Premièring only months after Crawford Productions' landmark police drama "Homicide", "Mavis Bramston" demonstrated both that it was possible to make satirical TV comedy in Australia, featuring Australian issues and characters, and that there was a significant audience for such a show. As the first Australian-produced TV comedy series to become a national success with both critics and viewers, "Mavis" is therefore considered a milestone in the development of Australian TV. Many at the time expected that this honour would go to Graham Kennedy's "In Melbourne Tonight", which was hugely popular in its home city, but it did not become a fully-fledged national hit until 1969. Writer Hugh Stuckey opined that this was in part because IMT faced strong competition from the shows it followed, the top-rating American variety series "The Perry Como Show" and "The Andy Williams Show".