''The Penthouse Club'' was an Australian weekly variety program produced live to air from the studios of HSV-7

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

from 10 October 1970. It was originally hosted by Michael Williamson (also a football commentator for HSV) and comedian Mary Hardy.

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The program, screening each Saturday night from around 8.30 pm (the starting time varied over the years depending on HSV-7's Saturday night VFL football commitments), was a mix of comedy, light entertainment and live coverage of

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Austral ...

from the RAS Showgrounds and, later, Moonee Valley racecourse. The weekly

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

draw Tattslotto was incorporated as a segment in the program from around 1972. ''The Penthouse Club'' was considered a welcome alternative on Saturday nights which is often regarded as a wasteland of reruns and low-grade movies on other channels. The long-time musical director for the program was Ivan Hutchinson. In 1978, Williamson was replaced by Ernie Sigley and the program was retitled ''Saturday Night Live'' (with no relation to the NBC show) in 1979. Hardy left the program during 1978. The predecessor programs were '' Sunnyside Up'' and ''Club Seven''. Rival television station ATV-10 attempted to resurrect the format in 1980 with little success. Also during the 1970s,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

television station ADS-7 produced their own version of ''The Penthouse Club'' with Bob Francis,

Anne Wills Anne Shirley Wills (born 3 October 1944) is an Australian television and radio personality based in Adelaide. Wills holds the record for the most number of Logies won by a person in the history of the awards, winning 19 Most Popular State Person ...

and Sandy Roberts - with the program and presenters winning a number of TV Week Logie Awards for popularity in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

. In 1979

John Cootes John Cootes (born 19 August 1941), nicknamed "the footballing priest", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and Roman Catholic priest. An Australia international representative three- ...

was appointed as

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

's replacement as host of Channel 10's ''Saturday Night Live'' program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penthouse Club Australian variety television shows 1970 Australian television series debuts