The Truth Behind the D-Generation Schism

[bronal]

(Please note: I live in Canberra, so am not across the politics of the incestuous late 1980s Melbourne comedy scene. Although Canberra did produce Mick Molloy!)

Does anyone know the truth behind the D-Generation schism of 1989? Was it as simple as Jane, Magda, Marg and Michael wanting the security of a show likely to last for several series, or was there more to it than that? Was there already tension within the D-Generation?

I can't recall Jane, Magda, Marg or Michael appearing with the others since, which is interesting.

[tommy five-tone]

From various reports around the time, it seems like it was simply that Steve Vizard came along with a high profile show on Channel 7 and cherry-picked the performers he wanted for Fast Forward. I think it was mentioned more than once that Vizard largely took performer-only D-Gen members and left behind the ones who did most of the writing.

It seems fairly common that comedy groups often break up when some members get offered better deals, and moving to a sketch show on a commercial network would have been a pretty sweet deal at the time.

[foolhardycousingeorge]

Would this explain why Steve Vizard was the target for jokes on The Late Show, like Mick and Tony discussing Paul Keating signing a $10 dollar note with his autograph?