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TELEVISION PARADE
A new "Mister and Missus"
homemaking show starts on Chan-
nel 9 next week. It stars TV
charmer Valerie Cooney and Brian
Henderson, as a newly married
couple furnishing an old house.
THEIR task is compli-
cated because they are
on a slender budget, and
all their furnishings and
any alterations they wish
to make have to be done
by themselves.
From week to week, start-
ing June 11, you'll see them
at their job (each Wednes-
day afternoon from 2.30 till
3.30) and watch their house
grow into their budget-type
dream house.
I talked to Valerie Cooney
this week about her and her
new show. It was quite an
experience.
Valerie is tall, blond, 23,
and in private life is married
to movie cameraman Bob
Wright. She's a Queens-
lander (it's only five years
since she left her home town,
Ipswich) and she has all the
natural charm and friendli-
ness that I think characterise
Queenslanders.
I've heard a lot about show
people who "project" them-
selves into their roles, but
Valerie seems to assume hers
like a new dress.
"I owe everything to TV,"
she told me. "I love it.
"People see me on TV and
they offer me jobs. I had one
as a demonstrator the other
day and now I know how
to lay floor tiles myself. It
will save Brian and me such
a lot of money—we're on a
budget, you know.
"What do you think about
tiles in the living-room?"
A few minutes later, deep in
an earnest discussion about
tiles, I realised that Valerie
had me vitally interested in
a fictitious home and trying
to save her and her "hus-
band," Brian, a bit on the floor
covering.
That's why I think the new
show will be good.
Over at Channel 9 they're
building the set for the liv-
ing-room, the kitchen, and
a workshop.
On the first show Valerie
none Help
VALERIE COONEY
and Brian are going to hang
the curtains, among other
jobs, and Valerie is going to
do the flowers.
"And I'm going to ice a
cake and make Brian coffee,
and we'll try the cake and I'd
like to have a neighbor in."
By
NAN MUSGROVE
Suddenly Valerie became
Mrs. Bob Wright.
"I love housekeeping, I
love it," she said. "I'm never
happier than when I'm look-
ing after Bob, cooking, and
being a housewife.
"I'm a real home body. I
think it's because I come
from a small town."
What the formula is I
don't know, but something
has turned this home body
from the small town into a
very likeable TV personality.
HANDSOME Harold Holt,
Federal Minister for
Labor and National Service,
is remarkably unhandsome on
TV. Perhaps it was the
wicked close-ups employed
when he was interviewed by
Malcolm Muggeridge, but
there wasn't a glimpse of the
debonair politician who
looked so distinguished be-
fore the cameras when he
danced with the Queen
Mother at Canberra's Royal
Ball.
Mr. Holt looked years older
than his much-older col-
leagues, Messrs. Calwell and
Casey, who appeared later the
same day. He clasped and
unclasped his hands nervously
or held them on his lap like
an unattractive bouquet.
What struck me as I
watched the performance
was what a good accessory
a pipe could be on TV. It
has to be filled, tamped
down, lit, and relit, a series
of processes guaranteed to
soothe the nervous inter-
viewee and do away with
the what'll-I-do-with-my-hand
problem. I recommend it.
I'VE never been a Chuck
Faulkner fan until I saw
him conduct Channel 9's Nine-
pins Cabbage Quiz during
Desmond Tester's absence on
the Ampol trial.
He deserves a special medal.
It was a treat to watch him
with the kids. He exhibited
none of the archness or forced
jollity that is so marked in
many children's programmes.
As for Robbie the Robot,
Mr. Tester's electric stand-in
—I'd pension him off to some
junk yard where he could en-
joy a burst of current when-
ever he wanted it and forget
about TV.
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