1979: August 4-10

The Sullivans’ war secrets
Jovan, the Yugoslav name for John, is the name of the telemovie telling the story of the missing years of John Sullivan (Andrew McFarlane, pictured), the eldest son of The Sullivans.  McFarlane returned to reprise the role, describing it as “the most satisfying and stimulating role of my career.”  Jovan also features Frank Gallacher (Against The Wind), Olivia Hamnett (Rush), Carol Burns (Prisoner) and, in her first acting role, Vera Plevnik. The telemovie was written by Brian Wright, who wrote the Biggles and Hop Harrigan serials for radio and was a founding member of the management team of ATV0 in the mid-‘60s before becoming a scriptwriter for ABC and Crawford Productions.

96 team back in harness
The team behind the top-rating series Number 96 have re-united to make a new drama series for the 0-10 Network.  Producer Bill Harmon, script editor Johnny Whyte and writer-director David Sale are devising a new series, tentatively titled Arcade, to begin production later this year and to debut early in 1980.  Details of the new series are sketchy, though it is believed that it will be shown once or twice weekly.  Arcade will be produced at TEN10’s Sydney studios where The Steve Raymond Show was produced before it was axed last week.  Harmon said the new show will not be like Number 96:  “It’s not 96 set in a shopping centre.  At this stage, with only four scripts in hand, it’s too early to tell you what it will be like.  All we can say is what it will not be like.”  Casting for the new series is to commence in the next month.

Cop Shop shock: Paula’s ‘recaught’
Actress Paula Duncan (pictured) has decided not to drop out of the popular series Cop Shop.  Several weeks ago, Duncan informed producers that ill-health would force her to leave the show.  However, a successful operation, followed by a Queensland holiday, has given Duncan a clean bill of health. 

Nine plans new series for kids
The Nine Network has commissioned an action/drama pilot for a children’s TV series from the Reg Grundy Organisation.  The new series, proposed for the ‘C’-rated 4.00 to 5.00pm timeslot, will be produced by Roger Mirams, a veteran of many children’s productions including The Terrible Ten, The Magic Boomerang, Animal Doctor and The Lost Islands.

Busy time for Paradise people
Some of TV’s most familiar actors and actresses are taking part in what could be the first drama series to be based on the Gold Coast.  A pilot for a new series, Paradise Village, is being produced by McCabe-Paradine Productions and BTQ7 Brisbane, with financial assistance from the Queensland Film Corporation.  The pilot stars Gerard Kennedy (Division 4), Syd Heylen (Sunnyside Up), Lynette Curran (Bellbird), Joan Bruce (Certain Women), Dennis Grosvenor (Chopper Squad), Anne Haddy (Play School, Prisoner) and Bill Kerr.  Other names cast in the pilot include Suzy Gashler, Stephen O’Rourke, Paul Chubb, Olga Tamara and Christine Broadway.

How Bunney stays together going to bits
Barely three years ago, Bunney Brooke (pictured) was on TV screens several nights a week as the much-loved Flo Patterson in Number 96.  Since the show wound up late in 1977, Brooke has been keeping a much lower profile on screen, playing smaller bit parts in dramas including The Young Doctors, Kirby’s Company, children’s series Wayzgoose and telemovie Good Thing Going.  Her latest role is as Granny Jones in ABC’s Ride On Stranger.  “I love doing these character parts.  They’re a challenge and they pay the rent,” she says.  Brooke has also just finished the outline for a TV comedy series which, after a brief rundown, suggests that there could be parts for herself and former Number 96 colleague Pat McDonald.

Briefly…
Peter Couchman is suddenly going to be seen a lot more on Melbourne’s TV screens.  From this week, ATV0’s late-night program Peter Couchman Tonight extends to early evenings with Peter Couchman’s Melbourne.  The new program comes after some other ill-fated attempts to fill the 7.00pm timeslot since the demise of Blankety Blanks.

Denise Drysdale is about to wed actor Chris Milne, and for the former ‘60s go-go dancer and Ernie Sigley Show co-host, her new married life will be a lot quieter with the pair settling in a country property outside of Melbourne.  “From now on I will be working a lot less.  I don’t want to earn a fortune – just enough to pay the bills.”

TV Times’ Eric Scott recently spent a day on location at the mock version of Singapore’s Changi prison, constructed in Melbourne by Crawford Productions for an upcoming storyline in The Sullivans.  Freezing in the middle of a Melbourne winter, wearing nothing but a wet sarong and having brown make-up dabbed on with a cold, wet sponge, Scott wonders why anyone would want to be an actor.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Surely the skipper of the warship in the series Patrol Boat should be wearing a naval cap, and not that awful American baseball cap?”  M. Tringham, NSW.

“As I once wrote a letter to you complaining about Cop Shop not being what it should be, I thought it only fair to express my new reaction to this series.  I am happy to say that it has improved beyond all I ever expected of it, and has now become one of our favourite programs.” D. Dickey, NSW.

“Congratulations to the complete staff and printers on a fine example of an Australia publication – TV Times on its 21st birthday (TV Times, 7 July 1979).  May the same standards apply to all future issues.  I find the features included most absorbing and palatable and the simplicity of program layout most rewarding.” N. Gray, NSW.

What’s On (August 4-10):
Just The Way We Are, featuring The Four Kinsmen, is this week’s Saturday Special on ABC.

On Sunday afternoon ABC presents live coverage of Round 6 of the Australian Sports Sedans Championship, from Calder Raceway.  Geelong and Collingwood are this week’s teams in the Sunday afternoon Commodore Cup on HSV7, live from St Kilda Football Ground, and ATV0 presents live coverage of VFA Football.

On Monday, ATV0 debuts Peter Couchman’s Melbourne, an extension of the late-night Peter Couchman Tonight.  The new 7.00pm program includes special reports and contributions from Derryn Hinch, Marie van Maaren, Tony Porter and Bob Maumill.

In Skyways (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), MacFarlane (Tony Bonner) leaves his assistant, Louise (Tina Bursill) in charge of the airport while he attends to a domestic problem.  Her dismissal of a drunken baggage handler sparks off a strike.

Sunday night movies: Westworld (HSV7), Jovan – The John Sullivan Story (GTV9), Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (ATV0).  ABC presents a two-hour BBC special, Einstein’s Universe, presented by Peter Ustinov.  The documentary coincides with the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s birth.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 4 August 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: June 30-July 6

Countdown – 200 not out!
In less than five years, Countdown has progressed from a hesitant, experimental program to a powerful force in the pop industry.  The program claims a weekly audience of over four million and superstars are scrambling for an invitation to appear.  And, even though the show’s host and talent co-ordinator Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum (pictured) is often mumbling on camera, he is an industry legend.  The ‘Molly’ nickname originated from a regular column that Meldrum wrote for Go-Set magazine that was referred to by Melbourne radio identity Stan Rofe as “Molly’s Piece,” as it could be a bit bitchy.  The ‘Molly’ reference was back again when pop star John Paul Young introduced the host as “boring Molly Meldrum” in the third episode of the show.  The name has stuck ever since.  Producer Michael Shrimpton recalls the development of the show: “When we started we had just five film clips from overseas and we just used them over and over, just to add overseas acts to the show.  Now we get offers from all over the world for first-release material, and whenever stars visit they want to appear on Countdown.  There is no doubt about the respect the show has.”  Shrimpton also credits Countdown as breaking Eurovision Song Contest winners ABBA into the Australian market: “ABBA were nothing in this country, but Countdown picked them up and look what happened.  An album track, Mamma Mia, was released as a single just for Australia.”  Local bands such as AC/DC, Skyhooks, Hush, Sherbet, Dragon and The Angels can also credit Countdown for their big breaks which have led to Australian and international success.  But despite the countless acts that have appeared on the show over its first 200 episodes, its biggest guest star was one Prince Charles – to which Molly casually recalled a recent trip to London: “I saw your Mum in an open carriage in the Mall.”  The Prince frostily replied, “do you mean Her Majesty The Queen?”

Gunston in union row
Norman Gunston is in trouble with Australian journalists following a press conference in Sydney for visiting American evangelist Dr Billy Graham.  In a letter to Actors’ Equity from Barry Porter, president of the NSW branch of the Australian Journalists Association, complaints were made of interference of '”non-AJA members” at the press conference.  Although Gunston is not specifically mentioned in the letter, it is known by Actors’ Equity that he is a target of complaints from the AJA.  John Eastway, producer of The Norman Gunston Show, said that Gunston (played by Garry McDonald) never sought to dominate press conferences: “He usually waits until there is a gap in the questions.  At the Billy Graham press conference, he put his questions 20 minutes after the conference had begun – and when he had finished, the proceedings continued on as before.  I think the whole thing is a joke.” 

So you want to be a …
The Young Doctors star Joe Hasham (pictured) has been trying out a number of jobs in different fields, but it’s not because he is down on his luck as an actor.  Instead, the job-hopping is all in the name of entertainment as Hasham introduces viewers to a different occupation each month in a segment on The Steve Raymond Show.  As well as introducing the segment he also demonstrates what the job entails.  Previous segments have seen Hasham as a policeman, garbage collector, barman, brewery worker and a shearer.  Apart from his acting interests Hasham would like to move into the area of producing programs such as telemovies: “But, after my family, acting still comes first at the moment.”

Briefly…
ABC presenter Peter Wherrett and newsreader James Dibble are two of the guests to appear on Mr Squiggle’s Birthday Party special to air this week.  The two-hour special commemorates Mr Squiggle’s 20th year on television.

Phones ran hot at ABC recently following a newspaper report that Countdown was expanding to a daily two-hour format as well as the usual Sunday episode.  The truth is that Countdown will continue in its present format.

A documentary which claims to reveal the identity and whereabouts of some of the world’s most wanted war criminals will probably be screened by the Seven Network in August.  The documentary, The Hunter And The Hunted, was made by Sydney film-makers John Oakley and Bill Bemister and was partially financed by Seven.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
”I appreciate the efficiency with which Mastermind is organised but I find it too rigid and unfriendly.  Could we have the occasional laugh or just a smile?”" P. Bartok, NSW.

“It was with pleasure and relief I read in TV Times (5 May 1979) of the extended help coming from the Australian Centre for Visual Television (ACVT) to help and benefit the deaf in understanding and enjoying TV.  It will certainly help the deaf feel TV is for them too.” M. King, NSW.

“It amazes me why, on commercial stations, some advertisements aim at degrading children who live in the city.  We all know that hens lay eggs and cows give milk.  Why do some advertising agencies persist in making city children look stupid by saying milk comes from a bottle and eggs come from cartons?” J. Levi, SA.

What’s On (June 30-July 6):
Barry Crocker presents ABC’s first Saturday Special program with a comedy and variety show featuring Denise Drysdale, Peter Russell-Clarke, Peter Brock and Allison Durbin.

On the afternoon before Countdown presents its 200th episode, ABC’s Sunday Spectrum takes a special look at a week in the life of Countdown’s production unit – with sequences shot in discos, record companies, studios and concerts, as well as glimpses of the producers at work and home.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) recalls the careers of Jack Davey and Bob Dyer (pictured), who both dominated Australia’s radio airwaves.  Their famous catchphrases such as ’Hi Ho Everybody!’ and ‘Happy Lathering Customers’ became the most familiar words on radio.

Starting 11.00pm Wednesday night, GTV9 presents live coverage of Wimbledon 1979.

HSV7’s Friday afternoon children’s program Stax looks at the Jewish religion and talks with 13-year-old Gerard, who has just celebrated his bar mitzvah and is learning Hebrew.

Sunday night movies: Twilight’s Last Gleaming (HSV7), Cabaret (GTV9), The Outlaw Josey Wales (ATV0).  ABC presents the BBC production of Shakespeare’s Richard II, the first of the British broadcaster’s series of 37 Shakespeare plays to be produced and screened over the next six years.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 30 June 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: June 9-15

Wishing on a star
TV Times asked six TV stars to nominate the secret role they’d most love to play.  Victoria Nicolls (The Restless Years) said she would love to do musical comedy roles.  “And if they were making The Ann Miller Story, I’d be desperate to play her.”  Michael Beecher (The Young Doctors) nominated the role of King Lear: “but unfortunately I don’t look old enough yet.”  Former Prisoner actress Carol Burns has a yearning to play Sally Bowles, the lead in Cabaret.  Bert Newton (pictured) sees Napoleon Bonaparte as his ideal fantasy role.  “Napoleon seems to me to have been a great personality and even today there is a great mystery about it.”  The Norman Gunston Show’s Pamela Gibbons would love to play a Marlene Dietrich-style role: “I’ve always admired Marlene Dietrich’s quality and charisma.  She was courageous in her era, introducing the trans-sexual look, which she virtually created in The Blue Angel.”  And Michael Caton, from The Sullivans, would like to play Fagin from the musical Oliver: “Fagin was an opportunist – a great character to play!”

Second century for Luck
The Seven Network has commissioned a further seven episodes of the documentary series This Fabulous Century.  This now brings the show’s tally to 37 episodes, starting with the 24 that were originally commissioned by Seven and six that were added later.  Producer David Salter said there will be no problem in filling the additional episodes on order: “There are some episodes we’d done some work on, then put aside in favour of other subjects.  We can move on to developing this material again.”  Also since the series had first gone to air, people had contacted the production company, Peter Luck Productions, offering more film footage from private collections.  Some of this ‘new’ footage has also been added to the national film archive.

Our China series big hit overseas
This week Australian TV networks will be vying to buy The Human Face Of China, the Film Australia documentary series acclaimed by buyers from 23 international territories at the MIPTV market in Cannes in April.  The series of five half-hour programs was researched and filmed in China over five months last year – the first time a non-socialist western film crew was allowed to film in China since 1949.  The program has already been picked up by US broadcaster WNET as well as broadcasters in Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan and Denmark.  There are still negotiations taking place with broadcasters in the United Kingdom, Finland, Israel, French Canada, Sweden, Norway, South Korea, Japan, Greece, Italy and France.

Variety’s the spice of Kathy’s life
I’m Looking At The World Through Rose-Coloured Glasses was the first song Kathy Lloyd (pictured) sang after her son was abducted.  She had to – it was already scheduled for her next Sound Of Music TV show.  After she was awarded custody of her son, Perry, her former husband took the boy to the US without her knowledge or consent.  That was eleven years ago and Lloyd hasn’t seen her son since.  Work offers for the singer dried up after news of the divorce and abduction was splashed across the media – though Lloyd is making a TV comeback with a role in the ABC series TV Follies, though it wasn’t without its own problems.  She was bruised when she fell two metres off the set of the show and landed on her back.  She “took five,” had a drink of water and went back to work.  The show must go on, she says, whether it’s after a fall or a personal tragedy.

Briefly…
Children will have the chance to become “earth watchers” when a new ABC series, Earthwatch, goes to air later this year.  The series of 26 half-hour episodes aims to educate on the natural and man-made environments and will incorporate a club which viewers will be able to join.

Debbie Hancock, a cast member of Young Talent Time, was runner-up in the recent Victorian Miss Teenage Quest for 1979 – raising more than $7000 for the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne.

The Survivors, a four-part children’s series telling the story of a group of teenagers who become lost while on a camping expedition, has been produced by ABC in Tasmania.  The series debuts this week in Tasmania and will air in other States later in the year.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Why must SAS10 Adelaide insist on trying to shove Steve Raymond’s show down our throats?  They deliberately swapped their two very good “soaps,” The Young And The Restless and Another World with Raymond so that Another World, and NWS9’s Days Of Our Lives are in competition with each other.” L. McKenzie, SA.

“Sometimes I am horrified when I hear people say ABC is the worst channel on TV.  An informative, musical, scientific, action-packed, dramatic or professional line-up of night and pre-evening screening is shown every night.  Along with a comprehensive coverage of sport with no advertising, cheap publicity, false images or plastic imitations, it makes me shake my head in bewilderment at the automatic criticising of this down-to-earth station.” W. Stevens, SA.

“Are we so short of things to laugh at that we have to be fed Norman Gunston’s interview with Lee Marvin, prior to the latter entering a court of law.  He reminds me of the boy who passed wind in class and somebody laughed, thus realising an ambition to become a comedian.” L. Barton, QLD.

What’s On (June 9-15):
This Week Has Seven Days (HSV7, Saturday) looks at ten-pin bowling – how to do it and also to see how a bowling alley works.

This week’s TV Follies (ABC, Saturday) tells the passions and human drama of life behind the scenes in Hollywood in the remake of Death At Copacabana.  Starring Kathy Lloyd and Normie Rowe.

On Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday, ATV0 presents coverage of the 1979 Prudential Cup one-day cricket between Australia and England, live from Lords, England.   Richie Benaud heads the commentary team, with local commentary from Phil Gibbs, Bob Simpson and Tony Greig.  The Prudential Cup continues on Wednesday night with Australia versus Pakistan.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) looks at the media with a collection of film clips and interviews with the stars of radio and television.

On The Paul Hogan Show (GTV9, Wednesday) the tax man pays Hoges a visit, with hilarious results when Hoges unveils his latest deduction.  Hoges also offers his views about dentists, and the job of a receptionist will never seem the same.

ABC presents the series debut of In The Wild With Harry Butler, this week looking at South Australia as Butler shows the many moods of the desert.

Sunday night movies: Love And Pain And The Whole Damn Thing (HSV7), A Good Thing Going (GTV9), You Only Live Twice (ATV0).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 9 June 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: February 17-23

Good medicine!
The Seven Network's new comedy series Doctors Down Under promises that the only treatment viewers will get from St Barnabas Hospital over the next three months will be a dose of laughs from Doctors Waring (Robin Nedwell) and Stuart-Clark (Geoffrey Davies).  The two actors decided to adapt the long-running English comedy series to an Australian version after touring the country in 1977 with the stage production Doctors In Love.  Joining the medicos for the Australian series will be Frank Wilson, former host of New Faces and actor in numerous Crawford dramas, and Sydney actor John Derum.  Doctors Down Under is already screening in Sydney and Melbourne and debuts soon in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Nationwide is set to roll
ABC's new current affairs program Nationwide premieres this week.  "Nationwide will meet the growing demand from a substantial section of the public for a quality current affairs program that will get stuck into its topics," says executive producer John Penlington.  The program will run for 40 minutes each night, with the first half containing national stories and the second segment compiled in each state capital to cover local issues.

Countdown back with a bang!
Countdown returns for 1979 this week with French pop star Plastic Bertrand appearing as guest compere.  The singer was a Countdown "discovery" last year and negotiations to have him appear had been going on for some time.  Also a highlight for Countdown this year will be a two-hour celebration for the show's 200th episode later in the year.  Talent co-ordinator Ian 'Molly' Meldrum and producer Grant Rule will be heading overseas in April to line up international acts for the special show which is expected to include a three-way link-up between studios in London, Los Angeles and Melbourne.

This fabulous century!
A one million dollar documentary series, This Fabulous Century, will give Australians a graphic record of Australia's history from Federation to the present day.  The series of 30 episodes, hosted by journalist Peter Luck (pictured) and produced by Hanna Barbera for the Seven Network, begins this week in Sydney and Brisbane and later in other states.  Luck said that until he started work on the series two years ago, he had no interest in Australian history at all:  "As a current affairs reporter I had an interest and knowledge of contemporary history but in Australia, all we ever learn of the history of this country is about bushrangers and convicts.  But so much has happened this century, and I found it interesting."   Researching archival footage for the series took over a year and a further six months was taken in arranging interviews and securing access to various locations for filming.  With a $1 million budget, This Fabulous Century is the most extensive, and most expensive, documentary series produced in Australia to date.

Prisoners of love
The budding romance in the new series Prisoner between inmate Karen Travers (Peita Toppano) and prison doctor Greg Miller (Barry Quin) sounds like classic soap opera fare, but pales in comparison to the real-life affair between the two actors (pictured).  The English Quin had discovered Toppano on a visit to Australia and decided to emigrate but had to deal with immigration, Actors Equity and the frustration of an Australian postal strike before he could stay in Australia.  Through Toppano's efforts Quin landed the Prisoner role which meant he could stay in Australia.  The real-life couple will be married in April, while the 0-10 Network is so pleased with the first thirteen episodes of the new series that it has ordered a further 29 even before the series makes its on-air debut.

Briefly...
ABC's new afternoon children's show ARVO isn't just short for "afternoon" but actually stands for Alexander's Recycled Visual Offerings, Alexander being the bunyip who will co-host the program.

ATV0 is working to revamp the magazine segment of its Sunday night news bulletin.  Former radio and TV presenter Paul Jennings, who joined ATV0 as a weather man, is now in charge of the fifteen-minute segment which he hopes to revamp from pre-packaged films to more topical segments and interviews.

Melbourne-born opera singer Jon Weaving and his French wife Monique Brynnel will be the stars of this year's first Music To The People concert to be staged at the Myer Music Bowl.  The second half of the concert will be televised live through HSV7.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I like live shows, in preference to movies, and when TEN10 put on The Steve Raymond Show, I was most delighted.  Oh boy, was I in for a complete let down.  Steve Raymond is a very, very poor imitation of Mike Walsh, or any other compere." J. Long, NSW.

"I'm no sports fan, but I'd like to congratulate the TV channels for their excellent sports coverages, which many people do enjoy, particularly elderly or incapacitiated persons, who are unable to attend these events." B. Reynolds, VIC.

"Thank heavens the World Series Cricket cricketers are leaving for the West Indies soon.  The Nine Network once had some pretty good programs.  But one has become bored with the same players and the same ads all the time.  Good luck to the well-paid players but can't they just take their circus away from the air-waves and give us a respite from what used to be a dignified game?  I think the commercial over-kill of a once grand game could really slaughter it." F. Howard, NSW.

"Why, oh why, do ABC newsreaders - on both TV and radio - say "following" when they usually mean "after"?  Once I even heard a news item about a man who died "following" a funeral - which gave the impression he was in the cortege at the time." J. Jessup, NSW.

What's On (February 17-23):
On Saturday afternoon, ABC presents live coverage of the 1979 Victorian Open Golf Championship from Kingston Heath Golf Course, while at the same time, HSV7 presents live coverage from the World Of Sport Expo being held at the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings with special guests including Ron Barassi, Mike Willesee, Sir William McMahon, George Mallaby, Michael Pate and Jon English.

ATV0's weekday morning line-up gets a revamp with the launch of magazine program Everyday, hosted by Roy Hampson and Annette Allison (pictured).

Monday night sees the debut of ABC's Nationwide current affairs program, while ATV0 starts a re-run, continuing over six nights, of the hit US mini-series Roots in the lead-up to the sequel mini-series, Roots: The Next Generations, to air later in the year.  Later in the evening, HSV7 starts a repeat screening of the former ABC comedy series Alvin Purple.

GTV9's The Don Lane Show returns for another year with the first show highlighted by a satellite interview with Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood.  The first show will also include a direct coverage of a stunt in the GTV9 carpark performed by American stunt star Evel Knievel.  ATV0's Peter Couchman Tonight also returns for another year, screening five nights a week.

Sunday night movies are The Tamarind Seed (HSV7) and Vegas (GTV9).  ATV0 screens the UNICEF Concert: A Gift Of Song, held at the UN General Assembly in New York in January as the launch event for International Year Of The Child.  Hosted by David Frost with Henry Fonda, Gilda Radner and Henry Winkler, the concert includes performances by the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton-John, ABBA, John Denver, Earth Wind And Fire, Andy Gibb, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson.  ATV0 then follows up the concert with the movie comedy What's Up Doc?

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 17 February 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: January 20-26

That was the year that was!
For Mike Walsh (pictured), the king of daytime TV, 1978 earned him an even greater following and more accolades including a Gold Sammy for best male TV personality and the award for best light entertainment series. Highlights for The Mike Walsh Show during the year included guest appearances by Peter Ustinov, Derek Nimmo and English comedian Jimmy Edwards. "Looking back, 1978 was a most successful year for us and we will have an even bigger and better line-up this year, especially on the international scene."

Young Doctors on the go!
Two of the stars of the Nine Network's The Young Doctors are set to leave the popular series with one of them rumoured to be signed up for the Seven Network's new series Skyways. Sydney-based Bartholomew John (pictured), who plays Dr Chris Piper, is about to depart the series for a visit to the US before settling in Melbourne but is not about to confirm his future plans: "All I can say is that I have a star role in a new series and that I am going to live in Melbourne." Meanwhile, fellow The Young Doctors star Tony Alvarez is set to finish in the series next month with plans to embark on a music career. And another The Young Doctors star, Joanne Samuel, who was written out of the series late last year, is also heading to Skyways which is due to begin production in March.

Blockbuster movies in TV line-up
TV Times columnist Noel Risby previews some of the big movie titles headed for TV in the new year. The Nine Network is set to feature the Australian movie Caddie, starring Helen Morse, Jack Thompson and Jacki Weaver, the 1970 classic Love Story and other titles including The French Connection, The Three Musketeers, Harold And Maude and Harry And Tonto. Some of the movies coming up on Seven will be Australian titles Petersen and Storm Boy (pictured) and imported titles Great Expectations, Mandingo and the 1977 remake of King Kong. The 0-10 Network promises the Academy Award winning Dog Day Afternoon, action-packed titles Mr Majestyk and Dirty Harry, musical Mame and controversial - though most likely to be heavily edited - titles Last Tango In Paris and Deliverance. The network also promises Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask.

End of the news for Eric
The tears flowed at the studios of GTV9 as veteran newsreader Eric Pearce (pictured) made his final farewell from the newsroom. It was actually the second time Pearce has retired from reading news - the first was in 1972 but he was then lured back to Nine in 1976 in an attempt to stop viewers switching over to rival Seven National News with Brian Naylor who, ironically, has now been signed up to replace Pearce at Nine. Naylor admitted being nervous at starting afresh at Nine after many years at Seven but has been having regular off-air runs in the five months since he left Seven National News: "I think when we settle in, we will have a very strong team." Pearce, 74, is now preparing for a somewhat less strenuous role as director of community affairs for the channel.

Briefly...
An ATV0 news team had a lucky escape when a light plane in which they were travelling crash-landed. Reporter Malcolm Gray, cameraman Clive Banfield and the pilot of the chartered plane were shaken but not injured and the news story they were working on still managed to get to air that night.

Philip Brady is said to be staying at GTV9 despite rumours of him accepting a very generous offer to join ATV0's Peter Couchman Tonight.

Former The Young Doctors star Cornelia Frances has been snapped up for a guest role in the Seven Network's Cop Shop.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"After watching Steve Raymond's show for a few weeks, I have found it the most informative, entertaining show on Australian TV. His interviews are extremely interesting and he does not have the same old guests and panels as on The Mike Walsh Show week after week." T. Barnett, NSW.

"Why did they stop making Chopper Squad? My family and friends thoroughly enjoyed the series, and to me it showed a great deal of realism." A. Gosen, QLD.

"The Bill Peach special about China (ABC) is just the sort of TV program the communists love to see produced about a communist country. It presents the Chinese people as one big happy family. The multitude of refugees from China and South Vietnam who have risked their lives to escape communist tyranny are eloquent witnesses to what conditions are really like in communist countries. Let us have TV programs that tell the whole truth about communist nations." W. Maguire, QLD.

What's On (January 20-26):
More cricket during the week with the Sheffield Shield and the 3rd One-Day International on ABC and World Series Cricket on GTV9.

On Sunday afternoon, ATV0 presents a three-hour live broadcast from Torquay Beach hosted by Ray Burgess. Included in the telecast is coverage of surfing events and the final of the Miss Victorian Beach Girl Quest.

ATV0's The Restless Years is back for the new year, screening Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 7.30pm.

Later on Wednesday night, HSV7 presents an Australian TV adaptation of the play Kid Stakes. Set in 1937, it's the first story in the Ray Lawler trilogy. The second story, Other Times set in 1945, appears on Friday night. The third play, Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll, will appear next week.

Friday (26 January) is Australia Day but, like the previous year, there isn't much Australian content to be found on TV. In mid-morning, ATV0 screens the 1954 black and white movie King Of The Coral Sea, starring Rod Taylor, Chips Rafferty and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, followed by re-runs of 1960s children's series Barrier Reef and The Rovers. The only Australian programming found on the commercial channels in the afternoon is Skippy The Bush Kangaroo on GTV9 and a 1935 movie, Heritage, on ATV0. Even ABC isn't making any concerted effort for Australia's national day apart from the ten-minute Australia Day message from the Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen followed by a re-run episode of the documentary series Wild Australia.

Sunday night movies are repeats of All The Fine Young Cannibals (HSV7) and Battle Of Neretva (ATV0). GTV9 has World Series Cricket through to 10.30pm while ABC presents the first of a six-part New Zealand historical drama, The Governor, which tells the story of former South Australia governor Sir George Grey who became an influential figure in the European settlement of New Zealand in the nineteenth century.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 20 January 1979. ABC/ACP

1979: January 6-12

TV's Sportsman of the Year
ABC's annual Sportsman Of The Year awards night appears this week. ABC sporting commentator Norman May has nominated swimming champion Tracey Wickham and speedboat driver Ken Warby as outstanding achievers during the year 1978. May has also acknowledged Edwina Kennedy (golf), Jim Lynch (speed skating) and Mick Cronin (rugby league) as other possible contenders. The Sportsman Of The Year awards were started by ABC in 1951 and previous winners have included Marjorie Jackson (1952), Herb Elliott (1958, 1960), Richie Benaud (1961), Dawn Fraser (1962, 1964), Lionel Rose (1968) and Bart Cummings (1975).

All change at Channel 0
It appears almost certain that Melbourne channel ATV0 is set to change to ATV10 by the end of 1979. To facilitate the change, Gippsland station GLV10, based in Traralgon, will need to move to the Channel 8 frequency to free up the Channel 10 position for ATV. A spokesman for the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs said in Canberra that all parties involved in the changeover had agreed and it was now a matter of technical planning to bring the change to fruition. The Minister's spokesman said there was no request for TVQ0 Brisbane for a similar changeover, meaning that they will be the only member of the 0-10 Network to be on the Channel 0 frequency after the Melbourne changeover.

'Old Lace' gives star a new face
Actor John Stanton, formerly of Homicide and The Box, is barely recognisable in his new role as a crazed murderer (pictured) in the Melbourne Theatre Company's new production of the comedy classic Arsenic And Old Lace. Stanton, his wife Jill Forster and daughter Polly have just returned to Melbourne after a lengthy stay in Sydney due to his recent stage commitments and Forster's recently-completed role in The Restless Years.

Briefly...
Despite mounting pressure for a sequel to 1978's popular Against The Wind, the show's production company has denied any possibility for a follow up series.

Actor Ken James is believed to have been approached for a role in the new Seven Network drama Skyways, but is apparently only keen to take on the role if it departs from his former TV role as Tony Wild, the bumbling actor in The Box.

English-born actor Sean Myers is back in Australia for guest roles in The Sullivans and Cop Shop. The return marks a comeback for the actor who suffered a near-fatal road accident when on a visit to the UK in 1972 which left him in a coma for five weeks with a lengthy recovery afterwards.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"It is about time we got another commercial TV station in Canberra. All we get on CTC7 is sport, nearly seven days a week. Don't we get a choice of what we want, rather than what the station wants us to see?" Name and address supplied, ACT.

"Australia's leading actress, Lorraine Bayly, (pictured) gets $1000 a week (TV Times, 2 December 1978) but to me, as the Yanks say, that's just peanuts. She burns up more than energy when she acts, and in The Sullivans she gives us a bit of the heart and soul of our past. I, for one, am very grateful for her." M. Allen, SA.

"It is quite obvious that the summer non-ratings period is upon us, the benighted victims of Mr McNair's inventiveness. One only has to read the program guide to see that in most cases the discerning programmers employed by the TV stations have all gone on holidays. There is one exception. Praise God that in this three-month desert of TV entertainment we have an oasis in the form of ABC!" H. Smith, NSW.

"I would like to complain about the time - 10.45pm - that the Dennis Lillee special, Twenty Five Steps, was put on by CBN8 (Orange) and MTN9 (Griffith). Children like to watch shows like that, especially if they are interested in sport, but when they have to get up early it is just impossible for them to stay up that late." K. Riley, NSW.

What's On (January 6-12):
ABC has live coverage of the cricket Fourth Test from Sydney's SCG from Saturday through to Thursday (with a day's rest on Monday). GTV9's World Series Cricket continues from Melbourne's VFL Park, with West Indies v The World on Monday and Tuesday, and West Indies v Australia on Friday.

HSV7's marathon of tennis coverage comes to an end with the Australian Hardcourt Championships from Hobart on Saturday and Sunday.

The 0-10 Network's afternoon variety show The Steve Raymond Show returns for a new year, hoping to gain some viewers in the off-season before it's main opponent, The Mike Walsh Show, returns on Nine.

ATV0's evening line-up takes an interesting turn with movies scheduled each weeknight at 7.30pm - The Wackiest Ship In The Army, Marriage On The Rocks, The Sound And The Fury, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and Up Periscope.

Sunday night movies, all repeats, are All The Brothers Were Valiant (HSV7), How To Steal A Million (GTV9) and Rampage (ATV0). Meanwhile, ABC presents the debut of the British series All Creatures Great And Small.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 6 January 1979. ABC/ACP

1978: October 28-November 3

Sammys Golden Night
It was a Who's Who of Australian Showbusiness when 800 stars, producers and writers gathered at Sydney's Seymour Centre on 11 October for the third annual Sammy Awards.  The awards, held in partnership between TV Times, the Variety Club of Australia charity and the Seven Network, honour the Australian film and television industries.  The event is also a major fund-raising effort for Variety which has collected over $30,000 over the last three years.

1978 Sammy Awards TV category winners: Gold (male): Mike Walsh Gold (female): June Salter Chips Rafferty Memorial Award: Ken G Hall Best Actor in a Single TV Performance: Tony Bonner (End Of Summer) Best Actress in a Single TV Performance: Davina Whitehouse (The Night Nurse) Best Actor in a TV Series: George Mallaby (Cop Shop) Best Actress in a TV Series: Lorraine Bayly (The Sullivans) Best Variety Performer: Julie Anthony Best Variety Program: Julie Anthony's First Special Best Comedy Program: The Norman Gunston Show Best Drama Series: The Sullivans Best TV Play: End Of Summer Best News Coverage: Brisbane shoot-out (QTQ9) Best Documentary: A Big Country Best Current Affairs Program: Four Corners 'Utah' report Best Children's Series: Wombat (BTQ7) Best Sports Coverage: Australian Open Golf 1977 Best Light Entertainment Program: The Mike Walsh Show Best Writer TV Series: Tony Morphett (The Sullivans) Best Writer TV Play: Cliff Green (End Of Summer)

News team under fire in Vietnam
An ABC news team came under fire on the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, during a four-week news-gathering visit to Vietnam.  ABC's Singapore correspondent Tony Joyce, sound recordist Steven de Vroom and cameraman David Westray, were filming material for a documentary, Vietnam Today, to screen nationally on ABC later in the year.  "There was quite a bit of sniper fire and shelling so we were creeping and crawling, close to the ground.  We were warned if the Cambodians saw us they would assume we were Russian military advisors.  Then they would really let loose.  Luckily they didn't," Joyce told TV Times.  The Vietnam visit is only the second by Australian newsmen since the war ended in 1975.  A team from the 0-10 Network had been there earlier this year.

Polly put the kettle on for Kerry
Before Against The Wind and the role of convict woman Polly came along, actress Kerry McGuire (pictured) had almost despaired that her big acting break would ever happen.  The 32-year-old actress, who had studied at NIDA and scored some roles in TV series such as ABC's Dynasty and the Seven Network's Catwalk and stage productions including Hedda Gabler and Antony And Cleopatra, was still waiting for a big break but feels now with Against The Wind she is able to move into the next stage of her acting career: "I think I'm just beginning to break into my age group.  I've been a mature style of actress competing with some very good older women.  Now I'm growing into the era that should be mine..."

Briefly:
Marcia Hines is to present another series of six shows for ABC in the new year, but still has commitments in Europe to fulfil before she can start work on the series.

Former Homicide cop Don Barker is back in Melbourne for a guest role in the new 0-10 Network series Prisoner, now in production.

Former Australian Test skipper Bobby Simpson is to be chief commentator for the Gillette Cup series of cricket matches to be telecast on the 0-10 Network over the next three months. 

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"Why, oh why has TEN10 decided to put The Steve Raymond Show on at 1.30 of all times?  Don't they realise that a very popular show is on the other channel at the same time.  Steve Raymond will put on a fantastic show, but after watching Days Of Our Lives for the past twelve years, I think TEN10 could have found any other time to put the show on." E. Fuller, NSW.

"Although I am enjoying Against The Wind (pictured), I find it difficult to believe that after a hard life for 10 years that people would not age at all.  It is a pity that the continuity was not up to the excellent standard of the rest of the series so far." J. Higson, NSW.

"I really enjoyed the article in TV Times about viewers who ring in to TV stations.  However, I hope they got a better reception than I did on the two occasions I phoned TV stations here in Sydney.  When I called ATN7 to congratulate them on their camera-work in the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo at Bathurst, the switchboard operator was amazed that a woman would even watch motor racing, let alone comment on the camera-work.  Then I called ABC to say how much I was enjoying Sailor, but the girl on the switchboard  didn't go a bundle on my taste in TV programs either.  I'll never ring in again, that's for sure." M. Bennett, NSW.

What's On (October 28-November 3):
On Saturday, ATV0 presents the Gillette Cup cricket, live from the Gabba in Brisbane, for the match between Queensland and South Australia.  On Sunday, the Gillette Cup moves to the Sydney Cricket Ground for the match between New South Wales and Victoria.

Denise Drysdale (pictured) is Ernie Sigley's special guest on HSV7's Penthouse '78.

On Monday night's A Big Country on ABC, reporter Kenyon Castle follows jazz musicians Don Burrows and George Golla on their tour through the mining areas of the north west.  The program features aboriginal performers David Gulpilil and David Blanasi.

Vince Lovegrove presents a two-hour special on HSV7, Australian Music To The World, paying tribute to the Australian artists who have achieved international acclaim.  Lovegrove and his film crew travelled the world to catch up with Australians including the Bee Gees, the Little River Band, Olivia Newton-John, Peter Allen and Sherbet.

The Naked Vicar Show and The Best Of Norman Gunston appear on HSV7 on Wednesday night, while on GTV9 there's a one-hour special An Evening With Les Girls, recorded at the Carousel Room of the Chevron Hotel, Surfers Paradise.

On Friday night, ATV0 presents the final episode of The Daryl And Ossie Show, after forty episodes, and The Peter Couchman Show presents a special Melbourne Cup preview on Friday night.

Jeanne Little (pictured) and John Ewart are guest panelists on ABC's Micro Macro on Friday night, joining host Noel Ferrier and regulars Carol Raye and Stuart Wagstaff.

Sunday night movies are The Shootist (HSV7), A Touch Of Class (GTV9) and The Drowning Pool (ATV0), while ABC's Sunday night opera is L'Heure Espagnole (The Spanish Hour) produced at ABC's Sydney studios and featuring the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 28 October 1978.  ABC/ACP

1978: October 14-20

Cover: Farrah Fawcett-Majors

Debbie's agony isn't over yet
Former Young Talent Time star Debbie Byrne might have had drug possession charges against her and her husband dismissed by a Melbourne magistrate, but the 21-year-old quickly realised that she was being tried all over again - by the public. "I feel as though I have to prove my innocence all over again," she told TV Times. "I'd done nothing wrong at all and yet there was my name in a newspaper story associated with drugs. And I know some people think there's no smoke without the fire." Byrne and her husband David were in temporary share house accommodation, a 23-roomed Edwardian mansion, when police found the drugs. "The magistrate was convinced that we knew nothing about the drugs when he dismissed the charges - and he was right. But I learned my lesson. I won't ever share a house again after this experience." Byrne is now busy working on a new musical comedy series being made in Sydney for ABC.

People come first
The 0-10 Network's Steve Raymond (pictured) has chosen to put the focus on people rather than events in his new afternoon show: "We are finding plenty of interesting people because we do our homework. We'll have well-researched interviews, quality entertainment with people like Julie Anthony and Marcia Hines, and a sense of fun. You can't hit people over the head with a verbal sledgehammer at 1.30 in the afternoon."

007 - Sorry wrong number!
New Zealand-born actor Noel Trevarthen was working in the United Kingdom when he was a fraction away from becoming the next James Bond, until Roger Moore agreed to lower his asking price, "it was something of a disappointment." The actor first came to Australia in 1969 for the drama series The Rovers, and apart from a brief stint back in the UK, has been in Australia ever since and is now settled in to the 0-10 Network series The Restless Years.

Invention must be a snoring success
The Inventors' panelist Diana Fisher is hoping that entrants in the show's anti-snoring competition will improve on her own method in dealing with a snoring spouse: "When Humphrey snored, a foot or an elbow went his way. I found a swift kick to turn him over worked." The competition, to run for five weeks, will endeavour to uncover the ultimate anti-snoring device with a continental quilt offered as first prize.

Briefly:
Sue Smithers (pictured), who replaced Deborah Coulls in The Restless Years, has now been written out of the series.

The Sullivans' Paul Cronin is sitting for a portrait to be entered for this year's Archibald Prize.

Melbourne's HSV7 have said that they may not seek a new co-host for Ernie Sigley on Penthouse '78 after the departure of Mary Hardy.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"Congratulations to the ABC! I have just learnt that another series of The Saturday Show (pictured) will be produced in 1979 and the first series is expected also to be repeated next year." C. Isaac, TAS.

"The ultimate horror in commercials has arrived, and those of us who wouldn't watch Garry McDonald if they paid us have now to put up with him in TV commercials. If there was ever a commercial to turn me off the product it's one with Garry McDonald/Norman Gunston." E. James, NSW.

"Why do TV stations insist on showing copyright warnings and cautions at the end of a show (after we've all copied it) instead of at the beginning?" P. Cunningham, NSW.

What's On (October 14-20):
HSV7's summer tennis coverage starts off with the South Pacific Classic, live from Milton tennis courts, Brisbane, over both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

On Monday night, HSV7 screens a live telecast of the selection and crowning of Miss Victoria for 1979, hosted by newsreader Mal Walden.

Featured in this week's The Paul Hogan Show on GTV9 is a sketch titled Seeds, a send-up of the mini-series Roots. Also featured is a sketch featuring the cast visiting a supermarket in the year 2000, a send-up of Starsky And Hutch and a sketch on energy conservation.

ATV0 presents a Thursday night documentary, Scream And You're Dead, aimed to warn women about sexual assault. Evidence for the program is the result of seven years' investigation by the Police Department of Western Australia. Later the same night, HSV7 presents a one-hour documentary, Birth, examining childbirth practices in western society. The special, narrated by Scottish-born psychiatrist Dr R D Laing, was produced in New Zealand and has been already screened to wide acclaim in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa.

On Friday night, ATV0 presents a special edition of Peter Couchman Tonight marking the final appearance in Melbourne of Dame Edna Everage, recorded at the end of her recent Australian tour.

Sunday night movies are Three Days Of The Condor (HSV7), Night Flight From Moscow (GTV9) and The Black Windmill (ATV0) - though there are some movie epics scheduled through the week as well: El Cid (HSV7, Wednesday), The Sound Of Music (GTV9, Wednesday) and the television premiere of Cleopatra (GTV9, Friday).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 14 October 1978.  ABC/ACP

1978: September 30-October 6

Happy the War bride
When Alice Morgan and Michael Watkins (Megan Williams and John Walton, pictured) walk down the aisle together on The Sullivans, the bride's dress will bring back happy memories for one viewer, Mrs Emmett of Victoria, who wore the same dress on her own wedding day in 1943 and offered it to Crawford Productions for use on the series. The wedding of Alice and Michael took place at Melbourne's Church of Our Lady of Victory in Camberwell but, unlike a real wedding, took a full day of rehearsals and filming before Alice could say "I will." The wedding episode of The Sullivans screens this week on GTV9 Melbourne and later in October on TCN9 Sydney and NWS9 Adelaide.

Blinkity blinks!
Most quiz shows give contestants a chance to show how clever they are. Not so, with ABC's new show Micro Macro, as host Noel Ferrier (pictured, centre) says it will show them up with not a clue as to the answer. An adaptation of a European format, Micro Macro will put two teams of celebrity panelists against each other in a quiz of visual puzzles relying on the quickness of the eye. Among the regulars to appear on the show will be Carol Raye, one of Ferrier's companions on Blankety Blanks, and personality Jimmy Hannan, who is more familiar to viewers as a game show host rather than contestant.

The pause that refreshes
This Day Tonight host Clive Hale (pictured) finds there's nothing like a bit of meditation to calm those pre-program nerves, but he's never meditated in the studio, always at home. But since he and wife Elizabeth moved from Adelaide to Sydney so he could take over as host of the NSW version of This Day Tonight, he's often had to give his daily meditation a miss. "I'm determined to get back into it. TV is a high pressure industry and it's fairly unnerving talking into a lens," he told TV Times. Despite the show's increased ratings since Hale took over the hosting role, This Day Tonight is set to finish up later in the year.

The call of the wild!
TV channels are often inundated with phone calls from viewers asking about certain programs or to give feedback - sometimes constructive, but sometimes just illogical! One such phone call went like this:

Caller: "Why have you taken off The Restless Years?"
Receptionist: "But this is Channel 7, and that program is on Channel 0."
Caller: "I don't care. Just tell me why you've taken it off!"

Viewers have also had cause to call up Sydney's TCN9 to complain about The Mike Walsh Show. Rival station TEN10, which used to screen the show, still gets viewers complaints about the program, and ATN7 and ABN2, neither of which have ever screened it, also receive complaints about it!

And in Melbourne, one young viewer calls up HSV7 when The Flintstones is repeated, and always asks to speak to Fred Flintstone, but responds angrily when told that Fred is not available. A Perth woman also called up STW9 to ask if she could borrow a couple of palm trees, as seen on Gilligan's Island, for a Hawaiian party.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"After the never-ending stream of cops and robbers and doctors and nurses, the classic The Importance Of Being Earnest was like a welcome oasis. As it was heralded by TV Times as the movie of the week, earning a four-star rating, one might wonder why good family entertainment such as this could be shown at midnight. Perhaps TEN10 are aiming at giving the dole payees, who don't need to rise at 6 or 7am, a little culture." V. O'Hara, NSW.

"Richard Peach and Richard Morecroft both look great and do a great job of newsreading. And thanks for presenting us with a weatherman, who tells us about the weather. Better than the over-glorified, shiny females of the commercial stations." A. Voake, SA.

"Having watched The Truckies' episode 'Country Music', I register my disgust with the series. Having virtually endured the previous episodes (because we haven't a choice of channels), the 'Country Music' episode I found most distasteful. If ABC is hoping to sell the series overseas I now add that it will certainly paint a sad and sorry picture of our Australian male, and our truckies in particular." W. G. Walker, WA.

What's On (September 30-October 6):
HSV7's live telecast of the 1978 VFL Grand Final is not listed in the program guides, possibly not confirmed at time of publication, but a full replay is scheduled for 6.30pm Saturday night.

Following the Grand Final, Penthouse '78 presents a special edition to celebrate 1000 episodes of HSV7's World Of Sport, featuring highlights of over twenty years of the world's longest running sports show. Joining host Ernie Sigley is World Of Sport host Ron Casey and regulars including Bill Collins, Fred Villiers, Jack Elliot, Rollo Roylance, Lou Richards and Gus Mercurio.

Sunday morning and afternoon on HSV7 is dominated by the Hardie-Ferodo 1000, over nine hours of live coverage from Bathurst Raceway in NSW.

Monday afternoon marks the debut of ATV0's new game shows Pyramid Challenge and Perfect Match and variety show The Steve Raymond Show.

The documentary The Last Tasmanian features on ATV0 on Wednesday night, a two-hour presentation tracing the genocide of the Tasmanian Aborigines, starting with the arrival of white man in 1803 and culminating with the death of Truganini - the Last Tasmanian - in 1876.

Sunday night movies are Sharon: Portrait Of A Mistress (HSV7), Soldier Blue (GTV9) and the premiere of US series Dallas (ATV0) with the first series of five episodes to be screened over three nights. ATV0 follows Dallas with a special presentation, Television's 22 Years, hosted by Steve Raymond (pictured) and featuring guests Graham Kennedy and Johnny O'Keefe.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 30 September 1978. ABC/ACP

1978: September 16-22

Why Lynda said no to nude stardom
Lynda Stoner, nurse Kim Barrington in The Young Doctors, has just started a drama course.  "I want to be a good actress," she told TV Times.  The former Adelaide receptionist became a star after winning the Miss TV Times contest in 1976 - part of her prize being an audition with Crawford Productions.  The audition led to an offer to appear on the new Crawford drama Hotel Story, but there was to be a nude scene.  Stoner refused, returning the script, and thought her career was over.  She was later offered the role, keeping her clothes on, as nurse Kim Barrington in The Young Doctors, and has continued to turn down offers for movie roles that involved nudity, commercials for lingerie and magazine centrefolds. (Pictured: The Young Doctors' Judy Lynne, Bartholomew John and Lynda Stoner)

Dawn's in the pink
Just hours after recording her scenes for an episode of a new ABC series of comedy plays titled Tickled Pink, Dawn Lake was in hospital having a cancerous growth removed from her face.  The surgery meant that Lake wasn't able to talk for several weeks, so it was fortunate she was able to tape the scenes beforehand.  In the episode of Tickled Pink, titled The Family Business, Lake plays a housewife who becomes a tea lady in a complicated scheme to keep a roof over her family's head.  Playing her husband is Max Gillies (pictured, with Lake), who is also featured in the series' final episode, A Visit To The Uncle, a Jewish comedy co-starring former Number 96 stars Johnny Lockwood and Bunney Brooke.  Other performers to appear in Tickled Pink over its six-episode run include Cornelia Frances, Peter Sumner, Noel Ferrier, Martin Harris, Penne Hackforth-Jones, Tony Llewelyn-Jones, Barry Otto and Jill Perryman.

Raymond's bid for daytime viewers
"The last thing we want to do is be another Mike Walsh Show," said Steve Raymond (pictured), about to launch his own afternoon show on the 0-10 Network.  The Steve Raymond Show offers a mix of news and entertainment, but with a new look - a lot of the people involved with the show have never worked in television and are able to offer challenges to the technical crews that they'd never met before, hence giving the show an edge over the more traditional daytime show.  An air-date has not been announced for the new show, but it is expected to debut in October along with the network's new afternoon game shows Perfect Match and Pyramid Challenge, and will likely appear at 1.30pm so as not to clash with The Mike Walsh Show on Nine.

Lionel's long on talent!
Singer and actor Lionel Long has been selected by Reg Grundy Productions to host the new talent series National Star Quest.  The program, being produced by Grundy's in association with a consortium of 25 regional TV stations known as Australian Television Faciltiies, marks Long's first TV compering role.  The recording star, with ten gold records to his credit, will spend one day a week at the studios of WIN4 Wollongong to host the studio segments of the new show.  National Star Quest is expected to air on the member stations of ATF from early 1979.

Just briefly...
If the commissioners at ABC, meeting on 18 October, give the go-ahead to the new Six O'Clock Statewide program, This Day Tonight could be off-air as soon as November to give staff time to prepare.

Bill Harmon, one of the men behind Number 96, has been keeping a low profile since the series ended, but is working on a new project backed by the Australian Film Commission.

Former Bellbird star Warwick Randall is also a wine expert, and has four books about to be published.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"Would someone out in TV land tell me why I should invest in a colour TV?  This week has been good for reading books, what with specials, fashion parades and so on.  I want TV to give me a choice and not have the same station showing all the same sort of things." J. Hankinson, NSW.

"I should like to vote an extra special award to the inventor of the remote control gadget for TV sets.  I have just realised the full potential of this useful little article - I can shut Diana Fisher up!" C. Large, QLD.

"ABC is doing a good thing having The Truckies on.  People should think themselves lucky to have truckies around.  If it weren't for those good, hard-working, honest men, we would not have half the things in our shops today." D. Carr, SA.

"The Truckies is a horrible show.  We expect to sit and view something interesting, but all you hear is bad language.  All you see is sloppy behaviour.  It is a real insult to truck drivers." G. Sweeney, NSW.

What's On (September 16-22):
A change to the usual TV listings this week as this week's issue is the 'Inland' edition, covering Canberra, regional New South Wales (part of which receives GMV6 from Victoria), and the Darling Downs region in Queensland.

World Championship Boxing, featuring the rematch title fight between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks, is telecast live from New Orleans, airing on Saturday morning and early afternoon on NBN3 Newcastle, NEN9-ECN8 Tamworth-Taree, CTC7 Canberra, RVN2-AMV4 Wagga Wagga-Albury and DDQ10-SDQ4 Darling Downs-Southern Downs.

The US mini-series Holocaust screens over four consecutive nights on CTC7.

The Quest Of Quests, the beauty contest to determine who will represent Australia in the Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Asia, Miss International and Miss Young International beauty quests, screens in a one-hour special Wednesday night on CTC7, NEN9-ECN8, CBN8-CWN6-MTN9 Orange-Dubbo-Griffith, RVN2-AMV4, GMV6 Shepparton and DDQ10-SDQ4.  Newcastle's NBN3, however, has opted out of screening the event, instead offering Benny Hill In Australia.  Later in the evening, DDQ10-SDQ4 continues the beauty contest theme with the local telecast of Carnival Of Flowers, including the 1978 Carnival of Flowers Queen Competition, with 23 entrants presented to the judges at the Toowoomba Town Hall.

The ABC comedy series Tickled Pink debuts in New South Wales and Queensland on Thursday night, and the following night in Victoria.

NBN3's weekday broadcast day commences at 7.00am with Breakfast Club, leading into the locally-made Romper Room at 9.00am, but the other regional stations, including CTC7, are off-air until late morning or early afternoon.

The Nine Network's The Mike Walsh Show is firmly entrenched across the regional areas, screening across all the local stations listed in the Inland edition.  US daytime soaps Days Of Our Lives and The Young And The Restless also appear in all regions during the afternoons.

Sunday night movies are The Mechanic (NBN3), the premiere of the mini-series Wheels (NEN9-ECN8), Dead Men Tell No Lies (CBN8-CWN6-MTN9), When Eight Bells Toll (CTC7), Attila The Hun (RVN2-AMV4), Divorce American Style (GMV6) and Some Kind Of A Nut (DDQ10-SDQ4).

Source: TV Times (Inland edition), 16 September 1978. ABC/ACP