The Norman Gunston Show

The Best Of The Last, Show 4

Australia

Channel 7 Network

Umbrella Entertainment

R4

Norman Gunston first made his appearance in the 1970s in The Aunty Jack Show, in which he penned the immortal Wollongong The Brave., the anthem to the Illawarra coal mining town. With the show’s demise he was spun off into a show of his own on the Australian national broadcaster ABC where he ruthlessly parodied the self-important Australian TV interviewers of the time.

This DVD has the last two shows of the final Series 4 when the show had been translated to commercial TV on the Channel 7 Network, and shows Gunston at his best (worst?). All the characteristics are there – the tasteless questions, the lack of preparation, shaving ability and self-confidence, even the “accidental” insults to his guests. Even Prime Minister Paul Keating and his wife Anita came in for the Gunston treatment. There was always the risk that some of his guests may not know that they were part of a parody but most picked this up quickly. Many went with it to produce interviews where Norman and his guest were happily bouncing jokes of each other. Brian Austen Green of popular American TV show Beverley Hills 90210 handled his side of the interview well and seemed to be enjoying Norman’s gaffes.

“What do you look for in a girl? Besides the usual things…”

“You mean like a heartbeat?”

Australian guests fared better since Norman was by now a household name and they knew what to expect. Beautifully-groomed longhaired footballer Warwick Capper and his equally beautiful wife for instance copped all sorts of embarrassing questions of the sort that would have them walking off the set of any other interview show.

“Before we begin, there’s one thing I want to clear up – which one of youse is Warwick?”

They took it all in good grace and handled it well.

Not all the viewing audience felt the same way. A number of people I knew at the time thought the show was insulting or crude and should be taken off. Even when I explained to them that it was a satire and not meant to be taken seriously, they still found it offensive. Fortunately the 7 Network stuck with the show despite the complaints. Most Australians were mature and intelligent enough to see the show for what it was.

By this time Norman was doing the roving worldwide reporter thing, interviewing overseas, and the studio end was being handled by Mary Coustas in her caricature role as Effie Stefanides, the Greek tart with the very large hair. She handled the Gunston-type questions very well but with just as little taste as Norman would have. Less successful was another character, Kylie Mole, who was simply irritating. Even Kylie worked well with singer Peter Andre, however.

Effie and Norman even provided their signature duets in these last shows. Amigos Para Siempre will never be the same. The style and music were there but the singing talent wasn’t.

Technically the quality ranges from good (in the studio shots) to abysmal (in the Billy Crystal interview). With only two shows on the DVD I felt a bit ripped off, but the extras are interesting and help bring back the memories of the show. At a time when TV interviewers like Ray Martin were being over-promoted, Norman Gunston was a refreshing change. He showed that Australians could laugh at themselves.

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No.2 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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