1970 in Italian television

This is a list of Italian television related events from 1970.

List of years in Italian television
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Events

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  • 6 January: for the second time in a row, Gianni Morandi wins Canzonissima with Ma chi se ne importa?
  • 30 January: in TV7, the Sergio Zavoli’s reportage Un codice da rifare (The code must be redone), is aired; it asks for the reform of the Italian penal code, still the same ideated by the fascist minister Alfredo Rocco. The program causes a harsh dispute inside RAI: Zavoli is attacked on the press by the vice-president Italo De Feo and defended by the general director Ettore Bernabei and by the RAI journalists who, for the first time in the story of the estate, go on strike.[1]
  • 7-15 February: for the first time RAI shots in colours (with the PAL system) an event, the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Val Gardena. Paradoxically, the work is realized only for the viewers abroad, the Italian television being again in black and white.[2]
  • 18 February : the RAI president, Aldo Sandulli, resigns because the controversies due to Un codice da rifare ; the vice-president Umberto Delle Fave replaces him.[2]
  • 26-28 February: Sanremo Festival, hosted by Nuccio Costa and Enrico Maria Salerno. The winners are Adriano Celentano and his wife Claudia Mori, with Chi non lavora non fa l’amore (No work, no sex). The song contains ironic references to the workers' protest of the Hot Autumn, and is perceived as reactionary.[3]
  • May 20: two major Italian TV stars, the comic actor Walter Chiari and the musician and presenter Lelio Luttazzi, are arrested for drug trafficking. In 1971, at the trial, Chiari gets a suspended sentence for personal use of cocaine and Luttazzi is fully exonerated. The affair seriously damages the careers of both.
  • 17 June: 17 millions of Italian viewers stay up until 2 AM, due to the time zones to follow the televised “match of the century”, Italy v West Germany, commented by Nando Martellini; with the victory of the Italian team unleashing popular enthusiasm.[4] On 21 June, the 1970 FIFA world cup final Italia-Brazil gets the greatest audience of the year, with 28.2 million viewers.[5]
  • 8 July: in the Fucino Space Centre, the second telescopic parabolic antennas is inaugurated; it allows RAI to receive TV transmissions from Far East and Pacific Ocean.[6]

Debuts

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News and educational

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  • 90. minuto – sport column of the Sunday evening, giving the results and showing the goals of the Serie A matches; hosted for twenty years by Paolo Valenti and later by various sport journalists. Very popular in Seventies and Eighties, it’s again on air also if it has lost most of its appeal with the advent of the sporting pay-tv.[7]
  • A come agricoltura (A for agricolture) – magazine for the farmers; 11 seasons.

Variety

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  • Rischiatutto – quiz, inspired by Jeopardy! and hosted by Mike Buongiorno; five seasons. The show renews the Lascia o raddoppiìa?’s mass success and relaunches the Bongiorno’s career after a period of relative decline; it’s the first RAI 2 program to enter in the top ten of the audience. It’s yet also accused by critics of notionism and sexism (for the decorative role played by the “female valet” Sabina Ciuffini).[8]  

For children

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  • Gli eroi di cartone (Cartoon heroes) – hosted by Lucio Dalla and Franco Mulè (3 seasons) and Mille e una sera (1001 evenings): programs about the history of animated cartoon, both ideated by the historian of cinema Gianni Rondolino and focused (the second moreover) on the European and independent production.
  • Il paese di Giocagiò (Giocagiò country) – show for pre-schoolers, care of Gianni Rodari and Teresa Bongiorno, scenography  by Emanuele Luzzati. In the second seasons, it changes name in Il gioco delle cose (The things game).[9]

Shows of the year

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Drama

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Tv-Movies

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In 1970, RAI chooses to sustain the Italian author cinema, producing movies for TV by renowned authors or by debuting directors, which are, at the same time, aired in television and distributed in the theatres.

Miniseries

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Mystery

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  • Coralba – by Daniele D’Anza, with Rossano Brazzi and Glauco Mauri; 5 episodes. The story is set in Hamburg, in the world of big pharma
  • I giovedì della signora Giulia (Mrs. Julia Thursdays) – by Paolo Nuzzi and Massimo Scaglione, from the Piero Chiara’s novel, with Claudio Gora and the real-life private eye Tom Ponzi (as a police superintendent);  5 episodes. The vanishing of an upper-class lady is the starting point for an enquiry about the secrets of the Lombard provincial life.

Coralba and I giovedì della signora Giulia are the first Italian mysteries shot in colors (also if, at the time, they are aired in black and white).

For children

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  • La fantastica storia di Don Chisciotte della Mancia (Don Quijote de la Mancha’s fantastic story) – by Carlo Quartucci, script by Roberto Lerici, from the Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, with Gigi Proietti in the title role; 5 episodes. Aired as a show for children, it’s actually a sophisticated product, taking to television some practices of the avant-garde theatre.[15]
  • Marcovaldo – by Giuseppe Bennati, from the Italo Calvino's book, with Nanni Loy in the title role; 6 episodes.
  • Verso l’avventura (Towards adventure) – by Pino Passalacqua, with Mebratù Maconnen Araia; 14 episodes. Miniseries about the adventures of an Ethiopian kid looking for a treasure.

Serials

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  • Qualcuno bussa alla porta (Someone is knocking at the door) – by various directors, written by Tonino Guerra. Cycle of fiveTV movie, dangling between comedy and thriller; all the stories are set in the closed space of an apartment and are variation on the theme of the unexpected visitor.
  • FBI – Francesco Bertolazzi investigatore – detective comedy, written and interpreted by Ugo Tognazzi as a down-to-heel and clumsy private eye.[16]

Variety

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News and educational

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  • I bambini e noi (Children and us) – reportage by Luigi Comencini about infancy in Italy, in 6 episodes.[21]
  • Un secolo di lotte contadine in Italia (A century of peasants’ fights in Italy) – historical enquiry by Giorgio Bocca, in one of his very rare collaborations with RAI; in 7 episodes.[22]
  • Roma capitale (Rome capital city) – historical enquiry, care of Giovanni Spadolini, for the centenary of the capture of Rome. [23]
  • Alla ricerca di Tadzio (Looking for Tadzio) – by Luchino Visconti; behind the scenes about the auditions for the choosing of Death in Venice’s young protagonist.

Ending this year

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References

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  1. ^ Spadaro, Damiana. Un testimone del suo tempo. Sergio Zavoli tra giornalismo e letteratura (in Italian). Parma: Università degli Studi di Parma. pp. 266–271.
  2. ^ a b Bruno, Somalvico (25 October 2012). "Cronologia radiotelevisiva II: 1945-1975: 1969-1975". Cronologia radiotelevisiva II. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  3. ^ "Sanremo 1970". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  4. ^ "Italia-Germania, la partita del secolo". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  5. ^ "Auditel Rewind - 1970". TvBlog (in Italian). 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  6. ^ "La nostra storia". www.telespazio.com (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  7. ^ Frisoli, Pino (2008-08-30). "La Tv per sport: Quando è nato "90° minuto"". La Tv per sport. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  8. ^ "Rischiatutto '70". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  9. ^ anni70-latvdeiragazzi. "GIOCAGIO' e il paese di Giocagiò". TV DEI RAGAZZI anni 70 e 60 (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-06-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Le donne balorde". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  11. ^ "Strategia del ragno". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  12. ^ "I recuperanti". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  13. ^ "Un certo Harry Brent". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  14. ^ "I racconti di Padre Brown". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  15. ^ "La fantastica storia di Don Chisciotte della Mancia". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  16. ^ "FBI Francesco Bertolazzi Invastigatore. Serie televisiva (regia di Ugo Tognazzi)". www.ugotognazzi.com. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  17. ^ "Canzonissima". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  18. ^ "Io ci provo". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  19. ^ "La cugina Orietta". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  20. ^ "Il Telecanzoniere". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  21. ^ "I bambini e noi". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  22. ^ "Lotte contadine - Giorgio Bocca". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  23. ^ "Roma Capitale". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-27.