Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 13

This week in TV Guide: April 2, 1955

That's singer Tony Martin front and center on the cover of this week's issue. By his own admission, he's never been up there with singers like Sinatra—"I'm no sensation," he says, "never have been, don't want to be—but in a career spanning nearly 25 years, he's had more hits along the way than most. Enough, to be sure, that he'll never be known simply as "Mr. Cyd Charisse," speaking of his second wife, who happens to have been Fred Astaire's former partner; the two have been married since 1948, and will remain so until her death 60 years later, in 2008.   
His secret, he tells Robert Johnson, is in "making comebacks." After starting out as a singer on the Burns and Allen radio show (where he often played a foil to Gracie), he moved to headlining at nightclubs, and then to movies, before doing a stint in the Army Air Force, where he sang in the Glenn Miller band. His biggest challenge, he says, has been the move to television. Of his early work in the Monday night NBC series bearing his name, "The results were pretty bad." Since then, working out of Hollywood with producer Bud Yorkin and musical director Hal Borne, the show has made strides with its lavish production. "Costume changes, scenery, special arrangements—how many 15-minute shows would go to all that trouble?"
It does seem like a lot for a show that only fills the half-hour that includes the evening news (Dinah Shore and Eddie Fisher alternate the other four nights), but here again, he has no complaints. "I’m not saying I wouldn’t like as much time on the air as Como or Fisher,” Martin says, “but I was so late getting into TV I figure I’m lucky to have 15 minutes a week of it." He'd like to get his wife on the show, "if we can figure out some way to do her dancing justice." (They'll perform together many times, including multiple future stints hosting The Hollywood Palace.) And, above all, he remains confident. Once asked if he'd read The Power of Positive Thinking, he replied, "I don't need it. I rehearse." It will do him well in a career that will last into his 90s, before his death in 2012 at the age of 98. Not bad, I'd say.

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America's Most Wanted wasn't the first series to use television to identify and help capture criminals, of course. But, as Herman Lowe writes, it's only taken a few short years for television to demonstrate its effectiveness as a video wanted poster of sorts. More than 40 stations nationwide air weekly programs that include pictures and descriptions of those wanted by the FBI, and four men have been arrested as a direct result of the programming, including one who was on the Bureau's famed "Ten Most Wanted" list. Remarkably, two of the four came from the same station, WGAL in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which has been airing the weekly FBI program since 1950. Both apprehensions came after viewers had seen pictures of the men on the program. Other apprehensions occured because of spottings on stations KGNC in Amarillo, Texas and KTNT in Tacoma, Washington (Alex Whitmore, the "Most Wanted" arrest; the man was charted with unlawful interstate flight following assault.)
Naturally, FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover is appreciative of television's help in crime fighting. "The four specific instances of arrests brought about by TV to date, portend greater things to come in the alliance between the communications industry and law enforcement, in coping with the desperate fugitive," he tells TV Guide, and he looks forward to continued work between the Bureau and television stations nationwide, especially with help from agent Lewis Erskine .
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In case you hadn't noticed, this issue is made up of several short features, which means today's writeup will be the same, and, in fact, one of them has to do with the subject of writing. It's a look at the current trend of TV stars turning to authoring books. Celebrity books are nothing new, and you'd be right to wonder if each and every star is responsible for writing each and every word that appears between the covers. 
One of those whom I'm willing to believe did, though, is humorist Fred Allen, a man who, although he had a writing staff, always did the final edit and rewrite of the scripts for his radio program always had a way with words. He already has one book, Treadmill to Oblivion, a memoir of his days in radio, and he's working on another, Much Ado About Me, which will be published posthumously next year, following his death in March.
Bennett Cerf, publisher at Random House and Allen's co-panelist on What's My Line?, didn't need to write the words in his Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor, nor did Down You Go moderator Bergen Evans, whose collection of silly notions appears as The Spoor of Spooks and Other Nonsense. Books by Bob Hope, Dale Evans, Martha Raye, and Groucho Marx are among other tombs filling the shelves, and Arthur Godfrey, Frank Sinatra, and Liberace are said to be working on autobiographies. And then there's Jackie Gleason; the Great One, who's already mentioned once in this issue for the celebration in honor of his 39th birthday (that's him on the right, with Marilyn Monroe and her estranged husband, Joe DiMaggio), is working with Jim Bishop, whose last book, The Day Lincoln Was Shot, was a best-seller. Jackie, of course, only works with writers familiar with big subjects.
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It's Holy Week for Christians, which means some special religious programming, starting on Palm Sunday with a Lutheran service of worship live from Tabernacle Lutheran Church in Philadelphia (10:00 a.m., WNBQ). During the week, Milwaukee's WTMJ presents Holy Week Meditations daily at 12 noon; on Good Friday, the meditation is replaced by a one-hour devotional service. Also on Friday, WBKB presents The Shroud of Turin (4:30 p.m.), a documentary on Christ's burial cloth.
It's also a sacred week in the Jewish faith, with Passover falling on Wednesday, and so we have two Passover Plays broadcast on Sunday: "Night of Vigil" (1:00 p.m., WBBM), the story of Jewish immigrants from Brazil ordered to leave New Amsterdam 300 years ago; and "Home for Passover" (1:30 p.m., WNBQ), based on humorist Sholom Aleichem's story of a teacher trying to get home to his family for Passover.
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And the winners are: the Syracuse Nats!It's a very quiet time in the sports scene this week; the Stanley Cup finals aren't broadcast in the United States; and since the baseball season only lasts 154 games with no league playoffs, Opening Day isn't for a couple of weeks yet. Therefore, what we have is basketball, specifically the second game of the NBA finals between the Fort Wayne Pistons (now located in Detroit) and Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers) (Saturday, 2:00 p.m., NBC). This game and the sixth game next Saturday are the only two games of the finals to be broadcast, even though the seventh game is played next Sunday. What can I say? Times have changed. By the way, did you know the Pistons might have thrown that series ?
Saturday sees the debut of Ziv's syndicated anthology series Science Fiction Theatre (10:30 p.m., WNBQ), hosted by Truman Bradley. Science Fiction Theatre is hard sci-fi, with none of the cheesy, bug-eyed monsters or planet-hopping expeditons you'd see in the movies of the day. It runs for two seasons, with the first in color; thereafter, it becomes a staple on local stations for years.
Without sports, Sunday has been returned to the world of entertainment, and Omnibus (4:00 p.m., CBS) checks in with a 90-minute dramatic version of Homer's "The Iliad," something you wouldn't likely see on network television today. Later, on Toast of the Town (7:00 p.m., CBS), Ed Sullivan has a terrific lineup of guests, including Fred Astaire, the Will Mastin Trio with Sammy Davis Jr., singers Dorothy Dandridge and Julius La Rosa, comedian Jackie Miles, and British strongwoman Joan Rhodes. That would have won the week, no matter what went up against it.
Academy Award winner Greer Garson makes her widely-heralded television debut Monday night in Producers' Showcase's "Reunion in Vienna" (7:00 p.m., NBC), a romantic comedy with Brian Aherne, Peter Lorre, Robert Flemyng, and Cathleen Nesbitt. In an article accompanying the debut, she talks about why she decided to do television: "When I showed up as the mystery guest on What’s My Line? one night, I was just flabbergasted next morning at the number of people who stopped me on the street to talk about it." Having seen her on TV, they were much more comfortable approaching her than what she'd experienced acting in movies. She doesn't have any intentions of acting in a regular series, even though Bing Crosby has been trying to sign her up for his productdion company. She's enjoying the experience, though; "TV offers a challenge, a real opportun—. . .oh, dear, that sounds awful, doesn’t it? But it really is, you know. I think I’m going to like it."
Former First Daughter Margaret Truman narrates a filmed tour of Washington, D.C. on Today (Tuesday, 7:00 a.m., NBC); it's the first in a series of films on travel spots around the world. I don't know when the film was made, but certainly it would have been smart to do it at the end of March, when the cherry blossoms are out. Of course, seeing as how this is black-and-white, it might not have made that much of an impact. And at 6:30 p.m., it's Dinah Shore's 15-minute songfest that takes us up to Plymouth News Caravan with John Cameron Swayze at 6:45 Tuesdays and Thursdays. She's a trooper; according to the Hollywood Teletype; she's playing with two badly burned wrists as a result of having a hot oven door slammed shut on them.
Wednesday's highlight is undoubtedly on Disneyland (6:30 p.m., ABC), in the animated classic Alice in Wonderland (edited for television time, of course), with the voices of Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna, and others. It was originally seen as the second episode of Disneyland back in November; prior to that, Walt Disney had used television heavily as a promotional tool. Even though it's been chopped up and it's airing in black-and-white, it's still a treat. Later in the evening, Best of Broadway presents "Stage Door," adapted by Gore Vidal from the Broadway play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman. Diana Lynn, Rhonda Fleming, Peggy Ann Garner, and Elsa Lanchester are among the stars.
Thursday is, I think, a very good example of what an ordinary evening of television looks like in 1955: The Lone Ranger and his nephew fight stagecoach robbers (6:30 p.m., ABC); Claudette Colbert stars in the suspense anthology Climax (7:30 p.m., CBS), with co-star Lorne Greene; Friday and Smith are on the track of a con-man in Dragnet (8:00 p.m., NBC); David Niven stars in "The Collar" on Four Star Playhouse (8:30 p.m., CBS; he's one of the four stars); Reed Hadley (no relation) is the Public Defender representing a model accused of stealing a mink coat (9:00 p.m., CBS); and James Mason introduces "The Browning Version," a TV adaptation of Terrence Rattigan's play, on Lux Video Theater (9:00 p.m., NBC), with Herbert Marshall. Heavy on anthologies, as was typical of the time.
On Friday, Ed Murrow's guest on Person to Person is the famed orchestra conductor Sir Thomas Beecham and his wife, concert pianist Betty Humby. (9:30 p.m., CBS) And in the 15 minutes between the end of Friday Night Fights and the 10:00 p.m. news, The Jan Murray Show (9:45 p.m., NBC) welcomes, among others, singer Tina Louise, who is surely headed for bigger things.
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MST3K alert: Lost Continent (1951) Searching for a missing atom-powered rocket, a plane crew lands in an island-jungle and comes up on a lost continent. Cesar Romero.. (Saturday, 12:05 a.m., WTMJ in Milwaukee) An atomic-powered rocket, rock climbing, and dinosaurs! A good supporting cast that includes Whit Bissell, John Hoyt, Hugh Beaumont, and Sid Melton helps, but the highlight comes from the interstitial MST3K features, with Mike Nelson portraying Beaumont as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! And did I mention rock climbing? Really, who could ask for anything more? TV  

Around the dial

You might recall me writing a couple of years ago about The Man in Room 17, a British show that I quite enjoyed watching, although I was only able to see the first season. You might even be familiar with it, if you enjoy British shows from the 1960s. If so, you'll be as glad as I was to hear about the first-ever guidbook to the first season, Behind Door 17: An Unofficial Guide to The Man in Room 17 , by Martin Gregory. Beside being an episode guide, it includes essays, mini-bios, and insights into a show that I found both intelligent and entertaining, with a liberal dose of humor included. You can read more about it at Martin's Substack , and hopefully we'll be looking at a review of this in the future.
The lastest episode of Eventually Supertrain is now available, in which your erstwhile correspondent joins Dan for another around of Garrison's Gorillas, plus more neat stuff. Please do give it a listen when you have some time, and if you haven't already added Supertrain to your list of favorite podcasts, now's a great time to do so.
Love That Bob returns at The Horn Section, as Hal reviews the 1959 episode " Bob and the Ballerina ." We're at a point in the fifth season where the series tries to get back on track after an unsuccessful attempt to domesticize our hero. Find out how successful it was.
The "Sylvia Coleridge Season" continues at Cult TV Blog, and this week John looks at her appearance in the supernatural 1981 movie Artemus 81 , a movie that almost defies explanation. Well, almost, but John gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect if you decide to watch it here .
At The View from the Junkyard, Roger's episode-by-episode recap of The New Avengers arrives at " Three Handed Game ," the final episode of the first season, a story that blends mind-swapping, people with amazing memories, spies, and, of course, another great performance by Joanna Lumley as Purdy.
This doesn't really have anything to do with television, but Travalanche reviews Danny Fingeroth's book Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald's Assassin, and given that I've visited the topic of the Kennedy assassination many times here, you know why I'd be interested in this.
Television's New Frontier: The 1960s returns with the 1962 episodes of  Alfred Hitchcock Presents , which follows the successful formula that's kept the show going for seven successful seasons. Is the show in a rut, or is it following the maxim that you don't mess with success?
Speaking of Hitchcock (and isn't it too bad that Jack's Hitchcock Project isn't this week?), A Shroud of Thoughts reviews the fifth season episode " Arthur ," starring Laurence Harvey, which Terence ranks as one of his favorites from the entire run of the series.
Television Obscurities has a note that the Paley Center in New York has now opened the Paley Archive at the Beverly Hills Public Library. It's no more likely I'll make it there than I would get to NYC, but I can always hope that they digitize their archives someday.
At The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew uses the upcoming 24th anniversary of the death of his mother, Sue Bennett , looking back at her career in New York and Boston television. By the way, if you haven't read The Lucky Strike Papers, you should; it's an excellent book about family, television, and the 1950s. TV  

Bonus issue: TV Guide of March 29, 1975

A few months ago, I introduced you to Your 45's Are 50, a weekly syndicated Top 40 countdown program featuring the hit songs and news headlines from 50 years ago.  each week! I've corresponded with Hugh Holesome from time to time about TV information included in the program, and Hugh is now investing in some classic TV Guides of his own! He asked me if I'd be interested in this writeup from the issue of March 29, 1975, and it didn't take me long to say yes; it's always fun to read someone else's take on an issue, especially when it's one we haven't covered here. So without delay, here's Hugh's summary of this issue. Enjoy, and be sure to check out the show each week!
by Hugh Holesome

This edition of the TV Guide for March 29, 1975 has a colorful cartoon cover of BeatriceArthur and Hermione Baddeley of Maude fame, drawn by Ronald Searle. The cover story onpage 18, "The Dating Game: Bad Taste That Pays Off," gets us to a cafe lunch interview withChuck Barris, after his first novel but before The Gong Show. Dwight Whitney is an eagerspectator to the golden yarns Mr. Barris spins. 
Barris, who sends his 12 year old daughter to private boarding school in Switzerland and is tornbetween collecting Mercedes and Rolls-Royce vehicles, is estimated to be worth between $20and $40 million at this time. The book he is currently trying to write, The Game ShowMan, which he claims is due to the publisher "this month" won’t actually be published until 1993, as, coined in this article, The Game Show King. 
Eric Levin devotes four pages to Elbert Budin, the director who is widely in demand for his foodstyling shoots. Mr Budin calmly describes every shoot as finding the beauty and sensuality ofeach product. Budin also likens his work to that of classical French painter, Paul Cézanne, known for hisintense study of his subjects. "The laws of beauty," he says, "are as absolute for a strip of baconas they are for a piece of sculpture." He'll ask his staff Japanese chef, Yoshiko, to fry up 60slices at a time, so that he can pick out the perfect one. 
Gregor Ziemer, famous for his novel Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi, gets twopages to describe and experience in 1934 Nazi Germany, where he, and another newspapercolleague, were introduced to Fern - Sprech- Sehen - Elektrischer - Wellen - Apparat: “Long Distance Talking Seeing Electric Wave Apparatus.” The Nazis called this two way videophone “Fernsehen” for short. They were able to kind of see, kind of hear, and kind ofunderstand each other wirelessly across a distance of 100 miles that August 1934. The Naziswere proud of this technological achievement that would put the face of the Fuhrer into livingrooms across Germany, and soon perhaps, the world. 
British actress Hermione Baddeley, profiled by Leslie Radditz on page 10. as early as 12 yearsold her performances were capturing the attention of the likes of George Bernard Shaw. Latershe received praise from Noel Coward, HG Wells, Tennessee Williams, and even earned thenickname “Pussycat” from Lawrence Olivier before it was chic. Her marriage at the age of 19 isdiscussed as she met the honorable David Tennant at a party for the Prince of Wales thrown bySomerset Maugham's wife. Her 50 years of acting, mostly on the British stage, had brought herto America in 1964 as the Banks’ maid in Mary Poppins but her long-term contract with Disneyfizzled with the death of Walt himself in 1966. She met Norman Lear around 1973 beforeheading back to England but that encounter left an indelible mark. When Maude needed a newfoil upon the departure of Florida Evans (S2:Ep20) for the spin-off series “Good Times” whichdebuted 3 days later, February 8, 1974, Lear knew just who to call, ahem, ring up. Mrs Naugatuckarrived September 30, 1974 (S3:Ep4). Season 3 concludes this week, March 31. 
After the crossword, Dr. Karl Meninger gets two pages to discuss recognizing mental illness andwhat to do about it. It coincides with the PBS five-part series on emotional problems called TheThin Edge, which begins Monday, March 31st. Producer and host David Prowitt claimsdepression affects some 19 million Americans young and old, twice as many women as men.Antidepressant drugs and shock therapy will be discussed. 
Feeling free begins with feeling comfortable, and James Daly of Medical Center shows off hiscaftan collection in a picture feature on page 24, saying, “Don't Knock It Till You've Tried It." Mr. Daly picked up this Turkish "habit" while on vacation in, of course, Mexico. 

Cleveland Amory wraps up the issue with a review of Baretta, which began airing January 17thas a mid-season replacement. He gives high praise to the pilot episode, called "He'll Never SeeDaylight" written by Stephen J. Cannell, where our title character's girlfriend is shot and killedsoon after his marriage proposal,which sets the tone for Robert Blakes Tony Baretta versus theToma character played by Tony Musante who walked away after one season of that series.Rather than try to recast Toma, who had great chemistry with TV wife Susan Strasburg, thebones of the show were kept to build upon with the fighting mad Tony Baretta instead of themilder-tempered David Toma. Without a wife or girlfriend, he gets to keep his eyes on thesparrow, or in this case, a white Cockatoo, Freddy. This week Baretta moves from Friday toWednesday April 2, 1975.
Highlights in this week of TV: March 30th 1975 was, of course, Easter Sunday. ABC aired a two-part encore presentation ofCharlton Heston in The Ten Commandments for the Saturday and Sunday Night movies. 
The two-hour Waltons Easter story was on CBS, followed by American Parade: Sojourner, on thelife of Sojourner Truth, and finally “Remembrances & Rock” starring Kate Smith with FlorenceHenderson, The Supremes, Dom DeLuise and more in a rousing salute to the best songs ofpast and present. 
Carol Burnett welcomed Jean Stapleton and Phil Silvers for this week's program. 
Dinah!, the syndicated daily daytimer from Dinah Shore (which ran six seasons), was still new andhad just crossed the 100th show milestone. 
◀ ABC aired the Colgate Women's Freestyle Ski Championship (claiming the $15,000 purse wasthe same amount of money a man could win by doing flips and graceful ballet on skis. ~You’veCome A Long Way Baby!) 
The Midnight Special (S3:Ep27) featured International acts like The Guess Who, GoldenEarring and P.F.M. hosted by Wolfman Jack 
American Bandstand (S18:Ep25)Polly Brown, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods 
Soul Train (S4:Ep28)B.B. King 3 songs, The Younghearts back as a trio and People's Choice from Philly 
And CBS aired the one and only episode of Black Bart ►on April 4th. Based on the AndrewBergman screenplay “Tex X” which after some tweaks by Mel Brooks, became “BlazingSaddles”. Lou Gossett is the Sheriff, Steve Landesberg plays the drunk sidekick character thatobviously pales compared to Gene Wilder. How could one resist the quarter- page pitch: “Thehilarious Adventures of Black Bart, who discovers Paris, Arizona doesn't want its first blacksheriff hanging around - unless he's really hanging!”Mel Brooks was not involved and the production was allegedly merely contractual to securesequel rights for Warner Brothers.
Thanks, Hugh! A great look back at the well-known and the little-known. Feel free to share what else you're finding!  TV  

What's on TV? Wednesday, March 23, 1966

Johnny Carson's in Hollywood this week; before he made his permanent relocation to the famous Burbank studio, he used to spend at least a couple of weeks out there every year. After he moved there from New York, he did come back to the Big Apple at least once that I can remember, but never after that. And now, of course, most of the shows are back in New York. I guess in these days of modern travel, it doesn't matter that much, but it does demonstrate not only how decentralized the entertainment business is, but how true it is that Hollywood isn't what it used to be. We're in the other part of the state this week, with the Northern California edition.
  -2- KTVU (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (IND.)

  Morning       9:50

RELIGION TODAY—Protestant

    10:00

NEWS—Ealt Harris

    10:30

JACK LA LANNE—Exercise   COLOR      11:00

ROMPER ROOM—Children

  Afternoon

    12:00

STAR PERFORMANCE—Drama

    12:30

NEWS

    12:35

I WANT TO KNOW—Mel Venter

      1:00

DIVORCE COURT

      2:00

MOVIE—Drama

“Girls Town” (1959)

      3:25

NEWS

      3:30

CAPTAIN SATELLITE—Children

      4:30

SUPERCAR—Children

      5:00

SUPERMAN—Adventure

      5:30

THREE STOOGES—Comedy

  Evening       6:00

UNCLE WALDO   COLOR        6:30

HUCKLEBERRY HOUND   COLOR        7:00

LITTLEST HOBO—Adventure

      7:30

SURVIVAL!—Documentary

      8:00

NEW BREED—Police

      9:00

CALIFORNIA THE MOST   SPECIAL    COLOR      10:00

NEWS—Helmso, Cordell, Mann

    10:30

FACES AND PLACES—Travel   COLOR      11:00

MOVIE—Drama

“Guadalcanal Diary” (1943)

 

 

  -3- KCRA (SACRAMENTO) (NBC)

  Morning       5:55

FARM NEWS

      6:00

RHYME AND REASON

      7:00

TODAY   COLOR  Guests: Morgana King, John Scarne

      9:00

EYE GUESS   COLOR        9:25

NEWS—Edwin Newman

      9:30

CONCENTRATION

    10:00

MORNING STAR—Serial   COLOR      10:30

PARADISE BAY—Serial   COLOR      11:00

JEOPARDY   COLOR      11:30

LET’S PLAY POST OFFICE—Game   COLOR      11:55

NEWS—Sander Vanocur

  Afternoon     12:00

NEWS

    12:15

NEWS

    12:30

MERV GRIFFIN—Variety

Guests: Tony Tanner and Polly James, Phil Ford and Mimi Hines, Ann Miller, Steve Perry, Dick Davy

      1:30

ANOTHER WORLD—Serial

      2:30

MOVIE—Musical   COLOR  “One Sunday Afternoon” (1949)

      4:00

MOVIE—Science Fiction

Time approximate. “The Unearthly Stranger” (English; 1963)

      5:30

SCIENCE IN ACTION—Education   COLOR    Evening       6:00

NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley   COLOR        6:30

NEWS

      7:30

VIRGINIAN—Western   COLOR        9:00

JULIE ANDREWS   SPECIAL    COLOR  Guests: Gene Kelly, the New Christy Minstrels

    10:00

I SPY—Adventure   COLOR      11:00

NEWS

    11:30

JOHNNY CARSON—Variety   COLOR  Johnny continues his second week in Hollywood

      1:00

NEWS

 

 

  -4- KRON (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (NBC)

  Morning       6:25

FARM NEWS

      6:30

PROFILE—San Diego State

      7:00

TODAY   COLOR  Guests: Morgana King, John Scarne

      9:00

EYE GUESS   COLOR        9:25

NEWS—Edwin Newman

      9:30

CONCENTRATION

    10:00

MORNING STAR—Serial   COLOR      10:30

PARADISE BAY—Serial   COLOR      11:00

JEOPARDY   COLOR      11:30

LET’S PLAY POST OFFICE—Game   COLOR      11:55

NEWS—Sander Vanocur

  Afternoon     12:00

LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game   COLOR      12:25

NEWS

    12:30

DAYS OF OUR LIVES   COLOR        1:30

ANOTHER WORLD—Serial

      2:30

MATCH GAME   COLOR  Celebrities: Nancy Sinatra, Darryl Hickman

      2:55

NEWS

      3:00

ELEVENTH HOUR—Drama

      4:00

DECEMBER BRIDE—Comedy

      4:30

MAYOR ART—Children

      5:30

SEA HUNT—Adventure

  Evening       6:00

NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley   COLOR        6:30

NEWS

      6:55

SPORTS

      7:00

NORTHWEST PASSAGE   COLOR        7:30

VIRGINIAN—Western   COLOR        9:00

JULIE ANDREWS   SPECIAL    COLOR  Guests: Gene Kelly, the New Christy Minstrels

    10:00

I SPY—Adventure   COLOR      11:00

NEWS

    11:30

JOHNNY CARSON—Variety   COLOR  Johnny continues his second week in Hollywood

      1:00

NEWS

 

 

  -5- KPIX (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (CBS)

  Morning       6:00

SUNRISE SEMESTER

Classical Myths: “Dionysius,” conclusion

      6:30

MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE

      7:00

NEWS—Jim Anderson

      7:55

KPIX EDITORIAL—Louis Simon

      8:00

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

      9:00

I LOVE LUCY

      9:30

McCOYS—Comedy

    10:00

ANDY GRIFFITH

    10:30

DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy

    11:00

LOVE OF LIFE

    11:25

NEWS

    11:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial

    11:55

GUIDING LIGHT—Serial

  Afternoon     12:00

NEWS

    12:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial

      1:00

PASSWORD—Game

Celebrities: Frank Gifford, Betty White. Host: Allen Ludden

      1:30

HOUSE PARTY   COLOR  Guests: Charles Bickford, Gary Coster

      2:00

TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel

      2:25

NEWS—Douglas Edwards

      2:30

EDGE OF NIGHT

      3:00

SECRET STORM

      3:30

WELLS FARGO—Western

      4:00

MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety

Guests: Jackie Coogan, June Wilkinson, the Kirby Stone Four

      5:30

TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama

  Evening       6:00

NEWS

      6:30

NEWS—Walter Cronkite   COLOR        7:00

MARSHAL DILLON—Western

      7:30

LOST IN SPACE

      8:30

BEVERLY HILLBILLIES   COLOR        9:00

GREEN ACRES—Comedy   COLOR        9:30

DICK VAN DYKE

    10:00

DANNY KAYE   COLOR  Guests: John Gary, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Senta Berger, Chaim Topol

    11:00

NEWS

    11:20

MERV GRIFFIN—Variety

Guests: Tony Tanner and Polly James, Phil Ford and Mimi Hines, Ann Miller, Steve Perry, Dick Davy

    12:50

MOVIE—Drama

“Working Girls” (1931)

 

 

  -6- KVIE (SACRAMENTO) (EDUC.)

  Morning       9:40

CLASSROOM—Education

In-school programming includes music appreciation, Spanish, health education and history

    11:30

MENTAL HEALTH—Interview

  Afternoon     12:00

ART STUDIO—Lessons

    12:15

SING HI—SING LO—Music

    12:30

WHAT’S NEW—Children

      1:35

CLASSROOM—Education

In-school programming includes Spanish, science

      5:00

FRENCH CHEF—Cooking

Gourmet beef stew

      5:30

ART STUDIO—Lessons

      5:45

SING HI—SING LO—Music

  Evening       6:00

U.S.A.—Art

      6:30

STOCK MARKET REPORT

      6:35

MUSICAL PORTRAITS

      7:00

WHAT’S NEW—Children

      7:30

EXPLORING—Science

      8:00

WHERE IS JIM CROW?

      8:30

U.S.A.—Art

      9:00

WORLD PRESS—Discussion

    10:00

INTERTEL—Documentary   SPECIAL  “The Men in Black”

 

 

  -7- KGO (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (ABC)

  Morning     ALL-NIGHT MOVIE—Continued

      5:45

LET’S TALK REAL ESTATE

      6:15

CARTOON FACTORY

      6:30

A.M.—Dunbar, Fleming, Bentley

      8:30

GYPSY ROSE LEE—Panel

      9:00

MOVIE—Musical   COLOR  “Dancing in the Dark” (1949)

    11:00

MARKET SWEEP—Game

    11:30

DATING GAME

  Afternoon     12:00

DONNA REED—Comedy

    12:30

FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy

      1:00

BEN CASEY—Drama

      2:00

NURSES—Serial

      2:30

TIME FOR US—Serial

      2:55

NEWS

      3:00

GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial

      3:30

YOUNG MARRIEDS

      4:00

NEVER TOO YOUNG

      4:30

WHERE THE ACTION IS

Performers: Bob Lind, the Marketts, the Knickerbockers

      5:00

MOVIE—Science Fiction

“The Phantom Planet” (1961)

  Evening       6:25

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy

      6:55

SPORTS

      7:00

NEWS—Roger Grimsby

      7:15

NEWS—Peter Jennings

      7:30

BATMAN—Adventure   COLOR  Guest villain: Burgess Meredith (The Penguin)

      8:00

PATTY DUKE—Comedy

      8:30

BLUE LIGHT—Drama   COLOR        9:00

BIG VALLEY—Western   COLOR      10:00

SAGA OF WESTERN MAN—Documentary   SPECIAL    COLOR  “Beethoven: Ordeal and Triumph”

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

MOVIE—Drama   COLOR  “The Climbers” (1964)

      1:20

MOVIE—All Night

1. “Four Desperate Men” (English; 1959)

2. “Not of This Earth” (1957)

3. Maverick

 

 

  -7- KRCR (REDDING) (ABC, NBC)

  Morning       7:55

AGRICULTURE REPORT

      8:00

TODAY   COLOR  Guests: Morgana King, John Scarne

Picked up in progress

      9:00

EYE GUESS   COLOR        9:25

NEWS—Edwin Newman

      9:30

JACK LA LANNE—Exercise

    10:00

MORNING STAR—Serial   COLOR      10:30

PARADISE BAY—Serial   COLOR      11:00

JEOPARDY   COLOR      11:30

LET’S PLAY POST OFFICE—Game   COLOR      11:55

NEWS—Sander Vanocur

  Afternoon     12:00

LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game   COLOR      12:25

NEWS

    12:30

FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy

      1:00

BEN CASEY—Drama

      2:00

NURSES—Serial

      2:30

TIME FOR US—Serial

      2:55

NEWS

      3:00

GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial

      3:30

YOUNG MARRIEDS

      4:00

NEVER TOO YOUNG

      4:30

WHERE THE ACTION IS

Performers: Bob Lind, the Marketts, the Knickerbockers

      5:00

MILTON THE MONSTER

      5:30

SERGEANT PRESTON—Adventure

  Evening       6:00

NEWS

      6:30

NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley   COLOR        7:00

SHENANDOAH—Western

      7:30

VIRGINIAN—Western   COLOR        9:00

JULIE ANDREWS   SPECIAL    COLOR  Guests: Gene Kelly, the New Christy Minstrels

    10:00

FUGITIVE—Drama

    11:00

NEWS

    11:15

JOHNNY CARSON—Variety   COLOR  Johnny continues his second week in Hollywood

 

 

  -8- KSBW (SALINAS) (CBS, NBC)

  Morning       7:00

TODAY   COLOR  Guests: Morgana King, John Scarne

      9:00

I LOVE LUCY

      9:30

CONCENTRATION

    10:00

MORNING STAR—Serial   COLOR      10:30

PARADISE BAY—Serial   COLOR      11:00

LOVE OF LIFE

    11:25

NEWS

    11:30

LET’S PLAY POST OFFICE—Game   COLOR      11:55

NEWS—Sander Vanocur

  Afternoon     12:00

LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game   COLOR      12:25

NEWS

    12:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial

      1:00

PASSWORD—Game

Celebrities: Frank Gifford, Betty White. Host: Allen Ludden

      1:30

HOUSE PARTY   COLOR  Guests: Charles Bickford, Gary Coster

      2:00

TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel

      2:25

NEWS—Douglas Edwards

      2:30

EDGE OF NIGHT

      3:00

SECRET STORM

      3:30

MOVIE—Drama

“The Cool and the Crazy” (1958)

      5:00

WEBSTER WEBFOOT—Children

      5:30

SUPERMAN—Adventure

  Evening       6:00

NEWS

      6:30

NEWS—Walter Cronkite   COLOR        7:00

TALL MAN—Western

      7:30

VIRGINIAN—Western   COLOR        9:00

JULIE ANDREWS   SPECIAL    COLOR  Guests: Gene Kelly, the New Christy Minstrels

    10:00

DANNY KAYE   COLOR  Guests: John Gary, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Senta Berger, Chaim Topol

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

JOHNNY CARSON—Variety   COLOR  Johnny continues his second week in Hollywood

 

 

  -9- KQED (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (EDUC.)

  Morning       9:00

CLASSROOM—Education

In-school programming includes mathematics, science, Spanish, social studies, music rhythms

  Afternoon     12:00

ART STUDIO—Lessons

    12:15

SING HI—SING LO—Music

    12:30

LANGUAGE IN ACTION

      1:10

CLASSROOM—Education

In-school programming includes social studies

      4:00

FOLK GUITAR—Lessons

      4:30

SCOTCH GARDENER—Jim Kerr

      5:00

WHAT’S NEW—Children

      5:30

ART STUDIO—Lessons

      5:45

SING HI—SING LO—Music

  Evening       6:00

WHAT’S NEW—Children

      6:30

PORTRAIT IN MUSIC

      7:00

SCIENCE IN ACTION—Education

      7:30

GREAT DECISIONS—1966

      8:00

WHERE IS JIM CROW?

      8:30

TURN OF THE CENTURY

      9:00

WORLD PRESS—Discussion

 

 

  10 KXTV (SACRAMENTO) (CBS)

  Morning       6:25

FARM NEWS

      6:30

SUNRISE SEMESTER

Classical Myths: “Dionysius,” conclusion

      7:00

WEATHER—Bob Douglas

      7:05

NEWS—Mike Wallace

      7:30

DIVER DAN—Cartoons

      8:00

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

      9:00

I LOVE LUCY

      9:30

McCOYS—Comedy

    10:00

ANDY GRIFFITH

    10:30

DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy

    11:00

LOVE OF LIFE

    11:25

NEWS

    11:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial

    11:55

GUIDING LIGHT—Serial

  Afternoon     12:00

NEWS

    12:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial

      1:00

PASSWORD—Game

Celebrities: Frank Gifford, Betty White. Host: Allen Ludden

      1:30

HOUSE PARTY   COLOR  Guests: Charles Bickford, Gary Coster

      2:00

TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel

      2:25

NEWS—Douglas Edwards

      2:30

EDGE OF NIGHT

      3:00

SECRET STORM

      3:30

GYPSY ROSE LEE—Panel

Guests: Pearl Buck, Jayne Meadows

      4:00

MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety

Guests: Jackie Coogan, June Wilkinson, the Kirby Stone Four

      5:30

NEWS

  Evening       6:00

NEWS—Walter Cronkite   COLOR        6:30

LAWMAN—Western

      7:00

RIFLEMAN—Western

      7:30

LOST IN SPACE

      8:30

BEVERLY HILLBILLIES   COLOR        9:00

GREEN ACRES—Comedy   COLOR        9:30

DICK VAN DYKE

    10:00

SOMETHING SPECIAL   SPECIAL    COLOR  Julie London, Bobby Troup, the Hi-Lo’s, Jerry Fielding

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

MOVIE—Musical   COLOR  “Summer Stock” (1950)

 

 

  11 KNTV (SAN JOSE) (ABC)

  Morning       7:55

BIBLE ANSWERS—Drama

      8:25

NEWS—San Jose State

      8:30

BULLWINKLE—Cartoon

      9:00

HOCUS POCUS—Children

      9:15

BUCKAROO 500—Buck Weaver

      9:30

HOCUS POCUS—Children

    10:00

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy

    10:30

DONNA REED—Comedy

    11:00

MARKET SWEEP—Game

    11:30

DATING GAME

  Afternoon     12:00

BINGO—Game

    12:30

FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy

      1:00

BEN CASEY—Drama

      2:00

NURSES—Serial

      2:30

TIME FOR US—Serial

      2:55

NEWS

      3:00

GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial

      3:30

YOUNG MARRIEDS

      4:00

NEVER TOO YOUNG

      4:30

WHERE THE ACTION IS

Performers: Bob Lind, the Marketts, the Knickerbockers

      5:00

MARSHAL DILLON—Western

      5:30

NEWS

      5:45

NEWS—Peter Jennings

  Evening       6:00

HAVE GUN—WILL TRAVEL

      6:30

CHEYENNE—Western

      7:30

BATMAN—Adventure   COLOR  Guest villain: Burgess Meredith (The Penguin)

      8:00

PATTY DUKE—Comedy

      8:30

BLUE LIGHT—Drama   COLOR        9:00

BIG VALLEY—Western   COLOR      10:00

SAGA OF WESTERN MAN—Documentary   SPECIAL    COLOR  “Beethoven: Ordeal and Triumph”

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

MOVIE—Drama

“Valley of the Lions” (Italian; 1960)

 

 

  12 KHSL (CHICO) (ABC, CBS)

  Morning       7:05

EXISTENCE—UC, Davis

      7:35

NEWS—Mike Wallace

      8:00

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

      9:00

I LOVE LUCY

      9:30

McCOYS—Comedy

    10:00

ANDY GRIFFITH

    10:30

DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy

    11:00

LOVE OF LIFE

    11:25

NEWS

    11:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial

    11:55

GUIDING LIGHT—Serial

  Afternoon     12:00

PEOPLE ARE FUNNY—Art Linkletter

    12:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial

      1:00

PASSWORD—Game

Celebrities: Frank Gifford, Betty White. Host: Allen Ludden

      1:30

HOUSE PARTY   COLOR  Guests: Charles Bickford, Gary Coster

      2:00

TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel

      2:25

NEWS—Douglas Edwards

      2:30

EDGE OF NIGHT

      3:00

SECRET STORM

      3:30

MOVIE—Comedy-Drama   COLOR  “Four Girls in Town” (1956)

      5:00

POPEYE—Cartoons   COLOR        5:30

TAMMY—Comedy

  Evening       6:00

NEWS

      6:30

NEWS—Walter Cronkite   COLOR        7:00

BATMAN—Adventure

Guest villainess: Julie Newmar (Catwoman)       7:30

LOST IN SPACE

      8:30

BEVERLY HILLBILLIES   COLOR        9:00

GREEN ACRES—Comedy   COLOR        9:30

DICK VAN DYKE

    10:00

DANNY KAYE   COLOR  Guests: John Gary, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Senta Berger, Chaim Topol

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

MOVIE—Melodrama

“The Revenge of Frankenstein" (English; 1958)

 

 

  13 KOVR (SACRAMENTO) (ABC)

  Morning

      6:55

NEWS

      7:00

CARTOONLAND—Children

      7:45

BULLWINKLE—Cartoon

      8:00

KING AND ODIE—Cartoons

      8:30

WELLS FARGO—Western

      9:00

JACK LA LANNE—Exercise

      9:30

TELEVIEW 13—Joseph Tomes

    10:00

DONNA REED—Comedy

    10:30

NEVER TOO YOUNG—Serial

    11:00

MARKET SWEEP—Game

    11:30

DATING GAME

  Afternoon     12:00

NEWS

    12:15

TODAY IN AGRICULTURE

    12:30

FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy

      1:00

BEN CASEY—Drama

      2:00

NURSES—Serial

      2:30

TIME FOR US—Serial

      2:55

NEWS

      3:00

GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial

      3:30

YOUNG MARRIEDS

      4:00

CAP’N DELTA—Children   COLOR        5:00

ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS

      5:30

CISCO KID—Western   COLOR    Evening

      6:00

NEWS

      6:30

NEWS—Peter Jennings

      6:45

NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER

      7:00

MARSHAL DILLON—Western

      7:30

BATMAN—Adventure   COLOR  Guest villain: Burgess Meredith (The Penguin)

      8:00

PATTY DUKE—Comedy

      8:30

BLUE LIGHT—Drama   COLOR        9:00

BIG VALLEY—Western   COLOR      10:00

SAGA OF WESTERN MAN—Documentary   SPECIAL    COLOR  “Beethoven: Ordeal and Triumph”

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

TARGET: CORRUPTORS—Drama

 

TV  

This week in TV Guide: March 19, 1966

WeIn some casting news, the Teletype reports that Stefanie Powers will be replacing Mary Ann Mobley in the upcoming The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.; Mobley played April Dancer in the back-door pilot that aired on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Mobley's co-star in the pilot, Norman Fell, will also be replaced in the role of Mark Slate with Noel Harrison.) And with that, we're into this week's cover story by Leslie Raddatz, and the beginning of the closest thing we've ever had here to a theme issue. You'll see what I mean as we go through the issue; just look for the bold-face names.
 "Nothing quite like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has ever happened to television," he says, "not only in program content, which has spawned a host of imitators, but in the fact that U.N.C.L.E. almost didn’t make it at all." The show faltered at the outset, which producer Norman Felton says is because it took viewers a while to catch on to the show's blend of conventional adventure richly invested with humor, and it almost got the axe in January. But now, in its second (and best) season, it's become a phenomenon, garnering fan letters from people around the country "who had nothing much in common except they were U.N.C.L.E. nuts," including one from a CBS producer who told Felton that his four children had become "wild Man from U.N.C.L.E. addicts" who beg me continually, constantly, to get them U.N.C.L.E. cards, THRUSH cards, photos of Robt. Vaughn, the blond kid (Illya?), ete. Do you have kits available for fellow producers who must nightly compete with your superheroes or be branded weaklings in the eyes of their offspring?"
Felton, who sends out between 50 and 60 thousand U.N.C.L.E. cards every month in response to the same number of letters from fans, had a previous reputation for serious, prestige drama, with a portfolio including Studio One, Robert Montgomery Presents, The U.S. Stell Hour, Mr. Novak, and The Eleventh Hour; he says that he's delighted with the success of U.N.C.L.E., but admits "I would rather have one Novak on the air than six U.N.C.L.E.'s." The idea for the show came three years ago, when Felton decided he wanted to do a series that was "just fun," and thus came the concept of a show featuring "a mysterious man who would become involved with ordinary people in adventures with humorous overtones." He held back on the more humorous episodes at first, given that NBC had bought U.N.C.L.E. as a straight adventure series, and there are still viewers who look at it that way, "which is all right with us." 
Of David McCallum, Felton says, "I never had any idea he would become the hit he has. His part in the pilot film was only a few lines, and he was just one of many actors we considered. We picked him because he looked different." But the blond, 32-year-old Scot has, indeed, become the breakout star of the show, a man who embraces the mystery of his character in his personal life as well. "He has little of the actor’s vanity, pretension or self-delusion," and in a recent appearance of the network's Hullabaloo, he was never once referred to by his own name, but that of his character, an idea that came from him. He's uncomfortable with the attention from fan magazines, especially when they call him "cute" ("That’s an American word I hate. A litter of mongrel puppies is cute."), and he refuses any photo layouts including his wife Jill Ireland and their three sons. 
Considering that Robert Vaughn was supposed to be the Man from U.N.C.L.E., he'd seem to have every right to resent having to share the spotlight with McCallum, but such is not the case. "When it was pointed out that many actors would be unhappy in such a situation, Vaughn said, 'Maybe a lot of actors aren’t as secure as I am.' " Unlike McCallum, he's enjoying fame and its fringe benefits; "I'm surprised at the reaction—I never anticipated anything like this," he says, but he was always confident the show would be a hit. "I thought so from the beginning and told everybody so. Of course, I began looking red in the face that first January when they were going to cancel us." During the summer hiatus, he played "Hamlet" gratis at the Pasadena Playhouse, and continues to work at USC on his Ph.D. in the philosophy of communications.
Throughout the article, Raddatz scatters examples of letters the show's fans have written. (Letters—you remember what those were, don't you?) In one of them, a West Coast college student writes, "I feel that your program offers an escape from our problems. The cast has its problems, but they’re mostly of a child’s dream world of spies and counterspies." A student at the Bronx High School of Science wonders if there's anyone working for the show that they can talk to about patenting some of their own gadgets. And a couple traveling in the same plan as Robert Vaughn took a moment to scribble a note on the back of an air sickness bag and have the stewardess hand it to him: "May I invade your privacy to say thanks for being so gracious in giving your autograph the other night. It will be the most exciting thing we are taking back to our 18-year-old daughter." Perhaps that's what television needed, in 1966. Perhaps that's what we need more of today.
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During the 60s, the Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace were the premiere variety shows on television. Whenever they appear in TV Guide together, we'll match them up and see who has the best lineup..
Sullivan: Scheduled guests: singers Abbe Lane and Brenda Lee; ventriloquist Senor Wences; singer Jimmy Roselli; comedienne Jean Carroll; dancer Peter Gennaro; the rock ‘n’ rolling Young Rascals; and English comics Des O'Connor and Jack Douglas. (The actual guests included Walter Cronkite, the cast from "Wait A Minim" (South African dancers); The Magid Triplets, tap dancers; and The Olympiades, body builders. Jimmy Roselli did not appear.) 
Palace: Host Robert Goulet, star of Blue Light, introduces singer-dancer Chita Rivera; singer Nancy Sinatra; comic Jan Murray; the Muppets, puppets; comedy pantomimist Cully Richards; and the Nerveless Nocks, Sway-pole acrobats.  
Robert Goulet takes a break from his dramatic, non-singing role in the World War II spy series Blue Light to return to his strong suit, music. I've always liked him, especially his penchant for self-effacing humor (remember Bob Goulet's Cajun Christmas from the movie Scrooged, or his appearances on ESPN commercials as "Mr. G"?) Throw in Jan Murray, Chita Rivera, and the Muppets, and that's good enough to overcome a strong lineup from Ed. Once again, Mr. G delivers the goods, and a win for Palace.
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From 1963 to 1976, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever they appear, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. 
By know, regular readers are pretty familiar with the debacle that was The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, which was covered here and here . Cleveland Amory is certainly aware of it; as this review went to press, NBC has already announced the show's cancellation. And while that's understandable, it's also unfortunate, because after a rough start that you'd never wish on your worst network enemy, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show has not only become good, it's started to fulfill its potential to become something approaching the BIGGEST THING EVER.
The problems with the show went beyond those we read about, especially the bizarre conflict that forced Davis to be absent from his own show for the episodes immediately following the premiere (which was, itself, a lame affair with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor). Building an hour-long show around one of the most dynamic performers in the business was, it seemed, a good idea at the time. To hear NBC talk about it, it would be, as Cleve suggested a moment ago, the BIGGEST SHOW EVER. But these kinds of things never pan out, primarly because (1) no one star can be that much bigger than everyone else (as Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland discovered with their own series; (2) nobody can be interesting enough to dominate a solid hour every single week (see, again, the examples in (1)); and (3) not every star can also produce a show. Add to that a subsequent lineup of guests from Milton Berle, to Frank Sinatra Jr. ("who is a poised and charming young man but no threat even to Sammy, let alone Sinatra Sr, as a singer."), and a group called "The Copasetics" ("about whom you couldn’t tell whether they were meant to be just funny or good. If the former, they weren’t funny enough—if the latter, they were too funny.") In this sense, the show was set up to fail. 
And that, Amory, is unfortunate, because "the plain fact is, though there were many things wrong with this show, there are many more things right with it—and it is getting better every week." He cites a recent dance routine that Davis did to Robert Preston's voiceover of "Trouble," or the "127th Street" number from Golden Boy that he did with Johnny Brown. In those cases, we got to see Sammy as he truly is, "as he should have been from the beginning—Mr. Wonderful." Unfortunate, indeed.
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In Henry Harding's For the Record, the A.C. Nielsen Company now admits that 55 of its sample homes were involved in a plot to increase the ratings of an unnamed show which aired on February 18. The plot involved questionnaries that had been mailed to Nielsen sample homes in "the populous 'east-central area' of the nation. The questionnaire asked for comments on certain commercials that would air on a particular show. "If the commercials were watched, the ratings of that show, of course, would go up." The company is not naming any suspects yet, but believe they're "reasonably well-directed," according to one of their lawyers. They also admit confusion as to how anyone could get ahold of the confidential list of Nielsen homes. It's all, they said, very mysterious.
Of course, you have to know that this wouldn't be good enough for me, and thanks to the internet, I can share with you the rest of the story . The suspect in question was Richard Sparger, a former reporter and former state legislature in Oklahoma, who'd once publicly claimed that he "could make a hit of a show that was a failure." The show in question was CBS's special, An Evening with Carol Channing .* Sparger had mailed the questionnaires, along with $3, to the 58 households, asking questions about the commercials that would appear on the Channing special. If viewers completed and returned the questionnaire, they'd receive another $5. Nielsen filed suit against Sparger for $1,500,000, charging "impairment of confidence in the accuracy of the measurement service and the security of the sample." He was also accused of having used privileged information gathered when he was serving as a congressional investigator of the ratings industry in 1963.
*One of the special's guests: David McCallum.
But the plot thickens. It turns out that Sparger had exchanged at least 40 phone calls with one Charles F. Lowe, who just happens to be the husband, manager, and occasional producer for—wait for it—Carol Channing. This little fact was uncovered by private detectives hired by Nielsen (why didn't we ever see a story like this on Mannix?) who also found out that a teller at Oklahoma City's Liberty National Bank had cashed a $4,000 check from Lowe to Sparger, and that, just before Nielsen filed suit against Sparger, he had called Lowe, saying "something like 'Santa Claus will take care of you' " for "clamming up" with investigators.
It didn't help that Lowe had previously denied having done business with Sparger; he also claimed that it was "ridiculous and incredible to believe that Carol Channing should need any help" in the ratings, and that even if he did have anything to do with such a plot, it was also ridiculous (although apparently not incredible) for him to have made the payoff by check. Sparger and Lowe turned down a plea deal from Nielsen that would have involved the company dropping the charges in return for Sparger admitting his guilt and Lowe paying $100 grand to offset the legal expenses; Sparger countered that Nielsen was harrassing his friends and neighbors, had forced the phone company to give them his private number, and was threatening to including his wife and a friend in the indictment 
In the end, Nielsen dropped the suit against Sparger in September after he conceded having approached Lowe with the idea, and admitted that he'd attempted the activity "for purposes of obtaining financial enrichment," that being including the results in a planned book entitled How to Rig the Ratings for Fun and Profit. (He also revealed that he had gotten the names by finding out the identities of contractors who serviced the meters placed on television sets, then following them as they called on the sample homes.) And people continued to suspect the ratings anyway.
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Here's a small item that would have been guaranteed to make readers feel just a little older: after eight seasons and 275 episodes, Donna Reed is saying goodbye to her eponymous sitcom, and even though she'd vowed she wouldn't cry when things had wrapped up, the moment got the better of her. Her husband, producer Tony Owen; Screen Gems VP Steve Blauner; and cast and crew gathered to pay tribute to Donna and wish she and Tony the best in the future. Her plans? "Oh, rest, travel—fun, fun, fun!" (Although I don't think her plans included a trip to Dallas .)
I include this because The Donna Reed Show, along with Ozzie & Harriet, are among the handful of shows to span two distinct cultural periods, starting in the black-and-white nuclear family era (that some say never really existed), and ending at the dawn of the technicolor times (although her show never made the transition to color) of assassinations, Vietnam, civil rights, sex and drugs, and just about everything else anthetical to what The Donna Reed Show epitomized. Ah, the times, they were a changin', weren't they?
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Basketball is the lead story on Saturday, with Texas Western taking on Kentucky for the 1966 NCAA Championship, live from College Park, Maryland. (7:00 p.m. PT, syndicated; the full game is available here .) It's one of the most significant games ever played in college basketball, as Texas Western becomes the first team ever to win the championship with an all-black starting lineup, defeating top-ranked (and all-white) Kentucky 72-65.* Kentucky's presence in the final makes the moment even more significant; their legendary head coach, Adolph Rupp, was also a staunch segregationist who resisted efforts by the university's president to integrate the team; Kentucky wouldn't dress a black player until 1970. Don Haskins, the coach at Texas Western (today called the University of Texas at El Paso), didn't care what color his players were as long as they could play; his assistant coach said "he'd have played five kids from Mars if they were his best five players." He was immensely proud of his players, and took personal offense at any racial attacks on them; of Rupp, he would say, "I had been listening to all this damn crap out of him, and it's a wonder I didn't say something to him about it. But I didn't." I think it's safe to say that sports has never been the same since.
*It was, in fact, the first time any major American sports championship had ever been contested between a team with an all-black starting lineup and a team that was all-white.  
Zero Mostel, whom we'll see again later in the week, stars in Sunday's Play of the Week presentation of "Waiting for Godot." (8:30 p.m., KVIE). Burgess Meredith and Kurt Kasznar co-star in this production, which originally aired in 1961, and which many consider to be the definitive version of Samuel Beckett's Theatre of the Absurd play. And you know what: you can see it here  and decide for yourself. Considering television's spotty history of preserving its own history, I'm always excited to find out that a broadcast like this actually survives. In fact, though, there are several such examples in the shows that follow.
The classic medical series Ben Casey wraps up its five-season run on Monday. (10:00 p.m., ABC) A couple of notes on this episode: first, as you might know, Ben Casey was produced by Bing Crosby Productions, and—perhaps coincidentally—one of the night's guest stars is none other than Kathryn Crosby, playing a patient showing symptoms of brain damage. Second is that of the show taking over in this time slot next week: The Avengers, "a British comedy-adventure series." Also on Monday is the movie The Young Philadelphians (11:30 p.m., KXTV), a mediocre courtroom drama starring Paul Newman and Barbara Rush. I mention this because it also features our future man from U.N.C.L.E., Robert Vaughn, who steals the movie as an alcoholic murder defendant, for which he earns a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Tuesday night features Carol + 2 (8:30 p.m., CBS), one of Carol Burnett's periodic specials prior to her epononymous variety show (which starts in 1967); the "plus 2" are the aforementioned Zero Mostel and one of Carol's champions, Lucille Ball. (See part 1 here ; links to the rest.) I don't remember that show, but I do remember the show that followed it later, a CBS News Special called "One of Our H-Bombs Is Missing" (10:00 p.m.), a report on the area in Spain where a B-52 crashed in January, and the U.S. Navy's search for the missing bomb. I wasn't yet six years old when this aired, and I have no particular idea as to why it would have interested me, other than that that I was interested in war stories, and I might have vaguely connected this somehow with the space program. It didn't scare me, I do know that. (The bomb was evenutally recovered in the Mediterranean in April.)
On Wednesday, Julie Andrews stars in a repeat of her special from last November, with special guests Gene Kelly and the New Christy Minstrels, and you can see it here. (9:00 p.m., NBC) After that, you can choose between a Something Special episode with Julie London and her husband, Bobby Troup, the Hi-Lo's, and bandleader Jerry Fielding (10:00 p.m., KXTV in Sacramento); or ABC's excellent documentary series Saga of Western Man presents "Beethoven: Ordeal and Triumph" (10:00 p.m.), written and narrated by John Secondari, with the voice of Beethoven provided by our other man from U.N.C.L.E., David McCallum. And just wait, it keeps geting better!
For Thursday, Burgess Meredith, whom we saw with Zero Mostel on "Waiting for Godot," is back in the conclusion of a Batman adventure that started last night. (7:30 p.m. both nights, ABC) This time, the Penguin insists that he's gone straight, and to prove it, he has his henchmen staging crimes so he can break them up. Will the frequently-gullible citizens of Gotham fall for this obvious scam? Sometimes, it seems as though they just don't deserve the Caped Crusaders. Later, Dean Martin hosts a stellar lineup of guests (10:00 p.m., NBC), including Imogene Coca, Jane Morgan, the Supremes, Jackie Mason, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and the tap dancing Step Brothers. ( Here's a clip from Dean and the Supremes.) I think he's giving both Ed and the Palace a run for their money here.
There couldn't be any other choice for Friday than The Man from U.N.C.L.E. itself now, could there? (10:00 p.m., NBC) Tonight, it's "The Round-Table Affair," in which our heroes try to save the Duchy of Ingolstein from Prince Frederick, who's allowing the country to become a home to the Mafia. Valora Noland is the Grand Duchess, whom Solo tries to enlist; Reginald Gardiner is the Prince; and in a wonderful bit of casting, Bruce Gordon is Lucho Nostra, the head criminal.
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Agnes Scott College is a small, all-women's liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia, and on Sunday afternoon, March 6, 1966, they scored what Slate called " The Greatest Upset in Quiz Show History " when they defeated Princeton University in, literally, the last second to win what was probably the most famous episode ever of G-E College Bowl. Television being what it is, College Bowl was running on a two-week delay on KVIE, the NBC affiliate in Sacramento, where it was shown at at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 20. Regional issues of TV Guide being what they are, you could flip ahead a couple of pages to 5:30 p.m., where the NBC affiliates in San Francisco were showing today's College Bowl match between Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa, and "the winner of last week’s match between Marietta (Ohio) College and Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Ga."—meaning, of course, that Agnes Scott would be defeating Princeton. So much for suspense, I guess, although I'd like to think that by this time, anyone living in Sacramento who really wanted to watch College Bowl would know by now not to get too many pages ahead.
*Agnes Scott's victory was a big-enough detail that it actually made The New York Times the next day.
But even though it's old news by this time, I wanted to mention this, not only because it's one of the great stories in TV history, but because it also provides a nice little bookend to that Texas Western story above. Agnes Scott, like Texas Western, was a little-known school taking on a prestigeous opponent that considered itself a class above the rest; carrying the analogy a step further, Princeton was, in 1966, still an all-male institution, and one couldn't miss noticing the similarities between the two schools, Princeton and Kentucky, neither one appearing to have yet adapted to the changing times. There had been David vs. Goliath upsets on College Bowl in the past, but none, before or after, seemed to capture the imagination of people quite the way this one did. Reading the Slate story, you'll be charmed, I think by the accounts of the four women competing for Agnes Scott, particularly the remarkable story of Karen Gearreald, Agnes Scott's first blind student, and her recounting of how the winning answer came to her in a millisecond.
There's one other similarity between that College Bowl broadcast and the NCAA Championship: the broadcasts of both still exist, and you can see that College Bowl broadcast here and find out how many answers you can come up with? I wonder how well the current Jeopardy champions would do?
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MST3K alert: Teenage Cave Man (1958). A young cave dweller in a primitive society questions the laws that govern his people. Robert Vaughn, Leslie Bradley, Darrah Marshall. (Saturday, 1:20 a.m., as part of KGO's All-Night Movie) Well, what would you expect after a cover story on The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a Teletype item on The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The Young Philadelphians, and Beethoven? Sure, Robert Vaughn considers it the worst movie ever made, but that didn't stop him from cashing the check, right? And anyway, it made him the man for MST3K, and who could ask for anything more? TV  

Around the dial

Let's get right to it, starting at bare-bones e-zine, where Jack's Hitchcock Project looks at Robert Gould's ninth-season episode " How to Get Rid of Your Wife ," which, despite the title, is a "lighthearted look" at psychological warfare within an unhappy marriage. Bob Newhart, Jane Withers, and Joyce Jameson star.
At RealWeegieMidget, Gill recalls Gena Rowlands and her small but multifaceted role as the wife of the murderous Oskar Werner in the 1975 Columbo episode " Playback ," an episode which star Peter Falk (a longtime friend and collaborator of Rowlands' husband, John Cassavetes) called the series' best.
The Sylvia Coleridge "season" continues at Cult TV Blog, and this week John takes a look at her magnificent performance in the Armchair Thriller six-parter " Quiet as a Nun ," based on the novel by Lady Antonia Fraser, in which Coleridge plays—what else?—a nun. 
At Comfort TV, David reviews six episodes from The Twilight Zone's exceptional first season: three that rank as classics (including the all-time "A Stop at Willoughby"), and three that, well, don't quite measure up. For what it's worth, I concur on all six.
Roger continues his episode-by-episode review of The New Avengers at A View from the Junkyard, and this week we're up to " Sleeper ," a game of tag that's played for the highest possible stakes: if you get tagged, you die.
In case you weren't aware of it, the television world has been up in arms over the last few days over the move by Warner Bros. to remove their classic theatrical cartoons —Looney Tunes—from WB's streaming service, Max. Terence has his take on it at A Shroud of Thoughts.
I've never liked the "amateur detectives" that the British are so fond of; on the other hand, I have great respect for many of their police dramas, especially the older ones. Cult TV Lounge takes us back to season one of Van Der Valk , starring Barry Foster, based on the characters created by Nicolas Freeling. TV  

Critic, explain thyself

I had originally intended to include this in the TV Guide writeup for this coming Saturday, but as I got deeper into it, I realized that it would make an already-long piece even longer; at the same time, I didn't want to cut it short, because I think it raises the types of questions many people have asked over the years. Ultimately, it was so interesting that I felt it deserved space of its own.
It begins with a letter to TV Guide from Mrs. Iveta Moore, a housewife living in Piedmont, Kansas, who has some questions about how professional critics go about reviewing television shows. She describes herself as "a perfect example of the favorite target of all TV critics’ scorn: a square, a citizen of the Corn Belt, a part of the moronic masses!" She is also a voracious reader—illustrated, I think, by the questions she asks—who, having read many reviews over the years, would like to know about the standards they use when writing their reviews. "I think I understand what they write," she says, "but if they are really saying what they believe, I don’t understand why they believe as they do." She poses the following questions in hopes that they will help her, and other viewers, to better understand where these critics are coming from:
What makes fantasy? What is the difference between Peter Pan, accepted by critics as a classic, and My Mother, the Car, panned as silly and ridiculous?What is escapism? Why is it used so often for TV entertainment and not, for example, Shakespearean plays? "Didn't the critics of his day think his plays were for the ignorant masses?"Why not escapism? It helps her keep stable and cheerful. Why does this so often have negative connotations?What makes a soap opera? Many of them are as true to life as Shakespeare's Portia winning a law case without training, while posing as a man. "Yet one is considered melodramatic trash, and the other culture. Why?"What is good music? If the purpose of music is to enjoy and entertain, "Why, then, isn't it good or bad according to how it affects the listener?"What is artistic freedom? Writers often think citizens of the Corn Belt are "narrowminded," yet "most of us accept Peyton Place as showing things that really do happen, over and over, in any size city or town, while the critics ery 'smut.' Why?"What is realism? Writers think of it as tragic and brutal, but "doesn't it take even more talent to include the light, happy things of life in good drama?"
"Her questions seemed not only valid but also quite possibly representative of the thinking of many viewers," the editors responded, "and we felt they deserved an answer." Thus, they reached out to novelist, social commentator, and frequent TV Guide contributor Marya Mannes, to reply to Mrs. Moore.
"Dear Mrs. Moore," Mannes replies. "You deserve to be answered, not only because your questions go to the heart of television’s functions but because you belong to the great majority of viewers who, by turning on their sets for hours each day, have far more power over the nature of TV than we—the tiny minority of TV critics—have ever had." So. "for better or worse," she proceeds to tackle those questions, one by one.
What makes fantasy? "Fantasy is made by imagination. We imagine things we know are not real, but which we would like to believe. And the test of successful fantasy is whether for even fleeting moments we do believe it." Peter Pan, for example, embodies two great human desires: to fly by oneself, and to never grow old. So captivating is James M. Barrie's story, it matters not whether Peter is played "by not-so-young women or by boys." On the other hand, when it comes to a program such as My Mother the Car, "The idea behind it is not so much fantasy as a gag, or gimmick—good for some laughs, maybe, but hardly likely to stir the imagination." After you introduce the idea, which may well be funny, what else have you got? "Another formula comedy to pass the time. But—fantasy?"
Mayra MannesWhat is escapism? Just that. "To get away from the real world of worries, of tensions or problems, of daily boredom or suffering. Some escape through drink or gambling or pills, some look at television entertainment." Everyone needs a break once in a while. "But is there any reason why this break has to be silly or cheap or poorly written stuff, with a phony laugh track tacked on?" Danny Kaye is a kind of escapism, but done with "taste and wit and charm along with the fun." The reason someone like Shakespeare isn't considered escapist is because his plays "are so much more than that: They are mirrors of enduring human passions," combining the most beautiful language in all literature with plots that gave "both the mass and the minority what they looked for."
What makes a soap opera? "I have seen quite a lot of them, because I admire the acting and find them truly 'escapist.'" They seem true to a certain type of life, to "stereotypes of American middle-class suburbia and therefore not true of the millions of Americans who are neither middle-class nor white, nor of the many American wives who are too busy working to worry about all the things soap-opera housewives moan about." The difference between Portia being "culture" and soaps being "trash," it amounts to quality, "the difference between the imagination of a great writer and the slick formulas of Hollywood writing teams." If there was ever a woman in soaps who talked like Portia, "I'd spend my day at the set."
What is good music? There are good musicians and bad musicians in every genre of music; the difference depends on things such as voice quality, the songs they use, and their orchestrations. "In any case, it’s no more true that something is good because it’s popular than that something is unpopular because it’s no good." Nobody's going to stop you from listening to whoever and whatever you like; "The only point here is that your enjoyment doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s good."
What is artistic freedom? Just that, the freedom of a writer "to determine without interference what he writes about and how he writes it." It's not just cultural mores that affect such freedom; it's "a television system that depends on getting the greatest possible audience to buy the products advertised." Sponsors can't afford to offend consumers, which means avoiding anything controversial or unpopular, "and many of the most important human problems are both." Peyton Place, on the other hand, is just "a nighttime soap opera full of people in trouble."
What is realism? More than just costumes and settings. "Realism is the reflection of life as it is lived— really lived." It can be tragic, violent, tender, corrupt, or funny; "A light comedy is just as valuable as a dark tragedy, provided it is the product of talent and keen observation." If today's writers seem more attracted to the "seamy side," it's because "we live in an age of change and violence which no artist can ignore, but which, unfortunately, too many mediocre writers use to exploit the public appetite for shock and sensationalism, particularly in the areas of crime and sex." 
Taken as a whole, Mannes boils Mrs. Moore's questions to the central question: "What is Good—or Bad? And who are you, the critics, to tell us which is which?" It's a very hard thing to define, she says, but one major component is experience. "I think it can be fairly said that a critic on a responsible newspaper or magazine has, in the pursuit of his profession, read more books, seen more plays, heard more music, looked at more art than the average television viewer." Critics base their judgments on these years of experience and the thought given to them. A critic may or may not be right, "but he has earned his right to judge." 
If a critic seems harsh in his assessments, "it is because he thinks the medium can do much better and the viewers deserve much better." Why must entertainament be silly and cheap? Why do you need guns for excitement? Why must all popular music be directed to the young? In conclusion, if you like what you see, feel free to ignore the critics. "However, it is a sign of your intelligence that you choose not to, and that you have asked questions which, although these answers may not satisfy you, need asking. Thank you, Mrs. Moore."
I've come to develop an appreciation for Mayra Mannes over the years; I've devoted a chapter of my upcoming book to the television adaptation of her novel They, and even when I don't agree with her, I admire her keen mind and thought. But there's not really much to disagree with here. Her ultimate defense of the role of the critic is not, as some might think, a form of elitism; instead, I think she's talking about the vest amount of experience professional critics have accumulated over the years, and the consideration they've given to that experience over time. I've seen too many examples myself of online "critics" who blithely propose to discuss television history while at the same time demonstrating that they lack any depth of knowledge of the topic whatsoever. And I think she does an admirable job of defining the often-undefinable term "quality," rather than the relativistic notion that if it sounds good, it is good.
I don't think you'd see this kind of intelligent conversation about television (or most artistic endeavors, for that matter) in the average publication today, let alone in TV Guide. All in all, I find that what Marya Mannes said in answer to Mrs. Iveta Moore, sixty years ago, still holds true today. It's just too bad that much of her criticism of television back in 1966, unfortunately, holds true today as well. TV  

What's on TV? Wednesday, March 21, 1973

The last time we saw Arnold Zenker , he was in the process of becoming a cult celebrity thanks to his stint as anchorman of The CBS Evening News during the 1967 AFTRA strike. Following that brush with fame, he moved to Boston, where he anchored the local news, and eventually became host of a daily program, which you can see at 10:00 on WCVB; he also hosted an evening program called The Zenker Hearings, and there was a best-of show that aired at 5:30 a.m. I've no doubt myself that Arnold Zenker could do at least as well as those less-than-stellar talents currently anchoring the network news. Perhaps we ought to bring back those "Bring Back Zenker" buttons? You can see him, along with the rest of the day's shows, in these listings from the Eastern New England edition.
  -2- WGBH (BOSTON) (PBS)

  MORNING

    10:00

SESAME STREET

  AFTERNOON

      1:30

ELECTRIC COMPANY

      3:00

HISTORY II

      3:30

MAGGIE AND THE BEAUTIFUL MACHINE

      4:00

SESAME STREET

      5:00

MISTER ROGERS

      5:30

ELECTRIC COMPANY

  EVENING

      6:00

HODGEPODGE LODGE

      6:30

BOOK BEAT

Guest: Lt. Col. Anthony B. Herbert (Ret.)

      7:00

NEWS AND COMMENT

      7:30

THE REPORTERS

      8:00

AMERICA ‘73

      9:00

DATELINE 13

    10:00

MASTERPIECE THEATRE

“Point Counter Point,” Conclusion

    11:00

BEDTIME STORY

 

 

  -3- WTIC (HARTFORD) (CBS)

  MORNING

      6:00

SUNRISE SEMESTER

The Heavenly Twins—Astronomy and Astrology: The Pythagorean concept of the universe

      6:30

INTERNATIONAL ZONE

      6:50

QUE HAY DE NOEVO: WHAT’S NEW

      7:00

CBS NEWS—John Hart

      8:00

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

      9:00

HAP RICHARDS

      9:15

YOGI BEAR

      9:30

VIN SCULLY—Variety

Guest: Arthur Godfrey

    10:00

MOVIE—Western

“Black Horse Canyon” (1954)

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

NEWS

    12:25

CBS NEWS—Douglas Edwards

    12:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

      1:00

LIVING EASY WITH DR. JOYCE BROTHERS

Guests: Daniel and Dmitri, Dr. Leonard Zunin

      1:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS

      2:00

GUIDING LIGHT

      2:30

LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING

      3:00

PRICE IS RIGHT

      3:30

RANGER STATION

      4:00

ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy BW        4:30

MERV GRIFFIN

  EVENING

      6:00

NEWS

      6:30

CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite

      7:00

WHAT IN THE WORLD

      7:30

THE NEW PRICE IS RIGHT

      8:00

SONNY AND CHER COMEDY HOUR

Guest: Lyle Waggoner

      9:00

MEDICAL CENTER

    10:00

CANNON

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

MOVIE—Drama

“Party Girl” (1958)

 

 

  -4- WBZ (BOSTON) (NBC)

  MORNING

      6:15

SIGN ON SEMINAR

      6:45

DAILY ALMANAC

      7:00

TODAY

Guests: Steve Allen, Louis Nye, Tom Poston, Reies Tijerma

      9:00

JEOPARDY

      9:30

WHO, WHAT OR WHERE

      9:55

NEWS

    10:00

DINAH SHORE

Guest: Margaret Truman Daniel

    10:30

CONCENTRATION

    11:00

SALE OF THE CENTURY

    11:30

HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

Edward Asner, Dick Enberg, Harvey Korman, Joan Rivers, Karen Valentine, Bobby Vinton

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

NEWS

    12:30

SONYA HAMLIN

Co-host: Erich Segal.

      1:30

THREE ON A MATCH

      2:00

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

      2:30

DOCTORS

      3:00

ANOTHER WORLD

      3:30

RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE

      4:00

SOMERSET

      4:30

MIKE DOUGLAS

  EVENING

      6:00

NEWS

      7:00

NBC NEWS—John Chancellor

      7:30

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

      8:00

ADAM-12

      8:30

BANACEK—Crime Drama

    10:00

SEARCH—Adventure

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

JOHNNY CARSON

Guests: Florence Henderson, Ronnie Graham

      1:00

NEWS

      1:05

MOVIE—Comedy BW  “Hold That Blonde” (1945)

 

 

  -5- WCVB (BOSTON) (ABC)

  MORNING

      6:25

MORNING GLORY

      6:30

NEW ENGLAND CONSUMER

      6:45

OPPORTUNITY LINE

      7:00

NEWS

      7:30

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy BW        8:00

PIXANNE

      9:00

ROMPER ROOM

      9:30

MEDICAL CALL

    10:00

ARNOLD ZENKER

    11:00

LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE

    11:30

ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama BW    AFTERNOON

    12:00

NEWS

    12:30

SPLIT SECOND—Game

      1:00

ALL MY CHILDREN

      1:30

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

      2:00

NEWLYWED GAME

      2:30

DATING GAME

      3:00

GENERAL HOSPITAL

      3:30

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

      4:00

BIG VALLEY—Western

      5:00

PERRY MASON BW    EVENING

      6:00

NEWS

      6:30

ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner

      7:00

TO TELL THE TRUTH

Jack Cassidy, Kitty Carlisle, Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass

      7:30

FIVE BY 5: THE INVESTIGATORS

Special: “Boston and the War in Ireland”

      8:30

MOVIE—Thriller

“A Tale of Evil” (Made-for-TV; 1971)

    10:00

OWEN MARSHALL

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

DICK CAVETT

Religion and its relevance in modern society

      1:00

NEWS

      1:05

MOVIE—Mystery BW  “Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise” (1940)

      2:30

MOVIE—Adventure

“Jivaro” (1954)

      4:30

AMERICA

      5:00

MEDICAL CALL

      5:30

BEST OF ZENKER

 

 

  -6- WTEV (NEW BEDFORD) (ABC)

  MORNING

      6:30

JACK LaLANNE

      6:45

NEWS

      7:00

FLINTSTONES

      7:30

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy BW        8:00

FLYING NUN—Comedy

      8:25

NEWS

      8:30

JABBERWOCKY

      9:00

ROMPER ROOM

      9:30

PAUL DIXON

    10:00

DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy BW      10:30

ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy

    11:00

GOMER PYLE, USMC—Comedy

    11:30

BEWITCHED

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

PASSWORD

John Forsythe, Anita Gillette. Host: Allen Ludden

    12:30

NEWS

      1:00

ALL MY CHILDREN

      1:30

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

      2:00

NEWLYWED GAME

      2:30

DATING GAME

      3:00

GENERAL HOSPITAL

      3:30

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

      4:00

LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE

      4:30

PERRY MASON BW        5:30

HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy

  EVENING

      6:00

NEWS

      6:30

ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner

      7:00

THE NEW PRICE IS RIGHT

      7:30

WAIT TIL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME

      8:00

PAUL LYNDE—Comedy

      8:30

MOVIE—Crima Drama

“Toma” (Made-for-TV; 1973)

    10:00

OWEN MARSHALL

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

DICK CAVETT

Religion and its relevance in modern society

      1:00

NEWS

 

 

  -7- WNAC (BOSTON) (CBS)

  MORNING

      5:45

FARM AND MARKET REPORT BW        5:50

REFLECTIONS

      5:55

NEWS BW        6:00

SUNRISE SEMESTER

The Heavenly Twins—Astronomy and Astrology: The Pythagorean concept of the universe

      6:30

NEWS

      6:55

LAS NOTICIAS DE HOY

      7:00

CBS NEWS—John Hart

      7:30

MAJOR MUDD

      8:00

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

      8:30

COMMUNITY

      9:00

PAUL BENZAQUIN

    10:00

JOKER’S WILD—Game

    10:30

PRICE IS RIGHT

    11:00

GAMBIT—Game

    11:30

LOVE OF LIFE

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

NEWS

    12:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

      1:00

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

      1:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS

      2:00

GUIDING LIGHT

      2:30

EDGE OF NIGHT

      3:00

LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING

      3:30

SECRET STORM

      4:00

VIN SCULLY—Variety

Guest: Pat Henry

      4:30

MERV GRIFFIN

  EVENING

      6:00

NEWS

      6:30

CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite

      7:00

WHAT’S MY LINE?

Arlene Francis, Gene Shalit, Melba Tolliver, Soupy Sales. Host: Larry Blyden

      7:30

ON STAGE

      8:00

SONNY AND CHER COMEDY HOUR

Guest: Lyle Waggoner

      9:00

MEDICAL CENTER

    10:00

CANNON

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

MOVIE—Thriller BW  “The Black Scorpion” (1957)

 

 

  -8- WTNH (NEW HAVEN) (ABC)

  MORNING

      6:10

DAVEY AND GOLIATH

      6:25

BLACK IS

      6:40

A NEW DAY

      6:55

NEWS

      7:00

TO BE ANNOUNCED

      7:30

LOST IN SPACE—Adventure BW        8:30

I LOVE LUCY—Comedy BW        9:00

PHIL DONAHUE

Guest: Mimi Green

    10:00

DIALING FOR DOLLARS

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

BEWITCHED

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

PASSWORD

John Forsythe, Anita Gillette. Host: Allen Ludden

    12:30

SPLIT SECOND—Game

      1:00

WHAT’S MY LINE?

Joanna Simon, Allen Ludden, Arlene Francis, Soupy Sales. Host: Larry Blyden

      1:30

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

      2:00

NEWLYWED GAME

      2:30

DATING GAME

      3:00

GENERAL HOSPITAL

      3:30

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

      4:00

MOVIE—Drama BW  “Daughters Courageous” (1939)

  EVENING

      6:00

NEWS

      6:30

ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner

      7:00

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

      7:30

PARENT GAME

      8:00

PAUL LYNDE—Comedy

      8:30

MOVIE—Crima Drama

“Toma” (Made-for-TV; 1973)

    10:00

OWEN MARSHALL

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

DICK CAVETT

Religion and its relevance in modern society

 

 

  -9- WMUR (MANCHESTER) (ABC)

  MORNING

    10:00

MOVIE—Drama BW  “Riot in Cell Block 11” (1954)

    11:30

BEWITCHED

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

PASSWORD

John Forsythe, Anita Gillette. Host: Allen Ludden

    12:30

SPLIT SECOND—Game

      1:00

ALL MY CHILDREN

      1:30

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

      2:00

NEWLYWED GAME

      2:30

DATING GAME

      3:00

GENERAL HOSPITAL

      3:30

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

      4:00

JEFF’S COLLIE—Drama BW        4:30

UNCLE GUS BW        5:30

TIMMY AND LASSIE—Drama

  EVENING

      6:00

NEWS BW        6:30

ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner

      7:00

WESTERNERS—Drama BW        7:30

BILLY GRAHAM SPECIAL

Special

      8:30

MOVIE—Crima Drama

“Toma” (Made-for-TV; 1973)

    10:00

OWEN MARSHALL

    11:00

NEWS BW      11:30

DICK CAVETT

Religion and its relevance in modern society

 

 

  10 WJAR (PROVIDENCE) (NBC)

  MORNING

      6:25

TV CLASSROOM—Report BW        6:55

NEWS

      7:00

TODAY

Guests: Steve Allen, Louis Nye, Tom Poston, Reies Tijerma

      9:00

NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY

      9:30

COMLEY IN THE MORNING

    10:00

DINAH SHORE

Guest: Margaret Truman Daniel

    10:30

CONCENTRATION

    11:00

SALE OF THE CENTURY

    11:30

HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

Edward Asner, Dick Enberg, Harvey Korman, Joan Rivers, Karen Valentine, Bobby Vinton

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

JEOPARDY

    12:30

WHO,WHAT OR WHERE—Game

    12:55

NEWS

      1:00

MIKE DOUGLAS

Guests: Jean Mayer, Victor Garver, Robin LaMont

      2:00

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

      2:30

DOCTORS

      3:00

ANOTHER WORLD

      3:30

RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE

      4:00

SOMERSET

      4:30

MOVIE—Comedy BW  “Rhubarb” (1951)

  EVENING

      6:00

NEWS

      7:00

NBC NEWS—John Chancellor

      7:30

TO TELL THE TRUTH

Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass, Bill Cullen, Nipsey Russell. Host: Garry Moore

      8:00

ADAM-12

      8:30

BANACEK—Crime Drama

    10:00

SEARCH—Adventure

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

JOHNNY CARSON

Guests: Florence Henderson, Ronnie Graham

 

 

  12 WPRI (PROVIDENCE) (CBS)

  MORNING

      6:30

SUNRISE SEMESTER

The Heavenly Twins—Astronomy and Astrology: The Pythagorean concept of the universe

      7:00

CBS NEWS—John Hart

      8:00

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

      9:00

DIALING FOR DOLLARS

    10:00

JOKER’S WILD—Game

    10:30

PRICE IS RIGHT

    11:00

GAMBIT—Game

    11:30

LOVE OF LIFE

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

NEWS

    12:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

      1:00

I DREAM OF JEANNIE—Comedy

      1:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS

      2:00

GUIDING LIGHT

      2:30

EDGE OF NIGHT

      3:00

LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING

      3:30

SECRET STORM

      4:00

VIN SCULLY—Variety

Guest: Pat Henry

      4:30

MERV GRIFFIN

  EVENING

      6:00

NEWS

      6:30

CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite

      7:00

WHAT’S MY LINE?

Joanna Simon, Allen Ludden, Arlene Francis, Soupy Sales. Host: Larry Blyden

      7:30

BEAT THE CLOCK

Guest: Robert Clary. Host: Gene Wood

      8:00

BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADE

Special

      9:00

MEDICAL CENTER

    10:00

CANNON

    11:00

NEWS

    11:30

MOVIE—Drama BW  “The Quare Fellow” (Irish; 1962)

 

 

 27 WSMW (WORCESTER) (Ind.)

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

CHURCH SERVICE—Catholic

      3:00

MOVIE—Drama BW  “Four Sons” (1940)

      4:30

BOZO/divOPEYE/FELIX

      5:00

SUPERMAN—Adventure

      5:30

GOMER PYLE, USMC—Comedy

  EVENING

      6:00

PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy

      6:30

MOVIE—Drama BW  “Desert Furlough” (Italian; 1961)

      8:30

BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADE

Special

      9:30

TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama BW      10:00

NEWS

    10:30

PEYTON PLACE—Drama

 

 

  36 WSBE (PROVIDENCE) (PBS)

  MORNING

    10:00

SESAME STREET

  AFTERNOON

      1:30

ELECTRIC COMPANY

      4:00

SESAME STREET

      5:00

MISTER ROGERS

      5:30

ELECTRIC COMPANY

  EVENING

      6:00

HODGEPODGE LODGE

      6:30

HOW DO YOUR CHILDREN GROW?

      7:00

INSIGHT—Religion

      7:30

GREAT DECISIONS ‘73

      8:00

AMERICA ‘73

      9:00

FESTIVAL FILMS

Special

      9:30

TURNING POINTS

    10:00

SOUL!

Guests: Ashford and Simpson

 

 

  38 WSBK (BOSTON) (Ind.)

  MORNING

    11:20

NEWS

    11:30

JACK LaLANNE

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

TOM LARSON

      1:00

NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY

      1:30

TENNESSEE TUXEDO

      2:00

BUGS BUNNY

      2:30

MR. MAGOO

      3:00

PORKY PIG AND FRIENDS

      3:30

F TROOP—Comedy

      4:00

THREE STOOGES

      5:00

BEVERLY HILLBILLIES—Comedy

      5:30

ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy BW    EVENING

      6:00

WILD WILD WEST—Adventure

      7:00

HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy

      7:30

I DREAM OF JEANNIE—Comedy

      8:00

BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADE

Special

      9:00

SAINT—Crime Drama

    10:00

SUSPENSE THEATRE—Drama

    11:00

MOVIE—Drama

“The Weed of Crime” (Japanese; 1964)

 

 

  44 WGBX (BOSTON) (PBS)

  AFTERNOON

      3:30

MAGGIE AND THE BEAUTIFUL MACHINE

      4:00

SESAME STREET

      5:00

MISTER ROGERS

      5:30

ELECTRIC COMPANY

  EVENING

      6:00

HODGEPODGE LODGE

      6:30

BOOK BEAT

Guest: Lt. Col. Anthony B. Herbert (Ret.)

      7:00

FOOD FOR YOUTH

      7:30

FRENCH CHEF

      8:00

FIRING LINE

      9:00

CATCH 44

      9:30

THE REPORTERS

    10:00

MARTIN AGRONSKY: EVENING EDITION

    10:30

BOOK BEAT

Guest: Lt. Col. Anthony B. Herbert (Ret.)

 

 

  53 WEDN (NORWICH) (PBS)

  MORNING

    10:00

SESAME STREET

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

FRENCH CHEF

    12:30

MISTER ROGERS

      1:30

ELECTRIC COMPANY

      3:00

FOOD FOR YOUTH

      3:30

FOOD FOR YOUTH CALL-IN

      4:00

SESAME STREET

      5:00

MISTER ROGERS

      5:30

ELECTRIC COMPANY

  EVENING

      6:00

HODGEPODGE LODGE

      6:30

YOU THE SUPERVISOR

      7:00

MAGGIE AND THE BEAUTIFUL MACHINE

      7:30

EARTHKEEPING—Ecology

      8:00

AMERICA ‘73

      9:00

NET OPERA THEATRE

Special

Offenback: “Can-Can to Barcarolla”

    10:00

STATE OF CONNECTICUTY

    10:35

MARTIN AGRONSKY: EVENING EDITION

    11:05

JANAKI

 

 

  56 WKBG (BOSTON) (Ind.)

  MORNING

    10:30

GALLOPING GOURMET

    11:00

NEWSTALK

    11:30

NEW ZOO REVUE

  AFTERNOON

    12:00

UNDERDOG

    12:30

MOVIE—Drama BW  “Black Hand” (1950)

      2:30

KIMBA

      3:00

SPEED RACER

      3:30

BATMAN—Adventure

Guest villain: Cesar Romero (The Joker)

      4:00

LOST IN SPACE—Adventure

      5:00

FLINTSTONES

      5:30

GILLIGAN’S ISLAND—Comedy BW    EVENING

      6:00

GET SMART—Comedy

      6:30

STAR TREK—Adventure

      7:30

DRAGNET

      8:00

IT TAKES A THIEF—Adventure

      9:00

MOVIE—Drama BW  "Casablanc”" (1942)

    11:00

MOVIE—Drama BW  “Black Hand” (1950)

 

TV  

This week in TV Guide: March 17, 1973

You probably don't recognize the name Robert Alan Aurthur; it stands out for me because he wrote two of the episodes that appear in my upcoming book. While he never attained the fame of, say, Rod Serling, Reginald Rose, or Paddy Chayefsky, he was one of television's more prolific playwrights, writer of more than 20 teleplays for Golden Age-anthology series such as Philco-Goodyear Playhouse, Studio One, and Playhouse 90. This week, in a new series of articles called "The Way It Was," Aurthur shares some memories of working in the early days of television, especially one particular script for Philco Playhouse.
We often hear that term, "Golden Age" bandied about — I used it up there myself. And Aurthur is among the first to say that not everything that aired during that era was great. "Only some were great. Some were terrible. Most were just OK. But in each and every one we aspired, quality limited only by individual ability." That's a pretty good way to describe the era, I think. Writers wanted to produce high-quality work, even when they didn't. And, Aurthur points out, everything in those early years of anthologies was live. No repeats, no do-overs, no pauses in the action. And speaking of action, there were "No shoot-outs or punch-ups to resolve hokey melodrama — and no cars. In some 30 hours of drama I never wrote an automobile scene, and except perhaps for a walk-on or bit I never wrote a part for a doctor, lawyer or cop." I don't think network television could survive today under those limitations.
To illustrate what it was like back in those days, Aurthur points to a 1955 Philco script called "A Man is Ten Feet Tall." You might have heard of that, even if you don't know (or remember) what it was about. The inspiration for the drama, Aurthur says, came from a trip to the movies he made with a fellow writer, where he saw Blackboard Jungle, starring a young Sidney Poitier. He was struck by Poitier's work, his presence on the screen; he was also depressed that an actor of such obviou talent had such limited opportunities, merely because of the color of his skin. He remembered a short story he wrote, some years past, which could be adapted into a television play that could serve as a vehicle for Poitier.
In those days, he says, "there were no committees to convince, no network officials to consult, no elaborate outlines to write." He had only to convince the producer, Gordon Duff, who gave it the go-ahead with one provision: he couldn't ever remember a black actor playing the lead in a television play. His suggestion: "Write it without describing the guy as a Negro. Then, after we cast Poitier, it'll be too late for anyone to complain." As events transpired, Philco was to be cancelled at the end of the season, concluding an eight-season run; it was decided that "A Man is Ten Feet Tall" would be the final production. (Remarkably, the kinescope exists; why not  check it out here ?)
Poitier and Aurthur on the set of The Lost Man  Poitier's agent was onboard; the actor would be paid top dollar for the show, $1,000. Philco was no problem; they were only "moderately nervous" about the play. The problem turned out to be NBC — they were nervous that Poitier had once been on the blacklist, and was therefore unacceptable. Duff was outraged, and demanded a meeting with network officials and Poitier. Aurthur was not part of the meeting (Duff was "afraid I'd punch a lawyer"), but Poitier appeared, with great reluctance. Questioned about his relationship with Canada Lee, a black actor and activist, with whom Poitier had worked in South Africa in Cry, the Beloved Country. As Poitier recalled how they were allowed in the country only as indentured servants to the film's producer, he broke down crying, and fled the room. 
Aurthur informed the network that if there were any further questions about politics, he and Duff would notify the newspapers of the story. The network readily agreed that if he could talk Poitier into accepting the role, there would be no more questions. After a great deal of persuasion, he finally agreed to take the role, for $2,000. "A little revenge for Sid, cheap enough for us." Aurthur was kept busy with rewrites right up until the time of broadcast. It was a huge success; Aurthur recounts receiving more than 1,100 cards, letters, and telegrams in praise of the play; it wound up winning seven awards. On the flip side, two Southern newspapers called Aurthur a Communist, six Philco distributors threatened to cancel their franchises, and 6,000 people signed a petition saying they'd never watch the show again. Of course, since this was the last episode, it was a hollow threat.
That says a lot about what television, and American culture, was like in 1955. It's an example of one of the prime reasons this blog exists — to illustrate how much we can learn about America through television; not just racial issues, but so many other things as well. As for the power of TV, Aurthur concludes with what he called "the most thrilling moment," which came the night after the show aired. He received a phone call about 8 p.m. from Poitier, calling from a Harlem drugstore. He'd ducked in there to get some space from a mob who'd seen the play and wanted to tell him how much they'd liked it. "Listen to them," he shouted. "They're right outside the booth." He told the fans, "I'm talking to the guy who wrote it. Tell him what yiou think." Aurthur could hear loud cheering on the other end of the line. "Sidney laughed, and then he said, "Hey babe, I'm glad we did it." 
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From 1963 to 1976, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever they appear, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. 
A Touch of Grace, ABC's new sitcom, is graced, if you will, with two exceptional actors: Shirley Booth, "who can be counted on always to special-deliver" her lines; and J. Pat O'Malley, so fine an actor that "he can make something of nothing." Unfortunately, as Cleveland Amory found out, nothing is plentiful in this lame knockoff of the British series For the Love of Ada, and that begins with anyone in the cast who isn't name Booth or O'Malley.  
The premise finds Grace Simpson (Booth), living with her daughter and son-in-law, played by Marian Mercer and Warren Berlinger, who — for comic effect, we assume — are "so square they are less funny than pathethic." Berlinger is Walter, a hen-pecked husband who works at a supermarket "and is always taking about things like celery and radishes — which the writers think should be funny," while the status-conscious Myra mother-hens her mother by "always worrying about Grace's beau (Herbert, played by O'Malley) not being a gentleman." Grace, of course, is the complete opposite, sprightly and full of fun. O'Malley's punchline is that he works as a gravedigger, and he makes the most of it, especially in his readings of headstone incriptions; he is, says Cleve, "a riot."
The problem, as we've seen, is that Booth and O'Malley have nothing to work with. The plots are what belong in the graveyard, posits Amory; "If it's possible to base a whole episode on what is a tasteless idea to begin with, these writers will do it." One plot dealt with Grace giving Herbert her late husband's suit and watch, outraging Myra; another week will center on Herbert wanting to take Grace on a trip to Sausalito, outraging Myra; a third features Grace, wanting to show she can still support herself, getting a job as a ladies'-room attendant, outraging Myra. Well, you get the idea. Never far from the surface, Amory complains, are "Two Basic Jokes": one, that old people having sex is funny; and two, that Grace's life is unfulfilled because she's not yet a grandmother. If anyone can make these work, it's Booth and O'Malley, but too often "it makes you feel fabuely uncomfortable, if not downright annoyed." On the heels of All in the Family and Sanford and Son, the producers must have thought another American adaptation of a British sitcom would be a similar hit; 13 episodes later, they found out otherwise. Television, Cleve says, has plenty of room for a seniors' sitcom, but "this isn't it." 
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I know you're going to find this hard to believe, but Hollywood studios have been hit by a movie and TV writers' strike. (Imagine that.) According to Richard K. Doan, Writers Guild members are predicting the strike (the first one since the five-month long strike in 1960) could last for weeks, or even months; the networks are already foreseeing "utter chaos" with the fall season. Up to now, there had been general agreement that the new season would begin on September 10, but that's all in flux. What appears to be more certain is that some "tryout" shows planned for the summer may have to be shelved. In the event, the strike lasts for 111 days; it doesn't have a catastrophic effect; ten weeks in, more than 150 independent producers (comprising more than 50 percent of primetime television) have signed the new contract, with the boycott pared back to just the major studios.
Elsewhere in The Doan Report, Broadway producer Joseph Papp is engaged in a bitter dispute with CBS over a postponement of the planned March 9 presentation of Sticks and Bones, an antiwar drama about a blind Vietnam veteran's unhappy homecoming. According to the network, 69 of 184 affiliates had already refused to air the movie after having viewed a preview showing; the network suggested it might reschedule after the POW homecomings. Papp replied that it was a "cowardly cop-out" and threatened to renege on his four-year contract with the network. Sticks and Bones does eventually air later in the year, with 94 affiliates refusing to show it (in eight cities, it was carried by non-CBS affiliates). I wrote about this a couple of years ago ; in the key quote, "One CBS insider, who said that the show was 'not even good drama,' guessed that 'the tune-out in the first half hour must have been astronomical.' " 
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It's that time of the year, when pilots come out of hibernation and vie for a coveted spot on the fall network schedule, and Saturday sees a pair of "world premiere" presentations on NBC, beginning with The Magician (8:00 p.m. ET), starring Bill Bixby as a magician who uses his art to help others. That one does make the fall lineup; the same can't be said for Jarrett (9:30 p.m.), a tongue-in-cheek detective series starring Glenn Ford as a P.I. specializing in fine-arts cases. Did the network make the right decisions? Check them out for yourself and see.
Buckley interviewing Smith on Firing LineOn Sunday, Bob Cromie's Book Beat (7:30 p.m, PBS) features convicted murderer Edgar Smith, author of Getting Out, the story of his 15-year quest for freedom that ended with his release in 1971. Actually, I should describe it this way: Edgar Smith, the convicted murderer who duped William F. Buckley Jr. into believing his story that he was an innocent man wrongly convicted. Smith had been found guilty and sentenced to death for the 1957 murder of a 15-year-old girl. While on death row, he started a correspondence with Buckley, who, convinced of Smith's innocence, financed a legal team to advocate for Smith's innocence. His conviction was overturned, and in a plea bargan deal he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in return for being released for time served. In 1976, Smith kidnapped and murdered a 33-year-old woman. Smith called Buckley for help, but Buckley, realizing he'd been wrong, instead called the FBI and Smith was arrested and convicted of murder, confessing in prison that he had, in fact, committed the 1957 murder as well. He was sentenced to life, and died in prison in 2017. 
A CBS News Special on Monday looks at a prime example of how some things never change; "The Long War" between Congress and the Presidency over issues such as war decisions and spending authority. (10:00 p.m.) If this sounds familiar, it's because this is a conflict that dates back to the nation's birth. Since this is only a one-hour report, reporters Dan Rather and Roger Mudd are limited to looking back at conflicts between Congress and Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, but if you think what we're seeing today is new, you've got another think coming.
Another pilot made good can be seen on Tuesday, in the movie The Police Story (8:00 p.m., NBC), with Vic Morrow starring as a tough cop working on a team set up to crash crimes as they're being committed. Chuck Connors is the chief bad guy, and the supporting cast includes Ed Asner, Harry Guardino, and Diane Baker; minus the article in the title, the anthology series debuts in the fall as Police Story. And speaking of criminals, the made-for-TV movie Beg, Borrow . . . Or Steal (8:30 p.m, ABC) featuers some nice stunt casting, with Mike Connors of Mannix, Michael Cole of The Mod Squad, and Kent McCord of Adam-12 as three man planning a museum robbery. Hmm; I wonder if this fine-art robbery will be investigated by Glenn Ford?
Another successful pilot! On Wednesday, Tony Musante stars as Toma, based on the real-life story of a detective who uses his talent for disguise to infiltrate a gambling ring. (8:30 p.m., ABC) In one of the more famous examples of such, Musante quits the series after one season, saying that he had never intended to do the series any longer than that; despite entreaties from the network, including an offer to convert Toma into a series of occasional specials, Musante sticks to his guns, and Toma eventurally morphs into Baretta, starring Robert Blake. Following that, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (10:00 p.m., ABC) gives us an prime example of how legal dramas of the 1970s are handling more controversial, contemporary issues: "Lesbian seduction is the charge as Marshall defends a diving champion accused of seducing a teen-age girl." You're not going to see that on Perry Mason!
Thursday's highlight comes from the world of syndicated repeats, as The Twilight Zone (9:30 p.m., Channel 27) airs the classic episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," with William Shatner hamming it up as the man convinced he sees a creature on the wing of an airliner; the way Shatner chews the scenery, I'm surprised the plane had any wings left. Elsewhere, Jimmy Stewart and Frank Sinatra Jr. are the guests on The Dean Martin Show (10:00 p.m., NBC), with one of the highlights being a skit in which Jimmy and Dean report being robbed by a gang of nudists. 
Greg and Marcia stage a knife fight to the death for an attic bedroom that ends in tragedy for The Brady Bunch. (Friday, 8:00 p.m., ABC) Actually, I'm exaggerating a bit about the storyline—can you tell I'm getting bored here?—but you have to admit that this sounds a little more exciting, doesn't it? And CBS has a failed pilot, Gene Roddenberry's Genesis II, as its Friday night movie. (9:30 p.m.) Better to go for The Bobby Darin Show (10:00 p.m., NBC), with Bobby's guests Sid Caesar, Dusty Springfield, Jackie Joseph, and the a cappella soul group the Persuasions.
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This week's Eastern New England edition has a full-page ad for Chuck Scarborough, anchor of WNAC's 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. news. It's the first major-market anchor job for Scarborough, who joined WNAC last year, and in the two years he worked in Boston he took the station to first place in the ratings. From there, he moved on to WNBC, where he became co-anchor of the station's 6:00 and 11:00 news, in addition to doing occasional reports and prime-time updates, for the network.
I mention this all because last December, Chuck Scarborough retired from WNBC after 50 years as their anchorman. It was only in 2017 that he cut back his schedule to only working the 6:00 news; even then, he'd occasionally fill in at 11:00. (His anchor partner, Sue Simmons, had retired in 2012 after having worked with Scarborough since 1980.) When he retired, it was as the longest-serving anchorman in New York television history. Here, we get to see him in his early years, destined for greater things. But who knew the kind of career he'd have?


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MST3K alert: The Black Scorpion (1957) features excellent special effects by Willis O'Brien (King Kong). It's about mammoth man-eating creatures that terrorize Mexico City. Richard Denning, Mara Corday, Carlos Rivas. (Wednesday, 11:30 p.m., CBS) It's not often that we're graced with a review by Judith Crist, but it isn't often that an MST3K movie gets a network run, albeit in the late-night spot. It's "a 1957 sci-fi with creaky oversized bugs out to rule the world, staring in Mexico. They lose — but nobdy watching wins." She's right, of course, which is why it winds up on MST3K — and that means everybody wins. TV  

Around the dial

Let's start this week at Comfort TV, where, in the wake of Gene Hackman's death, David wonders what would have happened had Sherwood Schwartz gotten his way and cast Hackman as Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch.
At Cult TV Blog, John returns to the idea of devoting a series of posts to a single actor in different roles. In this case, it's the actress Sylvia Coleridge , with many Brit TV credits to her name. For this first piece, we look at her in Who Dares Win from 1983.
In other Brit TV, it's back to The View from the Junkyard and Roger's latest New Avengers review. This week, it's the episode " Dirtier by the Dozen ," and if you're tempted to think of the movie with a similar name, it's no accident: it's a grim look at war, violence, and the "just following orders" mentality.
At Travalanche, it's a look back at the life and times of the legendary Willard Scott , best known as the weatherman on The Today Show, but with many more credits to his name, from Bozo the Clown to the original Ronald McDonald. You'll find he's quite a character.
If you're in the market for Adam West's Batman Utility Belt, you're in luck! It's just one of the many TV props up for bids at the  Los Angeles Spring 2025 Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction , and you can read all about them over at Television Obscurities.
At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence plays tribute to a pair of actresses with considerable credits in classic television: Jan Shepard , who died in January aged 96; and Olive Sturgess , who died last month aged 91. Read more about them, and learn about their legacy.
Martin Grams has a quartet of reviews of the latest entertainment books from Bear Manor Media , including biographies of Cary Grant, Boris Karloff, Joe E. Brown, and James Cagney. Their inventory is always worth looking at; I have a book from them myself that I'll be reviewing shortly. At Drunk TV, Paul is back with a look at season one of the 1950s series Sergeant Preston of the Yukon , starring Richard Simmons (no, not that one( as the stouthearted Mountie sergeant. It's good fun, and also an example of an early all-color series. 
Finally, at Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddie takes a fond trip down memory lane to the third Doctor Who, Jon Pertwee . Pertwee played the Doctor with style and elan, and led the show into the modern, color era. It's a perfect example of the show the way it was meant to be. TV