Love My Way is an Australian television drama series created by John Edwards and Claudia Karvan, which premiered on Fox8 on 22 November 2004, before moving to W. for its second season, and Showtime for its third and final season, concluding on 19 March 2007. The series stars Claudia Karvan, Asher Keddie, Brendan Cowell, Daniel Wyllie, Lynette Curran, Alex Cook, Max Cullen and Gillian Jones. It was produced by Southern Star Group for Foxtel, with Kim Vecera and Mike Sneesby serving as executive producers for the series. The series endured critical acclaim, where it became the recipient of several major Australian awards and nominations, including the AFI award, in which it won for Best Television Drama Series for each of its three seasons, as well as award wins at the TV Week Logie Awards, Australian Writers' Guild Awards (AWGIE), and the ASTRA Awards.

Premise

Set in Sydney, Love My Way was about a group of 30-somethings dealing with the ups and downs of life. The series revolves around an extended family unit - Frankie Paige and Charlie Jackson are the separated parents of Lou, and Frankie also lives with Charlie's brother, Tom. As the series began, Charlie's new wife Julia is about to have their first child. Frankie's mother, Di and Charlie's mother, Brenda, and father, Gerry, also have a strong presence in the ongoing story, as does Julia's ex-lover Howard, who enters into a relationship with Frankie.

Production

Love My Way was produced by John Edwards of the Southern Star Group, and Claudia Karvan, who also played the leading role of Frankie Paige in the series. Initially intended to be picked up by Network Ten, which they agreed not to proceed due to budget concerns, subscription service Foxtel commissioned a first season on ten episodes in 2003, with pre-production lasting 18 months before filming began on 21 June 2004. When the series was launched, much was made of the connection between Love My Way and The Secret Life of Us: both sharing a star, as well as significant creative talent (Edwards and Perske both were involved in Secret Life, as were series writers like Tony McNamara). However, the series is not a continuation of Secret Life, although it does share some thematic concerns. When developing Love My Way, Edwards and Karvan did, in fact, explore the possibility of a spin-off series set in a hospital, featuring Karvan's character Alex, and Rex (played by Vince Colosimo), a project with never came to fruition. Foxtel's director of television and marketing, Brian Walsh, stated that the series marked the first time that the network had the freedom to produce a drama exclusively aimed at subscribers, as he remarked that it drew inspiration from several HBO series, including Six Feet Under, The Sopranos and Sex and the City, commenting "[he] wanted to carve out a piece of TV drama that was edgy, daring, provocative". The series was filmed in actual locations, including The Sunday Telegraph office, while some scenes were filmed on location at the infamously dangerous Cromwell Park, as there was enough money in the budget to cover council fees. Another advantage of producing a pay TV drama was the freedom to push the boundaries, such as the inclusion of regular swearing, drug use and sexual scenes and references, content which is limited in free-to-air shows. In March 2005, Foxtel commissioned a 12-episode second season, with Austar joining the production as co-investors. The series was renewed for a third season in May 2006, and filming commenced in December 2006. The star of the series, Claudia Karvan, is also a co-producer, along with having written for the series. Brendan Cowell, who appears as Tom, also worked as script writer for two episodes of seasons 1 and three episodes of season 2. On first airing, the theme song originally by The Psychedelic Furs, this time covered by Magic Dirt, played over the title sequence.

Cast

Main cast

Recurring/guest stars

Episodes

(Episode information retrieved from Australian Television Information Archive).

Season 1 (2004-05)

Season 2 (2006)

Season 3 (2007)

Reception

Critical reception

Love My Way has received critical acclaim throughout its run. In a review for The Sydney Morning Herald, prior to broadcast of the second season, Robin Oliver stated that "The unrivalled television drama production of 2004 returns with fresh episodes and a verdict is easily reached: better than ever"... "Love My Way positively glows with that precious and often elusive ingredient, the ordinariness of life." Of the cast, he said, "The old gang is in position, notably Tom, Charlie and Julia Jackson (Brendan Cowell, Dan Wyllie and Asher Keddie). Lovely work, but it is the art of unexplored nuance - the parked car, the fingerprinting - that makes Jacqueline Perske's opening script a triumph." David Knox of TV Tonight, gave the series a positive review prior to the season three premiere, showing praise to the cast performances, commenting "as with previous seasons of LMW the performances are roundly excellent", in particular, he mentioned "[Ben] Mendelsohn shines in a role that reminds us he is all too rarely seen. [Asher] Keddie’s Julia teeters on the brink of vulnerability and anal-retentiveness that shows she is no one-dimensional performer."

Awards and nominations

Broadcast

The series premiered on FOX8 on 22 November 2004 during the late summer months when commercial TV is in a non-ratings period. During the second season it was moved to W. Channel. In 2007, for its third season, it screened on Showtime. Foxtel has been criticised for moving the show to different channels to encourage viewing of the W. Channel and then for moving the program to Showtime which is not included in the basic package of subscription television in Australia.

International airings

Love My Way was aired as a primetime show in the UK on Five's spin-off channel Five Life (Now Fiver). In Sweden it airs on channel 4 (TV4) on Thursday evenings and it also aired in Ireland on RTÉ Two in the early hours of Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is also screened in Estonia on ETV during Sunday evenings, and in New Zealand on TVNZ Channel 2 during late Monday evenings. As well, Super Channel carries Love My Way. In Mexico is screened on Cosmopolitan. The Netherlands as well.

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