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1978 in Italian television
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January 2021
1978 Italian television
This is a list of Italian television related events from 1978.
Events
Rai
16 March: at 9.58, an extraordinary edition of the TG1, led by Bruno Vespa, heralds Aldo Moro's abduction and the slaughter of his bodyguards. In connection from via Fani, the journalist Paolo Frajese, gasping with emotion, describes the bloody scene of the crime. On 9 May, always Vespa and Frajese, in another dramatic extraordinary edition, lasting almost four hours, report to Italy the discovery of the politician's corpse.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/ilcasomoro Il caso Moro RaiPlay it 2020-01-30
18 May: on the eve of the 1978 Italian referendum, four radical exponents appear on Political tribune gagged and with signals on the neck. Following ten minutes of silence, Marco Pannella and Emma Bonino explain that they intended to protest against the space given them by RAI, judged too exiguous.Tribuna Pannella https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/tribunapannella 2026-05-21 RaiPlay it
30 May: for the second time in a row, a RAI production (The Tree of Wooden Clogs) wins the Cannes Film Festival.
15 June: the President Giovanni Leone, long accused by the press of corruption and nepotism, announces in television his resignation. Clearly tired and embittered, the president ends his speech by saying: “It's my duty to say, it's your right to be reassured, that for six years and a half your president was an honest man.”https://www.raiplay.it/video/2019/02/I-grandi-discorsi-della-storia-I-Presidenti-della-Repubblica-Italiana-9857af46-0dc8-4c2d-9822-bcc73cc7f948.html Grandi Discorsi della Storia - S2016 - I Presidenti della Repubblica Italiana - Video RaiPlay it 2020-01-30
21 June: the semifinal match Italy-Netherlands of the 1978 FIFA World Cup gets the record audience rating of the year with 27.400.000 viewers.https://www.tvblog.it/post/20747/auditel-rewind-1978 Auditel Rewind - 1978 2010-08-19 TVBlog.it 2020-01-30
13 July Corrado Mantoni and Dora Moroni, his partner at the show Domenica in, are gravely injured in a car crash. For Moroni, the accident and the following invalidity mean the end of a promising career as singer.
13 August: Rai broadcasts in Mondovision the burials of Pope Paul VI, with the commentary of Bruno Vespa.
16 October: RAI broadcasts live the election of Pope John Paul II and his first words to the crowd.Wojtyla, il gigante della fede https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/wojtylailgigantedellafede RaiPlay it 2020-05-18
For RAI, the year 1978 is marked, as well as by the particularly dramatic chronicle events, by a sudden wave of liberalism about sex and nudity, in variety shows (Stryx, Ma che sera, Settimo anno), fiction (Madame Bovary) and information (Aquario, L’amore in Italia),http://www.teche.rai.it/2013/07/techetechete-s-come-sesso-09072013/ TecheTecheTè - S Come Sesso - 09/07/2013 - 2013-07-09 Rai Teche it-IT 2020-01-30
Private channels
In 1978 the Italian private televisions, overcome the number of 400 and begin to be a serious threat to the RAI monopoly, also if they are again limited to the local scope and their programming remains, with some exception, low quality (sexy shows, old movies in bad copies, infomercials).
April: RCS Mediagroup enters in the TV business, buying Telealtomilanese, the most popular Lombard private channel.https://cronoradiotv3.blogspot.com/ 1976-1979 Bruno Somalvico 25 October 2012 cronologia radiotelevisiva III 2020-01-30
2 May: in Milan, birth of Antenna Nord, owned by the editor Edilio Rusconi.https://massimoemanuelli.com/2017/08/16/antenna-nord/ Antenna Nord Emanuelli Massimo 2017-08-15 MASSIMO EMANUELLI it-IT 2020-01-30
9 May: Franco Alfano, reporter of the Roman television GBR, gets to shot first the opening of the trunk hiding the Aldo Moro’s body, beating on time the RAI correspondent Paolo Frajese. Not wanting to speculate on a tragedy, GBR gives in for free the historical images to RAI.https://www.affaritaliani.it/roma/aldo-moro-gbr-la-rai-la-vita-di-franco-alfano-tra-i-misteri-italia-447174.html Aldo Moro, Gbr e la Rai: la vita di Franco Alfano tra i misteri d'Italia Affaritaliani.it it 2020-01-30
26 May: in Rome, birth of RTI (Radio Televisione Italiana), owned by Carlo Perrone.https://massimoemanuelli.com/2017/11/11/rti-radio-televisione-italiana/ Rti Radio Televisione Italiana Emanuelli Massimo 2017-11-11 MASSIMO EMANUELLI it-IT 2020-01-30
7 September: the cable TV Telemilanocavo begins to broadcast on air, renamed Tele Milano. In July, its editor Silvio Berlusconi had declared that his television would have been at disposal of the “right wing and anticommunist DC politicians”.
Birth of Elefante TV, the first Italian network of local televisions, managed by the brothers Leo and Guelfo Marcucci; born as a generalist television, whose star is Beppe Grillo, in the Eighties becomes a channel airing exclusively infomercials.https://massimoemanuelli.com/2017/10/18/elefante/ Elefante Emanuelli Massimo 2017-10-18 MASSIMO EMANUELLI it-IT 2020-01-30
Debuts
Rai
Che combinazione (What a coincidence!) – show, hosted by Delia Scala and later by Rita Pavone, aimed to encourage the payment of the licence fee.
La sberla (The smack) – cabaret, directed by Giancarlo Nicotra, with Gianfranco D’Angelo and Enrico Beruschi, resuming the formula of Non stop; two seasons.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/lasberla La sberla RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Di tasca nostra (Of our own pocket) – magazine in defense of the consumer.
Maratona d’estate (Summer marathon) - review of ballets from the world, care of Vittoria Ottolenghi.
USA Eight is enough
For children
Il trenino (The little train) – show for children; two seasons.
The year also marks the arrival in Italy of the anime television series. They are popular among the youngest public but inspire fierce criticism by parents and pedagogues.
Japan Heidi, Girl of the Alps .
Japan Grendizer.
Private channels
Il bingooo (Antenna 3 Lombardia) – game show with musical interludes, hosted by Renzo Villa.
La bustarella (The sachet) (Antenna 3 Lombardia) – game show hosted by Ettore Andenna and directed by Beppe Recchia and Cino Tortorella, with sexy elements (in some trials, the female contenders end up naked). It sees the debut of many future Mediaset stars, as Carmen Russo.
Caccia al tredici (Hunt for the thirteen) (various channels) – football magazine, hosted by Gianni Rivera and successively by other champions.
Grand prix (Quinta Rete) – magazine about motors, hosted by Andrea de Adamich.
Polvere di stelle (Stardust) (Telealtomilanese) – movie magazine.
Television shows
Drama
Padre padrone by Paolo and vittorio Taviani
Il gabbiano (The seagull) – by Marco Bellocchio, from the Anton Chekhov’s play, with Laura Betti, Pamela Villoresi and Remo Girone.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/ilgabbiano Il gabbiano RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Yerma – by Marco Ferreri, from the Federico Garcia Lorca’s play, with Michele Placido, Edmonda Aldini and Franco Citti.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/yerma Yerma RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
La governante (The governess) – by Giorgio Albertazzi, from the Vitaliano Brancati’s play, with Anna Proclemer and Gianrico Tedeschi; a Sicilian family must face the scandal of the lesbianism.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/lagovernante La governante RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
The cherry orchard by Anton Chekhov, directed by Giorgio Strehler, with Valentina Cortese and Franco Graziosi.
Closed circuit – by Giuliano Montaldo, with Flavio Bucci and Aurore Clement, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s The veldt. The fantastic plot (the bullets of a spaghetti-western gunfighter kill really the spectators in the theatre) is an allegory about the violence in the mass media.Circuito chiuso - Film TV https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/circuitochiuso-filmtv 2022-01-14 RaiPlay it
Mezzo secolo da Svevo (A half century from Italo Svevo). RAI celebrates the 50th anniversary of the writer's death with a cycle of three adaptations (Una vita, A thief in the house, A successful joke), care of Tullio Kezich, a Franco Giraldi's documentary and a debate, moderated by Claudio Magris.
Il vizio assurdo (The absurd vice) – biopic about Cesare Pavese, by Diego Fabbri and Davide Lajolo, directed by Giancarlo Sbragia, with Luigi Vannucchi as protagonist. The actor, suffering of depression, commits suicide (as Pavese did) few days before the airing.
Miniseries
Il balordo (The fool) – by Pino Passalacqua, from the Piero Chiara’s novel, with Tino Buazzelli in his last role; in 3 episodes. A quiet musician, victim of the circumstances, is first prosecuted by the fascism, then hailed as a hero and elected major of his village.
Jazz band – by Pupi Avati, with Lino Capolicchio, Gianni Cavina and Carlo Delle Piane; music by Amedeo Tommasi; in 3 episodes. Pupi Avati gets his first public success, fictionalizing his youth experiences as jazz clarinetist in the Bologna of the Fifties.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/jazzband Jazz band RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Le mani sporche (Dirty hands) – by Elio Petri, from the Jean Paul Sartre’s play, with Marcello Mastroianni and Giuliana De Sio; in 3 episodes.Le mani sporche https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/lemanisporche 2023-07-14 RaiPlay it
Madame Bovary – by Daniele D’Anza, from the Gustave Flaubert’s novel, with Carla Gravina and Paolo Bonacelli; in 6 episodes.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/madamebovary Madame Bovary RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Nella città vampira. Drammi gotici (In the vampire city, gothic dramas) – by Giorgio Bandini, with Flavio Bucci, in 4 episodes; medley of fantastic tales by various authors (Capuana, Lovecraft, Gogol).
Il processo (The trial) – by Luigi Di Gianni, from the Franz Kafka’s novel, with Franco Graziosi, in 2 episodes.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/ilprocesso Il processo RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Mystery
Doppia indagine (Double enquiry) by Flaminio Bollini, with Gerardo Amato and Jinny Steffan; mystery written by the same authors of Dov’è Anna and also focused on a woman's disappearance.
Morte di un seduttore di paese (Death of a country playboy) – by Nanni Fabbri, with Nando Gazzolo and Enrico Ostermann.
Sarti Antonio brigadiere (The Carabinieri brigader Antonio Sarti) by Pino Passalacqua, from the Loriano Macchiavelli's novel, with Flavio Bonacci.
Historical dramas
Alto tradimento (High treason) – by Walter Licastro, with Franco Branciaroli; biopic about Cesare Battisti, in 3 episodes.
Tecnica di un colpo di stato (Technique of a coup d'état) – docufiction by Silvio Maestranzi about the march on Rome, with Pietro Biondi (Benito Mussolini) and Raoul Grassilli (Luigi Facta); 4 episodes.Tecnica di un colpo di Stato https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/tecnicadiuncolpodistato 2023-07-13 RaiPlay it
Il furto della Gioconda (The Mona Lisa’s stealing) – by Renato Castellani, with Enzo Cerusico as Vincenzo Peruggia, Bruno Cirino as Pablo Picasso and Philippe Leroy as Leonardo da Vinci; in 3 episodes.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/ilfurtodellagioconda Il furto della Gioconda RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Disonora il padre (Dishonor thy father) – by Sandro Bolchi, with Stefano Patrizi and Martine Brochard, from the autobiographical novel of Enzo Biagi; 3 episodes. The father of the title is the fascism, to which the young protagonist rebels, adhering to the Resistance.rai-consumer » Disonora il padre http://www.consumerproducts.rai.it/movie/disonora-il-padre/ 2021-02-11
La gatta (The female cat) – by Leandro Castellani, with Catherine Spaak as Mathilde Carré; in 3 episodes.
Ho visto uccidere Ben Barka (I saw Ben Barka murdered) by Tomaso Sherman, with Francesco Carnelutti (Ben Barka) and Josè Quaglio (Oufkir).
Nero su nero (Black on black) – by Dante Guardamagna, with Paolo Stoppa, in 3 episodes; inspired by the true story of Amalia and Rosa Panvini, who forged the Mussolini diaries.
Storie della camorra (Histories of camorra) – by Paolo Gazzara, with Mariano Rigillo, Luigi Vannucchi and Massimo Ranieri, in 6 episodes; the history of the Neapolitan criminal society from the Nineteenth century to the Second world war.
Foreign miniseries
Sweden Scenes from a marriage by Ingmar Bergman (hit of the year for the critics)
USA Roots (hit of the year for the public).
Serials
I problemi di don Isidro, by Andrea Frezza, from H. Bustos Domecq's Six Problems for don Isidoro Parodi, with Fernando Rey; an inmate solves intricate mysteries without leaving his cell.
News and educational
Acquario (Aquarius) – talk show hosted by Maurizo Costanzo. Sensational the episode where the magistrate Vincenzo Salmeri, infamous puritan, has to face the porno-star Ilona Staller.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/acquario Acquario RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
L’amore in Italia (Love in Italy) – reportage by Luigi Comencini about the Italian customs changing regard to love, family and sex.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/lamoreinitalia L'amore in Italia RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Indagine sulla parapsicologia (Enquiry about ESP) – by Piero Angela; unlike that in many similar programs, the journalist approaches the subject from a strictly skeptic and rationalistic point of view.Indagine sulla parapsicologia https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/indaginesullaparapsicologia 2023-10-11 RaiPlay it
Douce France - reportage by Enzo Biagi.
Gulliver - culture magazine, care of Giuseppe Fiori and Ettore Masina.
16 e 35 - cinema magazine, with Beniamino Placido.
La macchina cinema (Cinema machine) by Marco Bellocchio and Silvano Agosti.
Variety
10 hertz – musical show, hosted by Gianni Morandi.
Vita da Cioni (A Cioni's life) – directed by Giuseppe Bertolucci with Roberto Benigni; the actor plays, in a series of monologues, the role of the lumpen Mario Cioni. The show, before being aired, was stopped for two years by the RAI censure.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/benigni-vitadacioni1 Benigni - Vita da Cioni RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Io e la befana (Me and the befana) – show bound to the Italia Lottery, directed by Romolo Siena, with Raimondo Vianello and Sandra Mondaini (who plays also the clown Sbirulino); TV debut of Gigi e Andrea.
Ma che sera (What an evening!) – directed by Gino Landi, with Raffaella Carrà, Alighiero Noschese, Paolo Panelli and Bice Valori (last apparition on the little screen for Noschese and Valori). The show, productively sumptuous, is criticized because aired in coincidence with the Moro's kidnapping and for the audacious performances of Carrà, who dances dressed as a sexy nun and sings tunes with explicitly erotic content.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/machesera Ma che sera RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Macario più (Macario more) – directed by Vito Molinari, with the 76 years old Ermino Macario as showman.
Mille e una luce (A thousand and one lights) – variety hosted by Claudio Lippi and Luciano De Crescenzo; first Italian example of interactive TV (the public at home can vote the contenders turning the light on or off).
Il ribaltone (The turnaround) – directed by Antonello Falqui, with Pippo Franco and Loretta Goggi.https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/ilribaltone Il ribaltone RaiPlay it 2020-01-31
Il sesso forte (The stronger sex) – quiz, hosted by Enrica Bonaccorti and played by a male team and a female one.
Stryx – directed by Enzo Trapani, hosted by Tony Renis, with Patty Pravo and Angelo Branduardi; sexy musical show inspired to Satanism and witchcraft. Despite a stellar musical cast, the show, perhaps the most audacious in RAI history, is disliked by public and critic and closes a week on advance.http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/stryx-italian-tv-show For a Brief Time in 1978, Italy Had a Televised Satanic Variety Show Frey Angelica 2017-12-01 Atlas Obscura en 2020-01-31
Uffa, domani è lunedì (Uhf, tomorrow is Monday) – hosted by Enzo Cerusico and Maurizio Micheli.
Ending this year
Odeon
Piccolo slam
Scommettiamo?
Channels
New channels
28 February - Antenna Tre Nordest
TVA Vicenza
Deaths
Date Name Age Cinematic Credibility24 JanuaryMaurizio Barendson54Italian sport journalistMaurizio Barendson, un pioniere del giornalismo sportivo https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/mauriziobarendsonunpionieredelgiornalismosportivo 2023-12-20 RaiPlay it19 JulyMarcello Marchesi66Humorist. author and actor23 JulyFausto Tommei68Italian actor, voice actor & television presenter30 AugustLugi Vannucchi47actor (see over)
See also
List of Italian films of 1978
References
1978