Cheez TV
| Company type | Television program |
|---|---|
| Industry | Children's television |
| Founded | July 10, 1995 |
| Defunct | August 20, 2005 |
| Headquarters | Australia |
Area served | Australia |
| Products | Children's cartoons and programming block |
Cheez TV was an Australian children's cartoon program presented by Ryan Lappin and Jade Gatt, broadcast on Network Ten weekday mornings from 10 July 1995 until the hosts departed on 31 December 2004. Following their exit, the show persisted without presenters for eight months before concluding on 20 August 2005, when it was succeeded by Toasted TV.
In January 2016, Lappin and Gatt introduced the official Cheez TV Facebook page, offering full episodes, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, and contests. Remarkably, Cheez TV maintained an email contact as early as 1995.
The pair reunited in 2017 to produce a Twitch series titled Cheez Live, where they interacted with fans through video games, film critiques, and live discussions. This evolved into a YouTube channel and podcast called The Jade and Ryan Show in 2018; however, it was short-lived. By the end of that year, they announced the show's termination and went their separate ways. The reasons for this remain private, and all associated social media profiles were removed except for the official Cheez TV Facebook page. Their last public engagement was hosting the Australian 'SO POP' music festival in February 2019.
History
Initially launched to rival Agro's Cartoon Connection on the Seven Network, Ten captured the morning children’s television audience by featuring younger hosts, adopting a more contemporary tone, and focusing heavily on cartoons.
Throughout its duration, Ryan Lappin received a nomination for Cleo magazine's Bachelor of the Year award but was ultimately bested by swimmer Geoff Huegill. Meanwhile, Jade Gatt hosted the late-night music program Ground Zero. In subsequent years, both presenters gained recognition for editorial segments incorporating humor aimed at a more mature audience.
The final broadcast of Cheez TV took place on 20 August 2005 after a decade on air; however, Lappin and Gatt’s last appearance as hosts occurred on 31 December 2004. In the interim period of 2005, only cartoons were aired during the time slot until replaced by Toasted TV, which continues to feature shows such as Naruto, One Piece, and Winx Club.
A Facebook event organized in 2010 to reunite Cheez TV fans garnered considerable enthusiasm. Lappin and Gatt addressed the event during an interview on U20 Radio; however, following complaints that led to Facebook shutting down the group, no official reunion with the network transpired.
On 28 June 2011, Ryan Lappin and Jade Gatt appeared as special guests at Adelaide’s Anime and Videogame Convention AVCon, participating in several panel discussions.
On 22 January 2016, Ryan and Jade launched Cheez TV’s official Facebook page in collaboration with podcaster Brendan Dando after uncovering archival recordings of past episodes. The page featured classic content alongside new material from the duo. That same year, they made appearances at all Supanova Expo events.
Starting on 30 July 2017, they began streaming live on Twitch with "Cheez Live," engaging audiences through interactive chats, movie reviews, fan correspondence, and gaming sessions. Despite gaining popularity, this initiative ended within the year and transitioned into a YouTube series called The Jade & Ryan Show, which also concluded in March 2019 following an announced hiatus. Additionally, they hosted Australia’s So Pop concert in 2019 and released The Jade And Ryan Podcast in 2018. No further projects have been undertaken since then.
Although there were intentions for Ryan Lappin to return to Twitch streaming, these plans did not come to fruition; both hosts subsequently deleted their social media accounts with their final posts dating back to 2019.
Programming
Cheez TV showcased a variety of content sourced from multiple production companies, prominently featuring programs from Saban Entertainment until the company's closure in the early 2000s. Between cartoon segments, hosts Jade Gatt and Ryan Lappin presented editorial features that included humorous parodies of well-known shows as well as occasional interviews with guests. During the Saturday morning segment known as The Big Cheez, presenter Lenka Kripac, who is part of the Australian band Decoder Ring, joined the hosting team for a period.
Shows
Among the series broadcast on Cheez TV were:
- Action Man (1995, 2000)
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
- Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
- Beyblade (including G-Revolution, V-Force)
- Big Bad Beetleborgs
- Biker Mice from Mars
- Cardcaptors
- Conan the Adventurer
- Count Duckula
- Danger Mouse
- Digimon Adventure (including Adventure 02, Frontier, Tamers)
- Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Z
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Earthworm Jim
- Garfield and Friends
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983, 2002)
- Inspector Gadget
- Jackie Chan Adventures
- Medabots
- MegaMan NT Warrior
- Men in Black: The Series
- Pokémon (seasons 1–7)
- Rocket Power
- Rugrats
- Sailor Moon
- Silver Surfer
- Sonic X (series 1)
- Spider-Man (1967, 1994 animated series, New Animated Series, Unlimited)
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
- Thundercats
- Totally Spies!
- Various Transformers series including Armada, Energon, Robots in Disguise (2001)
- WildC.A.T.S.
- Winx Club
- X-Men: The Animated Series
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters