Family and Friends (Australian TV series) Family and Friends (Australian TV series) Family and Friends is 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" and "E Street" 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
The Sitcom Trials with a diminutive blonde sidekick, originally played by Charity Trimm, and the love interest in the café, played then by Gerard Foster. The camp character played in 01 by Dan Clegg went on to be played in the TV series by James Holmes who, coincidentally, was the star of the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Sitcom Trials. The Sitcom Trials has run a number of competition seasons, with heats and a grand final, in 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2016. 2013 and 2016's's seasons were part of the So You Think You're Funny competition, with heats in London, Manchester, Bristol (13), Cardiff (16),