Happy Hammond

After the Happy Show's cancellation in 1968, Hammond moved to produce daytime television morning shows and afternoon children's shows and in his later years to an off-camera role in HSV-7's videotape department, although he continued to appear every year until the 1990s for the station's Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal. He was occasionally seen on Shirl's Neighbourhood.

Hammond was a keen supporter of the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (subsequently the Australian Football League). He was accorded the honour of running through the banner with the Geelong players on Grand Final day in 1963. It must have been a good omen – Geelong won the game.

Hammond switched to HSV-7 in 1960, where The Happy Show, no longer sponsored by Tarax, featured Princess Panda (Panda Lisner), Lovely Anne (Anne Watt), Parer the Magician (Tommy Parer), Funny Face (Vic Gordon), Big John (John D'Arcy), Robbie Rob (Bob Horsfall), Cousin Roy (Roy Lyons) and Sylvester the Talking Sock (Ian Wiliams). The program was also relayed to ATN-7 in Sydney. During Watt's absence for her honeymoon in early 1965, her place was taken by a young Olivia Newton-John.

Hammond's program won a Logie Award in 1959 (inaugural year) for Most Popular Children's Show, and Hammond himself won a Logie in 1962 for Outstanding Contributions to Children's Entertainment.

On TV, the Tarax Happy Show (later the Tarax Show) started on Melbourne's GTV-9 in January 1957, debuting from the Myer Emporium Lonsdale Street store window. During Hammond's time at GTV-9, the program was only seen in Victoria, where it competed with Young Seven on HSV-7.

Happy's broadcasting career began in his home town of Geelong when he became the breakfast announcer at 3GL. While there, he made his first TV appearance in 1948, as part of an exhibition using closed-circuit TV equipment for trial purposes. He then moved to Adelaide's 5KA, before returning to Victoria to work first at 3AW and then 3UZ, both in Melbourne. At 3UZ he hosted The Happy Show, a children's program, as well as partnering Graham Kennedy, following the death of Nicky Whitta in September 1956. Hammond joined television station GTV-9, and shortly after, he invited the young Kennedy to appear on a telethon, where he was noticed by Norman Spencer, leading eventually to Kennedy joining the channel as well.

Harry Montague Hammond (7 May 1916 – 1 April 1998), professionally known as Happy Hammond, was an Australian comedian, radio host and children's television show host, and television producer.