1973 in Italian television

This is a list of Italian television related events of 1973.

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Events

• 24 January: the Torino tribunal authorizes Telebiella to broadcast by cable. The new-born television gets a noticeable public success and, the 25 March, starts its news program. In the following months several other cable televisions are born, moreover in Piedmont and Liguria, and associate in the FIET Cavo.[1]
• 8-10 March: Sanremo festival, won by Peppino di Capri and, for the first time, shot in colors by the RAI cameras, but only for abroad (the Italian public will can see the event in colors only in 2016, on Raiplay.)[2] The 9 March, the Naples cable television Telediffusione Italiana beats RAI to the draw, broadcasting in preview songs and interviews with the singers.[3]
• 29 March: the Minister of Communication Giovanni Gioia emanates by decree the new Mail Code, confirming the RAI monopoly and outlawing the private cable televisions. In May, PRI secretary Ugo La Malfa, contrary to the decree, asks for Gioia’s resignation and retires the confidence-and-supply agreement to the Andreotti government, causing a cabinet crisis.  A joke says: “Andreotti fell, tripping over the Telebiella’s cable.”[1]
• 1 June: a functionary of the Mail Police cut and seals the Telebiella cables, applying the Gioa decree. Giuseppe Sacchi, Telebiella’s owner and leader of the cable TV movement, appeals to the CJEU, which acknowledges his reasons.[4]
• 26 September: RAI broadcasts the TV drama 1870, last leading role for Anna Magnani; for a sad coincidence, the great actress dies few hours before the airing.
• 2 December: because the oil crisis, the end of RAI broadcasting is anticipated to 10.45 PM, as a measure for energy saving,[1]

Debuts

Serials

• Qui Squadra mobile (Here, flying squad) – procedural set in Rome, directed by Anton Giulio Majano, with Giancarlo Sbragia, Orazio Orlando and Luigi Vannucchi; 2 seasons.[5]

Variety

• Il Dirodorlando[6] – game show for kids, directed by Cino Tortorella, hosted by Ettore Andenna; 2 seasons.
• Sim Salabim – show of magic, with Silvan; 2 seasons.[7]

News and educational

• Dribbling – sport magazine.
• Protestantesimo (Protestantism) – magazine, care of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy.[8]
• Sorgente di vita (Spring of life) – magazine ofHeEbraic culture, care of the UCEI.[9]

All three the shows are still broadcast.

Shows of the year

Drama

• St. Michel had a rooster – by the Taviani brothers, with Giulio Brogi.
• Cartesius – by Roberto Rosselini; biopic in two episodes, with Ugo Cardea in the title role.
• Delitto di regime – Il caso Don Minzoni (Regime crime – The Don Minzoni affair) – by Leandro Castellani, with Raoul Grassilli (Don Giovanni Minzoni) and Giulio Brogi (Italo Balbo) ; in 2 episodes.
• 1870 – by Alfredo Giannetti, with Marcello Mastroianni and Anna Magnani; historical drama about the Capture of Rome (see over).

Miniseries

• Diario di un maestro (Journal of a primary school teacher) – by Vittorio De Seta, with Bruno Cirino; 4 episodes. Inspired by the Albino Bernardini’s experiences, it describes the pedagogic experiments of a young and idealistic teacher, often in contrast with the school bureaucracy, amidst the social decay of the Rome suburbs. The serial is also adapted in a movie for the big screen. [10]
• ESP – paranormal drama by Daniele D’Anza, with Paolo Stoppa as Gerard Croiset; in 4 episodes.
• Lungo il fiume e sull’acqua (Along the river and on the water) – by Alberto Negrin, with Giampiero Albertini and Sergio Fantoni; detective story in 5 episodes, from Francis Durbridge’s The other man, but with a different ending. It’s the most successful fiction of the year, with 21 million viewers.[11]

Period dramas

• Eleonora – by Silverio Blasi, script by Tullio Pinelli, with Giulietta Masina and Giulio Brogi, in 6 episodes; set in Milan at the time of the “scapigliatura”, it tells the troubled love between an upper class girl and a bohemian painter.
• Napoleone a Sant’Elena (Napoleon in Saint Helena) – by Vittorio Cottafavi, with Renzo Palmer in the title role, in 4 episodes.
• Puccini – biopic by Sandro Bolchi, with Alberto Lionello in the title role, in 5 episodes.
• Tre camerati (Three comrades) – by Lydia C. Ripandelli, with Renzo Palmer, Angelo Infanti and Luigi Pistilli, from the Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, in 3 episodes.
• Vino e pane – by Piero Schivazappa, with Pier Paolo Capponi and Scilla Gabel, from Ignazio Silone’s Bread and wine, in 4 episodes.
• La rappresentazione della terribile caccia alla balena bianca Moby Dick (The representation of the awful hunt to the white whale Moby Dick) – by Carlo Quartucci, with Franco Parenti, theatrical adaptation of the Hermann Melville’s novel, in 5 episodes.[12]

Serials

• La porta sul buio (Door into the darkness) – series of 4 one-hour thriller, directed or supervised by Dario Argento.[13]
• Vado a vedere il mondo, capisco tutto e torno (I go to see the world, understand everything and come back) – serial, sponsored by Alitalia, about the tour around the world of two newlyweds on their honeymoon.

Variety

• Canzonissima 1973 – hosted by Pippo Baudo and Mita Medici, won by Gigliola Cinquetti with Alle porte del sole; for the first time, the traditional show of the autumn is moved from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon.
• Dove sta Zazà? (Where Zazà is?)– by Antonello Falqui, with Gabriella Ferri and the Bagaglino troupe; history of the Italian cabaret, from the belle epoque to the Seventies.[14]
• Formula 2 – by Eros Macchi, with Alighiero Noschese and Loretta Goggi. The show, where the two hosts can prove all their talent as impersonators, is the greatest public success of the year, with 21,800 million wieners. As Dove sta Zazà?, it’s shot in colors but aired in black and white.[15]
• Hai visto mai? (Have you never seen? – by Enzo Trapani, with Gino Bramieri and Lola Falana.[16]
• Il poeta e il contadino (The poet and the farmer) – with Cochi e Renato, written by Enzo Jannacci; surreal cabaret, focused on the contrast between a cynical intellectual (Cochi) and a naive man of the people (Renato).[17]
• L’appuntamento (The appointment) – by Antonello Falqui, with Walter Chiari and Ornella Vanoni.                         

News and educational

• Pulcinella ieri e oggi (Pulcinella yesterday and today) by Paolo Heusch; Franco Zeffirelli and Eduardo De Filippo talk about the Pulcinella character.[18]
• In viaggio tra le stelle (Travelling in the stars) – program of popular science  about astronomy, hosted by Mino Damato.
• Chung Kuo, Cina – reportage about China after the cultural revolution, by Michelangelo Antonioni (at his television debut) and Andrea Barbato.[19]
• Oceano Canada (Ocean Canada) – reportage (posthumous) by Ennio Flaiano; one of the few work for the television of the great writer. [20]

Ending this year

• Orizzonti della scienza e della tecnica.
• I ragazzi di padre Tobia

References

1. Bruno, Somalvico (25 October 2012). "Cronologia radiotelevisiva II: 1945-1975: 1969-1975". Cronologia radiotelevisiva II. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
2. "Sanremo inedito 1973". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
3. "Storia della Radiotelevisione italiana. 1973, Napoli: Telediffusione Italiana al Festival di Sanremo insieme alla RAI | NL Newslinet.it". www.newslinet.it. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
4. Emanuelli, Massimo (2017-08-16). "TeleBiella". MASSIMO EMANUELLI (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
5. "Qui squadra mobile". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
6. The enigmatic title cites an Ariosto’s hemistich: “Dirò d’Orlando” (I will say about Roland)
7. "Sim Salabim". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
8. "Protestantesimo". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
9. "Sorgente di vita". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
10. "Diario di un maestro". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
11. "Lungo il fiume e sull'acqua". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
12. "Sceneggiati e Fiction 1973 - 1975 -". Rai Teche (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
13. "La porta sul buio". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
14. "Dove sta Zazà". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
15. "Auditel Rewind - 1973". TVBlog.it. 2010-08-14. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
16. "Hai visto mai?". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
17. "Il poeta e il contadino". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
18. "Pulcinella ieri e oggi". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
19. "Chung Kuo, Cina". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
20. "Oceano Canada". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-13.