The producers wanted a "barrel boy" sidekick for Lane. Lane suggested Bert Newton: I used to watch him and Graham working on IMT, and look at them with great envy. So I said 'what about Bert Newton?' If I’m going to work with somebody I want to know that he's as sharp as anything and a real pro. Newton had hitherto been strongly identified with Australian TV presenter Graham Kennedy. Both Lane and Newton maintain that the first time they met was on-air, during the first episode of the Don Lane Show. Each describes that there was instant "chemistry" and that they never made any deliberate attempt to build the relationship; that it just happened. Lane described the on-screen chemistry during an interview in 2003: We were magic from the time he walked out from the curtain …you don't try to explain those things. You just take them and you use them and you enjoy them and most of all you appreciate them, because they don't happen often, they happen once in a rare while. The IMT special was a ratings success. The show was renamed The Don Lane Show and ran until 1983. Like its predecessor, the show was produced at the studios of GTV 9 in Melbourne and aired over the Nine Network. Lane's stint on the show was to make him the most highly paid performer on Australian television and The Don Lane Show is still the highest rated variety program in Australian television history. The Don Lane Show featured big musical numbers, notable guests and comedy sketches. It was produced by Peter Faiman, who went on to direct Crocodile Dundee and the 2000 Olympics Opening Ceremony. Also featured was the 18-piece "Don Lane Orchestra" conducted by musical director Graeme Lyall and announcer Pete Smith. The show went live-to-air twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, usually running for ninety minutes from 9:30 to 11.00 pm, although, depending on the length of interviews and "the wheel" segment, it could finish much later. On one occasion, it ran two hours over time while Sammy Davis Jr. was escorted by a police car from his concert to the studio in a surprise for Lane. Lane and Newton also did infomercials in which they were given free rein to improvise. The show broke down Australia's "distance barriers" and used innovative technology to conduct satellite interviews with prominent entertainers overseas. Most