1958 in Italian television
Events
- 1 February - Totò makes his TV debut, as guest to Il musichiere, together with Vittorio Gassmann and Mario Soldati; during the show, he cries on air: “Cheers for Lauro”. (Achille Lauro, leader of the Monarchist National Party;,at the time of the airing, was accused of serious administrative irregularities as Naples major). Because this extemporization, in the following years, the very popular comedian will appear on RAI just occasionally.[1]
- 20 February - the journalist Ugo Zatterin, announcing on the news broadcasting the closing of the state-controlled brothels, uses a cryptic language and never utters the ”prostitution” word. The episode has become emblematic of the RAI’s prudery by then.[2]
- April 13: in Milan, the experimental transmissions of the Second Channel begin.[3]
- May 25: first political election on Italy after the birth of the TV. In the previous months, RAI is fiercely attacked (mainly by the communists, but also by the right-wing press and by the Republican Party) for its political line pro-government and pro-DC.[3]
- October 24: in Milan, the judicial police seizures the studios of TVL-Televisione libera, two weeks before the announced start of transmission with a Frank Sinatra’s show. The estate, propriety by Italcementi, RCA and other Italian and American associates, had already made, without license, some experimental broadcasts (the first ones on Italy realized by a private TV).[4]
- November 4: RAI broadcasts the Pope John 23.’s coronation; for the first time in history, such a ceremony is seen on TV.[5]
Debuts
Educational
- Telescuola (TV School) – care of the Professor Maria Grazia Puglisi, supported by the Ministry of Education. It’s one of the first distance education experiments in the world, aimed to the young ones living in place without educational institutions, but also to the adults without instruction (like the inmates). The show consists of secondary schools lessons, given in studio to a true public of children, and lasts six years.
- Uomini e libri (Men and books) – first Italian TV literary column, hosted by Luigi Silori, in collaboration with Giulio Cattaneo and Elio Vittorini; thanks to it, many great Italian writers appear for the first time on the little screen.
Television shows
Comedy and drama
- Colpi di timone (Rudder strokes) – by Enzo La Rosa, with Gilberto Govi[6][7]
Miniseries
- Valentina, una ragazza che ha fretta (Valentina, hurry girl) – directed by Vito Molinari, text by Vittorio Metz and Marcello Marchesi, with Alberto Lionello; musical comedy about time travel.
- Canne al vento (Reeds in the wind) – by Mario Landi, from the Grazia Deledda’s novel, with Carlo D’Angelo, Cosetta Greco and Franco Interlenghi.
- Capitan Fracassa (Captain Fracasse) – by Anton Giulio Majano, from the Theophile Gautier’s novel, with Arnoldo Foà, Lea Massari, and Nando Gazzolo[8]
- The Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby - by Daniele D’Anza, from the Dickens’ novel, with Antonio Cifariello and Arnoldo Foà.
- Mont Oriol – by Claudio Fino, from the Guy de Maupassant’s novel; first Monica Vitti’s leading role.
- Padri e figli (Fathers and sons) by Guglielmo Morandi, from Ivan Turgenev’s novel, with Alberto Lupo and Eleonora Rossi Drago
- Umiliati e offesi (Humiliated and insulted) – by Vittorio Cottafavi, from the Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel, with Enrico Maria Salerno.
Serials
- Aprite polizia (Open, it’s the police) – by Daniele D’Anza, with Renato De Carmine; first Italian detective serial.[10]
- Il teatro dei ragazzi (The children’s theatre) – a series of nine teleplays for the youngest ones by Nicola Manzari.
Variety
- Sanremo Music Festival 1958
- Canzonissima 1958 – second edition of the musical tournament bound to the New Year lottery, the first called Canzonissima; this year, Renato Tagliani, Ugo Tognazzi and Walter Chiari host the show and the winner is Nilla Pizzi, with L’edera. In the Sixties and the Seventies, Canzonissima will become the peak show of Italian television.
- La via del successo (The road for success) – directed by Vito Molinari, hosted by Walter Chiari. For the show, the comedian creates his most famous sketch, where two passengers on a train have a long debate around the “sarchiapone”, an inexistent animal.[11]
- Le canzoni di tutti (Everybody’s songs) – directed by Mario Landi, texts by Luciano Salce and Ettore Scola; variety about history of Italian songs.
News and educational
- Il pranzo di Natale (Christmas dinner) by Mario Soldati – the writer, after the success of Viaggio nella valle del Po, realizes another gastronomical reportage.[13]
- Viaggio nel Sud (Travel on Southern Italy) – by Virgilio Sabel, on ten episodes.[14]
Ending this year
Telematch
References
- "Rai Totò - Con Mario Riva a "Il Musichiere" - video - RaiPlay". Rai. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- "20 febbraio 1958: la sospensione delle case chiuse -". Rai Teche (in Italian). 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- "Storia della TV -1910-1990" (PDF).
- Redazione (2010-02-17). "Storia della radiotelevisione italiana. Tempo Tv e TVL Televisione Libera: le prime tv private. Nel 1956 e 1957!". Newslinet (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- Caeremoniale Romanum (2011-08-09), The Coronation of Blessed Pope John XXIII, retrieved 2019-03-27
- "Colpi di timone - RaiPlay". www.raiplay.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- "Teatro 1958 - 1958". Rai Teche (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- "Capitan Fracassa". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-11-07.
- "Sceneggiati e Fiction 1954 - 1965 -". Rai Teche (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- "Aprite: polizia!". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-12-19.
- "La via del successo - RaiPlay". www.raiplay.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- "Varietà 1955 - 1958 -". Rai Teche (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- "Il Pranzo di Natale di Mario Soldati". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-12-19.
- "Viaggio nel Sud". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-11-15.
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