half guess what I am going to post here - but......he looks DAMN sexy 2nite! That shirt (evern though can only see a liddle bit of it) is SO nice!!!!
Yay for Rove & Jen & the TimTams & drinking the coffee through them (cept now i have to eat 1 too)...cep they did do it a liddle wonr - u is supposed to bite the corners - not the whole ends!!!!!
Yummmmmm TimTam!
I must say, I did enjoy thatJ Jen intereview - he and Rove worked well together with that - yay!
I love the Tim Tam thing....except everyone thinks I'm a freak for doing it! LOL!
Ohhh and I haven't seen the 'Love' (remember when she decided to call herself that? LOL!) interview yet....saw her sing though.....me thinks she should stick to acting......(that was v. bitchy I know...I do quite like the girl...honest)
Oooh - that timtam thing (i have no idea what a timtam is but anyhoo) is thatwhere you like suck the coffee through the biscuity thing? Coz LOL, if so, when i was in NZ my bro tried to get me to do it with his tea, but LOL I dropped the biscuit in and it went all soggy before we could fish it out and he had to make himself a new cup. LOL. He was sooooo not amused. I was though,hehehe.
Anyway,I've been meaning to say this for AGES but had no time - but on Neighbours last week (ish) when Dee and Toadie were yelling at Chooka for going down the pub with Steph and not telling them where he'd gone blah blah blah, and they were being all parentish with him, Chooka went '...WHAT THE..??' hehehehe. I laughed sooooooooooooooooooo hard!! lol. YAY.
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Des: I'd be HIS best friend anyday...
What the hell has Dan Mac done to his hair?????? Freaky lookin' mohawk boy!!!!!!
That's all I've seen of Rove so far....got 2 1/2 eps to watch 2morro....calling it 'RoveFest 2002!'...not that I usually name my TV watching...except when I had the 6 hour 'Gilmore Girls Marathon'........
hehe, yes, but wins it's not the fact that they went soggy, its the fact that it went soggy SOOOOO quickly!!!!! hehehehe.
okies, also, if you go to www.massara.org/index.htm where my site now is (i'm gonna get it to just massara.org then there'll be a bit redirction of links and whatever) and go to.. umm... Interactive, then you'll find my new section - NSFAQ!! YAY!!! A whole Rovey Inspired Page! hehehehehe. So if you have a NSFAQ you wanna ask me, then please do!
--------------
Des: I'd be HIS best friend anyday...
(and aww, i miss his teenybopper hair!)
Congrats to Pete and his partner on the birth of little bubby Liam Matthew....awwwww! Pete will be so excited....new bub and his team in a grand final! LOL!
YAY for Cookie Monster being on Saturday morning Rove this week....can't wait! LOL! So much better than Elmo...but YAY for Elmo being on 2nite. Can't wait to see Cookie at the Grand Final Breakkie too.....YAY!
I wasn't sure where to put this, but I figure she loves Rove and Rove loves her, so here's as good a place as any.
OMG how amazing is her attitude? Having read Women's Weekly and watched 60 Mins tonight, I have nothing but absolute respect and admiration for her. Hopefully her attitude and her lifestyle changes are helping, and that she lives a long and happy life.....the Women's weekly article was so depressing, but the interview tonight was brilliant. She is definitely someone I admire.
Awwwwww, I LOVE sesame street!! I thought it was sooo cute when I saw on Rove's site that he was having Elmo on! hehehe. I love Elmo! And the Cookie Monster's so cool too "cookie cookie cooookkkiiieee" hehehehehe.
I did like Bert and Ernie too - they were so funny together!! But I think maybe The Count is my favourite - "1, ha ha haaa, 2!! ha ha haaaa, 3 ha ha haaaa, 4 ha ha haaa, 5!!! ha ha haaaaa...." etc. LOL - brilliant.
For some reason the one sesame st thing I remember is when BigBird pretended to be a tree. And he because he believed that he was a tree, that snuffly elephant thingy also believed he was a tree. LOL. It was SO absurd.
Oh, and apparently somewhere (possibly Brazil or something) they have a new sesame st character that is HIV positive. Hmmmmm... how does that work then??
Oh oh oh, and I liked the thing that had 2 heads and always fought with itself. lol.
Yeah, I read about that HIV character too.....I thought it was in Africa or somehting, where the rate of HIV is really high. Apparently they are trying to 'normalise' HIV for kids and get them to understand it. Seems a bit strange for Sesame Street to have such a character, but I think it's a really good idea and a great way to teach little kids.
My fave Sesame Streeters are Bert and Ernie (OMG ABSOLUTE LEGENDS!) and Oscar. And Snuffy and his adorable little sister, Alice. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
He looked so cute sitting at the table at the GF breakkie. And Pete goes "and of course, no grand final breakfast is complete without the cookie monster!" LOL!
'Coz I spend way too much time on the net and have way too much time on my hands...I've revisited this site that relives all the stuff from original Rove show on 9 back in '99. So thought I'd share it with fellow Rove lovers!
TV Vault - funniest segment ever!
TV Vault is where Pete shows clips of programs that made it to air in other countries or didn't quite get up in Australia.
Making Babies Cry: a game show (kind of like Gladiators) where contestants had to make babies cry - SO FUNNY!
Australia's Funniest Funerals: exactly what the title says - so awful so wrong...so funny!
AND my fave - Who Wants to Lick a Twistie Wrapper: A game show set up like Who Wants to be a Millionaire for the ABC! LOL!
Now my fave 'Tonight We' intros.....
Tonight we... drink milk past it's used by date, teach baby seals to club back and crank call celebrities
Tonight we... hit on old people, defrost Walt Disney and serenade Harry Connick Junior
Tonight we... watch nan and pop get it on, grope vegetables......WHAT THE????
Tonight we... pash dogs, mail Dave to Aulbury Wadonga and offer to pick people's noses....awwwww poor Dave!
Ohhhh and my other fave segment - Idiot Boxing...loved the dodgy vids!
1. Study Techniques For Students - Nick can't study. He is "cool". Nick always waves his arms around. He threatens suicide. Nick is a crap actor. No explanation for his motivation. Nick wears a yellow hat and a Hitler t-shirt. LOL! And NO WUCKAS!
2. Letterboxes: The Inside Story - People talk about their letterboxes. There was a letterbox that looked like a house and a helmet letterbox. A guy told us how to deliver magazines. There was also an expert letterbox liker. - HAHHAHAHAHHAHA!
3. Sinbad of the Seven Seas - mother and daughter narrators. Bad actor. Silly names for Sinbad's crew. Unrealistic fight scenes. Crap special effects. Rubber snakes. Snake is a good actor. Sinbad climes up the rubber snakes.....the snake seriously was good!
OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES
My all time fave sketch was the footy tipping guy one......his whole world revolved around it...funniest thing ever!
And this one made me sad....Damian Wishbank: held a 21st Birthday Party for himself and no one came.
Ok....so yeah, u're all probably thinking WHAT THE???? But I enjoyed me trip down memory lane! LOL!
ja, i said that i was from England, and then also added a little PS requesting RoveLive to be shown in the uk!! hehehehe.
and ooooh, i might have said this before but still, apparently will smith's interview with Rovey is on the "Ali" dvd - and there's a pretty good chance I feel that my brother might have that. If so woooohoooooo - some rove viewing at last!! hehhe, that's the interview about Rove-Fu with the random sound WOW-PATANG!! heheehe. (see, I'm very knowledgable despite my non-seeing-ness)
And awwwwwwwwww, i read about the elmo interview yesterday, and awwww that's sounds soooo good!!! In a little chicken suit teaching you how to do the chicken dance!! hehehe. Ace!
Elmo in the chicken suit was adorable - and I usually loathe the little monster. Found a guy at Uni who feels the same way, last week, and unfortunately our conversation was overheard by the ENTIRE class...sooooooooo embarrassing. Our tutor goes "ohhh are u 2 talking about someone you both know?" So mortifying to have to say, "um, no, Elmo actually...."
Anyway, back to the topic - Rove Rocks! He did a great job hosting the ARIAS!
YAY for Rove - aww yay! And yay for Lou possibley SEEING him,..like FOR REAL! And LOL< cos that WIl interview is so hilariously funny. So I hope you do get to see it!
And ELmo is da cutest Seasame Street character - so yay for him and his chicken dance.
And yeps - Rove did do a fantastic job @ the ARIAS..and was a pleasure to see so much of him throughout!
yeah, back when they were doing REALLY REALLY good, detailed summaries of each Rove ep (they took like 15 mins to read, and i was just rolling around in hysterics coz they included loads of the best quotes and stuff) I read the Will one and thought it sounded reeeallllyy good - the Rove-fu thing really amused me, especially as I suddenly realised why you guys had suddenly started saying 'wow-patang' a lot!! hehehehehe.
and lol@ bec and that guy having to say they were talking about Elmo.... hehehhehe...
Awwwwwww @ Rove with the wombat. SO cute...awww. Esp when she pulls it out of the cagey thing and he goes "ohhh it's a wombat"..aww so cute.
And lol @ the wombat biting his finger and his cute little face, lol.
Awwwwww @ him patting the wombat, aawwwwww.
Lol @ him not handling the wombat.....lol.
Hahahahah @ him holding it in the basket. "Oh he's ok now he has his little cushion"..awww I want a Rovey. awww.
I so want their CD! I love the song in an hour....but I'm a bit annoyed coz I don't think the Russell Crowe song's on it........I might be wrong...I love that song!
But 21 Things I Don't Want in a Lover and the Queen and Clinton song is on it...YAY!
"Real songs, on a real CD, forever
Let’s give the songs a future.
You. Us. ABC Shops. Now."
Actually, come to think of it, I need to have a word with those tripod lads...... Gatesy dropped my camera whilst attempting to take photos of us with various other comic peoples, and it hasnt worked properly since.....
Hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........
Hehe, I talked to Blair about Rove! LOL. likes saying that
In my own little way I know what u mean about Rovey Withdrawal Symptoms - his websites down for renovation (and less spelling mistakes! hehe) so Can't wait till it's all up and brand spanking new and keeping me all up to date once more!!
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, Damn won't have got to see Rove while in Aus Dammit. Coz that would have been cool - could have talked to him about Aus in general, Adelaide, Johnny AND Rove... but sigh.... no Rovey-chat! Oh well. (Ah, i forget talking to him about all that means i actually have to TALK to him... LOL. Has been done before just not in full conversational mode. hehe. oh well)
Rovey - clap your hands!
Rovey!! Stamp your feet!
Know why? coz TODAY'S A SPECIAL DAY!
A BIRTHDAY TREAT!
Blow your nose Rovey!
Dance about (with your liddle bear epstein!)
If Mr n Mrs McManus disapprove then THROW THEM OUT! (or just go to your own house rovey, coz u don't still live with your parents do ya?)
WHY? Coz it's roooveee's biiiirrthhdddaaayyyy
it's his biiirrrthhhddaaayyyyyyyy
Stevie-ers all sing this happy rovey song!
coz it's his biiirrrthdaaayyyy
it's roooovvvveeessss birrrthhddaaayyyyy
Rovey-fans all sing and dance along!!
hehehe, a little variation on my song for you there! Hope you liked! hehehe
Aaahhhh yay!! Rovey Rovey is BACK for 2003!!! Yay!!
Can you guess what I am going to say now???
OMG HE LOKS HOT! The shirt is so lovely and devine. Esp in the little add thingy before it, during "The Guardian", without the jacket on - he look sooooooo nice in dat shirt. AAWWW YAY for Rovey!!!
And aaawwwww at when Corinne showed the poster of him in TV week and he goes "oh.. NOOO" and slams the desk...awwww. Lol, sounded like such a liddle kid. Aww liddle Rovey.
(I would LUV the poster if anyone has it ... **hint** is it in this weeks edition Bek???)
Awwww - YAY for you guys that Roveys back!!!!! And YAY for me too coz hopefully his site has therefore been updated!
Yay for Rove and LOL todays on Newsround (my fountain of knowledge - the childrens news show that's on for the 10 mins before neighbours lol) they were saying about some robot that's gonna go to mars and search for signs of water (and therefore life) and it's called..... Rover!! And I was like 'hehe, that's typical' and then it made me think of JK (Jay Kay? which is it?) calling Rove 'Rover' hehehe. Awwwwww.
-------------- ...is anyone really "ready for life and what it's like?"...
Here's a story from the Newcastle Herald about Rove:
ROVING SUCCESS
Author: by Linda Barnier
Date: 14/02/2003
Words: 695
Publication: Newcastle Herald
Section: Friday Guide
Page: 5
WHILE the Chinese may consider 2003 to be the Year of the Goat, in Australia the year is shaping up to be the Year of the Rove.
Which is a bit ironical really
Even when he's acting like a goat, it seems Network Ten can't get enough of their favourite son Rove McManus.
The former stand-up comedian joined TEN four years ago and has found ratings gold with his weekly variety show Rove Live.
Nowadays, McManus is considered one of Ten's top talents.
And the lad's versatile.
The 29-year-old is a major talent for radio giants Austereo where his program Saturday Morning Rove continues to attract huge audiences and is a hot contender for the golden gong at this year's Logie Awards.
McManus also proved a smash-hit host for the 16th annual ARIA Awards last year and looks likely to fill that role again for this year's ceremonies.
Last November, Network Ten commissioned McManus's production company, Roving Enterprises, to produce 13 episodes of a new sketch comedy program.
skitHOUSE (Sundays 8pm) premiered this week and comes courtesy of a bunch of writers, actors and comedians from backgrounds including live theatre, stand-up comedy, music and television.
McManus won't appear in the sketch show, however, his Rove Live cast mates Peter Helliar and Corinne Grant, The Micallef Program's Roz Hammond and Fiona Harris and musical group Tripod's Damian Callinan, Tom Gleeson, Scott Brennan and Michael Chamberlin are among the skitHOUSE cast.
Then there's the show that made Rove" a household name.
Now in its fourth season, Rove Live will follow a similar format to what has made the show a winner throughout its previous years.
Interviews with high profile celebrity guests, like this week's line-up of Robin Williams and Joan Rivers, is still one of the show's main drawcards.
It will also keep regular segments like What The? and Whose in the Swivel Chair?.
Throughout last year's line-up of celebrity chats McManus found himself an unlikely fan of a few of his guests.
"Matt Damon was a great bloke - nothing like the big Hollywood ego I thought he'd be," McManus tells TV Magazine.
"I really enjoyed my chat to Fergie - the Duchess of York too.
"She was incredibly nervous at first because the show's live, but she got on and relaxed a bit and we ended up extending her time into the next part of the show.
"We talked about (Princess) Diana and her relationship with Prince Andrew and the Queen.
"It was surprising for her to be so candid seeing as though she's been the focus of some pretty intense public interest."
It is at this point that McManus considers a slight parallel.
He concedes with his star on the rise comes the public's interest in his personal life.
Understandably, he keeps his private affairs private, which is not an easy task given his profile and that of his girlfriend of three years, actress Belinda Emmett.
In 1998 Emmett, 28, hit front pages after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.
After radiation treatment she went into remission but sadly, in October 2001 the former All Saints actress announced doctors had detected bone cancer.
She is still battling the disease.
It's been lovely to get so much support from the industry and the public but when it comes down to it, we've asked everyone to respect our need for privacy and for the most part everyone has been great," McManus says.
The former Perth lad says slipping into the celebrity spotlight has been something that, at first, he needed to get used to".
"I don't get recognised all that much," he says.
"When I do it's by people who just want to chat about the show and tell you how much they enjoy it.
"And let's face it, I'm lucky enough to have a really great job and get to speak and work with some talented and fascinating people.
we get micallef and jockshock (is that the right name?) over here on Paramount.... hopefully we'll get the skithouse (so i can be like YAY!! ROVING ENTERPRISES!! and YAY!! PETE!! and YAY!! CORRINNE!! lol)
--------------
Don't ya just love the blueness and the Des-ness?? hehe
I found this letter today that came with the Rove tee my mum bought me for Xmas in 2001 (thankfully the receipt that's attached to it told me that...I had no idea..)
Anyway, I forgot about the letter....or maybe I never read it...but I found it today and it's soooooo funny!
"Hello, I'm television's Rove McManus.
Congratulations on purchasing this quality rove live t-shirt, which I hope will give you many, many years of comfortable and casual shirt-wearing pleasure. (At least until we get axed and you have to put it at the back of your drawer, along with your old Wombles top and A-Team tracksuit pants.)
This 100% cotton t-shirt has been manufactured to the very highest standards....Well, the highest standards we could afford in our cut-price illegal rove live sweatshop.
Some of the features of this shirt include:
- Fashionable "black" colour
- Our unique, eerily green show logo
- Handy washing instructions on a little itchy tag
As you know, these Ts are EXCLUSIVELY available only from rove live online, the rove live studios and rove live stage performances, so you're part of a priveleged few, my friends.
YAY I'm sooooo happy!! Rove sent me an autographed pic and I'm still yaying! LOL!
In case ur wondering, I wrote to him to congratulate him on Logie win, and at the time I felt stupid doing it (coz I DON'T write fan mail...have written like 2 before in my life) but mum was like "You HAVE to! You've got everything he's ever bloody done on tape - U should!" so I did....and YAY coz he sent me the piccy!
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW - as I said earlier, I'M SO JEALOUS!!!
Thats just SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOLLL!!!!
YAY YAY YAY for Rovey!!! He's such a sweeettttiiiieeee!! Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!
Awwwwwwww, I'm so chuffed for you!! hehehehehehehe. And for him coz that's so sweet of him! LOL!!!
Have you framed it? Have you? Have you? LOL I've got my signed Johnny and Mell pics in photoframes on the chest of drawers at the bottom of my bed. And my signed Blair pic is stuck on my "McDonough Wall" - so yeah, I hope you put it on show somewhere, LOL!! Be like me
And then when you feel all blurgh and whats-the-point and god-life-sucks then you can look at it and chuckle and be like 'ahhhhhh life's crazy, i loves it'. Coz LOL that's what I'm like whenever I look at mine (or my churchy pics).
YAY YAY YAY FOR ROVEY!!!!!!
--------------
"and you'll see, he'd do anything for you.."
(i wish...)
I found this frame I got for my 21st, so Rove is now sitting on top of the bookcase in the loungeroom, next to my signed Port footy and my Snoopy dressed as the Statue Of Liberty lol!
"Rove unlimited
By Sally Jackson
June 05, 2003
ROVE McManus is young and cute with a beautiful girlfriend and a brand new Gold Logie. He is adored by fans and doted on by executives at Network Ten, which airs his tonight show, Rove [Live]. Last week readers of a Sydney tabloid voted the 29-year-old their choice as the next governor-general.
But spend some time with him and there is no doubt about McManus's state of mind. Insecure.
Which is unexpected. But, as any averagely paranoid showbiz type will tell you, when you have hit the top what is there left to do but worry about slippery-sliding to the bottom again? Or, almost as bad, becoming just middling, like Tim Ferguson?
"You look at Rove and you can't imagine him being terrified by anything," comedian and writer Graham Blundell said recently, contrasting McManus with talk-show legend Graham Kennedy. But every performer is prey to doubt. And McManus's success this year has been enough to test even his preternaturally sprightly temperament.
He tries hard to stay upbeat about it all. "I thought my turn [to win the Gold Logie] was a couple of years away so to have got it so early is great," he says. But soon the doubts bleed through. "We just have to see what happens next year. The three categories we were up for this year we won, so repeating this performance will be nigh-on impossible, especially as [rival variety show hosts] Andrew and Shaun and Effie will also be in the light entertainment category. It will be interesting to see if we even crack a mention next year, let alone win. As long as I just get a nomination, I'll be able to keep my head up."
This year a golden boy, next year a nothing? It's hard to credit. But not for McManus. "You know, people enjoy what we do now and they're happy to say 'Hurray! Hurray! for Rove McManus', but I'm not naive enough to think they'll be saying it forever," he says. "It's a roller-coaster ride, you ebb and flow. You'll be popular for a while, then people go, 'We've had enough of you'."
And for a moment the most popular person on Australian television looks positively despondent.
Probably he shouldn't worry too much. Yes he's young and cute, but his career decisions indicate he is also clever. After praising him for his own ability, one industry source after another mentions McManus's talent for surrounding himself with good people. Typical is Stephen Tate, Ten's head of light of entertainment, who describes McManus as "a combination of an excellent comedian and a great judge of character with fantastic business acumen".
Many of McManus's people are gathered under one warehouse roof at Roving Enterprises, the Melbourne-based production company he formed in early 1999. He was all of 25-and-a-quarter at the time, but already knew the importance of control.
McManus learnt his craft doing club stand-up in his home town, Perth, refined it on Melbourne's community television Channel 31 and perfected it in the commercial crucibles of networks Nine and Ten.
It was while he was making a variety show, The Loft Live, for Channel 31 (alongside Corinne Grant and Peter Helliar, who remain core members of his inner circle) that McManus was talent-spotted by sharp-eyed Nine executives. One of them was Rory Callaghan, now at Granada Productions, who immediately recognised his potential. "Rove was born for TV," he says. Craig Campbell, then a producer at the network, agrees. "I knew he was the future of tonight shows," Campbell says. "He's warm, he's real, he's a natural performer."
In April 1999 McManus made a pilot for a late-night show called Rove. At about this time he also formed Roving, which had four employees: Grant, Helliar and writer Kynan Barker, who are all still with him, and comedian Dave Callan. Then, McManus says, Nine left them dangling for five months and gave funnyman Mick Molloy a show instead. "They signed Mick and said, 'Well, we don't need you guys any more'," he says. "Then, when Mick's show fell over, they came back."
Finally, Rove got to air in September that year. It won decent ratings for its 11pm slot, attracted a loyal following and went on to win a silver Logie for Most Popular Light Entertainment Program. But before the Logie had landed, Rove had ended, lasting only 10 weeks. McManus says talks with Nine "gradually fell apart" and that he isn't sure why. Although he hazards a guess: "They didn't know what they were doing."
This all occurred in early 2000, which in television years is so long ago it may as well be the Pleistocene era, and nobody who was involved, including McManus and Callaghan, is interested in talking about it now. But it's worth explaining in order to understand how Nine came to pass on such a hot property.
Other sources say that Nine's problem was not with Rove, or Rove, but Roving. Network executives had been battling with Daryl Somers and Ernie Carroll over the style and content of their Hey Hey It's Saturday, which was nearing its end. By the time McManus came along they were plain fed up with television personalities wielding creative control and wanted to keep everything in-house. But McManus feared they would try to make him into a game-show host. "The one thing I wanted was the ability to say no," he says.
"Just not to be made to do anything I didn't want to."
Into the breach stepped Ten executives John McAlpine and David Mott, who had no problems dealing with Roving. Renamed Rove [Live] the show was back on air, on Ten, in October 2000. McManus is now so much part of Ten it is hard to imagine it turning out any other way.
"His personality and the network's personality are closely aligned – they're both youthful, cheeky, self-deprecating and comedic," says Tate. "Ten has an excellent rapport with the 16-to-39 demographic and Rove sits incredibly well with them." And when he's older? "I certainly hope he is still with us . . . Rove doesn't offend an older audience, either." In industry parlance: "Rove skews broad."
The relationship is mutually beneficial. Rove [Live] is a reliable ratings winner that can pull an audience ranging from teens to their grans. And for Roving, hooking up with Ten has seen the business grow tenfold into a thriving production house employing some 50 people. On its slate so far are three television shows, Rove [Live], sketch comedy series skitHOUSE and AFL footy panel show After the Game, all made for Ten. Roving also produced last year's Australian Record Industry Awards ceremony for the network, with Rove hosting, and will do it again this year.
Ten has committed to Rove [Live] until at least the end of 2004 and last month renewed skitHOUSE for a second series, which will air later this year. Such contracts offer a security rare in the television business and McManus doesn't take it for granted, vividly remembering the early days of Rove [Live] when Ten would commit to only 13 episodes at a time. "We'd get to episode 12 and wonder if we should plan a goodbye for next week," he says.
Roving's sidelines are the online merchandising business at www.rove.com.au (offering logoed $15 coffee mugs, $20 hats, $35 T-shirts and CD compilations of music heard on the program) and a weekly radio show, Saturday Morning Rove, which is syndicated on the top-rating Austereo network and can be heard in the five mainland capitals plus Newcastle and on 23 regional stations.
It all adds up to a lucrative business. Industry sources estimate making Rove [Live] would cost at least $100,000 per show, which at 40 shows a year would value the deal at $4 million a year minimum. They guesstimate skitHOUSE, which runs for 30 minutes, would cost in the order of $150,000 per show. With two series of 13 episodes each, that deal would also be worth in the ballpark of $4 million a year. Then there are the "add-ons": the ARIAs, the Austereo fee, the merch and the low-budget After the Game.
All told, it's hard to see Roving turning over much less than $10 million a year. McManus may soon feel as at home on the cover of BRW as TV Week.
"I would feel like a fraud," he demurs. "I sometimes feel like a fraud on the cover of TV Week, as well. But I'm not a businessman. I've never done a course. I just make decisions based on what I like or what I don't like and it has proven to be successful." As for Roving's future, he agrees "film would be fun. But at the moment there's no plans for that." He adds, "Although, initially we didn't have any plans for anything, so you just never know."
McManus is the face and heart of Roving and, officially, its director, but it isn't a one-man show. "Rove has chosen some of the best management and production people in Australia," says Ten's Tate. His business partners are the former Nine producer Craig Campbell, now Roving's executive producer, and Kevin Whyte, also McManus's manager.
When McManus left Nine Campbell quit to go with him, a brave and savvy move. He oversees all Roving's projects and has many fans in the industry himself. "He's a very, very, very, very good producer," says one senior industry figure. Says McManus: "He's got an amazing mind for television."
Whyte, who runs Melbourne-based management agency Token Artists, does the books and negotiates the deals. "I have to be across the deal-making side, but most of the business decisions my business manager comes up with and runs by me," McManus says.
Illustrating how tight-knit the Roving world is, of the 16 personalities managed by Token Artists at least half are members of the McManus circle. Apart from Rove himself, the list includes Grant and Helliar, who appear on Rove [Live] and Saturday Morning Rove. Helliar also hosts After the Game. Others are radio presenters Greg Fleet and Wil Anderson and comedians Dave Hughes and Adam "Go You Big Red Fire Engine" Hills, all familiar Rove [Live] guests, and comedy group Tripod, which features on skitHOUSE. (Whyte was holidaying and unable to be contacted for this article.) Another key figure is McManus's publicist, Maria Farmer, whose other clients include Holly Valance, radio duo Merrick and Rosso (who are managed by Token Artists), Sass & Bide, Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths and Baz Luhrmann. And last but not least, and in his life first, is McManus's girlfriend, actor and singer Belinda Emmett, who he met at the Fox Studios opening party in late 1999.
While McManus is comfortable blending his personal and professional lives, he emphasises his projects are staffed on the basis of talent, not mateship. "Even if they are friends, that's not the reason they get the gig. They're just people who are incredibly talented," he says.
Obviously, though, the bonds among his circle run deep. "It's more than a working relationship," says Tate. "There are very genuine friendships there, as well."
Usually broadcast from Melbourne, this month Rove [Live] went to Sydney for four shows. On a rainswept Monday night the 180-strong audience files into Global Studios in the Epping hinterland and is prepped on the response to McManus's opening monologue. "If it seems like he thinks he's funny, laugh," says the warm-up guy.
We don't require much coaching. Everyone is ready to love Rove, and he handles the crowd like a star. But not a stuck-up star. Instead, he disarms with self-deprecation, joking that now we'll be able to tell our friends he is "shorter and more gay-looking" than expected.
The show follows a well-oiled formula. The topical opening routine is followed by ad-lib banter chased by some set-piece hijinks. A couple of star guests get a once-over lightly and plug their latest projects. And it's all rounded off with a song. The format is fast and fun and the viewers lap it up, in the studio and at home – that night's show draws almost 1.2 million viewers, making it one of the 50 most popular shows of the week.
McManus makes it look easy, but it isn't. His pre-show preparation is perfectionist and his on-air concentration ferocious. He's a pro. And while he may doubt his longevity in this industry, he's one of the few who does. As Callaghan says: "He's got a great face for TV, a great head for TV. And he's a fantastic bloke. He'll be around for a long time."
I'd be HIS best friend anyday... 
I'd be HIS best friend anyday... 
83 SECONDS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aww, I miss his teeny-bopper hair!
