Super Flying Fun Show
| Super Flying Fun Show | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's television |
| Starring | Marilyn Mayo |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Running time | 90 then 120 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | TCN-9 for GTV-9 |
| Picture format | 2" monochrome VT, kinescoped, PAL Colour from 1975 |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | 1970 – 1979 |
The Super Flying Fun Show was a live weekday morning television programme aimed at children. It was made at TCN 9 in Sydney, Australia, and shown on relay in Melbourne on GTV 9.
Super Flying Fun Show replaced the original Today show that had been launched from GTV 9 in 1968 with Mike Walsh. When Today was linked with TCN 9 and the compère changed to Tony Charlton, recently recruited Victorian regional stations began to drop the show. By October 1969 the Today show had been cancelled, and a mixture of live children's entertainment and cartoons was on air between 7AM and 8:30AM and later to 9:00AM from 1970.
Original hosts were Miss Marilyn (Marilyn Mayo) and former electrician Rod Hull with Emu. When Rod Hull returned to England in 1971 he was replaced with Marty Morton who was also a co-producer.[1] Opening titles consisted of Rod Hull as the character Caretaker Clot (Clotty the Janitor) walking to the TCN 9 transmitter tower and flicking a big switch. Other characters included: Wing Ding (A human sized chicken sponsoring a fast food chain), the Paddle Pop Lion (A human sized lion sponsoring a brand of ice-cream), and Freddo Frog (A human sized frog sponsoring a brand of chocolate).
Daily competitions included Miss Marilyn spinning a prize wheel. Contestants were rung by telephone. On occasions live musical performances played in the studio. Between the live segments were cartoons (usually American sourced) and programs such as Comedy Capers that consisted of Hal Roach silent film shorts. Merchandise from the show include a LP record and a Milton Bradley board game.
Throughout the decade Super Flying Fun Show competed with Fredd Bear's Breakfast-A-Go-Go, and later Non Stop Cartoon Carnival and The Early Bird Show on ATV 0 in Melbourne. Super Flying Fun Show ran until late 1979. It was replaced by cartoons until the news and current affair program Today commenced on 28 June 1982.
It is not known if any of the episodes were kinescoped or any video tapes were made, and it is possible (though not confirmed) that the series is lost. A similar show with the same title was also produced in Perth with host Dianna Hammond and in Adelaide (called the Super Duper Flying Fun Show) with Ric Marshall, Bozo the Clown and co-presenter Joanne White.
References
- Rod Hull - accessed January 2014
- The Age - Television and Radio Guide (Green Guide) 1969-1980
- TV Week magazine