Overview

The Penthouse Club was a weekly variety program produced live to air from the studios of HSV-7 Melbourne from October 10, 1970. It was originally hosted by Michael Williamson and comedian Mary Hardy. The program, screening each Saturday night from around 8.30pm, was a mix of comedy, light entertainment and live coverage of harness racing from the RAS Showgrounds and, latterly, Moonee Valley racecourse. The weekly lottery draw Tattslotto was incorporated as a segment in the program from around 1972. The Penthouse Club was considered a welcome alternative on Saturday nights which is often regarded as a wasteland of reruns and low-grade movies on other channels. The long-time musical director for the program was Ivan Hutchinson. In 1978, Williamson was replaced by Ernie Sigley and the program was re-titled Saturday Night Live in 1979. Mary Hardy left the program during 1978. The predecessor programs were Sunnyside Up and Club Seven. Rival television station ATV-10 attempted to resurrect the format in 1980 with little success.