National Fame
In his later and most famous incarnation, Gunston had evolved to become the unlikely host of his own national TV variety show, The Norman Gunston Show, which premiered with a live broadcast on ABC television on 18 May 1975. Dubbed "the little Aussie bleeder", (a play on the term "Aussie battler"), he satirised parochial Australian culture, media "personalities", and egocentric talk show hosts.
After a faltering start, the Norman Gunston show rapidly gained a huge national audience and the series became the pre-eminent Australian TV comedy program of its day, with McDonald winning a Gold Logie scoring several pop hits. He is, notably, the only Logie recipient who has received the award in the name of his character, rather than in his own name.
According to McDonald, the Gunston character and his show were initially devised as a parody of an (unintentionally bad) late-night Sydney TV variety show of the early 1970s hosted by expatriate American club entertainer Tommy Leonetti.
Read more about this topic: Norman Gunston
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