1978: January 28-February 3

Actor Ken James, formerly from the soap The Box and now in the new series Glenview High, reminisces about his days as the park ranger’s son in the iconic children’s drama Skippy The Bush Kangaroo – including the times when the show’s marsupial star would cut from a scene and head into the wilderness, having to be chased by actors, directors and camera crew to be retrieved. Skippy became one of Australia’s biggest exports, being sold to 130 countries including the USSR. (Pictured on the TV Times cover are Ken James with Glenview High co-stars Rebecca Gilling, left, and Camilla Rountree)

The word is… Gra-Gra and Ugly Dave to get specials:
TV Times
reported, although nobody at TEN10 will confirm or deny it, that Blankety Blanks host Graham Kennedy and panellist Ugly Dave Gray could be hosting their own series of specials as a spin-off from the popular game show. It seems that the nightly Kennedy-Gray gag session at the close of each episode of Blankety Blanks is so popular with viewers that a spin-off featuring the pair is only logical.

Kalgoorlie killer mine:
Martin Vaughan
, Kate Fitzpatrick and Tom Oliver to star in a one-hour drama, Deep Vein, to be produced by Perth’s STW9. The single-episode drama is being set around a mining disaster in the early 1900s, in which a man is trapped underground for nearly a week. Much of the filming of the program is to be conducted in the remote mining town of Kalgoorlie.

Nothing glum about the TV Glumps:
Producer Lyle McCabe is off to overseas markets to sell The Glumps, a 26-episode series of 10-minute animations featuring small plasticine models with eyes and a mouth. “They have a similar effect to the Muppets. We tested the show on 100 kids and they enjoyed it,” he told TV Times. In the show’s pilot episode, the Glumps re-enact man’s development of weapons from the Stone Age club to more modern ballistics. Locally, the 0-10 Network is said to be interested.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
“Westerns forever! Sydney’s TEN10 at least gives the public Daniel Boone, but it has been repeated so often it is hardly worth watching. Why don’t TV stations repeat westerns such as Wagon Train, Bonanza and Broken Arrow?” V.Hawkin, NSW.

“The last Mike Walsh Show I saw so disgusted me I feel I can’t watch or listen to it ever again. Did Mike Walsh think it was the funny the dreadful way Phillip Brady was treated?” D.Adam, QLD.

“I know I am not alone in my views on the termination of two of the most interesting and also cleanest serials ever on view – Certain Women and Bellbird. Over the years my husband and I have come to love and live with the Bellbird and Certain Women characters as if they were a part of our family, so it is sad to know we will not have them again.” W.Lidden, NSW.

What’s On (January 28-February 3):
The ratings year is still a couple of weeks away, so any decent highlights are still few and far between. On Saturday night, ABC screens Jubilee: A Right Royal Celebration – the story of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee Year celebrations. A few nights later, ABC screens the official film of the 1977 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race.

On Sunday night, ATV0 presents the outdoor games show Almost Anything Goes, the predecessor to It’s A Knockout which appeared a decade later. Host Tim Evans is joined by comedian Sean Kramer and football identity Ron Barassi.

Sunday night’s movies are all premieres: The Buttercup Chain (HSV7), The Horsemen (GTV9) and Minnie And Moskowitz (ATV0).

Friday night is definitely family viewing night with US series The Waltons (ATV0), Donny And Marie (GTV9) and Eight Is Enough (HSV7) all vying for attention at 7.30pm. ABV2 presents the premiere of The Edge Of The Cold, a series of films on the history and wildlife of Macquarie Island, 1700 km south of Australia.

Later on Friday night, radio 3XY DJ Lee Simon presents two hours of music on Nightmoves on HSV7, featuring Joan Armatrading, George Benson and the Eagles.

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

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2008/01/1978-january-28-february-3.html

3 comments

    • Anonymous on 30 April 2008 at 6:49 PM
    • Reply

    Does anyone have information on “The Glumps” animated series, Lyle McCabe or Lyle McCabe Productions???

    • Anonymous on 5 July 2009 at 10:27 PM
    • Reply

    I was fortunate enough to have made contact – with the King of The Glumps himself -creator and visionary Mark D'Arcy-Irvine.

    See my The Glumps blog…

    http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=116063310&blogId=456836653

  1. very interesting Anonymous, and congratulations on tracking down The Glumps' creator.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

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