1979: July 28-August 3

tvtimes_280779Cover: 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?”

prisoner_ep1_1 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.

sonnyblake 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 SpecialThe 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.

billstalker 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

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/08/1979-july-28-august-3.html

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.