Obituary: Edith Bliss

Edith Bliss, a former Australian pop singer and television presenter, has died at the age of 53 after a long illness.

Brisbane-born Bliss hit the Australian charts in the late 1970s with the single If It’s Love You Want followed by two more singles and an album, Total Bliss, in 1980.

She then went on to television as a reporter for popular children’s program Simon Townsend’s Wonder World.

A decade later she was on television again as a presenter for Townsend’s other venture, ABC program TVTV.

Bliss married Mark Tanner, a sound mixer on Wonder World, and they had four children.

In 2006, under her married name Edith Tanner, she appeared as a contestant on the final episode of game show Wheel Of Fortune.

Daughter Eden had posted a message on Facebook, saying her mother "passed very peacefully early this morning and her infectious spirit will be missed by all. You're with the angels now, Mum."

Source: Daily Telegraph, Wikipedia

Simon Townsend on The Morning Show

Former children’s TV presenter and producer Simon Townsend was yesterday’s ‘Flashback Friday’ guest on the Seven Network’s The Morning Show.

Townsend was a producer for Mike Willesee in the 1970s and had edited a children’s newspaper, Zoot, before he ventured into producing his own program, which eventually became Simon Townsend’s Wonder World.  The program, a magazine format aimed at children, was first devised back in 1973.  A pilot was produced in association with Seven but it was not picked up.

By the late 1970s the broadcast rules were changing to enforce a minimum amount of first-run Australian-made content for children on commercial networks.  A second pilot, produced independently, was successful in gaining approval for broadcast under the new ‘C’ classification and the 0-10 Network ultimately picked up the program in 1979. 

Simon Townsend’s Wonder World continued until 1987, clocking up over 2000 episodes and winning five Logies.  Townsend later returned to television as the presenter of ABC’s early evening program TVTV, a nightly program based around television.

Townsend has since suffered a number of personal setbacks, including three strokes and the death of his wife Rosanna from cancer.  He is now retired.

Source: The Morning Show, TV Times, Talking Heads

TV Week Logie Awards: 25 years ago

Hey Hey It’s Saturday host Daryl Somers (pictured) was awarded the Gold Logie for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the 28th annual TV Week Logie Awards, presented at Sydney’s historic State Theatre on Friday, 18 April 1986.

It was the first time the Awards were held in Sydney since 1981.

Current affairs host Mike Willesee was Master of Ceremonies of the night’s presentation which was broadcast via the Nine Network.  The awards ceremony paid tribute to 30 years of Australian television.

The Gold Logie was Somers’ second, having also won the premier award at the 25th Anniversary TV Week Logie Awards in 1983.  His second Gold Logie followed a year which saw the prime-time Hey Hey It’s Saturday shift to the earlier 6.30pm timeslot, and his hosting of Nine’s afternoon game show Blankety Blanks.  On a personal front, it was also a year he married long-time partner Julie Da Costa.

Somers also collected a second award on the night, for Most Popular Male Personality in Victoria.

In winning the Gold, Somers had beaten fellow nominees Greg Evans (Perfect Match), Ray Martin (Midday With Ray Martin) and Anne Tenney (A Country Practice).  The year had been significant for all three fellow nominees.  As well as hosting Perfect Match, Evans (pictured) had also hosted the previous year’s TV Week Logie Awards and a new talent quest series, Star Search, for Network Ten.  Nine’s Ray Martin had made the risky move from 60 Minutes to host the new Midday program, taking over from the long-running The Mike Walsh Show which had moved into prime-time.  And Tenney had made her farewell from A Country Practice with the emotional departure of character Molly Jones.  She also featured in the ABC mini-series Flight Into Hell, scoring a nomination for Most Popular Actress In A Single Drama Or Mini-Series.

The Nine Network mini-series Anzacs won three Logies, including individual Logies for actor Andrew Clarke and actress Megan Williams.  The ten-hour mini-series was the most ambitious television drama production ever undertaken in Australia, costing more than $8 million and was six years in the making.  The series also featured Paul Hogan in his first dramatic role, and popular young actor Jon Blake.

Seven’s long-running A Country Practice took away four Logies, including Most Popular Drama and Silver Logies for Grant Dodwell and Anne Tenney (pictured).  Tenney also won a Logie for Most Popular Female Personality in New South Wales.

Network Ten series Neighbours, which had only recently made the move from Seven, scored its first ever Logies.  Actor Peter O’Brien was awarded Most Popular New Talent, while Neighbours won the award for Most Popular Program in Victoria. 

Network Ten’s afternoon game show Perfect Match won Most Popular Light Entertainment Program, following a year which saw co-host Debbie Newsome replaced by newcomer Tiffany Lamb. 

The Nine Network won the award for Outstanding Sports Coverage for its coverage of the first Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Adelaide, beamed around the world to an estimated 700 million viewers and which won high praise from the Formula One participating nations.

60 Minutes won the Logie for Most Popular Public Affairs Program and one of its reporters, Ian Leslie (pictured), was awarded Reporter Of The Year.  Nine’s Sunday program won the award for Best Public Affairs Report for Jennifer Byrne’s coverage of the 1985 Tax Summit. 

Brisbane-based TVQ0’s Eyewitness News won Best News Report for its report of the Eagle Farm siege, when a deranged man threatened to fire a shotgun and ignite a tankerload of fuel at Brisbane Airport.

As well as hosting the Logies presentation, Mike Willesee (pictured) also scored an award for Most Popular Documentary Series for his series of specials for the Nine Network.  One of the most talked-about programs from the Willesee series during the year was Tommy Doesn’t Exist Any More, a sympathetic look at the lives of three transsexuals.  Another program, Sink Or Swim, looked at the life of one of Australia’s leading underwater naturalists, Neville Coleman.  And before the age of Big Brother, Willesee presented More Than A Game – a two-hour special which observed the behaviour of 15 people from different walks of life who were taken to a remote rural location where they had to form their own new society.

Teenage actress Nadine Garner from the Network Ten series The Henderson Kids won the Logie for Best Performance by a Juvenile; and long-running children’s program Simon Townsend’s Wonder World was awarded Most Popular Children’s Program.

National broadcaster ABC won two awards.  The comedy series The Gillies Report – featuring Max Gillies in various guises including then prime minister Bob Hawke (pictured) – won Best Light Entertainment Series, and documentary series Sweat Of The Sun, Tears Of The Moon – featuring Jack Pizzey’s travels through South America – was awarded Best Documentary.

Mini-series producers Kennedy-Miller were presented a Logie for Sustained Excellence – having produced landmark series The Dismissal, The Cowra Breakout and Bodyline.

The local newscast, Newshour, from Bendigo channel BCV8 won the Logie for Outstanding Contribution by Regional Television.  One of the news bulletin’s highlights from the year was its coverage of the Murray River tour of HRH Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

News cameraman Neil Davis (pictured) was posthumously inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall Of Fame.  A war correspondent for over 20 years, Davis had been gunned down in September 1985 while covering a coup attempt in Thailand. 

Among the overseas guest stars at the Logies were Hill Street Blues star Veronica Hamel, actress and comedienne Phyllis Diller and singer John Denver.

Public-voted Categories:
Gold Logie: Daryl Somers (Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Blankety Blanks)

Silver Logie – Most Popular Actor: Grant Dodwell (A Country Practice)
Silver Logie – Most Popular Actress:  Anne Tenney (A Country Practice)

Most Popular Drama Series:  A Country Practice (Seven)
Most Popular Single Drama or Mini-Series:  Anzacs (Nine Network)
Most Popular Actor In A Single Drama Or Mini-Series: Andrew Clarke (Anzacs)
Most Popular Actress In A Single Drama Or Mini-Series: Megan Williams (Anzacs)
Most Popular Light Entertainment Program: Perfect Match (Network Ten)
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: 60 Minutes (Nine Network)
Most Popular Documentary Series:  Willesee Documentaries (Nine Network)
Most Popular Music Video:  What You Need (INXS)
Most Popular Children’s Program: Simon Townsend’s Wonder World (Network Ten)
Most Popular New Talent:  Peter O’Brien (Neighbours)

Industry-voted Categories:
Best News Report:  Eagle Farm Siege, Eyewitness News (TVQ0, Brisbane)
Best Public Affairs Report: Tax Summit (Jennifer Byrne, Sunday, Nine Network)
Reporter Of The Year: Ian Leslie (60 Minutes)
Best Performance By A Juvenile: Nadine Garner (The Henderson Kids)
Outstanding Sports Coverage: Australian Grand Prix (Nine Network)
Best Documentary: Sweat Of The Sun, Tears Of The Moon (ABC)
Best Light Entertainment Special: Cliff Richard – The Rock Connection (Nine Network)
Best Light Entertainment Series: The Gillies Report (ABC)
Special Award For Sustained Excellence:  The Kennedy-Miller Organisation
Outstanding Contribution By Regional Television:  Newshour (BCV8, Bendigo)
TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame: Neil Davis (journalist) – awarded posthumously.

State-based Categories (Most Popular Male Personality, Most Popular Female Personality, Most Popular Program):

NSW: Ray Martin, Anne Tenney, A Country Practice
VIC: Daryl Somers, Delvene Delaney, Neighbours
QLD: Glenn Taylor, Jacki MacDonald, State Affair
SA: Keith Conlon, Anne Wills, State Affair
WA: Rick Ardon, Susannah Carr, State Affair
TAS: Tom Payne, Jenny Roberts, Midweek

Source: TV Week, 19 April 1986.  TV Week, 26 April 1986

1979: December 1-7

Two Restless Years old
It is two years ago since newspaper ads appeared about a new series from the 0-10 Network, The Restless Years: “an action-packed story of what happens to today’s school leavers when they go out in the world to try and get jobs.”  TEN10 general manager Ian Kennon described it as “a show about life.”  Two years later, who would have thought that the road to employment was so fraught with danger?  Are real-life teenagers attempting suicide, getting pregnant, having miscarriages, ending up in prison and being raped, bashed, robbed and murdered with the same regularity as the kids in The Restless Years?  And it’s not just the young characters having a rough time – Miss McKenzie (June Salter) and Dr Bruce Russell (Malcolm Thompson) have had their fair share, too.  In fact, in two years the show has been so turbulent that only four of the original cast members – Salter, Thompson, Zoe Bertram and Nick Hedstrom – still remain.
No more blues for Ugly Dave
Bright times are ahead for Ugly Dave Gray (pictured).  He and his new wife, Val, are expecting their first baby next month, and in the new year he will be hosting a new game show, Celebrity Tattletales, for the Seven Network.  The new show, set to run in the 6.00pm timeslot, marks a return to TV for Gray a year after the demise of Blankety Blanks.  But for Gray, it was worth the wait:  “Some people will grab anything to get their head back on TV.  That’s fatal.  I’ve had two offers of my own show but neither was suitable.  Then the Grundy Organisation offered me Celebrity Tattletales.  I think this is it.  I hope people don’t compare it to Blankety Blanks – it’s a different show.  But I’m sure gimmicks and catchphrases will come out of the blue.”
Plumber’s pin-up has million dollar plans!
Cheryl Rixon (pictured) has come a long way since her first modelling job, posing for the cover of the WA Plumbers’ Annual, paid her a mere $40.  The former star of the sexy soap The Box now lives in Manhattan, models in London and New York, and is looking to buy a beach house in California.  The 25-year-old, who earned $250,000 for posing nude for Penthouse magazine, is well on the way to her first million: “I should reach it in 1980 as it’s going to be a big year for me.  I’ve spent three years in America getting myself established and setting things up, and next year should be the beginning.”  Rixon plans to use some of that million to set up her own production company to make TV variety specials, but in the meantime she has been starring in Stephen Spielberg’s comedy, Used Cars, and is set for a part in the new $30 million epic, Flash Gordon.
The milkman who came in from the cold During his school years in New Zealand, Alan Dale (pictured) had a yearning to get into showbusiness.  He had sung, acted, danced and played musical instruments and, at the age of 18, had tried to get a job as a radio announcer but was told he was too young.  The thought of going overseas to further his showbusiness prospects was daunting, and not affordable.  He instead went into the car industry, starting as a salesman and working up to manager.  A chance meeting with the local milkman later led to him ditching the car business and picking up a milk run:  “I thought, what a way to earn a living, trotting around keeping fit delivering milk for a few hours.”  When Dale heard about a vacancy at a local radio station, Radio Hauraki, he tried to get the job.  He was unsuccessful, but did eventually end up with the midnight-to-dawn shift and later the afternoon show.  The radio announcing job led to an offer to star as a radio manager in a new local TV series, Radio Waves, for TV2.  The series was cancelled after 72 episodes, but  “I didn’t really want to go back to radio so I decided to hell with it.  I’ll go to Australia.  I’d had a taste of acting by then.”  Dale is now well-known to Australians as Dr John Forrest in the popular Nine Network series, The Young Doctors.
Briefly… There will be no expense spared in the production of the 0-10 Network’s new soap Arcade.  Apart from three production teams, a cast of around 30, authentic props and studio scenery, an average of 180 extras will be employed each week.  The new series is set to debut in January.
Former Young Talent Time cast member Jane Scali will be joining the cast of ABC’s The Saturday Show when it returns to air in the new year.  As well as The Saturday Show, Scali is currently in rehearsals for the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Cinderella.
Jonathan Coleman of Simon Townsend’s Wonder World has attempted to break the record for the biggest interview of all time.  The interview, with the 120,000-strong crowd at the recent 2SM Rocktober concert in Sydney, has been submitted to Australian Guinness Bureau of Records.
Comedy writer Mike McColl-Jones, who has worked with the likes of Graham Kennedy, Don Lane and Peter Couchman, has compiled a book, My Funny Friends, featuring anecdotes and photographs from his twenty years of working in television.
Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”I am 16, and I feel that a lot more should be done to promote Australian child actors and singers.  Look at America, they have many fine talents like Brooke Shields, Leif Garrett and Tatum O’Neal.  Australia has also got some good talent but it is not put to use.  There should be more shows like Young Talent Time, where children and teenagers can display their talent.” J. P., VIC.
“There is one thing I must beg of NBN3 (Newcastle).  Please, oh please, don’t put Norman Gunston on again.  I really feel embarrassed looking at that zany grin, and all those bits of sticking plaster all over his face.  Please, do me a favour and send him to Hong Kong, or somewhere like that.” D. Dickey, NSW.
“In reply to F. Gregory (Viewpoint, 20 October 1979), Peter Lochran may be one of the best actors on TV, but certainly not the best actor (even though he is gorgeously handsome – is this what you’re going by to pick a good actor?).  The Young Doctors is one of the most popular serials on TV at the moment, for sure.  But why?  Maybe it’s because all those dinner invitations from handsome doctors to the nursing staff keep all the women wrapped up in the show.  I’ll tell you what, it’s certainly not the acting that keeps everyone involved.” J. Stanley, QLD.
“S. McLaughlan’s letter (Viewpoint, 27 October 1979) is a gross example of generalisation.  Molly Meldrum (pictured) does not “rave on” through the entire show.  In fact, on most shows, he only puts in an appearance for 10 minutes to do his Humdrum segment.” K. Manton, NSW.
What’s On (December 1-7):
HSV7’s tennis coverage continues throughout the week with the final days of the Toyota Women’s Classic on Saturday and Sunday, followed by the NSW Women’s Classic from Monday through to Friday.  Commentators include Peter Landy, Allan Stone and Garry Wilkinson.
GTV9 crosses to Brisbane for live coverage of the cricket First Test,  between Australia and the West Indies, on Saturday through to Wednesday.  Coverage starts at 11.50am, with breaks at 2.00pm and 4.40pm, and ending at 7.00pm.
60 Minutes (GTV9, Sunday) presents its final show for the year, and New Faces with Bert Newton moves to Monday nights.
ATV0’s Eyewitness News, now with Michael Schildberger and Peter Hanrahan, is cut to 30 minutes at 6.00pm from Monday, with a new 8.30pm news bulletin launched for the summer period.
ABC’s daytime schools programs finish up for the year on Friday, and the weekly magazine program Statewide At Six, with David Johnston, also presents its final edition. 
ATV0’s morning show Everyday, with Roy Hampson and Annette Allison, finishes up for the year on Friday, as does the 7.00pm magazine show Peter Couchman’s Melbourne.
Sunday night movies: The Deadly Tower (HSV7), Future Cop (GTV9), Midnight Man (ATV0).
Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 1 December 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: September 29-October 5

The long, lonely Lane
Since the collapse of his much-publicised romance with architecture student Carmen van Hoorn, Don Lane (pictured) has kept a much lower profile, keeping largely to himself in his luxury $400,000 bayside home in Melbourne, and is accepting of the fact that he may not find love again:  “I have sort of accepted the fact that I’m not going to find a permanent relationship.  I’m trying to keep a low profile from here on in.  I’m a loner, sure, but I don’t think I’m lonely.  I have a couple of close friends.”  Lane also admits that the demands of The Don Lane Show and other public commitments, such as his more recent theatre concert appearances, leave little room for other pursuits.

Bushie returns to film his near-death ordeal
Ron Ansell, the star of a documentary made on his real-life survival experience in the Northern Territory wilderness, is ready for criticism of his treatment of animals in the re-enactment of his lonely, near-death saga after a fishing trip down the Victoria River went horribly wrong.  The 90-minute documentary, To Fight The Wild, is a production of Richard Oxenburgh Productions in association with TVW Enterprises and the Australian Film Commission, and is being considered by TV networks in Australia, the United States, United Kingdom and Japan.  But the 26-year-old professional bull-catcher is prepared for criticism over scenes in the re-enactment which show Ansell shooting bulls, slitting them open with his knife and eating the raw meat on the spot:  “Well, I felt very strongly that if the story was going to be told on film, everything would have to be done exactly as it happened.” 

A busy ARVO for kids
Peter Cousens and his young crew of Earthwatch presenters this week will co-host ABC’s special to highlight the International Year of the Child.  The two-and-a-half hour program will also feature ARVO regulars Alexander Bunyip (pictured, with Earthwatch presenter Marianne Howard), Ron Blanchard, Norman Hetherington, Mr Squiggle and Miss Jane (Jane Fennell).  The special presentation will highlight some of the range of programs produced by ABC’s Children’s, Education and Features departments and screened during school hours throughout the year.

A chance for the deaf to ‘hear’ PM
Deaf TV viewers will have their first chance to ‘hear’ Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser when a girl using sign-language will translate his words in a televised address to the nation on 30 September.  Increasing attention is being given to deaf viewers following the formation of the Australian Centre for Visual Television (ACVT).  The company has already produced a weekly five-minute program, Shhh … Don’t Say It, which has been shown during ABC’s children’s program ARVO.  ACVT co-partners Alexandra Hynes and Adam Salzer have been asked to make thirteen more episodes of the show for next year and are also planning to make a half-hour pilot for a new show for ABC.

Briefly…
Prisoner guest star Jeanie Drynan, playing the role of a sophisticated lawyer, is so impressed with her on-screen wardrobe that she plans to buy the clothes for her own use after she has finished in the series.

Jacqui Gordon, the step-daughter of actor Vic Gordon, has changed her mind about becoming a mothercare nurse and is now planning an acting career after she finishes school at the end of the year.  She has already won an award for her 1975 role in Sally Go Round The Moon and appeared in a guest role in Cop Shop earlier this year.

The 0-10 Network’s cameras were fast on the scene when fire engines screeched to a halt outside Sydney’s Sebel Town House Hotel.  Turns out there was no fire, but rather the hotel’s fire alarm had been activated by heat from the lights being used for filming of a story for Simon Townsend’s Wonder World.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”I totally disagree with M. Caffery (Viewpoint, 8 September 1979) on homosexuality being shown on Cop Shop.  I cannot see anything disgusting about it – not compared with some of the filth on TV nowadays.  Why on earth should homosexuality be hidden away?  It’s a part of life that should be accepted, and it’s only the narrow-minded who pretend it doesn’t exist, or at least find it unacceptable.”  M. Eeles, VIC.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read M. Caffery’s letter (Viewpoint, 8 September 1979).  I thought that people who viewed gays as morally sick died out in the last century.  M. Caffery and friends should see a doctor.  This is 1979.”  A Happy Gay Couple, VIC.

“We live in the country, so we only get ABC.  There are too many documentaries and sports programs and repeats on this channel.  If we ever get movies we have almost always seen them before.” B. Harvey, A. and L. Osbourne, WA.

“I am 12 and want to see something practical on TV for children my age.  Fat Cat And Friends, Rainbow, Shadows, Porky Pig, Family Affair and Gomer Pyle aren’t very exciting for us.  We want to see programs that interest us – perhaps quiz shows, or maybe serials, but not those sloppy soap operas like Days Of Our Lives.”  G. Aitchison, NSW.

What’s On (September 29-October 5):
Following the Football Marathon from last Friday night, HSV7 goes into Saturday morning with live coverage of the traditional Grand Final Breakfast then follows with documentaries on two of the great names in Australian Rules football, Barry Cable and Peter Hudson.  TV Times has no listing for live coverage of the Grand Final, pending approval of the live telecast from the VFL, but has HSV7 scheduled to screen a replay of the game at 6.30pm.  ABC has a one-hour review of the Grand Final at 6.00pm with a full replay at 9.20pm.

Sunday is dominated by HSV7’s all-day coverage of the 1979 Hardie Ferodo 1000, the legendary motor race held at the Mt Panorama circuit in Bathurst.  Coverage starts at 7.55am and continues through to 5.30pm.

ABC presents its International Year of the Child special telecast on Sunday afternoon.  Featuring the presenters of children’s programs ARVO, Earthwatch and Mr Squiggle And Friends, the special includes four programs made specifically for the International Year of the Child.

In Cop Shop (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), a man is knocked down by a motorcyclist after he gives the police some important information and Georgiou (John Orcsik) has a mysterious visitor at the station.  The Press decide to give Vic Cameron (Terence Donovan) a hard time and his past comes back to haunt him.  In Skyways (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), Pacific International Airport is closed down due to fog.  Peter Fanelli (Bill Stalker) sets a trap for a team of pick-pockets, using George Tippett (Brian James) as a decoy.

Bush artist Jack Absalom (pictured) presents a new series on ABC, Outback.  In the first episode he introduces his theory which suggests that the entire inland of Australia is rapidly becoming a huge claypan where soon nothing will grow.  He looks at the animal that he considers to hold the key to preserving the land – the kangaroo.

On Friday, HSV7 presents live all-day coverage of Australia versus the US in the Davis Cup tennis from White City, Sydney.

Friday night becomes a battle of movie greats with The Wizard Of Oz (HSV7), The King And I (GTV9) and The Greatest Show On Earth (ATV0).

Sunday night movies: The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (HSV7), Rider On The Rain (GTV9), Sherlock Holmes In New York (ATV0).  The Men is the final instalment of the series of A Place In The World on ABC, featuring the reunion of the key characters from the previous instalments.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 29 September 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: September 1-7

Emergency Edition: “Due to a fire at TV Times’ printers, this issue of the magazine has required a change to its usual format.  All regular features have been maintained as well as our complete program coverage.  We apologise for any inconvenience to your usual reading habits and assure you that normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.”

First love…
When actor Sam Neill arrived in Australia for the first time he was a movie star nobody wanted to know.  Now, as the new love for Kitty Sullivan (Susan Hannaford, pictured with Neill) in The Sullivans, he is a TV star everyone wants to interview.  Despite the lack of interest when he first visited Australia, to promote a New Zealand film Sleeping Dogs, Neill took the opportunity to observe the Australian industry and decided that he wanted to stay.  A key role in the movie My Brilliant Career led to his role in The Sullivans.  “I’ve had a wonderful introduction to life as an actor in Australia through a good quality film and a top rating, top quality TV show.” 

A date to remember!
The Australia’s film and television industry will gather at Sydney’s Seymour Centre on 17 October for this year’s Australian Film and TV Awards – the Sammys.  The awards ceremony, presented by TV Times for the Variety Club of Australia charity for underprivileged children, will be telecast by the Seven Network and hosted by Roger Climpson (pictured).  More than 350 nominations have been made for the 40 award categories.  Nominations for the two Gold Sammy awards (male and female) include Harry Butler, Garry McDonald, Mike Walsh, Paul Cronin, Don Lane, Bert Newton, Gerard Kennedy, Julie Anthony, Lorraine Bayly, Marcia Hines, Judy Morris and Julieanne Newbould.

Series took six years to see the light
This week’s debut of the 0-10 Network’s new children’s program Simon Townsend’s Wonder World marks the culmination of six years’ work for journalist and producer Simon Townsend (pictured).  Townsend first developed the concept in 1973 after two years editing a children’s newspaper, Zoot, and produced a pilot with the assistance of the Seven Network.  Townsend then joined the Nine Network’s A Current Affair and was later assisted by Mike Willesee in negotiating with the 0-10 Network.  A second pilot, produced independently, was successful in gaining approval for the ‘C’ classification by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal and formed the basis for the 0-10 Network series.  The new show, described by Townsend as “current affairs in style – but not adult current affairs explained down for children,” has a staff of around 20, including four reporters, two researchers, two editors, two associate producers and a full-time animator.

Briefly…
Robyn Nevin plays Nellie Melba in ABC’s adaptation of Jack Hibberd’s play A Toast To Melba.  It is one of six Australian plays being made by ABC for screening next year.

Denise Drysdale and actor Chris Milne have just married at a ceremony attended by 175 invited guests – and 100 ‘uninvited’ guests who gate-crashed the event.  There will be no honeymoon for the couple as Drysdale is currently working on Cop Shop and Milne is working at renovating the country cottage they have just bought from Ernie Sigley.

If Vince Martin is missing when he’s needed on the set of The Restless Years, chances are he can be found in TEN10’s props department, playing his own compositions at a grand piano once used in The Steve Raymond Show and surrounded by various props and other relics discarded from the set of Number 96. 

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”I am always home on weekends and all I get to see on TV is rubbish.  Why don’t TV stations put on some all-night movies so people can enjoy themselves at home on Saturday night?” M. Smith, WA.

“I was disturbed to see that the Miss Universe pageant was compered by Americans, though the show was held in Australia.  Why was this so?” G. Scott, VIC. (TV Times responds - “The Miss Universe pageant is an American-owned and American-sponsored contest, and American TV personality Bob Barker has compered it for more than a decade.”)

“There are a lot of people like myself who enjoy Australian football.  Some of us are lucky enough to view the direct telecast from Melbourne each Saturday afternoon.  Others have to try ABC’s The Winners on Sunday night.  One recent Sunday evening after a long, dreary wait we were given just a little over five minutes at 11.10pm.  I consider it an insult for the national network to give so little time to our national game.  Surely The Winners could be broadcast at an earlier time or on some other night of the week?” C. Wilson, QLD.

“I realise that Skyways needs advertising to keep it “in the air,” but I fail to see that ATN7 is aiding its cause – i.e. the toppling of Nine’s The Don Lane Show – by flooding Skyways with an incalculable number of advertisements.  I ask the question:  Is there a difference between skyjacking a plane for a million dollars and holding Skyways to advertising ransom?” S. McLean, NSW.

What’s On (September 1-7):
ATV0’s Deafness Appeal telethon continues on Saturday, taking a break only at 6.00pm for Eyewitness News, then resuming at 6.30pm with a special extended edition of Young Talent Time.  The telethon’s evening segment commences at 8.00pm and continues through to the Appeal close just before midnight.

ABC’s Tuesday night drama Twenty Good Years comes to a conclusion this week, having traced the lives of Ron Fielding (Harold Hopkins) and his wife Anne (Anne Pendlebury) since they first met in 1956 (pictured).  In the final episode, set in 1975, Ron becomes seriously ill and admits that the business is too much for him.  He sells up and buys a caravan park.  Michael Fielding (Jeremy Kewley) becomes involved with a Jewish woman ten years his senior.

This week’s episode of documentary series Hospital (ABC, Thursday) examines the constant pressure borne by hospital staff in the vital Intensive Care Unit.  The program follows the journey of a patient, seriously burned in a motor-cycle accident, from his admittance to the time the doctor tells him his recovery will be slow.

In Prisoner (ATV0, Tuesday and Wednesday), an underworld slaying leads to the arrival of a prisoner who makes a big impact.  In Cop Shop (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), one lottery pool winner has died and another is hospitalised with $100,000 missing.

Sunday night movies: Taxi (HSV7), The Agony And The Ecstasy (GTV9), A Step Out Of Line (ATV0).  ABC presents Man Of Dreams, the second play in the series A Place In The World.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 1 September 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: July 28-August 3

Cover: Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett (The Two Ronnies) 

For the love of Mike
For a group of 50 housewives, the daily chores will have to wait another day as they head into TCN9’s studios to be in the audience for The Mike Walsh Show.  The group, organised by a Padstow primary school as a fund-raiser, is one of many similar groups that flock to TCN9’s Willoughby studios, some from as far as Orange in the central west of NSW, for the 90-minute show.  For studio audience members, housewives Lyn Albrew and Bev Williams, watching the show at home is part of their daily routine and admit that without it many chores, such as ironing, would never get done.  Narabeen mother Judy Allen and her parents, Leslie and Peggy Searle, are also in the studio audience.  “It has a good variety of things and there are some interesting interviews.  It’s better than watching soap operas,” Mrs Allen told TV Times.  John Lynch, one of the few males in the Orange contingent, looks around for some other men in the audience.  “There aren’t many of us, are there?” 

The Australian Invasion!
Australian TV is making its presence felt in the US market – ending the usual one-way traffic of TV programming from the US.  The Seven Network’s hit mini-series Against The Wind was sold to the Taft Broadcasting Network for a six-figure sum and will go to air next month.  Paramount Pictures has bought the overseas distribution rights to the ABC series Patrol Boat while another ABC drama, Golden Soak, has been bought by the Interamerican Entertainment Company of USA.  The 0-10 Network’s hit series Prisoner (pictured) has also been sold to US and Canadian broadcasters.  Canada’s Global TV has purchased 26 episodes of the series, while a Los Angeles-based TV station has bought fourteen episodes.  Prisoner will launch in August on the LA station in a two-hour prime-time debut and will continue weekly thereafter.  American TV distributor Hal Golden has also approached the Nine Network with a view to packaging The Don Lane Show for US distribution, while singer Julie Anthony’s Gold Coast TV special has been syndicated to a network of 50 US TV stations.

Three firsts for restless Victoria
As well as playing the ditzy Raeleen in The Restless Years, Victoria Nicolls is embarking on a few career firsts.  Her first single, Midnight Rendezvous, has just been released.  She also wrote the flip-side song, Until Then, and is starring in a six-week season of Just Us And A Piano, co-starring David Collins and The Restless Years colleague Zoe Bertram, at a Sydney venue.  Nicolls has also signed a three-year contract as a lyricist for ATV-Northern Songs. 

Briefly…
Former The Restless Years star Sonny Blake (pictured) appears in this week’s episode of ABC’s Patrol Boat, playing the part of a heavily-tattooed father-to-be among the crew of HMAS Ambush.

Sydney electronics retail whiz Dick Smith is preparing to make a TV pilot with the Tasmanian Film Corporation.  The pilot, and possible series, will feature Smith and his family tracing the voyage of Captain James Cook along the eastern seaboard of Australia.

Simon Townsend has reportedly been given $1.5 million to produce his new daily children’s show for the 0-10 Network – an amount that has done a lot to raise the status of children’s TV production.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Regarding TV advertisements for insecticides (or anything in that group): must they be shown at meal times?  I don’t know how other viewers feel but I certainly object to an ad for the elimination of cockroaches to be shown right at 6.00pm.” H. Jones, QLD.

“Does anyone have this sort of trouble with their local commercial channel?  You’ll get used to watching your favourite show on a certain night, and then without warning it is presented on another night.  ABC has never failed to let us know when a new show is starting and what it replaces, and they never swap programs around.” P. Criddle, WA.

The following letters were part of a group received from a class of nine-to-ten year olds from Bass Hill public school in NSW, after they had completed a class on the mass media – particularly TV:

"Children’s TV isn’t very good.  I think Channels Ten, Nine and Seven should put on less advertisements.  If Channel Nine did, they would be the most watched channel in Sydney.”  J. Power.  (TV Times responds:  Nine would maintain it is the most-watched channel in Sydney, notwithstanding the ads.)

“I think you should take off Search For Tomorrow, Days Of Our Lives, Superman and The Young Doctors and put more shows on like Scooby Doo.”  J. Coleman

“In the holidays and on weekends, there are too many adult shows.  Most cartoons are put on in the morning when everyone sleeps in.  On Tuesdays, The Love Boat is on when children go to bed and we don’t get to watch it.” P. Barker

“The worst thing about TV is the advertisements.  For example, if you watch a show for an hour, nearly a quarter of it is advertisements.” L. Kayrooz

What’s On (July 28-August 3):
John Farnham, Julie McKenna and Jimmy Hannan present ABC’s Saturday Special – The Magic Of Col Porter.

Sunday Spectrum (ABC, Sunday afternoon) includes a special on Greek-born singer Demis Roussos in Australia.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) looks at one of Australia’s most famous symbols, the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  Host Peter Luck looks at the bridge’s origins, construction and controversial opening in 1932.

In Skyways (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), flight attendant Robyn’s (Judy Morris) attraction to her flatmate, Jacki (Deborah Coulls) leads to awkward results when she tries to seduce her.  Meanwhile, Peter Fanelli (Bill Stalker, pictured) becomes suspicious of a teenage girl in transit at Pacific International Airport.

One-Day Miller, the comedy spin-off from the Tickled Pink series, debuts on ABC on Friday night.  Starring Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Penne Hackforth-Jones, Lucky Grills and Willie Fennell.

Sunday night movies: Cat Ballou (HSV7), Five Days From Home (GTV9), The Offence (ATV0).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 28 July 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: July 14-20

Prisoner’s key women
TV Times talks to three of the stars of the popular new series Prisoner about their roles and what the show means to them.

Elspeth Ballantyne, who plays prison warder Meg Jackson, said that Prisoner has proven that women can handle a show on their own.  “Prisoner is a very good series.  It has a lot of dramatic qualities.  It moves quickly and has good storylines provided by some top writers. I have made some good friends while working on the series, such as Fiona Spence.  The cast members are a terrific group of women who are very professional.  I’m also amazed that there hasn’t been any bitchiness.”  But mother-of-two Ballantyne will not allow her children – Matthew, 9, and Tobias, 7 – to watch the program: “It’s an adult show and they are in bed when it’s on at 8.30pm.”

Patsy King, who plays prison governor Erica Davidson, has had a varied background in radio and television – including appearing in the children’s programs Play School and Adventure Island and in the long-running drama Bellbird.  King was also on tour around northern Australia in the play Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll:  “There were seven of us in the cast and we were chauffeur-driven up the Birdsville Track, playing at every little town we came to.  Then we had a couple of rest days, which we spent by a river infested with snakes and crocodiles, and spiders as big as your hand.  What a rest that turned out to be.”  Her new role in Prisoner is hard work, but hopes that the series goes on for a long time:  “I’m enjoying playing Erica because she is different and the character is really developing now.  I can see a lot more aspects to her.”

Fiona Spence, who plays prison warden Vera Bennett, had spent the last few years travelling and studying drama at the University Of New South Wales.  After a guest role in Glenview High and some TV commercials, the role of Ms Bennett is Spence’s first major role:  “I’m happy with Vera.  She’s very dramatic and in some ways like myself.  She is very unpopular with the public and the more they hate her, the better it is for me.  Then I know the character is working.”  Eventually, Spence hopes to go into theatre:  “I’ve never done professional stage work, only university plays.  Then I’d like to try films.  I’m not really fussy about what I do.  However, I can’t sing or dance, so I don’t want to be in a musical.  Drama is what I’m best at.”

700 million will see Miss Universe crowned
A worldwide audience of an estimated 700 million will see Miss Universe 1979 when it is held in Perth this week.  The two-hour ceremony, from Perth’s Entertainment Centre, has been years in the planning and will be beamed to 50 countries.  Viewers around the world will see the event live but Australians will see it on a delayed telecast as the ceremony is timed to start at 9.00am, Perth time, this Friday.

Current affairs for kids
Children are to get their own daily current affairs program along the lines of Willesee At Seven and This Day Tonight.  The new program, yet to be titled, is being produced for the 0-10 Network by former Willesee At Seven reporter and producer Simon Townsend (pictured) and has been approved by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal for screening with a ‘C’ classification.  The pilot for the program was produced by Townsend in 1977 on a grant from the Nine Network.  Nine decided not to proceed with the program and even though Nine funded the pilot, it remained Townsend’s property.  Only days after the pilot was given the ‘C’ classification, Townsend received a call from the 0-10 Network.  No screening date for the program has been set as yet.

Briefly…
Actor Peter Cousens has been announced as host of ABC’s new children’s environmental series Earthwatch.  Cousens will be joined by a forum of four to six children, and the program will include singing and dancing, news clips and a current affairs segment. 

The winner of last year’s series of The Inventors, David Little, will be a guest when the show returns this week for its tenth year.  Little’s invention, a solar tracker/heater, is now ready for world distribution and Little is now hoping for a financial return of several millions of dollars.

Viewers of The Young Doctors may see a slimmer Ada Simmonds (Gwen Plumb, pictured) next year.  The actress has accepted a challenge to lose 6 kg or give $1000 to the next Appealathon, due for early next year, on Perth’s STW9.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Whatever happened to the good old Saturday night B-grade horror movies?  They were bad but I still miss them.” G. Barnard, NSW.

“I couldn’t believe it when I read, in the Sunday papers, about all those people who rang up channels ATN7 and TCN9 about TEN10’s screening of Last Tango In Paris.  If these people bought some meat from their butcher and, upon coming home, found it was off, would they then go to their nearest chemist and complain about it?”  M. Powell, NSW.

“I am only 15 years old and even I know it is very rude to say people 100 years old.  Also, Mrs Doolan (Viewpoint, 16 June 1979), can’t you find something a little better to pick on than a commercial?  Which, by the way, I, and I am sure many others, find amusing.” D. Hassell, QLD.

What’s On (July 14-20):
ATV0 crosses to Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on Saturday afternoon for live coverage of Grand National Day, with races called by Clem Dimsey.

This Week Has Seven Days (HSV7, Saturday) features an interview with Peter Mayle, author of Where Did I Come From. 

ABC programs The Inventors and A Big Country both return with new episodes this week. 

In Prisoner (ATV0, Tuesday and Wednesday), Lyn (Kerry Armstrong, pictured) is released from Wentworth Detention Centre and is met by an unexpected welcoming party.  Joyce (Judy Nunn) makes Monica (Lesley Baker) an offer she finds hard to refuse.

On Friday night, GTV9 presents a delayed coverage of the 1979 Miss Universe pageant, held at Perth’s Entertainment Centre earlier that day.  The event is hosted by American personalities Helen O’Connell and Bob Barker.  Donny Osmond will be a guest performer, and judges include Carol Lynley, Lana Cantrell, LeVar Burton and Ita Buttrose.

ABC presents live coverage of the 1979 British Golf Championship from Royal Lytham, St Anne’s Lancashire, England.  Telecast starts on Friday night at 9.25pm and continues for six hours.

Sunday night movies: The Great Waldo Pepper (HSV7), The Dove (GTV9), Freebie And The Bean (ATV0).  ABC presents the first episode of Ride On Stranger, a four-part series set in Australia in the 1930s starring Liddy Clark, Noni Hazlehurst, Henri Szeps, Barbara Wyndon, Bunney Brooke and Michael Aitkens.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 14 July 1979.  ABC/ACP