Jane Turner

Could Jane Turner be another Play School person? I'm wondering if I went through and added all of those people?

Well, I'll go check and see.....

Nope. She's not Play School.

Lord Wiki says she's Kath and Kim. Well, she's not Kath AND Kim. She's just Kath.

Baby Jane was born in Newcastle on 1 December 1960. For those who don't know, Newcastle is a few hours north of Sydney.

Lord Wiki doesn't really have much to say, so I'm going to hop on over to IMDb.

Her first screen appearance seems to be a role in The Prisoner. Lord Wiki mentioned this. He said it was a straight drama role...rather than the comedy she's usually known for. Turner did fifteen episodes in 1983 and 1984. She played a character named Belinda Johns.

Oh! Good. YouTube actually has some scenes from her episodes.

I didn't realize people in prison were so polite to each other. Everyone is SO nice. What kind of prison is this?

Oh no! There IS someone mean. Mrs. Ferguson....What a bitch!

But still....these prisoner women are nicer than I would have expected.

Turner's next TV thing was that show Mick Molloy was in. The D-Generation. She did six episodes in 1987, one episode in 1988, and another episode in 1989.

In 1989, Turner started working on a comedy show called Fast-Forward. Lord Wiki says it was sketch comedy, so it was probably not too different from The D-Generation. Oh! The woman who plays Kim in Kath and Kim was on the show too. I'm guessing maybe this is how they first met.

Here's a clip of the Fast Forward people doing a Charlie's Angel parody.

And here's Turner as Ita Buttrose. Who is Ita Buttose? Is she a real person?

Lord Wiki says she is. She's a journalist. Okay.

Turner did Fast Forward until 1992. In 1993 she did a comedy TV program called A Royal Commission Into the Australian Economy. I'm not sure if this was a movie...or what. Her Fast Forward/Kath and Kim co-stars were in it too.

It seems like Turner often works with the same two women...Gina Riley and Magda Szubanski. In 1993 they all did another comedy TV program called The Making of Nothing. Cute title.

Also in 1993...she did five episodes of another sketch comedy program called Full Frontal. The title makes me think of that episode of McLeod's Daughters...the one where the guys took off their clothes for charity.

Eric Bana was on Full Frontal.

Here's a clip from the show. I didn't find it to be that funny. I'm tempted to use the ignorant-American excuse, but I feel I overuse that card.

I don't know. So far I'm not clicking with Jane Turner's humor. What's wrong with me? I think I preferred her being blind and serious in The Prisoner.

In 1994, the three Kath  and Kim women did yet another sketch comedy show. Why didn't they just stay on the same show? I guess they wanted to reinvent themselves? This new show was called Big Girl's Blouse. It lasted for only nine episodes.

Here's a clip from that show. If it doesn't make me laugh, I'll feel like a failure.

Oh well. Sadly I had no luck there.

Here's another clip. Ah! I laughed once. That one I could relate to a bit. It's funny, but also very thought provoking. In the skit, Liberal women talk about various politicians. They don't discuss the platforms of these politicians. Instead they judge them on their looks. And that's very true in my experience. Politicians ARE often judged by how they appear. But there's another factor, and this comes in at the punchline of the skit. One of the women judges a politician's appearance in a negative way. Why? She thought he was Labor. When she finds out he's Liberal, she changes her tone. So although we sometimes judge politicians by their appearance, I think these judgments are influenced by whether we feel we belong to the same political party.

Anyway, I didn't fall down laughing with the skit. But I did think it was very intelligent, and I enjoyed it.

Oops. I missed one of The D Generation shows. One came out in 1997. Turner was in that.

Also in 1997, Turner did a movie called Thank God He Met Lizzie. I think this might be the first theater movie she was in. I didn't recognize the title, but I may have written about it before. Cate Blanchett is in it. Now that I read the plot description, I remember it. That's good. But it disturbs me that I didn't recognize the title. I mean I don't expect to remember every little detail of everything I've mentioned before. But at least I should have said....oh, that sounds a bit familar. Where have I heard that title before?
I don't think Turner had a huge role in this. Her name is pretty low in the credits. I could be wrong though.

How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-departed to talk to us via the Internet?   

The Dead are Online  a novel by Dina Roberts 

In 1998, Turner got together with the usual two women and did a show called Something Stupid. It lasted for only six episodes. Ah! Lord Wiki says the characters of Kath and Kim were on that show. Not only that, but they had appeared on some of the earlier sketch comedy shows as well.

Here's a clip of a Something Stupid Kath and Kim skit. It deals with pregnancy, fertility, and pregnancy tests. I found it a little funny, but mostly honest and poignant. I found myself having a twinge of emotion...probably a typical reaction for most females. I probably cry at every pregnancy test scene.

In 1999, Turner did a movie short called Above the Dust Level. The film itself earned an AFI nomination for best short fiction film.

Atom.com actually has the film. I shall watch it. The film deals with dust, lost underpants, and the HIV virus.

In 2002, Turner did a movie called Guru Wayne. It's a comedy about women who start their own cult. Maybe I'd like this movie. I like stuff about cults. YouTube has a short clip.

And...in 2002, Kath and Kim got their own official show.

I'm confused. Is the show still on? In some things I look at, it seems like it ended in 2007. Other stuff makes me believe it still lives on.

Well, I'm going to read what Lord Wiki has to say about the show.

Oh! It (the ORIGINAL version) was shown in the United States. It was shown on a network I've never heard of. Trio. But it was also shown on the Sundance Channel. I've heard of that.

Here's something else I didn't know. Turner and Gina Riley were executive producers of the American version that aired on NBC. I didn't realize Australia had any part in that disaster.

Well, the show switched networks. This might be why I was confused. It was initially on ABC, and then in 2007, it moved to The Seven Network.

It looks like there has been a big hiatus in the show....a HUGE hiatus. Season 4 was in 2007. And then season 5 is coming in 2010. What happened there?

It looks like the show has won many awards.

In 2003, it won an award for the best comedy-character based from the Australian Comedy Awards. It looks like this award event was a one time deal. They have information for only 2003.

In 2004, the show received many AFI nominations...including a best actress for Jane Turner. They didn't end up winning any of them though. Both Turner and Riley lost to a woman named Bojana Novakovic.

Wait. I was reading things backwards. If we go back a bit in time....they won the AFI award in 2002. Then in 2003, it was just nominations again.

The show won Logie awards in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2008.

Here's a video announcing the demise of the American version, and the return of the original. That was clever.

Here's a clip from the show regarding conspicuous consumption. I didn't laugh much, but I did find it to be interesting and entertaining.

Okay. This one did make me laugh. I seem to like comedy that involves misunderstandings. It's usually what ends up cracking me up the most.

I should make note that Turner doesn't just act in all these shows. She does a lot of the writing as well. And she didn't just produce the American show. She also co-wrote it with Riley.

The trivia page from IMDb says she's married and has three kids.

Here's an interview with Turner and Riley on Enough Rope. The introduction says that Riley and Turner met when they were fifteen. I wonder how they met. Well, maybe that will be revealed during the interview.

Well, never mind. The women correct Denton. They met when they were seventeen.

It sounds like they met at some kind of theater thing. Riley had the lead role, and Turner couldn't figure out why. Then she heard Riley sing, and she understood.

Riley says she thought Turner looked like Barbara Streisand. Then she heard Turner singing, and I guess she didn't quite have Streisand's singing ability.

Turner studied law. Was that what she had originally wanted to do, or was it seen as a back up plan?

Turner and Riley said they liked each other right away.

Turner once fell down the stairs and broke her ankle. It's good that's all she broke.

Yikes. But it was a bad one....compound fracture. Yuck!

Between Riley and Turner...Riley is the more organized one.

I'm just picking up things here and there.

Turner types faster.

They mention a movie I failed to mention before. The Bit Part. I don't know why I didn't mention it. Nicole Kidman was in the film. Turner wore a silver penis in the film. Did she dress up as a penis, or did she just have some kind of penis attached to her? I have a little synchronocity here. I've started reading Maggie Alderson's Pants on Fire. The beginning involves a man wearing a penis hat.

I think I'll watch some more videos.

Here's a clip from Fast Forward. It's about a health and safety government initiative. Now I'm noticing the Barbara Streisand thing. I hadn't picked up on that before. The clip was pretty funny.

Here's another clip about the Liberal women from Big Girl's Blouse. These Liberal women fit a stereotype I have. It's just this certain type of women. They love to shop. They take their kids to soccer games where they gossip with other moms. They heavily and enthusiastically decorate for Christmas and Halloween. Well, only the American version would probably do the Halloween decorating. They read women's magazines...especially housekeeping ones. They don't much like homosexuals, but will approve of one doing their hair. Seventy-five percent of their conversation is concerned with celebrity gossip, fashion, and dieting. They take their children to play dates in the park where they exchange parenting advice and subtle criticism. And yes, I imagine them to be politically conservative.

I often shy away from such women...probably due to my own prejudices. Most of them probably have more substance than I imagine.

Here's part 2 of the Kath and Kim baby thing. I'm finding that I can relate to aspects of the show. I liked that Kath defended Kim's husband. I can't relate to the usually shown scenario....the parents bashing their son-in-law. My situation has always been very much like Kim's. I whine about my husband, and my parents defend him. Well, not ALWAYS....but usually. Also, Lord Wiki says that Kath's husband is best friends with Kim's husband. I can relate to that a lot too. My dad and Tim are very good friends. Sometimes I think Tim's heart sings, and his face lights up, more for my dad than it ever has for me. Uh. No. I'm not jealous or anything. Of course not. Okay, maybe I'm a LITTLE bitter...but I'm getting over it. By the time I'm eighty, I'll probably be totally fine with everything.

My last serious boyfriend hated my dad. That was difficult to deal with. It's not fun when your boyfriend can't talk about your family without getting a look of complete disgust on their face.  So when Tim met my family, I was relieved that they got on so well. But then I started thinking...maybe you guys are getting along a little TOO well.

I'm trying to think of other fictional characters where the in-laws get along very well. I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Well, I'm going to end here and do some more trip preparation stuff.