1970 in Italian television
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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
Drama
- Sperimentali per la TV – cycle of experimental TV, care of Italo Moscati, directed mostly by Italian beginners directors (Gianni Amelio, Maurizio Ponzi, Peter Del Monte) but also by international authors, such as Jean-Luc Godard and Glauber Rocha; lasted till 1975.[7]
Miniserie
News and educational
- 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.[8]
- A come agricoltura (A for agricolture) – magazine for the farmers; 11 seasons.
- Habitat, un ambiente per l’uomo (Hanitat, an environment for the man) first RAI magazine about ecology, care of Giulio Macchi, lasted till 1978. [9]
- Medicina oggi (Medicine today) – care of Paolo Mocci, 3 seasons.
- Turno C – care of Giuseppe Momoli, magazine about work and union questions.[10]
- Giorni d’Europa – weekly magazine about the European Union.
Variety
- 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).[11]
For children
- 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).[12]