Australian actor Guy Pearce receives a nomination in the Daytime Emmys for his role as Mike Young in Neighbours.
The big news comes shortly after the Australian soap was nominated in the ‘Best Daytime Drama Series’ category.
Guy joined the Amazon Freevee show in 1986 and was part of a golden era that explored the relationships of Mike and his school friends Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue), Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) and Jane Harris (Annie Jones).
In one of the show’s most memorable scenes, he was shocked to see ‘Plain Jane Superbrain’ undergo a radical transformation – by removing her glasses and wearing a very 80s party dress.
Annie Jones has reprised her role regularly in recent years, with Pearce, Minogue and Donovan all returning for episodes to coincide with the 2022 season finale.
Originally thought to be the final ever episode, the show was revived on Amazon’s ad-supported streaming service last year.
But this wasn’t the first time it had been harshly cancelled – twice in its 39 year history it has been taken off air.
Originally broadcast on the Seven Network, the show didn’t perform well outside of Melbourne where it is produced, and after eight months the last episode was broadcast.
However, rival Channel 10 saw potential in the program and picked it up for a new run two months later.
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It also became Australia’s biggest media export, first arriving on BBC One in the UK in a change to their daytime lineup in autumn 1986, before moving to Channel 5 in 2008.
As viewing figures declined in Australia, 5 became the main source of funding and when they decided to cut their investment in 2022, the show was cancelled once again.
In a true soap twist, after yet another revival, it marked 9,000 episodes last month.
The show faces tough competition in the upcoming event, going up against The Bold and The Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and The Restless.
The the big achievement was announced on Instagram: ‘Neighbours has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
‘A huge congratulations to all of our incredible cast and crew 👏🎬 🎉 (see you in Hollywood… 🎥)’.
This was then followed by Guy’s personal nomination for ‘Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series’.
Since returning in September, he has made frequent appearances in specially shot scenes in the UK, and later via a series of video calls to Jane.
With Mike continuing to extend his stay overseas in each appearance, we’re still unsure whether he’ll ever return to Ramsay Street.
Neighbours continues Monday to Thursday on Amazon Freevee, with new episodes available to stream from 7am. Thousands of classic episodes are also on the service.
