The Paul Hogan Show
1 9 7 7 (Australia)
 "Evenin'
viewers". This was Paul Hogan in the days before he became
Mick "Crocodile" Dundee, met Linda wotshername with the
plastic face and silicon-tits, and dumped poor old Narelle in the
fibro house at Auburn . . .
Paul Hogan may not have invented the Australian Ocker image but
he certainly embodied it.
The former Sydney Harbour Bridge rigger who made his debut on New
Faces, came to fame via a regular spot on A Current Affair,
20 specials for Channel 7 and then in 1977 his own show.
The show also featured fantastic work by John Cornell as Strop
- who also got to marry the spunk of the seventies, Delvene
Delaney (pictured at right with Hoges).
Characters like Leo Wanker, the incompetent magician The Great
Luigi and Donger still make me laugh.
In later years Hoges did films like Flipper which
brought new meaning to the word "sad". He used to do TV
ads for ciggies you know (and he will certainly fry in Hell
eternally for making the world think that Australians call prawns
"shrimps").
Hoges always claimed his New Faces debut consisted of
nothing more than "hurling a few knives about and doing a bit
of a tap dance".
But he did it with such Ocker nonchalance that the audience
were in stitches. In the grand final, he was beaten to first place
by a 15 year old cellist.
 
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