Cheez TV
- For the snack-crackers, see Cheez-Its.
| Cheez TV | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Children's television |
| Developed by | Bill McQueen |
| Directed by |
Bernie Zelvis Todd Decker |
| Presented by |
Jade Gatt Ryan Lappin Lenka Kripac |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| No. of episodes | 2,547 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Steve Kelly |
| Location(s) | Pyrmont, New South Wales |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Network Ten |
| Picture format |
4:3 (1995-2001) 576i (SDTV) (2002-2005) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 17 July 1995 – 20 August 2005 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Toasted TV |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Cheez TV was an Australian children's cartoon show, hosted by Ryan Lappin and Jade Gatt, that aired on weekday mornings on Network Ten. It began broadcasting on 17 July 1995 and it ended on 31 December 2004 with the presenters leaving. After eight months of being without presenters, it officially ended on 20 August 2005, and was replaced with Toasted TV.
In January 2016, Lappin and Gatt launched the official Cheez TV Facebook page with the help of friend and podcaster Brendan Dando. The page features full episodes of the show from its original run, behind the scenes photos, competitions and more.
Cheez TV was the first show in Australia (in 1995) to have an internet address.
Programming
Cheez TV aired a number of Marvel based cartoons such as X-Men, The Marvel Action Hour, The Incredible Hulk (1982 series), and Spider-Man: The Animated Series plus several anime series, including Teknoman, Transformers, Eagle Riders, Medabots and in more recent years Pokémon, Beyblade, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Sonic X, Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Other shows that have aired include the Street Sharks, Extreme Dinosaurs, Dragon Flyz, Biker Mice from Mars, Earthworm Jim, The Adventures of Sam and Max: Freelance Police, Casper, Inspector Gadget, SpongeBob SquarePants, Rocket Power, Extreme Ghostbusters, WildC.A.T.S., Eek! The Cat, M.A.S.K., Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys, Sky Dancers, Silver Surfer, Godzilla, Dog City, Dennis and Gnaser, The Tick, Garfield and Friends, Gadget Boy and Heather, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series), Count Duckula, Jimmy Neutron, Project G.e.e.K.e.R., Wing Commander, Bad Dog and Rugrats. Cheez TV also aired during Saturday morning under the moniker of The Big Cheez and featured such cartoons as Bruno the Kid, C.O.P.S., Jackie Chan Adventures, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Zoids (Cheez TV was the first Western nation to air the final four episodes of the Zoids: Chaotic Century series in its English language version).
The two presenters, Jade Gatt and Ryan Lappin, editorialized and presented small variety segments in between cartoons. These short segments included parodies of Rove Live, Gardening Australia, Men in Black and numerous music video re-enactments. On occasion the hosts would interview special guests as well. For a period on The Big Cheez Gatt and Lappin were joined by another presenter, Lenka Kripac (member of Australian band Decoder Ring).
History
Initially competing against Agro's Cartoon Connection on the Seven Network, the 'hipper' look and (then) younger youth hosts, not to mention a larger focus on showing cartoons, allowed Ten to take the early morning children's TV crown off Seven, a situation that continues today (Seven eventually opting to focus on adult breakfast television instead).
During the show's run Ryan Lappin was once nominated for Cleo Magazine's Bachelor of the Year only to lose to Australian swimmer Geoff Huegill. Jade Gatt also hosted late night music show Ground Zero.
During the later years of the show Lappin and Gatt's editorials were quickly becoming notorious for their use of more adult-oriented humour which often flew above the heads of their young audience. Lappin reportedly constantly slid hidden "anti-Rove McManus" commentary in his editorials, which is rumoured to have been the deciding factor which nailed the coffin on the show. Jade Gatt was not immune to scrutiny either, when he would pose as a news reporter called "Dick Wadd" in one of their segments.
Saturday, 20 August 2005 was the last episode of Cheez TV broadcast after 10 years on the air, though Lappin and Gatt's final on-air appearance took place during Friday, 31 December 2004. In 2005, only cartoons showed during Cheez TV. It was replaced with another new children's show, Toasted TV in the same time slot, which continues to screen series such as Pokémon, Naruto, One Piece and Winx Club.
In 2010, a Facebook event scheduled for 7 October 2010 appeared, attempting to gain interest in a Cheez TV reunion show. It quickly attracted the attention of tens of thousands of Cheez TV fans. Jade and Ryan both had an interview with the E Team from U20 Radio Station which aired on 7 August 2010, where they briefly spoke to Peter Styles about the Facebook group and the show. However, after the group sent hundreds of petitioned emails to the networks, third parties made complaints which led to Facebook closing the group. It is unknown whether any consideration has been taken in relation to a Cheez TV reunion by any network contacted.
On 28 June 2011, the Adelaide Anime and Videogame Convention AVCon announced Cheez TV presenters Ryan Lappin and Jade Gatt as special guests. The pair appeared in multiple guest panels throughout the weekend.
On January 22, 2016, Ryan and Jade launched the official Cheez TV Facebook page with the help of friend and podcaster Brendan Dando, co-host of the Simpsons podcast 'Four Finger Discount', after Lappin discovered all of the tapes containing the episodes in his backyard.
The page will feature old episodes of the show as well as some new programming from Lappin and Gatt.