Oldschool Aussie Tv

Cop Shop

2011-07-18T03:40:00.000-07:00

Cop Shop

Shirl's Neighbourhood - Darrin's Snail Race

2011-07-03T03:58:00.000-07:00

Shirl's Neighbourhood - Darrin's Snail Race

ABC 7pm news Westgate Bridge collapse 1970

2010-06-27T06:21:00.000-07:00

Blue Murder

2010-06-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

Blue Murder is a two-part Australian television miniseries produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1995, and is based on true events. Given its confronting content, the DVD release was classified MA 15+. An injunction brought during Arthur Smith's appeal against his life sentence saw its broadcast delayed in NSW and the ACT for six years, until 2001. In New Zealand the DVD release was classified R18 for graphic violence and offensive language.

Set in the 1970s and 1980s in Sydney, the miniseries concerns the relationship between controversial former detective Roger Rogerson and notorious criminal Arthur "Neddy" Smith. Rogerson and his colleagues were accused of giving Smith the "green light" to commit crimes without police interference, with the relationship fraying when Rogerson orders hitman Christopher Dale Flannery to murder policeman Michael Drury. The murder of prostitute Sallie-Anne Huckstepp also features.

Blue Murder is narrated by the characters of Rogerson, Smith and Drury and focuses on the corruption allegations that plagued the NSW Police Force at the time. Rogerson and Smith achieved a kind of celebrity during the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption.

The screenplay was written by Ian David who has written extensively on the people and events featured. The miniseries was directed by Michael Jenkins and produced by Rod Allan.

Some Scenes from Blue Murder (not the full series)

News Interview - No Asians

2010-06-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

News Interview - No Asians

Blankety Blanks

2010-06-16T05:28:00.000-07:00

The Curiosity Show

2010-06-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Neighbours

2010-06-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera created by Reg Watson. The show premiered in Australia on 18 March 1985. It was cancelled by its original broadcast channel 7 during 1985. It continued on the 10 network and is currently the longest running Australian television drama series.

Neighbours - Episode 1

Norman Gunston

2010-06-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

Norman Gunston was a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s.

Skippy The Bush Kangaroo

2010-06-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is an Australian television series for children created by John McCallum, produced from 1966–68, telling the adventures of a young boy and his intelligent pet kangaroo, in the (fictional) Waratah National Park, near Sydney, New South Wales.

Ninety-one 30-minute episodes were made over the three seasons of production. Although, at the time of first screening, Australian television was still in black and white, the show was filmed in colour on 16 mm film to increase its international marketability, most notably in the United States and Canada, where it aired in syndication between 1969 and 1972. The Nine Network readily repeated the series several times after Australian television switched to colour transmission in 1975.

TEN News 1981

2010-06-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

Sale of the Century

2010-06-15T04:31:00.000-07:00

Cadbury

2010-06-12T04:04:00.000-07:00

Samboy

2010-06-12T03:56:00.000-07:00

Pea-beu

2010-06-12T03:51:00.000-07:00

TDK

2010-06-12T03:50:00.000-07:00

Atari - Pac Man

2010-06-12T03:47:00.000-07:00

Coke 1987

2010-06-12T03:45:00.000-07:00

Ovalteenies

2010-06-12T03:44:00.000-07:00

Kool Mint

2010-06-12T03:41:00.000-07:00

Young Talent Time

2010-06-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

Young Talent Time is an Australian television variety program screened on Network Ten, running from 1971 until 1988. The series featured a core group of young performers in the vein of The Mickey Mouse Club, and a weekly junior talent quest. The Young Talent Team regularly performed popular classics along with the top hit songs of the day. The program was the creation of host Johnny Young and launched the careers of a number of Australian performers including Tina Arena and Dannii Minogue.

Hey Dad

2010-06-11T00:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Dad..! was an Australian sitcom produced by Gary Reilly Productions, originally airing from 1987 to 1994 on the Seven Network.

Architect Martin Kelly singlehandedly raises his children Simon, Debbie and Jenny. His wife Margaret had died three years prior to the start of the series.

Martin runs his own architectural business from the family home in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood. He employs his cousin Betty Wilson, a good natured ditz from the New South Wales country town of Walgett, as his secretary.
Many episodes deal with the daily stresses Martin faces as the family patriarch, such as settling arguments amongst his children. He frequently endures Betty's elaborate excuses for tardiness and is constantly frustrated with her delayed productivity at work. Simon's best friend is Gerald "Nudge" Noritis, a neighbour who constantly helps himself to whatever food he can find in the Kellys' kitchen.
In early episodes the show briefly examines how the characters are struggling to deal with the absence of Margaret from their lives. Martin also breaks the fourth wall several times to deliver sarcastic one-liners to camera. This trait is quickly dropped after the first 12 episodes.

Countdown

2010-06-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 8 November 1974 until 19 July 1987. It was created by Executive Producer Michael Shrimpton, producer/director Robbie Weekes and record producer and music journalist Ian Meldrum. Countdown was produced at the studios of the ABC in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea.

Countdown Top 10, 21 December 1986

Acropolis Now

2010-06-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

Acropolis Now was an Australian sitcom set in a Greek bar of the same name that ran for 63 episodes from 1989 to 1992 on the Seven Network. It was created by Nick Giannopoulos, George Kapiniaris and Simon Palomares, who also starred in the series. They were already quite well known for their comedy stage show, Wogs out of Work. The title is a play on the film Apocalypse Now. Each episode was 30 minutes in length and filmed in front of a live audience.

Jim's father asks him to run the family business, the Acropolis café, when he suddenly leaves Australia to return to his homeland Greece. The series centres around the activities of the cafe staff. Greek Jim Stephanidis (Giannopoulos), is the immature owner and his best friend, Spaniard Ricky Martinez (Palomares) is the sensible manager. Memo (Kapiniaris) is the traditional Greek waiter, Liz is the liberated Australian waitress. Skip is the naïve new cook from the bush and Manolis is the stubborn cook from the old cafe. Hilarity prevails from the clash of cultures and beliefs.

The Paul Hogan Show

2010-06-04T00:41:00.000-07:00

The Paul Hogan Show was a popular Australian comedy show which aired on Australian television from 1973 until 1984. It made a star of Paul Hogan who later appeared in Crocodile Dundee. Hogan's friend (and producer of Crocodile Dundee John Cornell) also appeared in the show, playing Hogan's dim flatmate Strop.

Episodes of the series generally opened with Hogan, playing a version of himself he called 'Hoges', presenting a stand-up comedy routine dressed in his bridge rigger's costume of boots, shorts, and shirt with sleeves cut off. The show then presented a series of comedy sketches, usually with Hogan in the lead role and playing various recurring characters

It's a knockout

2010-06-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

It's a Knockout ran on the Ten Network from 1985 to 1987. The teams were divided into the Australian states: New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (VIC), Queensland (QLD) and South Australia (SA). The show was hosted by Billy J Smith along with Fiona MacDonald for the duration that it aired in Australia. They would arrive to the show in a golf buggy. The show was filmed in a field in Dural NSW, however due to numerous complaints from local residents the show was forced to be canned by 1987

Pugwall

2010-06-02T08:47:00.001-07:00

Pugwall is an Australian children's television series. It revolves around the title character Peter Unwin George Wall, PUGWALL, and his friends as they form a band called the Orange Organics.

The Early Bird Show

2010-06-02T00:31:00.000-07:00

The Early Bird Show was a TV show aired on Network 10 in Australia from 1985 until 1989. Produced by Dixie Duncan and directed by Spencer Wilson, Ray McKenna and Bob Loxton, the show regularly featured Australian rock singer Darryl Cotton as host, along with Marie Van Maaren and Marty The Monster. The show was so popular a magazine about it was published in 1989. It ran for five hours every Saturday morning, and was considered to be a kids variety show. In 1989, the show was shortened to two hours and renamed 'Club 10'. This version lasted just ten weeks before being replaced by 'Video Hits', a music video show.

Cop Shop

2010-06-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Cop Shop was an Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday operations of both the uniformed police officers and the plain-clothes detectives of the fictional Riverside Police Station.
While many Crawfords Productions police dramas combined videotaped interiors with location footage shot on 16mm film, Cop Shop was shot entirely on video, including external scenes.
Two one-hour episodes were broadcast each week that featured a specific police investigation and guest cast whose stories formed a self-contained narrative block. Alongside this the ongoing narratives of the regular characters continued in longer, more open-ended soap opera-style story threads. This same soap opera-drama series hybrid format would also later be used in series Skyways, A Country Practice and Carson's Law.

Nine News Ash Wednesday

2010-06-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

Wheel of Fortune - 1984

2010-06-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

Wheel of Fortune is a long-time Australian television game show, produced by Grundy Television. It aired on the Seven Network from 1981 to 2004 and November 2005 to July 2006. After Wheel of Fortune ended, the format was revived by the Nine Network in 2008 as Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune, until it was axed in June 2008 for lower than expected ratings.

An earlier unrelated show of the same title had been broadcast on the Nine Network. That version had been developed by Reg Grundy as a radio game show before it transferred to television in 1959.

Mother and Son

2010-06-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Mother and Son is a Logie Award-winning Australian television sitcom produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 16 January 1984 until 21 March 1994. The show stars Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Henri Szeps and Judy Morris. It was created and written by Geoffrey Atherden.

The plot of the show addresses the problems of ageing and caring for somebody with Alzheimer's disease with an often sharp-edged humour which carried with it a tinge of sadness. Despite its unlikely subject-matter for a comedy, the show was a popular favourite with audiences. Maggie and Arthur's relationship was presented with a fascinating complexity - Maggie's cruel attacks on and emotional manipulation of Arthur disguised her deep dependence on and need of him, and Arthur's dutiful love of Maggie was constantly in conflict with his guilty frustration at the huge limitations for his own life which looking after his mother entailed. The performance of Cracknell, a famous stage actress, as Maggie was particularly lauded as one of the finest characterisations on Australian television.

Simon Townsend's Wonder World

2010-06-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

Simon Townsend's Wonder World was a multi-award winning Australian children's television show that aired on the Ten Network from 1979 until 1986. It was hosted by journalist Simon Townsend.

Each episode of Simon Townsend's Wonder World featured an introduction by Simon Townsend as the studio host, accompanied by his pet and companion bloodhound Woodrow (Woodrow died in 1985 and was replaced at first with a sulphur-crested cockatoo and then with another baby bloodhound). Simon would then present four individual magazine-style stories, each presented by a different reporter.

The stories covered any and every subject imaginable, from the most amazing pets, to the meaning of one hand clapping. Two researchers, two cinematographers, two sound recordists, four reporters and four editors worked on the time equivalent of a feature film every week - about eighty minutes of screen time shot on 16mm reversal film. Stories were not scripted, relying upon the ingenuity of the reporter and the two-man crew. If a story fell through the trio found another; no-one ever returned to the office at the end of the day without two stories. Every show also contained a viewer segment, and a music segment - often produced by the program itself. For instance Simon Townsend's Wonder World made the first ever music video featuring famous Australian band INXS. During the course of the series, Townsend and his reporters traveled all over Australia and to many and varied locations in America, the UK, Europe, India, Asia and the Pacific region.

Simon Townsend would always end every show with the same signature farewell - "And remember, the world really is wonderful!"

Romper Room

2010-06-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

The hostess and her group of children would embark on an hour (or half hour) of games, exercises, songs and moral lessons, which were regularly accompanied by background music. The young cast was rotated every two months and ranged from four to five years old. Romper Room tried to teach its young charges to be polite. For instance, the hostesses were always addressed as "Miss." Many of the hostesses had prior experience in working with small children, as many were former kindergarten teachers.

A recurring character was Mr. Do-Bee, an oversized bumblebee who came to teach the children how to be well-behaved; he was noted for always starting his sentence with "Do Bee," as in the imperative "Do be"

Perfect Match

2010-05-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

Perfect Match is an Australian dating game show based on the format of The Dating Game and Blind Date. Perfect Match was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation.

It originally aired on Network Ten for 30 minutes most weekdays from 5:30pm between 1984 and 1989. The format was revived in Australia for subsequent programs Blind Date in 1991, and Perfect Match on the Seven Network in 2002.

frankie doyle

2010-05-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

Carson's Law

2010-05-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

Carson's Law is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Ten Network between 1983 and 1984. The series was a period piece set in the 1920s and starred Lorraine Bayly as progressive solicitor Jennifer Carson. The episodes revolved around the cases taken on by Jennifer, and the various personal intrigues of her family.

Carson's Law was noted for its quality scripts and period production values, however although the programme was very popular in Melbourne where the series was based and filmed, it did not succeed in Sydney. Attempts to revamp the series to make it appeal more to Sydney audiences eventually alienated the programme's core audience, and it was cancelled in 1984 after 184 episodes. Carson's Law was bought by two members of the UK ITV network. Yorkshire Television showed a considerable amount of episodes on Thursdays at 1.30pm during 1984 while Television South West screened a slightly lower amount in their 6.35pm slot on Tuesdays during 1984.

Comedy Company

2010-05-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

The Comedy Company was an Australian comedy television series first aired from 16 February 1988 until about 11 November 1990 on Network Ten, Sunday night and was created and directed by Ian McFadyen, and co directed and produced by Jo Lane. The show largely consisted of sketch comedy in short segments, much in the tradition of earlier Sketch comedy shows, The Mavis Bramston Show, The Naked Vicar Show, Australia You're Standing In It, and The D-Generation. The majority of the filming took place in Melbourne, Victoria. The show had a significant effect on Australian culture, particularly on Australian youth. The Australian adoption of the word "Bogan" was first used in its existing context by the famous The Comedy Company character, Kylie Mole.

C'Mon Kids

2010-05-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Henderson Kids

2010-05-14T03:58:00.000-07:00

The Henderson Kids was an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for Network Ten between 1985 and 1987. It was created and storylined by Roger Moulton, who also wrote 5 episodes in the first series and 2 episodes in the second series.

The series follows a teenage brother and sister, Steve (Paul Smith) and Tamara (Nadine Garner). They are forced to leave the city and move to the country to live with their uncle Mike (Nicholas Eadie) after their mother Alice (Diane Craig) is hit by a truck and killed. Mike is a police officer in the fictional town of Haven Bay.

The Henderson kids making a new life in Haven Bay and making friends with the local gang. They were Ted Morgan (Ben Mendelsohn), Colin "Cowboy" Clarke (Mark Hennessy), Charlotte "Char" Kernow (Kylie Minogue) and Brian "Brains" Buchanan (Bradley Kilpatrick).

Steve and Tamara defend the family land, Hendersons' Point, against the schemes of ruthless businessman Ashley Wheeler (Peter Whitford). To compound matters, Steve falls in love with Wheeler's gorgeous daughter Sylvia (Annie Jones).

Several well known actors played guest roles in the series. They included Tottie Goldsmith, Kevin Harrington, Peter O'Brien, Stefan Dennis, and Jane Hall who all went on to appear in Neighbours. Antoinette Byron also had a role in the series.

The Haven Bay set footage was filmed in Birregurra, Victoria

Fat Cat & Friends

2010-05-14T02:53:00.000-07:00

Fat Cat and Friends was an Australian children's television show starring Fat Cat, an orange anthropomorphic cat who wears red braces, a blue bow tie and a green bowler hat. The show was similar in concept to Here's Humphrey featuring Humphrey B. Bear. It was produced in the studios of Channel 10 Adelaide and it survived the 1987 frequency switch of channels 10 & 7 in Adelaide.

The show ran on the 0-10 Network (as it was then known) from 1972 until 1987, then on the Seven Network until it was cancelled in 1992 after the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal claimed that the program was not educational enough and was "not clearly defined and might confuse the young". There was also a question of gender- namely, that Fat Cat did not appear to have one. The character being mute was also a clear issue despite the precedent of Humphrey B. Bear.

Despite cancellation, Fat Cat still appears on Perth television screens as the mascot of Seven Perth's highly successful Telethon fundraising organisation. He also says goodnight to children on television at 7.30 each night.

Fat Cat was played by Ralf Hadzic, who currently operates wine tours in Adelaide with an organisation called "Life is a Cabernet". The character had earlier been played by a male friend of the show's musician, singer Patsy Biscoe.

Initially slated for release as a sidekick to Fat Cat, the character of 'Stringbean' was originally played in the first month of screening by veteran comedic actor 'Nudge McGee'.

A Cry In The Dark - Lindy Chamberlain Story

2010-05-14T02:43:00.000-07:00

A Cry in the Dark is a 1988 Australian docudrama film directed by Fred Schepisi. The screenplay by Schepisi and Robert Caswell is based on John Bryson's 1985 book Evil Angels, the title under which the film was released in Australia. It chronicles the case of Azaria Chamberlain, a nine-week-old baby girl who disappeared from a campground near Uluru (known as Ayers Rock at the time) on 17 August 1980 and the struggle of her parents, Michael and Lindy, to prove their innocence to a public convinced that they were complicit in her death.

The film was released less than two months after the Chamberlains finally were exonerated by the Northern Territory Court of Appeals of all charges filed against them

Bush Tucker Man

2010-05-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

Major Leslie James (Les) Hiddins AM (born August 13, 1946 in Brisbane, Queensland), aka "The Bush Tucker Man" is a retired Australian Army soldier and war veteran, who is best known for his love and knowledge of the Australian bush. Hiddins is recognised by his distinctively modified Akubra hat and big grin.
As a soldier with the Australian Army, Hiddins did two tours of duty in Vietnam between 1966 and 1968, the first as a forward scout in the infantry. In 1987 he was awarded a Defence Fellowship to research survival in northern Australia. He was the principal author of the Australian Army's Combat Survival manual (1987) and was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1987

This research turned into a hit TV series The Bush Tucker Man. The series involves Hiddins driving around in a Land Rover Perentie, then in later episodes a Defender 110 with his trademark hat, finding and describing native Australian bush food or "Bush Tucker". Les appeared in two ABC TV series of Bush Tucker Man, and the series Bush Tucker Man - Stories of Survival. He also appeared in the TV documentaries Pandora - in the Wake of the Bounty and The Batavia. His other publications are Bush Tucker Man - Stories of Exploration and Survival (1996), Bush Tucker Man - Tarnished Heroes (1997), Explore Wild Australia with the Bush Tucker Man (1999), Bush Tucker Fieldguide (2002).

In The Bush With Malcolm Douglas

2010-05-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

In 1964, Malcolm Douglas, then just 23 years old, and a mate, set off on a six-month trip around Australia. Six months turned into four years. It was a journey that shaped Malcolm's future. And as they travelled and explored, they filmed their adventures.[2] The Film later turned into the documentary 'Across the Top', Which still holds the rating record for a documentary on Australian television.[3] Since then he has produced over 50 Documentaries and Films for Channel Seven and Channel Nine.[4] He is also known as the "Barefoot Bushman".

His 2008 produced 6-part series, In The Bush With Malcolm Douglas, aired in 2009 on Channel Seven to high ratings on Saturday nights, winning its timeslot 4 out of the 6 weeks.[5] Based on these ratings, after the conclusion of the series Channel Seven will replay another of his documentary series In Search of the Big Barra.

Ask The Leyland Brothers

2010-05-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Mike (1941– September 14, 2009 and Mal Leyland (born 1945), also known as The Leyland Brothers, were Australian explorers and documentary film-makers, best known for their popular television show, Ask the Leyland Brothers. The show ran on Australian television from 1976 until 1984

2010-05-13T08:28:00.001-07:00

ABC News Melbourne December 1984

7 News Melbourne 1984

The New Price Is Right - 1984

2010-05-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

The New Price Is Right aired on Seven Network from 1981-1986 with host Ian Turpie and announcer John Deeks. In 1984, the show introduced a "carry-over" format with returning champions. Up to that point, the format of the show consisted of three pricing games, the Showcase Playoff, and the Showcase. The new format replaced the third game with the Showcase Showdown from the American version, with 100 earning a bonus prize. The winner faced the champion in the Showcase Playoff, whose winner advanced to the Showcase.

Price was revived in 1989 for an hour-long version, again hosted by Turpie airing Saturday nights on Network Ten as part of Network Ten's attempted revamp that year; however, it only lasted 12 episodes. The format resembled the US version, with three games, then a Showcase Showdown, then repeat. The two Showdown winners then competed in the Showcase Playoff, with the winner advancing to the Showcase.

Family Feud - 1982

2010-05-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Family Feud was an Australian game show based on the American show of the same name. It ran on the Nine Network from 1977-1984, and on the Seven Network from 1989-1996.

Representatives of the family are posed questions that have already been answered by 100 people. An answer is considered correct if it is one of the concealed answers on the game board, or judged to be equivalent. More points are given for answers that have been given by more people in the survey (one point per person). Answers must have been given by at least two of the 100 people in order to be included on the board. There are four members on each team.

Examples of questions might be "Name a famous George", "Tell me a popular family vacation spot", "Name something you do at school", or "Name a slang name for policemen". At least two people among the survey respondents must give an answer for it to appear as one of the possibilities.

The participants are not asked questions about what is true or how things really are. Instead, they are asked questions about what other people think are true. As such, a perfectly logical answer may be considered incorrect because it failed to make the survey (e.g.: for the question about Georges, George Jones was a popular country singer, but if his name was not given by at least two people it would be considered wrong).

Peter Russell Clarke outtakes

2010-05-13T07:52:00.001-07:00

Agro's cartoon connection

2010-05-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

Agro's Cartoon Connection was an Australian children's television show that aired on the Seven Network from 1989 to 1997. Shown on weekday mornings, it was primarily hosted by Agro, a puppet played by comedian Jamie Dunn.

Over the years the show had a number of co-hosts including Ann-Maree Biggar, Terasa Livingstone, Holly Brisley, Michael R Gibson and guest hosts Ian Calder and Stacey Thomson.

It followed on from a show called Cartoon Connection which had been hosted for many years previously by Michael Horrocks and Alex Wileman, Wileman went on to do New South Wales lottery broadcasts.

The show consisted of playing a variety of cartoons including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Popeye, various Hanna-Barbera cartoons, Samurai Pizza Cats and Sailor Moon while including small editorials presented between the cartoons in a variety of segments. One such example included Ian Calder appearing in a regular segment acting as a character, one of his more popular being Crikey the Clown where he would walk around the streets of Brisbane in an aggressive manner asking questions to anyone he met.

Other shows presented during the series' run included G.I. Joe, He-Man, Robotech, Power Rangers Zeo, The Bots Master, Masked Rider, Sonic the Hedgehog, Scooby Doo, The Mask and Mega Man. The Sunday morning edition of the program ran under the name The Super Sunday Show and included skits performed by the regulars, as well as presenting the UK sci-fi program UFO.

Notably the show's humour was sometimes provocative but always done in a way that would escape the notice of the show's primary audience of children. The program was criticized in Parliament for including product sponsorship within the program itself, rather than simply running commercial breaks.

In its final years the show lost in the ratings to its competitor Cheez TV, causing the Seven Network to cut its running time and funding until it was cancelled.

Mr Squiggle

2010-05-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Mr. Squiggle was Australia's longest-running children's television series, and the name of the title character from that ABC TV show. Mr. Squiggle (the character) was a marionette with a pencil for a nose, who visited his friends from his home at 93 Crater Crescent on the Moon, flying in his pet rocket (named Rocket). In every episode he would create several pictures from "squiggles" sent in by children from around the country.

Mr. Squiggle was created by Norman Hetherington, and the show first aired on 1 July 1959. Hetherington voiced all the show's puppets, while his wife Margaret wrote the scripts. The last episode went to air just over 40 years later on 9 July 1999.

Mr. Squiggle was helped by a human female assistant in all of the show's incarnations; they included Miss Gina (Gina Curtis), Miss Pat (Pat Lovell), Miss Jane (Jane Fennell), and later series featured Roxanne (Roxanne Kimmorley) and Rebecca (Rebecca Hetherington, Hetherington's daughter).

The show has been presented in many formats, from five minute slots to a one-and-a-half hour variety show featuring other performers, and has had several name changes, originally airing as Mr. Squiggle and Friends. Yet the basic premise of the show remained the same: children wrote in with their "squiggles" and Mr. Squiggle would turn them into a recognisable drawing by connecting lines with his pencil nose. More often than not, the picture would be drawn upside down (Hetherington manipulated the puppet from above by viewing the drawing upside down), and then Mr. Squiggle would gleefully declare: "Upside down! Upside down!" – asking his assistant to turn the picture the right way up and reveal the completed drawing.

Mr Squiggle was a cheery, scatter-brained character who would often be distracted and would occasionally go for "space-walks", and his assistant would need to calm him down to get him to focus on the task of drawing.

Other puppet characters that appeared in the show included:

Blackboard, the grumpy blackboard that Mr. Squiggle used for an easel, whose catchcries were "Oh Hu-rry u-p" and "Hmmph and double hmmph".

Gus the Snail, who had a TV for a shell and later, a flower pot.

Bill the Steam Shovel, who liked to tell corny jokes and belched steam out of his "nose" when he laughed.

Shirl's Neighbourhood

2010-05-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

Shirl's Neighbourhood was an Australian afternoon children's television series aired on the Seven Network between 1979 and 1983. The half-hour show featured former Skyhooks frontman Graeme "Shirley" Strachan and co-host Liz Rule alongside a cast of characters including Norm The Kangaroo, Ol' Possum, Claude The Crow, Stanley The Snake, Greenfinger the Garden Gnome, Yippee the Bunyip, Bartholomew the Sheep and a band of monkeys. Franciscus Henri appeared in the show as a regular, both as himself presenting musical segments and as "Professor Henri" in comical sketches. He left the show in October 1980.

Norm the Kangaroo was played by Don Bridges. The other characters were puppets created and brought to life by Ron Mueck. Shirl's Neighbourhood was produced by Jennifer Hooks and Richard Bence of Puppetstuff. It ran from 1979 till 1983 and clocked up over 900 episodes. Jennifer Hooks later went on to head Film Victoria and Cinemedia.

The show was very popular with kids and adults alike. This was due mainly to the character of Claude the Crow. Claude had a slightly more cynical view of the world than the other characters, and adults could identify with this.

Home and Away - Pilot episode 1

2010-05-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney by the Seven Network since July 1987. It premiered in January 1988 and is the second longest-running drama on Australian television, winning more than 30 Logie Awards
The show initially focused on the characters of Pippa (Vanessa Downing/Debra Lawrance) and Tom Fletcher (Roger Oakley), who ran the Summer Bay Caravan Park and lived there with a succession of foster children, most notably their adopted daughter Sally, played by Kate Ritchie.

The Sullivans - episode 1 & 2

2010-05-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Sullivans is an Australian drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran from 1976 until 1983. The series told the story of an average middle-class Irish-Australian Melbourne family and the effect World War II had on their lives. It was a consistent ratings success in Australia, and also became popular in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.

The story began in 1939, with the declaration of war against Germany. From the outset the series focused on the Sullivan family of 7 Gordon Street, Camberwell, Victoria, along with neighbourhood friends, relatives, and associates. The majority of show's storylines related to the war, focussing on either the fighting itself or its impact on the Sullivan family. Scenes of battles in northern Africa, Greece, Crete, the Netherlands, England, New Guinea and Malaya were all filmed in or around Melbourne.

The Sullivans was renowned for its high production standards. The programme's researchers went to great lengths to ensure both historical and cultural accuracy. Many scenes were timestamped and the scripts referenced actual military developments and events of the time, such discussion of specific battles, sporting results and cinematic releases. Authentic 1930s furniture was located and used on sets, while kitchen pantries and the corner store were stocked with packaged goods of the era.

A Country Practice - episode 1

2010-05-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

A Country Practice was one of the longest-running Australian television drama series. It ran on the Seven Network for 1,058 episodes from 18 November 1981 to 22 November 1993. It was produced in ATN-7's production facility at Epping, Sydney. It also ran from April to November 1994 for 30 episodes on Network Ten. The Channel Seven series was also filmed on location in Pitt Town, (outskirts of Northwest Sydney) while the Channel Ten series was filmed on location in Emerald, Victoria.

Though sometimes considered a soap opera, the storylines of the show's two one-hour episodes screened over any one week formed a self-contained narrative block. The storylines were meant to have a primary appeal to adult and older youthful audiences, and in particular they had greater appeal to children from middle class backgrounds.[1] As it did not have the open ended narrative of a traditional soap opera, it was technically a series [2]. Nevertheless many storylines were developed as sub plots for several episodes before becoming the focus of a particular week's narrative block. Overall, the programme "so emphasised the ongoing storylines of its major characters as to make the distinction between series and serial more or less meaningless" [2].

In addition to being broadcast in Australia, it also ran on the ITV network in the United Kingdom, as well as in many European countries and Hong Kong. It was also carried on a variety of Canadian stations, both during the show's lifetime and after. It was estimated that at its height, the show received a worldwide audience of five to six million each week.

The show followed a medical practice in the small fictional New South Wales country town of Wandin Valley. The show's stories focused on the staff of the practice and the hospital and their families, and through weekly guest characters - frequently patients served by the practice - various social and medical problems were explored. The series examined such topical issues as youth unemployment, suicide, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, and terminal illness as well as Aborigines and their place in modern Australian society. Apart from its regular rotating cast of characters, mainly among the younger personnel, A Country Practice also had a cast of semi-regulars who would make appearances as the storylines permitted.

A Country Practice has also become well-known for its number of guest stars appearances, including Baz Luhrmann, Smokey Dawson, John Meillon, Sir Robert Helpmann and even the Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke made a cameo appearance in 1986. Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette and Simon Baker also had guest-roles in the series before going on to international fame.

The series is also the third most successful series in the history of the Logie Awards having won 29 times. Brian Wenzel was the first actor to win such an Honour for his role as Sergeant Frank Gilroy. By the end of the series Brian Wenzel and Shane Porteous were the only original cast members.

Sons and Daughters - episode 1

2010-05-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

Sons and Daughters was a Logie Award winning Australian soap opera created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation. It screened on the Seven Network in an early evening timeslot, running from 18 January 1982 until 19 August 1987. The series commenced in Melbourne with the first three episodes screened in a 90 minute format on Monday, 18 January 1982 at 7pm. A repeat run on the Seven Network in Australia ran in October 2006 but ended in March 2007; however beginning from July 2008 it has started up again, picking up where it left off every Thursday night at around midnight. Additionally, the Seven Network's digital channel 7TWO has begun airing the series from the very beginning starting November 4, 2009 every weekday at 9am. A DVD marking the 25th Anniversary of Sons and Daughters was released in October 2006.

Prisoner - Cell Block H episode 1

2010-05-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 16 December 1986.

The series was inspired by the 1970s British television drama Within These Walls, which had achieved moderate success in Australia. Because of an injunction brought by UK-based ATV, which considered the title too similar to their own series The Prisoner, it was originally not possible for overseas broadcasters to screen the show under the name Prisoner which necessitated a name change. It was known as Prisoner: Cell Block H in the UK and the United States (though this extended title was not shown onscreen), and as Caged Women in Canada.

Kingswood Country - Aerial Warfare

2010-05-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

Kingswood Country is an Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on the Seven Network. The series started on 30 January 1980 and was a spin-off from a sketch on comedy program The Naked Vicar Show that had featured Ross Higgins as a blustering bigot. It was produced by RS Productions.

While some condemned its racist and sexist humour, this was often simply a plot device to show the bigotry of the main character, Edward Melba "Ted" Bullpitt (Ross Higgins), a white Australian, conservative, bigoted, Holden Kingswood-loving putty factory worker and WWII veteran who recalls his difficult childhood in ever more exaggerated ways.

He lives for three things: his beloved chair in front of the TV, his unsuccessful racing greyhounds and his worshipped Holden Kingswood car (late in the show's run Ted traded-in the Kingswood, which had gone out of production around the time the series began, for Holden's replacement mid-range family car, the Commodore). His long-suffering wife, the vague and dithering Thelma (Judi Farr), was cast as a traditional housewife trapped by Ted's conservative family views, but she often got her own back on Ted.

Humour was generated by the conflict of Ted's traditional views and his children's progressive nature. For example, his son Craig (Peter Fisher) is portrayed as a sexually rampant medical student and is referred to as an "Al Grassby Groupie", a reference to a progressive politician of the time. His daughter, Greta (Laurel McGowan), is portrayed as a feminist and is married to Bruno (Lex Marinos), the son of Italian immigrants, to which Ted strongly objects (often referring to him as a "bloody wog"). Other politically-incorrect humor includes Ted's references to Neville, the concrete Aboriginal garden statue.

At other times, humour was based on the more traditional comedic methods of poorly thought-out schemes of Ted's (usually get-rich-quick); class differences (between the suburban Bullpitts and Ted's upwardly-mobile sister-in-law Merle) and simple misunderstandings leading to a chain of humorous events.

Curiosity Show

2010-05-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

The Curiosity Show was an Australian educational children's television show produced from 1972 to 1990, hosted by Prof. Rob Morrison and Dr. Deane Hutton. The show was produced by Banksia Productions in South Australia for the Nine Network. 149 episodes were produced.

From 1972 to 1980 the format was a 60 minute show presented by Rob Morrison, Deane Hutton, Ian Fairweather. The emphasis was on science but also included general craft and music. Producers were Neil Smith, Kate Kennedy White (1978-79) and James Lingwood (1980).

From 1980 the show was reduced to 30 minutes, presented by Morrison and Hutton, with emphasis on science, nature and the environment.

The Curiosity Show won the coveted Prix Jeunesse in 1982 voted by peers from around the world as the best factual program for children.

The programme placed a strong emphasis on practical demonstrations of various science topics, and included activities such as floating a ping-pong ball on a stream of air, setting off a room full of mouse traps, and freezing objects with liquid nitrogen.

Many segments described a sequence of steps to build something out of common household materials, which invariably ended with the phrase "here's one I prepared earlier". Hutton's catchphrase, after presenting a hypothesis he postulates the audience may be curious about, was to declare "well I'm glad you asked," before responding to the hypothesis. The use of household materials was initially due to the very low budget allocated for production, but this proved popular with the young audience who could easily replicate the demonstrations at home.

Hey Hey It's Saturday (March 1984)

2010-05-13T06:02:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey It's Saturday is a long running variety television program on Australian television. It ran for 27 years (there was a recess in 1978), debuting on the Nine Network on 9 October 1971 and broadcasting its last episode on 20 November 1999. Its host throughout its entire run was Daryl Somers, who would later become executive producer of the program. Gavin Disney, the show's co-creator and original producer, left the series in the 1980s and Somers then jointly formed his own production company, Somers Carroll Productions with on-screen partner Ernie Carroll, the performer of Daryl's puppet sidekick Ossie Ostrich.

On 25 July 2009, the Nine Network announced the show would return for two reunion specials in late 2009 and hinted if they rated strongly, the show could return full time.[2] The first reunion show aired on 30 September 2009 and the second on 7 October. On 7 December 2009, it was announced that the show was planned to return in 2010 with an estimated run of 20 episodes. On 26 March 2010 it was announced that the new series of Hey Hey It's Saturday was to commence on 14 April 2010.[3] During the 2010 premiere on 14 April, it was indicated that the 20 episode run would be split into two groups, with a break between them, and the second group would be aired at an unspecified period of time later in 2010.

Sale of the Century

2010-05-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

$ale of the Century was an Australian game show that aired on the Nine Network from 14 July 1980 – December 2001. Tony Barber hosted an early version of Sale of the Century under the title of Temptation from 1970–1976, and was also the initial host of Sale, replaced by Glenn Ridge in 1991. Hostesses over the years have included Victoria Nicholls, Delvene Delaney, Alyce Platt, Jo Bailey, Nicky Buckley and Karina Brown. Pete Smith was Sale's announcer for the majority of its run.Ron Neate was announcer for only the first ten episodes in 1980 before Smith took over.

Blankety Blanks

2010-05-13T03:36:00.001-07:00

Blankety Blanks was a popular Australian game show based on the American game show Match Game. It was hosted by Graham Kennedy on Network Ten. It ran from 1977-1978.

Regular panelists were Ugly Dave Gray, Noeline Brown, Carol Raye and Stuart Wagstaff. Other panelists included Noel Ferrier, Belinda Giblin, Abigail, Nick Tate, Tommy Hanlon Junior, Dawn Lake, Jon English, Wendy Blacklock, Barry Creyton, Peta Toppano, Mark Holden and John Paul Young.

Blankety Blanks had a two-season run from 1977 to 1978. It was screened at a rate of five, thirty-minute episodes each week, stripped across an early evening timeslot. It was broadcast at 7.30 PM in 1977, and at 7.00 PM in 1978.[1]

Kennedy won a TV Week Gold Logie Award in 1978 for Most Popular Personality On Australian Television. When Kennedy succumbed to laryngitis, announcer Don Blake was forced to host the show for an episode.

Welcome to Oldschool Aussie Tv

2010-05-13T03:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Oldschool Aussie Tv
a blog that looks back at yester year Australian Tv.