Family and Friends

Family and Friends was a short-lived Australian television soap opera debuted on 7 February 1990. The series was intended to be the Nine Network's response to the already successful soaps on the rival channels - Neighbours on the Network Ten and Home and Away on the Seven Network. Set in a suburban community the series focused on two families - the Chandler and the Italian-Australian Rossi families - who were linked by a long-standing vendetta stemming from an accidental death in the 1950s. Old enmities were renewed by the Romeo-and-Juliet style romance between Jennifer Chandler and Robert Rossi. Despite a strong cast that included Diane Craig, Anne Phelan, Abigail, Jonathan Hardy, Dinah Shearing, Ross Newton, Adrian Lee and Alyce Platt, the series failed to catch on with the viewers. Episodes were initially broadcast in one-hour installments up against Ten's E Street but ratings were disastrous. The show was promptly reformatted as half-hour episodes stripped at 5.30 weeknights, but ratings remained very low. And now that it was lead-in to National Nine News's 6pm bulletin its low ratings meant it remained in a precarious position.