1961_in_Italian_television

1961 in Italian television

1961 in Italian television

Overview of the events of 1961 in Italian television

This is a list of Italian television related events of 1961.

Quick Facts List of years in Italian television ...

Events

  • 6 January - Tony Dallara wins Canzonissima with Romantica; the year before, the singer had won the Sanremo Festival with the same song.
  • 18 January – The liberal Novello Papafava [it] and the Christian Democrat Ettore Bernabei are nominated, respectively, for the positions of President and General Director of RAI. Bernabei, a faithful follower of Amintore Fanfani, will be the true master of the estate for thirteen years. At the beginning, his management is inspired to a line of prudent opening, softening the censure and giving space also to professionals (such as Enzo Biagi and Ugo Gregoretti) not aligned with the DC.[1]
  • 6 February - The duo Luciano Tajoli and Betty Curtis wins the Sanremo Music Festival with Al di là.[2] However, the contest, presented by Giuliana Calandra, is memorable moreover for the debut of many singers of the youngest generation, “howlers” or singer-songwriters. Adriano Celentano, runner up with 24.000 baci, arouses scandal for having turned the back to the audience in his performance.[3]
  • 1 October - The socialist Enzo Biagi becomes director of the TV news; he renews the program, giving less space to internal politics and officialdom and more to chronicle and news from the world. This new deal arouses harsh polemics by the right-wing. After a year, Biagi resigns.[4]
  • 4 November – The Second channel begins broadcasting. This is the schedule of the first day.[5]
9,05 PM The war and the victory: special evening about the anniversary of the Italian victory in the first world war (a concert, a documentary and the teleplay The trench, see below)
11 PM News
11,20 PM The evil queen, ballet by Birgit Cullberg.

The new channel airs two hours by day (since 9 PM) and is received only by a half of the Italian population.[1]

  • 12 November. In the Council of ministers, Guido Gonella and Mario Scelba, exponents of the most conservative wing of DC, attack fiercely the variety shows, Enzo Biagi's TV journal and the Political tribune (see below). They accuse RAI of having “put Togliatti and the ballerinas in the Italian families’ heart.”[6] 
  • On “Il Verri”, the essay Mike Bongiorno’s phenomenology, by Umberto Eco, is published.[7] The writing, despite its playful tone, is one of the first serious analyses of television as a social phenomenon.

Debuts

Serials

  • Giovanna la nonna del corsaro nero (Giovanna the black corsair's grandmother) – four seasons; directed by Alda Grimaldi, [8]written by Vittorio Metz, with Anna Campori. Cheerful parody of the pirates novels by Emilio Salgari, it was one of the most beloved shows for children of the Sixties; notwithstanding its success, all its tapes were deleted by RAI and now only some amateurish recording survives.

Variety

  • L'amico del giaguaro (The friend of the jaguar)[9] – three seasons; directed by Vito Molinari, hosted by Corrado, with Marisa Del Frate, Gino Bramieri and Raffaele Pisu. Humoristic show, remembered moreover for its parodies of famous movies.[10]
  • Chissà chi lo sa? (Who knows who knows?) – seven seasons; quiz show for children, hosted by Febo Conti.[11]
  • Studio Uno (Studio One) – four seasons; directed by Antonello Falqui, hosted by Mina (in the second season she was temporarily replaced, because pregnant, by Rita Pavone) sided by Italian and international stars as Don Lurio, the Kessler twins, the Bluebell girls, Lelio Luttazzi and Luciano Salce. It's considered the masterpiece of the Italian TV variety, thanks moreover to the spectacular ballets, performed in minimalist scenography, to the Mina's talent, not only as singer but as entertainer too, and to the numerous guest stars. The Quartetto Cetra’s musical parodies get so much success to be developed in a separate show (The Studio One library).[12]

News and educational

  • Tribuna politica (Political tribune) – political talk show, created after the success of Electoral tribune the previous year, hosted by Jader Jacobelli; in a press conference, a politician faces journalists by various tendencies. The program gives the same space to every party present in the Parliament, the PCI included, and for this reason it is, at the beginning, strongly criticized by the conservatives (see over).[13]

Television shows

Drama

Miniseries

Serials

Variety

News and educational

  • Controfagotto (Contrabassoon[24]) – directed and hosted by Ugo Gregoretti; lifestyle magazine, describing the Italy of the boom in a politely satirical tone.[25]
  • Il giudice (The judge) – by Enzo Biagi, at his TV debut; reportage about the story of David Rubinwvicz, a Jewish child Holocaust victim.[26]

References

  1. [1]
    Unknown (25 October 2012). "Cronologia radiotelevisiva II: 1945-1975: 1960-1969". Cronologia radiotelevisiva II. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  2. [2]
    Sera, Cremona. "A Sanremo con Gino Paoli, Betty Curtis e gli altri". Cremona Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  3. [3]
    "24mila baci compie 60 anni: storia di un pezzo che sconvolse l'Italia". tg24.sky.it (in Italian). 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  4. [4]
    "BIOGRAFIA | Casa della cultura Enzo Biagi" (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  5. [5]
    "Il secondo programma TV". Radiocorriere TV. 29 October – 4 November 1961.
  6. [6]
    Tito, Michele (25 November 1961). "Gonella e Scelba condannano la TV per il telegiornale e le ballerine". La Stampa.
  7. [7]
    "In ricordo di Umberto Eco | Artribune" (in Italian). 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  8. [8]
    "Morta a Torino Alda Grimaldi: fu la prima regista della televisione, da "Settenote" a Scaramacai". La Stampa (in Italian). 2023-12-28. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  9. [9]
    Italian idiom, meaning a not exactly trusted friend.
  10. [10]
    "L'amico del giaguaro". www.vitomolinari.it. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  11. [11]
    "Comincia "Chissà chi lo sa?"". Rai Cultura (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  12. [12]
    "Studio Uno - RaiPlay". www.raiplay.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  13. [13]
    "Nasce "Tribuna Politica"". Rai Cultura (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  14. [14]
    "La trincea". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  15. [15]
    "Adelchi (1961) - Video". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  16. [16]
    "Teatro 1961 - 1962". Rai Teche (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  17. [17]
    Buzzolan, Ugo (23 April 1961). "Cronaca televisiva". La Stampa. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  18. [18]
    Tedeschi, Enrica (2020-04-20). Semplice, buttato via, moderno: Il "teatro per la vita" di Gianrico Tedeschi (in German). Viella Libreria Editrice. ISBN 978-88-3313-546-5.
  19. [19]
    Tallarigo, Paola; Gasparini, Luca (1990). Lo Sguardo libero: il cinema di Liliana Cavani (in Italian). La Casa Usher. p. 22.
  20. [20]
    Gli Attori Vol. 2 M-z - 8884402697 (in Italian). Gremese Editore. 2003. p. 88. ISBN 978-88-8440-269-1.
  21. [21]
    Lancia, Enrico; Poppi, Roberto (2003). Le attrici: dal 1930 ai giorni nostri (in Italian). Gremese Editore. p. 260. ISBN 978-88-8440-214-1.
  22. [22]
    "Vittorio De Sica racconta - RaiPlay". www.raiplay.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  23. [23]
    "D'Anza rinuncia alla regia dello spettacolo Tempo di musica". La Stampa. 18 March 1961. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  24. [24]
    The instrument was by then proverbial in Italy, after that the champion of Lascia o raddoppia? had been eliminated for a wrong answer about it.
  25. [25]
    "Controfagotto - RaiPlay". www.raiplay.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  26. [26]
    "Inchieste sulla Shoah - S1961 - "Il giudice" di Enzo Biagi - Video". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-01-28.
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