Figure 1.--The Australian soap opera "Neighbors" is one of the country's best known TV program. Over time many children had roles and they often wore their school uniforms. |
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HBC will list TV series alphabetically here to make them easier to find. TV shows, except for American TV shows, are generally not well know in countries other than in the countries in which they were made. They are also much more current than movies. Almost all TV shows date from the 1950s at the earliest. Costume dramas have the same problems as in the movies, but a great deal of useful information is avialible from TV shows set in contemporary periods. As non-American TV shows are not as widely distributed as movies, often little information is available on these shows outside each country. Movies are often widely distributed in foreign countries. TV shows, with the exceptiion of American programs, are generally not. As an American, we have, for example, never seen German, French, and Italian TV shows. Thus the TV pages provide a much-needed source of information on foreign programing.
Series ran for several years. The first year had some episodes with boys in fancy outfits. There is also a malevolent governess, although in that episode the children are girls. There was an episode about a little Irish boy and Lord Henry. I don=t remember any interesting episodes after the first year.
Uncouth but kindhearted New Yorker becomes a nanny in a wealthy family. One of the children is a boy about 10 or 11, unfortunately he plays rather a brat. The children go to a private school with a uniform. The boy wears a blue blazer and gray long pants. I don't normally watch it, but one episode had the father's old German nanny visit and she tries to take over. In one episode she has the children all in identical blue sailor suits, the girls with skirts the boy in short pants--albeit long ones. He complains that he won't dare go outdoors or he will be beat up.
A boy is involved in the series, but I don't remember any interesting episodes. The boy did once appear in his Cub scout uniform with short pants and knee socks, quite unusual for American television.
"National Velvet", the TV show, starred Lori Martin as "Velvet Brown". The show aired for the 1960-61 and 1961-62 seasons. This was one of the first TV shows with a girl as main character. The earliest mazy well have been a Mickey Mouse Club segment called "Annette", starring Annette Funicello and Tim Considine from the mid-50s. "National Velvet" was at least one of the first shows that featured a girl as an assertive figure (Ricky Kelman's character was a bit of an overprotected mama's boy, at least when the character was introduced. Velvet was a good influence on him! "National Velvet" in its second season on TV introduced the character of "John Hadley", played by Ricky Kelman (from "The Dennis O'Keefe Show"; I don't think we were ever able to determine exactly what his
costuming was for that part). John's father is dead, and his mother is very overprotective. He's picked on by the boys at school because he's not loud and rambunctious like the other boys and is friends with a girl, Velvet. After John gets the worst of it in a
fight, Velvet gives him boxing lessons, and John beats up the worst of the bullies as Velvet looks on, smiling encouragement. Well, "NV" seemed ahead of it's time, at least in this episode. A girl lead was very unusual in early television.
Neighbours is the most important Aussie soap opera. It has also become one of the most widely followed daily soaps in Britain and indeed has proven popular around the world with new countries signing on every year. It never, however, proved popular in America, even on PBS which did carry "East Enders". Many children have been featured over the years, providing a view of changing boyswear and school uniform fashions. The series launched the careers of Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue.
The boys are all grown up and have their own families. Wally hasn't changed much, but who would have believed Beaver would grow up like he did. The new show had none of the charm of the original.
Family sitcom with a rather strange cast, two off springs of Frank Zappa and Shirely from "Lavern and Shirley@. I haven't seen it, but the cast does include a boy about 12, Simon (Josh Williams).
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