''It Pays to Be Funny'' was an Australian television comedy game show. In Sydney it aired on station

ATN-7 ATN is the Sydney Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax Media, John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the ...

, while in Melbourne it aired on

GTV-9 GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia, owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. History GTV-9 was amongst the first television stations to begin regular ...

(at the time, the two stations were known for sharing some programs, as this was prior to the formation of the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

and

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

). The half-hour show was hosted Bob Dyer, who had previously hosted a version for radio on the

Macquarie Radio Network Nine Radio (formerly Macquarie Media Limited) is an Australian media company, owned by parent company Nine Entertainment Co. and headquartered in North Sydney, New South Wales, the company operates radio stations nationally in the capital cit ...

. A description in a 1957 edition of ''The Age'' newspaper said the television series "puts contestants though amusing situations with worth-while prizes as their reward", According to a different edition of ''The Age'', one of these "situations" was having the contestant attempt to milk a cow In one television episode,

Jack Davey John Andrew Davey (8 February 190714 October 1959), known as Jack Davey, was a New Zealand-born singer and pioneering star of Australian radio as a performer, producer, writer and host from the early 1930s into the late 1950s. Later in his caree ...

(himself a prolific Australian television and radio host of series like ''

The Pressure Pak Show ''The Pressure Pak Show'' is an Australian television game show. It first aired from 1957 to 1958 on ATN-7 in Sydney and GTV-9 in Melbourne. It was hosted by Jack Davey, who also hosted '' The Dulux Show'' and ''Give it a Go''. The program was ...

'') appeared and gave Dyer a meringue pie in the face, and then "kissed" him In another episode, a contestant named Mr. Martin had a water balloon poised above his head, while his wife tried to figure out what a man named Steve Petrovich was doing by pantomime. Failure to determine this would result in Mr. Martin having the water balloon dropped on him Although kinescope recordings (also known as telerecordings) were likely made to allow the series to air on both stations, it is not known if any of these recordings of the television version still exist, and there is the possibility the series may be

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. However, it is known that transcription copies exist of the radio version at the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

References

External links

* Seven Network original programming Nine Network original programming Australian comedy television series 1950s Australian game shows 1957 Australian television series debuts 1958 Australian television series endings Black-and-white Australian television shows English-language television shows Australian radio programs Television series based on radio series {{Australia-radio-show-stub