1978: March 18-24

Cover: The Sullivans' forgotten man:
TV Times' cover story is about the leading man in The Sullivans, who also appears to be the one that the public hears least about. However this does not bother actor Paul Cronin who acknowledges that "there is more to being a series actor than that". Pictured on the cover is Cronin with co-stars Richard Morgan and Susan Hannaford.

'Sex change' for Hasham:
Actor Joe Hasham is moving on from his six-year role as homosexual Don Finlayson in Number 96 to a smooth-talking ladies man in the Nine Network soap The Young Doctors: "In Number 96 I was the perennial nice guy, but now I'm to be a 'nasty'. But that will be a pleasant change, too."

The Molly versus Boz show!
Countdown host Ian 'Molly' Meldrum has dismissed a clash between himself and American singer Boz Scaggs as "just a friendly tap", but did admit he'd been on the receiving end. Meldrum said a dispute had arisen due to a misunderstanding of Scaggs' TV commitments while in Australia, after Countdown had been refused an interview with the singer, but Scaggs had appeared in an interview on The Don Lane Show.

This gadget helps you catch two TV shows at once:Philips has announced it has solved the problem of favourite TV programs clashing on separate channels, or appearing when you're not at home to watch them. The company's new video cassette recorder (possibly like the one pictured?), estimated to cost around $A1000, makes it possible for viewers to watch one program while another is being recorded. The new recorders also have a timer which allows programs to be set up to be taped up to three days in advance.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I am sick and tired of hearing people complaining about cricket taking over other shows during the summer. If you don't like cricket, you don't have to watch it. You can always change channels or go and do something else." D. Snudden, NSW.

An attack from TV Times columnist F.C. Kennedy on the standards of TV programming during the summer months, published in an earlier edition of TV Times, sparked a reaction from at least two regional TV programmers:

"I, as a programmer, take great exception to the article because he refers to the larger cities like Sydney and Melbourne with never a thought to the provincial channels. May I assure you that we do care for our audience.. our total amount of repeat programming between 6.00pm and 11.00pm during January amounted to 3 hours and 15 minutes, which, I think you would agree, out of 155 hours is very reasonable." P. Hunniford, CTC7 Canberra, ACT.

"As your magazine is sold in country areas, why don't you be the first to recognise the four million viewers, roughly a third of the TV audience, who do not have to put up with repeats? Regional TV services such as ours have adopted a first-run policy for 12 months of the year. For instance, prime time repeats on this station in November, December and January came out at less than two per cent." Laurie Burrows, Darling Downs Television (DDQ10), QLD.

What's On (March 18-24):
As reported in TV Times back in January, this week's edition of Countdown comes from the Festival of Arts in Adelaide with special guests John Paul Young, Skyhooks, Dragon, Mark Holden and the Little River Band.

ATV0's Eyewitness News At Six expands to one-hour from Monday 20 March 1978, with newsreader Bruce Mansfield, sport with Rob Astbury and special reports by Peter Couchman.

ABC screens a 90-minute BBC special Terror International, focusing on the men and women who plan and execute global terrorism, and how and where they are trained and financed.

HSV7 presents the 22nd annual telecast of the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal in association with the Sporting Globe newspaper and radio station 3DB. Special guests on the all-day telethon include overseas stars Patrick Duffy (The Man From Atlantis), Jack Smethurst (Love Thy Neighbour) and Susan Penhaligon (Bouquet Of Barbed Wire). Also appearing on the telethon is Lee Simons (Nightmoves), presenters from 3DB, cast members of Cop Shop, Glenview High, Willesee At Seven and World Of Sport, and personalities including Mike Willesee, Mary Hardy, Happy Hammond, Ian 'Molly' Meldrum, Andrew Harwood, Mal Walden, Ilona Komescaroff and Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald). Appeal organisers hope to top the previous year's record total of $A1,489,866,84.

Sunday's movies are all repeats, leading into the Easter break, with Heaven With A Gun (HSV7), A Farewell To Arms (GTV9) and The Candidate (ATV0).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 18 March 1978. ABC/ACP

YouTube: You gotta start somewhere..!

Paul Bongiorno is well known as Network Ten's chief political correspondent and Canberra bureau chief. But what is perhaps not so well known about Ten's man in Canberra is that a much younger Bongiorno was heading down a different career path as a priest in country Victoria in the early '70s.

Realising the priesthood was maybe not his ideal career choice, Bongiorno moved to journalism and his TV career had a somewhat humble beginning. Here is Paul Bongiorno presenting the weather forecast on Eyewitness News for TVQ0 Brisbane in April 1983.



Also featured in this clip is co-newsreader Jacki MacDonald, also better known at the time as the ditzy co-host of Hey Hey It's Saturday in the southern capitals, but an extremely popular local identity in her home town of Brisbane.

YouTube: aussiebeachut
Source: Sydney Morning Herald

1978: March 11-17

Cover Story: A Young Doctors' wedding album:
The Young Doctors' wedding of the year between Dr Tony Garcia and Nurse Tania Livingston (Tony Alvarez and Judy McBurney, pictured). The surprise wedding came after plans for Dr Garcia to marry Lisa Brooks (Paula Duncan) had fallen through the previous year.

Sigley plans sidelined:
Plans for Ernie Sigley to negotiate with HSV7 for the role of co-host of Penthouse Club have been put on hold after Sigley went to hospital after a mild heart attack and has had doctors' orders to avoid work for three months. Sigley had been one of three guest co-hosts on Penthouse Club while the channel finds a permanent replacement for former co-host Mike Williamson. A spokesman for the channel said negotiations may resume when Sigley is clear to work again.

Tate home for TV play:
Actor Nick Tate, currently in the sci-fi series Space 1999, has returned home to Australia to star in a new ABC drama, Man Of Action. In the play, one of three to be produced, Tate plays a ruthless businessman, Kenneth Riessel. The part of Riessel's wife is to be played by former Number 96 actress Carmen Duncan. The three plays form a trilogy, A Place In The World, written by Michael Cove. The only link between the three stories is that the main character in each went to the same school.

Are they really different up north?
TV Times' Queensland editor Peter Dean questions the perception of outsiders that those from the Sunshine State are a 'different' bunch, and if they are, is this reflected on local TV screens? Dean approached the program chiefs of Brisbane channels ABQ2, BTQ7, QTQ9 and TVQ0 to explore this obviously pressing issue. Among the responses received, ABQ2's Bernard Terry said it was important to maintain a local focus with programming, while taking into consideration national trends. Mike Lattin of BTQ7 said the main difference in Brisbane viewers when compared to southern cities is that they are more honest. They admit to watching soaps and sitcoms, while viewers in Canberra will say they watch ABC but really watch shows like Number 96.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:

"Is Graham Kennedy going to leave Blankety Blanks? I hope not as the show wouldn't be the same without him. It is the best on TV." A. Tanzer, QLD.

"The Sullivans' producers have successfully presented a realistic portrayal of Australian war years. But we have found one flaw in The Sullivans. During the war years, beer was considered as liquid gold and where we were in those times, bartenders never gave drinks on the house, which is a ritual by barlady Maggie Hayward (Vikki Hammond)." V. Swilks, VIC.

"I have long suspected TCN9 of being anti-British in their programming, and now I am certain. A friend in England told me to look out for Get Some In and to be sure to watch it as it was in the top 10 in the UK. It turned up on TCN9.. but not for long. They used it as a filler when the cricket was rained out." M. Bennett, NSW.

What's On (March 11-17):
The Moomba Festival continues in Melbourne, and is covered on TV with HSV7 televising the Moomba Masters Waterski International from the Yarra River, and all four Melbourne channels showing live coverage of the annual Moomba Parade from the streets of the Melbourne CBD though ironically for the other channels, the year's Moomba King is GTV9 personality Bert Newton.

The first episode of Marcia Hines Music appears on ABC, hosted by pop queen Marcia Hines with guest appearances by actor John Waters and singer-songwriter Doug Ashdown.

ATV0 presents a Sunday afternoon live telecast of the Vintage Sports Car Club meeting at Phillip Island - forty-five pre-war sports cars will compete in a special day of road racing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Australian Grand Prix held in Phillip Island in 1928.

ABC presents The Geeks, the first play in the 1978 series of Stuart Wagstaff's World Playhouse. John Stanton, Judy Morris, Lynette Curran and Rod Mullinar star as two couples whose friendship is headed for change with one of the wives suggesting the couples go one step further and share their love.

Sunday night's premiere movies are The Super Cops (HSV7), Cabaret (GTV9) and the 'modified TV version' of Chato's Land (ATV0), with British dramas The Duchess Of Duke Street and I Claudius on ABC.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 11 March 1978. ABC/ACP

Technorati Profile

Happy 40th, GTS4!

South Australian regional television station GTS4 celebrated its 40th anniversary on the weekend.

The station, based in Port Pirie and licenced to Spencer Gulf Telecasters, commenced operation on 1 March 1968. It was the second commercial regional channel in South Australia, after SES8 Mount Gambier which commenced two years earlier.

In 1974, GTS4 partnered with Broken Hill station BKN7 (which launched in August 1968) and both stations have broadcast a common schedule since then. In the early-'90s, both stations became part of the Central Television Network sales alliance, with other South Australian regional stations and Alice Springs-based Imparja, but were the only members to inherit the Central branding on-air.

By that stage, Central GTS-BKN, as it became known, featured predominantly a Seven Network schedule with some contributions from the other networks. In 2003, GTS-BKN which by then was owned by the Southern Cross Broadcasting group, was assigned a secondary television licence, permitting it to operate a second signal in its local coverage areas, and chose to align GTS-BKN as a solely Seven-fed outlet, and launched its second service as a Ten Network relay, Southern Cross Ten.

The original GTS-BKN stations were subsequently re-branded Southern Cross GTS-BKN. Both stations now cover a population of 131,000.

Southern Cross GTS-BKN and Southern Cross Ten are now part of the Macquarie Media Group following its acquisition of Southern Cross Broadcasting television stations and branding.

YouTube: scbnetwork
Source: Australian TV Archive

Saturday night highlights

Saturday nights are usually regarded as the graveyard of prime-time TV. The assumption of commercial network programmers is that the type of viewers that advertisers most likely want to attract are out of the house on Saturday night, so there is no point in trying to appeal to them.

As a result, Saturday night TV has usually been a tired mix of re-runs, shows that never worked on a weeknight timeslot, documentaries with little appeal, or straight-to-TV movies. There is some joy for football fans in the winter months, but for others there is little to get excited about.

Though there have been some exceptions in recent times. ABC has served loyal fans of British shows like The Bill, Parkinson and Doctor Who, and the SBS double of Iron Chef and Melbourne-based Rockwiz with Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis, pictured) helped make Saturday one of their most popular nights of the week. But despite the stigma of being TV's equivalent of a nursing home, Saturday nights have provided a few stand-out, or at least well-remembered shows:

Sydney's ATN7 presented one of the first popular comedy revue shows in the mid-'60s with the irreverent Mavis Bramston Show, featuring Gordon Chater, Carol Raye, Barry Creyton and later names like June Salter, Noeline Brown, Ron Frazer and Barbara Angell. There was no such person as Mavis Bramston (pictured) - rather the name was taken from a derogatory showbiz term, something like 'Oh, what a bunch of Mavis Bramstons!'. Such was the popularity of The Mavis Bramston Show, and the fondness in which it is remembered, a recent stage production, Mavis Bramston: Reloaded brought the old revue back to life.

Young Talent Time (pictured) was a gamble by the 0-10 Network in 1971 when pop star Johnny Young assembled a group of child performers to form a variety show for children and families as an alternative to football replays on the other channels. The program was an immediate success and continued for eighteen years, and turned child performers such as Debra Byrne, Tina Arena and Dannii Minogue into household names.

At around the same time as Young Talent Time, Melbourne's HSV7 had acquired the rights to the Saturday night harness racing but needed something to hold viewers' interest in the gaps between races. Hence, The Penthouse Club, a variety show with Mike Williamson (later replaced by Ernie Sigley) and comedian Mary Hardy (pictured) that ran for almost ten years. A similar sports-themed variety show, The Club Show, also ran on Saturday nights in Sydney with Rex Mossop, and Adelaide's ADS7 also produced its own Penthouse Club with local personalities Bob Francis and Anne Wills.

The Nine Network's popular Saturday morning children's show Hey Hey It's Saturday had outgrown its morning timeslot after twelve years, and made the move to Saturday night in February 1984. The show's popular line-up of Daryl Somers, Ossie Ostrich, Jacki MacDonald and John Blackman (pictured) continued into the evening format, as did some of the show's studio segments including Red Faces, a mock talent quest modelled on the network's popular New Faces. The mix of variety, comedy and celebrity interviews made Hey Hey It's Saturday a weekly tradition until it was cancelled at the end of 1999. The timeslot was then filled by Australia's Funniest Home Video Show, a show that unashamedly relies on cringe-worthy slapstick, usually at the expense of children and animals, but appears to have maintained some level of popularity on Saturday evenings.

Comedy team The D-Generation had made their TV debut with a sketch comedy series on ABC in the 1980s, and later the Seven Network. The team had also conquered breakfast radio in Melbourne, and in 1992 made a return to TV with ABC's The Late Show - a mix of live and pre-recorded comedy sketches. The program also made a cult hero out of former TV cop Bluey (Lucky Grills, pictured) when they comically re-voiced scenes of the 1976 police drama, and also applied the same treatment to ABC's historical series Rush. The success of The Late Show led to the group producing Frontline, Funky Squad, The Panel, Thank God You're Here and movies The Castle and The Dish.

There are obviously other shows that I've missed - particularly outside of Melbourne. What do you remember about Saturday night TV? What have been your highlights, or lowlights, of Saturday night in front of the TV?

1978: March 4-10

Red-hot plan home and hosed:
ABC's Monday Conference host Bob Moore (that's not him on the cover!)found the only way to tackle Moscow's minus 18 degree temperatures was to wear pantyhose. Moore had embarked on a tour including Canada, USA, Russia, India and Hong Kong to investigate TV news and current affairs programs around the world. But for Moore the more pressing issue was finding the right size of pantyhose, when he admitted to having to resort to a brand called Chubby Chick!

A TV test for lovers:
A special to air on the 0-10 Network during the week will ask men and women how many points out of 100 they would give themselves or their partner. The Australian Sex, Love And Marriage Test would also ask such questions as 'have you ever wished you had not married?' and 'if you found your teenage daughter had lost her virginity, what would your reaction be?'.

TV cameras go shopping for the housewife:
ABC announces plans to get out into suburbia for its new daytime show Lookout. The proposed 13-week series, to air at midday, will feature live broadcasts from shopping centres around Australia with segments aimed at the housewife audience covering topics such as health, cooking, gardening, consumer advice and fitness. Lookout is preparing for a May launch from Sydney's Roselands shopping centre, and is to be hosted by ABC rural affairs reporter Paul Williams.

Julie for Jokes:
Former Naked Vicar Show cast member Julie McGregor is returning to TV to feature in a new six-part sketch comedy series Jokes. The new series, to be produced in Sydney for ABC, is also to feature Noni Hazelhurst, Terry Bader and Chris Heywood.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I am thankful that my TV set is able to receive Sydney channels now our one and only Newcastle commercial channel, NBN3, has dropped A Current Affair and substituted Willesee At Seven. I found A Current Affair to be much more interesting and more to my taste." T. Grant, NSW.

"We need a further serial continuing the life of Bellbird. I don't know how I'm going to get through 1978 without it. It was the highlight of my day, the best program TV has ever produced." L. Strehling, QLD.

"Recent letters have bemoaned the poor treatment that science-fiction fans receive from TV stations. But little is mentioned of the plight of the horror devotee. On those rare occasions when the channels screen good horror, one is always apprehensive that crucial scenes may have been censored." M. Newton, NSW.

What's On (March 4-10):
The Moomba festival is on in Melbourne, and ATV0 gets in on the fun with live telecasts of the 1978 Birdman Rally and Bathtub Regatta events on Sunday afternoon.

Women's magazine icon Margaret Fulton presents a five-minute prime-time series on ABC, Recipes From The Duchess Of Duke Street, based on recipes from the British drama series screening on Sunday nights.

The sketch comedy series The Naked Vicar Show and the premiere movie The Cars That Ate Paris dominate HSV7's Wednesday night.

Night football makes an appearance with the Friday night AMCO Herald Cup, live from VFL Park, on HSV7, while ABC presents the final episode of the Australian mini-series Loss Of Innocence.

Sunday night's premiere movies are Snowbeast (HSV7), Having Babies (GTV9) and Pocket Money (ATV0), while I Claudius continues on ABC.

Cover: Shaun Cassidy
Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 4-10 March 1978, ABC/ACP

Our first birthday!

It's a year ago today that this blog made its first appearance!

Your earliest TV memory

What is your earliest TV memory? Was it...

Watching flickering sets in TV store windows?

The Melbourne Olympic Games?

Graham Kennedy on In Melbourne Tonight...

...or later on Blankety Blanks?

The Mavis Bramston Show?

Man on the moon?

Watching sitcoms like Here's Lucy...

...The Brady Bunch...

...or Bewitched?

Sneaking a peek at Abigail on Number 96 when your parents thought you were asleep?

The changeover to colour television?

The women from Wentworth Detention Centre in Prisoner?

Royal weddings?

The TV Week Logie Awards?

'Molly' Meldrum on Countdown?

Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue on Neighbours?

The Comedy Company?

My earliest memory of TV was watching Sesame Street, always at 8.00am each weekday morning on ABC, though I'm told I was also a fan of Adventure Island. Then I felt so mature when I felt I was old enough to graduate to The Early Bird Show on ATV0. And if I was well-behaved enough I'd have been allowed to 'stay up' to watch Skyways.

Another early TV memory was the arrival of colour TV to our house.

Coming home from school one day in 1977 to find the old black-and-white Philips set moved aside and replaced with a Pye colour TV set. How excitement! Not only was it colour, but it was 'push button' which seemed very modern as everybody else I knew still had the rotary dial tuners. How modern we were???

What is your earliest TV memory?

1978: February 25-March 3

How the censor shot down Superman:
Australian scriptwriter Trevor Farrant had just spent six months working in the United States on the revived Laugh-In sketch comedy series. Farrant spoke to TV Times about his experiences in working the minefield that is the American network censors - including their outrage over his send-up of the Superman movie featuring the 'world's first siamese-twin superhero', Ralph and Leroy Superman - a pair of mixed-race twins, of which one is gay.

New show for 'discerning rock fans':

ABC announces the launch of a new late-night rock music series Rocturnal. To be produced in Adelaide and hosted by local radio presenter David Woodhall, the new series is intended to fill the gap left by Countdown and other rock shows which are focussed mostly toward teenage viewers.

Dream job for Bunney:

Former Number 96 star Bunney Brooke will appear alongside John Meillon in Palace Of Dreams, the second of ABC's Comedy Playhouse series. "I'm enjoying the prospect of working with John. It's amazing that this will be the first time we've worked together," said Brooke.

War hero's son for Sullivans:

When the producers of The Sullivans decided to write a storyline around World War II hero Reg Saunders, he suggested they use his 24-year-old son Christopher to play the part. Saunders was the first Aborigine to be commissioned as an officer in the armed forces, and was impressed with his son's portrayal of himself in episodes to screen late in March.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:

"I couldn't believe my ears when first I heard the sacred tune of Waltzing Matilda as the theme for the new Mortein ad. Then it amused me to think that by using the tune for a commercial it put paid to it ever becoming our national anthem." G. Sheen, NSW.

"There should be another TV channel for sport only in the country areas. When cricket Tests and other major sports are played and shown we have no choice of good programs to watch. Could the Government consider letting ABC have another channel for sport only?" F. Edwards, NSW.

"I'd like to complain to GTV9 Melbourne for screening Star Trek at such unreasonable hours. One night it may be shown at 10.30pm, the next at 11.30pm. I know it's up later than usual, but who would stay up until after midnight to watch it?" M. Dring, VIC.

What's on (February 25-March 3):

GTV9's annual telethon for the Yooralla Hospital is on again, starting Saturday morning at 7.00am and continuing through to midnight. Presenters and special guests include Don Lane, Bert Newton, Mike Walsh, Eric Pearce, Marcia Hines, Delilah, Tony Barber, and the stars of The Young Doctors and The Sullivans.

Sunday afternoon sport includes motor racing and cricket on ABC, Davis Cup tennis on HSV7 and Motorcross on ATV0.

The 1978 TV Week Logie Awards are televised on GTV9 on Friday night, hosted by Bert Newton and presented from the Southern Cross Hotel. Special guests include Florence Henderson, Sammy Davis Jnr, Patti Weaver and Mike Farrell.

Sunday night movies are Carry On Up The Jungle (HSV7), Trinity Is Still My Name (GTV9) and A Warm December (ATV0). ABC presents the second episode of the mini-series I Claudius.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 25 February 1978. ABC/ACP
Cover: Kermit the Frog and actress Juliet Prowse

1978: February 18-24

Cover: TV Times' Salute To Hollywood. Celebrating 50 years of 'talkies'.

The search is over:
Producers of the upcoming mini-series Against The Wind have cast the lead female character for the 13-part epic. Irish-born Mary Larkin was chosen after auditions were held in Australia and England. TV Times reports that production of the $1 million series is now in early stages in Sydney and nearby Gosford, with producers working hard to gather or have made replicas of items from the 18th century to be used in the production.

Benny Hill's Aussie show for UK:
The Australian-made special from British comedian Benny Hill is to be shown in the UK later in the year. The special, produced at a cost of $100,000 for the 0-10 Network, had been shown to executives of Thames TV who were "very complimentary" about the show.

Back to TV for Ross D:
Former pop TV host Ross D Wylie has been appointed as the new host of ATV0's late-night Friday and Saturday movies, replacing late-night pioneer Hal Todd who had moved to a management role at the station. "The first thing I want to do is improve the standard of the movies and make sure they will all be in colour," said the former Uptight host.

"If I had a million...":
TV Times asked some of TV's most popular personalities: What would do with a million? The Sullivans' Lorraine Bayly wanted to travel and to buy a zoo, and build a luxury old folks home. Former Number 96 star Pat McDonald would offer a large amount of it to research into children's diseases, and to set up a trust fund for the local entertainment industry. Johnny Young wanted to travel around Australia, while newsreader Roger Climpson very sensibly planned to invest it.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I wish to complain about the science-fiction shows on TVT6 Hobart. Late last year I received information that the second series of Space 1999 was to be shown, but lately there has been no sign of it. Instead, they put on Fantastic Journey, which is quite absurd." Leonard, TAS.

"I would like to thank the channels for their sports coverage and mediocre films during the day. Now I have time to do things in my home and garden, plus play records and cassettes and read." J. Skinn, SA.

"Johnny Farnham again showed his class and versatility with his great performances on both the special It's Just Another New Year's Eve and at the Carols By Candlelight event. Farnham is the greatest entertainer Australia has ever produced." D. Bell, VIC.

What's On (February 18-24):
ABC's Four Corners with Caroline Jones returns for another year on Saturday night, while Ernie Sigley appeared alongside Mary Hardy as guest co-host on HSV7's Penthouse '78.

The then Governor-General of Australia, Sir Zelman Cowen, opens the 31st Federal Parliament - televised live on ABC on Tuesday afternoon.

GTV9's Wednesday night movie is the 'modified TV version' of the British comedy Percy - described by TV Times ever-so-quaintly as the story of "Edwin Anthony, recipient of the most sensual transplant ever".

ATV0 presents a three-hour US documentary Life Goes To The Movies, tracing the history of how movies depicted American life from the 1930s through to the 1970s.

Sunday night movies are They Only Kill Their Masters (HSV7), Ash Wednesday (GTV9) and Doc (ATV0). ABC presents the premiere episode of the British mini-series I Claudius.

Source: TV Times, 18 February 1978 (Melbourne edition). ABC/ACP