Radio daily (Oct-Dec 1949)

' Section of RADIO DAILY. Friday. October 7. 1949 — TELEVISION DAILY is fully protected by register and copyright CBS SHOWS COLOR ON NETWORK TELE TOPICS TWO NBC RADIO STANDBYS, "The ' "Aldrich Family" and 'The Life of Riley" made their TV bows this week and both probably will stay around a long time if their respective writers can come up with enough switcheroos. Script for the Aldrich preem, written by Clifford Goldsmith, who originated the family, was totally devoid of laughs, which means that the initial airer must be scored as a flop. However, production and casting gave evidence that the show can be a good one if the script hurdle is overcome. On the opener, both Henry and Homer were rather stupid characters. This should not be; remember that Penrod, Tom Sawyer and other fictional heroes were truly bright youngsters, and therein lies their great appeal. Henry and Homer will have to be wised up, but fast. . . . Twenty-two year old Bob Casey acquitted himself handsomely as Henry. He both looks and sounds the role, and fortunately he does not crack his voice as much as Ezra Stone does on the AM version. Jack Kelk, Lois Wilson and House Jameson were fine in the other main roles. . . . Jello commercials at beginning and end were intergrated and good. Y&R is the agency, Edwin Duerr produces and directs. • riLMED IN HOLLYWOOD by FilmTone • Studios, Riley gave added evidence that the film makers are beginning to turn out footage that is virtually indistinguishable from live production. The debut was funny in spots, but these spots were too widely separated to sustain the half-hour. Jackie Gleason's broad characterization of the title role was good, and he was ably supported by Rosemary De Camp, Gloria Winters and Lanny Rees as the others in the family. The show was stolen, however, by a comic named Sid Tomack playing the role of neighbor Jim Gillis. His work was responsible for most of the laughs on the show, while his mugging during the double entendre bit was hilarious. . . . Written, produced and directed by Irving Brechsr, program is sponsored by Pabst Brewing Co. through Warwick & Legler. • \A/PIX, continuing its pitch for local ^ ^ retail business, has landed a 13week pact from Sachs Quality Stores for the hour-long Sunday nite forum, "Voice Of The People." William Warren agency set the deal. Station recently snared Gimbel's initial TV venture, a comedy with Ernest Truex. . . . Flack handout of the week: Bill Johnston's bit of poesy that accompanied tix to the "Tonite On Broadway" pickup of "Twelfth Night." The Marschalk & Pratt tubthumper wrote a sonnet in the best style of the Bard, sire. . . . Merrill Pye has be^un shootins: a series of 13 shorts built around 300 wild beasts from World Jungle Compound. AFM To Set Scale For TV Film Musk James C. Petrillo, president of the American Federation of Musicians, indicated yesterday that a scale for musicians in TV films will be sent out to producers by the union within ten days. The union chief and his staff met yesterday with producers and agencies at the Waldorf-Astoria in what was described as an "exploratory" session to discuss problems of music in video films. Scale will be set up on a per job basis, it was reported. In addition to the fees for initial recording, it was said, iPetrillo will demand that a royalty be paid for each airing of a film using live music. This royalty would be paid to the union's welfare fund administered by a trustee in a fashion similar to that followed by the recording industry, it was understood. Tony Kraber Rejoins CBS As Executive Producer Tony Kraber, for the past year with DuMont, has rejoined CBS as executive producer and head of a committee of three to screen new talent and program material. Others on the committee are Arthur I. Rothafel and Arthur Heineman. Kraber was with the CBS shortwave department from 1942 to 1948. He was a founder of the Group Theater appearing in major productions. Coincidence Hal Bowden. DuM stage manager, is sure the Banshees have his number. Early Wednesday he took Mrs. B. to the Hospital and, after spending the day with her, left to work on "Famous Jury Trials." Doctors told him that an heir was due over the weekend. Soon after the show started a boom mike fell and just missed several cast members. At signoff, Bowden was told that he was the father f a son. Checking the hospital, Hal figured that his son was born just at the time the mike fell. Glass Co. Produces Rectangular TV Tube Toledo — The American Structural Products Co., a subsidiary of the Owens-Illinois Glass Co., has announced successful production of an all-glass rectangular television bulb. The new bulb, according to a company official, will make possible smaller television set cabinets without reducing the picture size. A rectangular shape, he said, "eliminates the formerly wasted surface inherent when a rectangular picture is presented in a round bulb." American Structural is prepared to produce the new bulb in quantity at its principal plant in Columbus, O., and at its pilot plant here. Nets Preparing Public Service Pix For Community Chest Drive The four networks are pooling their resources for an all-star halfhour Community Chests of America film, "Red Feather USA," which will be aired the week of October 17th over each net separately on 'a staggered schedule. The webs, represented by Robert Saudek, ABC; John Hundley, CBS; Edward Carroll, DuMont, and Sterling Fisher, NBC, have each agreed to supply a special film segment featuring one of the outstanding stars on their roster. ABC's segment will present Bert Parks with a special version of Stop the Music;" CBS is utilizing "The Goldbergs," with original material slanted toward the Red Feather campaigns; DuMont's selection is Janet Blair and the Blackburn Twins; and NBC is offering Milton Berle, and June Havoc. Emcee is "Red Feather," the Marionette of Community Chests. Production is being handled by CBS under the supervision of Hundley. CBS has made available its facilities for the film, including studios, engineers, make-up department, sound men and stage crew. The net has also accepted the responsibility of handling print production as Community Chests will make available the show on recording for stations unable to take a live feed. DuMont will distribute kinescope prints for delayed showing. Special integration material was written by Ira Marion of ABC. Telefilming the integrations and coordination of the program is under the direction of CBS director David Rich. Puppeteer Mary Chase, who created the Red Feather marionette, operates the "Red Feather" strings. Pix Go From D. C. To Bait., IV. Y. And Return (Continued from Page 1) adjoining the ballroom. Color cameras picked these up in the studio and sent them to Baltimore and to New York City and back again to television WOIC here. The station rebroadcast them for the benefit of the Government officials. A main technical point of the demonstration was that CBS' color signals go out originally on a four megacycle width, but in order to travel through the coaxial cable must be compressed to a 2.7 megacycle width. The Commission had heard testimony that such compression would squeeze the color out and produce only a picture in black-and-white. After the fashion show had been put through the sample network, Dr. Peter C. Goldmark, who invented the system, asked if representatives of DuMont Laboratories cared to comment. DuMont has contended that the present black-and-white reception is superior to anything which color systems now have to offer. William A. Roberts, DuMont attorney, responded amid laughter: "With a gun in my back, I will say that I noted little color breakup in this series of tests." The tests were viewed on both regular sets converted to color and sets designed for color reception. Dr. DuMont, at a press interview yesterday afternoon at the Carlton Hotel reported that none of the color systems now under consideration by the FCC is ready for commercialization. "There are major research problems to be solved," he said, "before any of these systems could be considered for commercial use. The CBS system is limited to small tubes and mechanical devices or, if by projection, larger pictures are produced they suffer serious limitations. The pictures shown today in a demonstration are not even as good as those produced by CBS three years ago when they were using and proposing wider channels. "The RCA system is thoroughly untried in the field. However it does promise compatibility so that present black and white receivers can accept those programs in black and white." Regarding networking, said Dr. DuMont, none of the systems has achieved teletranscription equipment, thus precluding very essential network facilities when pressed for a time schedule.