1978: September 23-29

tvtimes_230978Cover: Michael Landon (Little House On The Prairie)

The Sammys are coming!
The third annual Sammy Awards promise to be the most exciting yet, with a stunning line-up of stars, programs and movies all vying for honours among 39 categories. This year will also mark the inauguration of the Chips Rafferty Memorial Award. The Sammy Awards, presented by TV Times in association with the Variety Club of Australia and the Seven Network, will take place on 11 October at Sydney’s Seymour Centre. The two hour telecast will be hosted by Roger Climpson.

giltucker Dating Jenny is no picnic!
Since playing the mysterious Miranda in the movie Picnic At Hanging Rock, Anne Lambert has had roles in The Box, Glenview High and Chopper Squad, and now takes on a new role in Cop Shop. Lambert plays Jenny McGregor, girlfriend of Constable Roy Baker (Gil Tucker, pictured), but has some strange fascinations: “Jenny has a strange fascination towards violence. She is attracted by the uniform, the guns and the handcuffs.”

TV ads draw viewers’ fire
In 1977, 715 people were so annoyed by advertisements that they complained to the Advertising Standards Council (ASC). Half of those complaints were specifically about television advertising. The largest proportion of complaints were in the “taste and decency” category. Among the advertisements to be accused of general bad taste included those featuring bus-loads and TV screens full of lemons, the depiction of bad manners in bubble gum and potato chip advertisements, the depiction of rats eating Australia in an anti-inflation ad, the use of rough words such as ‘gutsy’ and ‘damn’, and advertisements for R-rated movies. Complaints were also received about the use of sex to sell products such as toothpaste and vitamins, the depiction of women in advertising and advertising displaying food wastage. The ASC’s third annual report states that about one in eight complaints received are found to be justified.

Service to help the unemployed
The Nine Network is about to launch a new weekday morning program aimed at helping the unemployed find work. The half-hour program, Looking For A Job, will be hosted by Brian Bury and Gail Jarvis and will update job opportunities as listed by the Commonwealth Employment Services. The program will also feature interviews with representatives from major employers including BHP and The Shell Company of Australia, government agencies and the armed forces.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
“I am glad to see ABC produce a program for our truckies, but as a truckie’s daughter I was let down by the program. Here in Western Australia our truckies aren’t beer-drinking, pill-popping drivers. Sure, they do both, but only to a certain extent. The program is making the WA truckie look exactly the opposite to what he really is. In the East the truckie may be like that, but over here it’s a different matter.” V. Mazza, WA.

“I am concerned about the order in which episodes of Doctor Who are screened. I would rather see all the Jon Pertwee stories in order (and the Tom Baker ones for that matter) than just a handful of randomly selected stories.” S. Collins, QLD.

“Again we have an example of how writers are regarded in this country. In the preamble to Woman In The House on Stuart Wagstaff’s World Playhouse, Stuart Wagstaff made a point of mentioning everyone at the beginning of the play, with the exception of the writer. Mr Wagstaff also said “… but it was really Neil Fitzpatrick‘s play.” Correction. It was Luis Bayonas‘ play. Surely as an actor, Mr Wagstaff knows that neither the actors nor the director could have done such a good job if they hadn’t started with a good script.” M. Kelly, NSW.

What’s On (September 23-29):
With The Daryl And Ossie Show now airing weeknights on ATV0, their former Saturday morning timeslot on GTV9 is now taken by The Super Saturday Show, a line-up of cartoons presented by Queensland personality Jacki MacDonald.

Guest performers on this week’s Penthouse ’78 include Bartholomew John, Maria Venuti and Col Elliott.

It’s the lead up to the 1978 VFL Grand Final and on Monday night, HSV7 has the Brownlow Medal Count live from the Southern Cross Ballroom hosted by Peter Landy. On Thursday night, Landy presents a one-hour special That Was The Season That Was. On Friday afternoon there’s live coverage of the Bourke Street parade of the Grand Final teams, and on Friday night through to Saturday morning, John Waters presents the Football Marathon, featuring highlights from HSV7’s archive of VFL matches.

noelferrierRelative Air Pollution, the second episode of ABC’s comedy Tickled Pink, features Noel Ferrier (pictured) as owner of a radio station, 2KK, and traces his tormented life at the hands of his wife and sister-in-law, which becomes further complicated when the radio station undergoes a metamorphosis at the hands of his nephew, Jethro (Robert Hughes). The comedy also stars Judi Farr, Robina Beard, Stephen O’Rourke and Shaunna O’Grady.

Sunday night movies are The Don Is Dead (HSV7), Nowhere To Run (GTV9) and White Line Fever (ATV0), while on ABC, performer Jill Perryman is the special guest on the final episode of variety series Capriccio!

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 23 September 1978. ABC/ACP

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2008/09/1978-september-23-29.html

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