Great to read what you say about Fat Cat, Percy and Sunny! I am from Dianella so close to Bassendean.

Even as a kid, I could tell the difference between the Perth Fat Cat and the Adelaide one. They looked slightly different for starters and they used to show lots of shots on FC and Friends which my mum and dad would point out were shot in Adelaide. Strange I remember this stuff but I do!

Our Fat Cat was quite the cool dude in Perth. He could be quite naughty at times too which I liked! He wore different outfits too. He NEVER dig that daggy dancing stuff. He had a nice red Scottish suit including hat he wore a lot and not that flower hat they have him in lately…..geez. Fat Cat should revolt once more and reclaim his true personality…..

You could enter competitions on the Earlybirds and Funtime Shows like Find Fat Cat where you picked a number on a electronic board to win a prize (so high tech we thought!!) and Percy’s Treasure which was a board with lights flashing around and treasure island map. Whatever spot the light stopped on you won that prize. FC and Percy were not really for toddlers and the show was aimed more toward kids of school age actually.

They’d do live shows round town and get mobbed by the kids (and parents!) in Perth back then. The Perth Royal Show was amazing one year!

They’d update the set often and we’d be seeing the crew in Fat Cat’s cave, Fat Cat’s tree house or fishing shack….they were pretty creative and the fan mail when they’d have a major prize draw would cover the whole floor and the hosts would bury themselves in it! None of this is exaggerated as my generation would attest. Have a look at photos from TVW Reunion site and you will an idea.

FC had the hugest toothbrush and mug he’d drink his milk from. Mrs Cat would put him to bed at night. And sometimes Keith Geary as well.

Yes, those that saw Fat Cat on the FC and Friends show did not get to see Fat cat’s real talents. I agree totally that Fat Cat and Percy Penguin rocked over here and that was why they remained popular.

He actually started on Perth TV- He was originally the design of a TVW 7 staff member. TVW Enterprises was big in those days- they built the Perth Entertainment Centre and the first City cinema complex- Cinema City. They owned radio station 6IX and then bought SAS 10 in Adelaide. Both studios did heaps of TV productions.

Back to Fat Cat- He appeared on Perth’s Earlybirds show with his mate Percy Penguin. Earlybirds (during week on school holidays) and Fat Cat’s Funtime Show (Saturday mornings) were absolutely huge. These characters and their male and female co-hosts attracted large crowds everywhere they went back in the 70s and 80s. They were in heaps of other shows as well.

TVW Enterprises made Fat Cat and Friends, the preschoolers show, in the SAS 10 studios. Fat Cat became huge there as well.

Fat Cat and Friends always screened in Perth on Channel 7. When the show started screening on the east coast it was on the Network 10 affiliates.

A “goodnight girls and boys” sequence still screens on 7 in Perth to this day (7.30pm) and you can still buy dolls which raise money for children’s charities. Ten years ago, there was a meltdown at the tv station’s switchboard when 7 attempted to drop the “goodnight” from their schedule. Then new indents were filmed. This may seem a little old-fashioned but I think this is in a good way!

He still does shows around town but alas does not have a proper tv show anymore which I think should be rectified.

TVW and SAS got absorbed into Skase’s TV network in the late 80s and SAS got rebranded a Channel 7 station- hence Fat Cat and Friends moved to the Seven Network for its final few years.

Fat Cat and Friends was dumped by the political correctness group (idiots) but never in Perth. He is retained by the station and his mate Percy is by all accounts still alive too. He has appeared at Christmas Pageants with Fat Cat here in Perth.

By the way, TVW used to have a puppet called Sunny Sandgroper who used to tell jokes on air. You could send your jokes in to the station.

If you want to see some recent Fat Cat stuff, hop on youtube and type in TVW 7 and you will find a few things.

Also you can’t get it if your on the dole as you didn’t earn any money to get any tax money back, you had to of gotten $1 back on the tax return from last year to get it also.

The Austudy thing was a bit different as you got $900 then $950 of going to uni or what ever.

The biggest ripoff is the Green taking off with $50 from the $950 for bloody trees, and then have everyone pay that back bit of BS that.

You just reiterated my point. Those eligible ARE on the dole. Those on the dole, that scream and swear because swearwords are the way they communicate their lifes frustrations.

pissed off, which one do you collect, the dole or the austudy or BOTH?

Its the ones that have difficulty stringing together a sentence, without calling people morons, or douchebags or idiots that have congregated here, screaming blue murder for what they are “owed”. How the heck do these people survive!