The comedy series Bobby Dazzler was created as a vehicle for pop-star John Farnham. Crawford Productions had been seeking a suitable vehicle for Farnham for some time, including writing an episode of Ryan with him in mind (a part that was re-cast due to Farnham's unbreakable concert commitments) and casting him in the failed pilot Me and Mr Thorne.
Bobby Dazzler played to both Farnham's strengths and his popular image. As Don Storey notes in his Classic Australian Television,
The pilot episode sets the scene - a young singer, Bobby Farrell, releases a record and seeks a manager to steer him on a successful career. Meanwhile, his father Fred, a former vaudeville performer, re-enters his life after an absence of many years, and proceeds to move into Bobby's flat, much to his (and his new manager's) dismay.
The program so appealed to Maurie Fields (as an opportunity to combine his television experience and vaudeville background) that, according to Storey, he quit a nine-year-long run on Bellbird to take the role of Bobby's father. It also won Terry Stapleton a Sammy Award. But as Storey notes,
HSV-7 in Melbourne, unfortunately, did not give Bobby Dazzler much of a chance - after sitting on the programme for the best part of a year, the first episode finally went to air on November 20, 1977. The bulk of the series was shown during the 1977-78 summer non-ratings 'silly season', and went through a timeslot change which did nothing to encourage regular viewers.
The series was not renewed for a second season, and Farnham returned to a full-time singing career.
