Oz TV continued - The 70's....

' I'm livin' in the seventies...'
( Skyhooks from the album 'Ego is not a dirty word' 1975)

It was the 1970's...a decade of much change, Vietnam finally ended through much protest, Whitlam got elected then dismissed (Shame Kerr Shame), women's liberation movement was finally making progress, gays were protesting in the first Sydney Mardi Gras(yes community it's when we USED to be political), the fuel crisis was a hot topic for all, Flares were as common as Kath & Kim, music went from folk to rock to disco... and that's just Oz society... high DRAMA also hit the small screen too...

The two other major things happened in OZ TV during this decade..colour (1975)...and it started to get racey...(no-not that bad UK band)...

Lets start with Racey eh?

Pretty much, 'Number 96' summed up what Oz TV was about in the '70's...a soap opera about the residents in an unassuming Sydney flat block - which overnight became one of the most talked about show ever...well until Idol/BB/etc...

Served up a five nights a week on the '0/10 network', this soap opened the green door of taboo topics in the 1970's - sex, racism homosexuality, drugs- and that was just the first bloody show...plus lots of nudity...

Lordy - Highlights of the show included the knicker snatcher', the 'pantyhose strangler' the hooded rapist(seeing a pattern?), Duddles 'disco' and the bombing - blowing up the block (a cunning plan to rid the least popular characters but almost killed the show) and of course, garden variety crazies...

In the typical '0/10 network style' (Of course) they created 'The Box' in similar naughtiness but based in a television studio..not as good...(10 would do the same 30 years later after the success of 'Idol' with 'X Factor' - which flopped)...

But Drama didn't end in the flat block...Oz TV was Drama galore - Especially situational drama...top rating shows include:-

"Matlock Police" - Drama in the police station

"Chopper Squad" - Drama on the search & rescue team

"The Young Doctors" Drama in the hospital and

"Prisoner" Drama in the women's prison (will need to dedicate a whole blog entry to the dear Women of Wentworth) - It appears OZ TV needed a location - then a drama...

And if not a location - a location with a period...

" The Sullivans" - The much loved inter-war drama about your typical pre-war Oz family during the great depression...so popular it managed to go until the 1950's - you know what I mean - I think the show success (other than the great Oz cast & the opening credits with Kitty being chased down the lane by her larikin brother while 'Mam' and 'me Dad' got their picture taken - in sepia no less) it was a welcomed walk down nostalgia lane at a time where the world had completely changed...

And changes were all over - Gra Gra leaves Channel 9 ('after that crow call which sounded like he was saying Farrrrrrrrrrk') and off to 0/10 for 'Blankety Blanks' where Oz A List ,B List and Ugly Dave Gray Category List celebrities made lewd innuendo while drinking whisky and smoking cigars/cigarettes (I'm not kidding)...Quiz show entertainment mixed in with variety...Lordy who could forgot Peter the 'Phantom Puller' of the board...

Speaking of mixers - combine variety,Kids and 'stars in their eyes' and you get 'YOUNG TALENT TIME' - this show started so many little OZ performer careers - including Debbie Burnes, Jamie Redfern,Tina Arena and Dannii Minogue - performing covers of the day and hosted by Johnny 'make your skin crawl' Young...Yes I dreamed of singing 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon' Round an old (prop) tree on the 0/10 soundstage...

...But as I got older, I would have much prefered to sing a cover from the Hit Parade - sorry top 10 - from 'COUNTDOWN'...

Ian 'Molly' Meldrum can be attributed to late nights, love of ancient Egypt, taking more drugs than Sid Vicious (Molly I was at Freakazoid as well love) - and of course - this TV Gem - not a carbon copy of 'Bandstand' or another UK/US music show - this was Music Oz - live bands, interviews and the latest and greatest...surviving until the eighties and then reformed as 'Countdown Revolution' - not a patch on its former 'Muse-o' self...Countdown was watched by many...and now there is a revival tour going on in OZ!

...and yes to come full circle - the first 'COUNTDOWN' show was the first of many first's in 1975 - the first on the ABC not only shown in colour, firstly introduced by John('ny was lost as I want to be taken seriously') Farham and first showing Skyhooks playing 'Horror Movie' - high drama if ever I saw, heard or lived it...shockin' me right out of my brains...

But come 1979, the world was changing again - no more stacked heels and Donna Summer at the Disco, the new wave was coming, so was money and power and greed...(but more on Channel 9 later)...

So kids toss out those flares and forgot about the punch and fondue, shop for power suits and get the barman to bring us a couple of fluffy ducks at the club 'Inflation/Check Point Charlie/Rumours'(insert the 80's club name here)...The Eighties (and excess) have arrived...

...to be continued...