First episode date 15 August 1971 | Genres Comedy, Sitcom | |
Awards Logie Award for Most Outstanding Comedy Program Similar Better Homes and Gardens, A Country Practice, Home and Away, Wombat, Sunrise | ||
The Group was a popular Australian situation comedy series produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 in 1971.
The situation involved five young flatmates—three men and two women—living together for financial and pragmatic reasons and regularly attempting to outwit their landlord who was convinced there were saucy goings-on in the flat.
The regular characters were named on screen with a freeze frame as they made their entrance at the start of each episode. Each credit also featured a brief description of the character, such as MARK the medical student, JENNIFER the student, BOB the accountant, JEREMY he's something in television, TINTO the landlord.
The final character was Laura, the dumb brunette, a model unaware of her physical attractiveness. Laura was the key character around which most of the show's situations revolved. Her caption would change every episode and formed the title of the episode, such as "and LAURA this week she's on a diet", "This Week She Wants to Be a Singer", "This Week She Travels", etc.
The regular cast included Ken James as Mark, Gregory Ross as Bob, Gregory de Polnay as Jeremy, Jenee Welsh as Jennifer and Terry O'Neill as Tinto. The role of Laura Bent was played by Roslyn Wilson, a newcomer with no acting experience. She was cast at the last minute when the original actor, Wendy Hughes who played Laura in the televised pilot episode, was released to take a role in a stage play.
The series was produced by Don Cash and Bill Harmon, devised by Anne Hall and written by David Sale, who the following year collaborated on the phenomenally successful soap opera Number 96. Despite its popularity The Group was not renewed beyond its original series of 13 half-hour episodes.