The Mavis Bramston Show was a popular satirical sketch comedy TV series broadcast on Australian television. It premiered in 1964 and was the first topical revue comedy series ever made in Australia. The original stars were British-born actor and comedian Gordon Chater, British singer and comedienne Carol Raye, and Australian actor-singer-comedian Barry Creyton. Other cast members included Maggie Dence, Noelene Brown, Miriam Karlin, Johnny Lockwood and June Salter. John Bluthal and Ron Fraser are guest starred in some of the episodes. Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject (individuals, organizations, states) often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... Sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes, or sketches, commonly between one and ten minutes long. ... Australian television contains a wide of range of shows of both local (Australian made) and imported shows from overseas. ... 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... John Bluthal (born 1929) is a film and television actor, mostly in comedy. ... Ron Fraser, former college baseball coach at the University of Miami from 1963 to 1992, nicknamed the Wizard of College Baseball, was not only one of the most successful coaches in NCAA baseball history, but was also responsible for bringing college baseball to a new level of public awareness. ...

The show's title derived from an Australian theatrical in-joke. It referred to a phenomenon that was common at that time on the Australian stage, in which overseas actors (who usually second-rate and/or well past their "use-by date") were brought to Australia to star in local theatre productions, even though there were superior local performers available. One of the most famous examples of this trend was the discovery of musical star Jill Perryman, who shot to fame in the mid-1960s while understudying a notably less impressive overseas actress for the lead role in a local production of the musical Call Me Madam, after the female lead was sidelined by illness. The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Call Me Madam is one of Irving Berlins last musical comedies. ...

These visiting ex-stars came to be known as "Mavis Bramstons", and this became the establishing conceit of the series. The opening scene of each episode showed Mavis -- now brought to life as a stock character -- arriving at Sydney airport to be greeted by the waiting press, but the irony was that although the show was called The Mavis Bramston Show, this was the only scene in which Mavis appeared.

The series became hugely successful and after a short run when it was only broadcast in Sydney, it soon went national and became the biggest-rating Australian TV comedy series ever made up to that time. It is reputed that the show became so popular in the national capital, Canberra, that local business had to move its late shopping night because it clashed with Mavis. Although it was attacked by conservatives, and threatened with the withdrawal of sponsorship, the controversy surrounding the show only served to heighten its popularity. Sydney Harbour looking south from the vicinity of the Sydney Harbour Bridge towards the CBD skyline; the Opera House is visible in the background on the left. ... Two of Canberras best-known landmarks, Parliament House and (foreground) Old Parliament House. ...

It is also credited as an important milestone in the development of a local TV production industry. At the time Mavis premiered, Australian television was massively dominated by imported product from the United States and (to a lesser extent) Great Britain. Mavis was crucial in proving that it was possible to make a successful topical revue comedy series in Australia, featuring Australian issues and characters, and that there was a significant audience for this brand of humour.

See also

• List of Australian television series

This is a list of Australian television series and television programs. ...

External link

• The Mavis Bramston Show at the Internet Movie Database