From the New Zealand TV Weekly. March 6, 1967
Auckland
No doubt about Kevan Moore having found the right formula for C'mon! Only hope that the NZBC does not try to keep the series going for so long that it will stale-far better to have a break at some stage and come back to it while it is still a winner. After all, even Dean Martin and Danny Kaye tend to pall after a time. . . . . . Caustic press comments locally on the departure of Mike Bellinger from the Town and Around team suggested that somebody's toes must have been trodden on at some stage. . . . . . Howard Morrison well settled in to his long run at the Logan Park revue restaurant . . . . . . Don't imagine that Bogdan Charis Kominowski would go down too well as the name for a pop singer. No wonder he has changed it to Mr Lee Grant, and is, of course, C'mon!'s resident Warbler. He was born in Dusseldorf, but his nationality is Polish. His father was shot by the Nazis for underground activities and Lee himself was plonked in grison at the tender age of four when he had the temerity to sing the Polish Anthem in public. . . . . . Town and Around still seems to be feeling its way with cautious restraint. Maybe an infusion of the old happy-go-lucky nonsense would help.
Wellington
NZBC headquarters are still, as this is written, fending off questions about the fate of documentary questions to follow on from where Compass and Topic left off. If suitable producers can be found, these will be continued in much the same form, but, at the moment, the search seems to be hanging fire . . . . . . Meanwhile producer John Terris left the corporation to begin theological studies at St. John's College in Auckland. John, a former announcer on Channel 1, was showing distinct promise as a producer. He says that in his new vocation he'll still be in the communication business-trying to get through to people . . . . . . Some excellent programmes being lined up for Wellington area viewers. Patrick Wymark in The Power Game was welcomed back with enthusiasm, as were Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee in another series of The Avengers. It will be intensely interesting to see how they make out in the ratings . . . . . . Talking of ratings, one can see the new version of Town and Around, taking a bit of a dive in popularity. It is rather too much of a mixture at the moment, with Graham Billing handling the heavy stuff quite well, but with Relda Familton-and Erin Sinclair still trying to establish styles. A brilliant little vignette by Mike Minehan from a visit to a nudist resort near Wellington revealed how much he is missed from the programme. But at least the change has brought Judy Callingham back to the screen as a continuity announcer. A straw poll of viewers of my acquaintance indicated that nearly all preferred the glamorous continuity girl to the rather staid Town and Around interviewer. . . . . The Government....
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