Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1953)

WHERE PEOPLE EARN ENOUGH TO BUY ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SCU. A 16-COUNTY MARKET IN WESTERN NEW YORK WITH A SPENDABLE $2 BILLION INCOME WHAM will rate favorably in comparison with any Radio Station or market in New York State. "Sales Management Survey of Buying Power" quality of market index proves it. WHAM has a complete market analysis of WHAM-land. Request a copy from George P. HoUingbery Company or WHAM. WHAM ROCHESTER, N.Y. 50,000 watt — clear channel IN REVIEW THE BENNETTS Network: NBC-TV, originating in Chicago. Time: 10:15-30 a.m. CDT (Monday through Friday); reviewed July 6. Producer: Ben Park. Director: John Hinsey. Assistant Director: Harry Trigg. Assistant Producer: Jim Troy. Coordinator: Walter Welch. Writer: Bill Barrett. Cast: Don Gibson, Paula Houston, Jerry Garvey, Kay Westfall, Jim Andelin, Viola Berwick, Beverly Younger, Jack Lester, Sam Siegel. Sets: Bill Rittman. CONSIDERING the aspersions continually cast on the American soap opera by professional purists, NBC-TV probably deserves some sort of an accolade for bravely launching a new "dramatic serial" out of Chicago. Network TV's newest venture along this line is The Bennetts, a story of the day-to-day life of a midwestern lawyer, his family, his friends and his cases. By and large. The Bennetts is better than run of the mill daytime dramatic offerings. It also proved, on the initial program, to be good television, thanks to competent production and direction and a better than average script. It is not enough to create a believable cast for the television novel; the viewer should have a pretty fair idea of the environmental and geographical factors which set off the motivations of the characters. Writer Bill Barrett has managed to do just this. He blueprinted a typical Midwest industrial city (population: 72,000) and called it Kingsport — "situated in an area that might be likened to south central Ohio." As a result of painstaking scripting on politics (the town is strongly Republican, although it went for Roosevelt in 1932) and other details. The Bennetts manages to come alive at the outset. The first program had all the necessary ingredients: Wayne Bennett parceling out a weekly allowance to his son, exuding marital happiness for his mate Nancy, demanding four eggs for breakfast and hinting that his friend, Bert, may have been connected with a $2,000 store theft when the latter turns up with an anniversary ring for his wife EUy and reports he's being shadowed. Production by Ben Park and direction by lohn Hinsey are equally excellent. NOTHING BUT THE BEST Network: NBC-TV Time: Tues., 9:00-9:30 p.m. EST. Producer-Director: Bob Banner. Music Director: Charles Naylor. Writer: Robert Paul Smith. M. C: Eddie Albert. Guest Stars 7/7/53: Louis Armstrong, Lee Wiley, Vera Zorina, The Mambo Knights. Choral Direction: Keith Textor. Audio Technician: George Anderson. EDDIE ALBERT seemed relatively pleased with himself last Tuesday night when he faced the NBC television cameras as m.c. on a new half-hour show called Nothing hut the Best. His was the softest touch in town, he said. Procter & Gamble, sponsor of the show for several of its products, has given him a free hand in presenting weekly hereafter stars whose talents have earned them a permanent niche in the nothing-but-the-best annals of the entertainment world as well as newcomers who Mr. Albert feels may be destined to join them. Should his guests continue to be as accomplished in their respective fields as arc Louis Armstrong, Lee Wiley, Vera Zorina, and the Mambo Knights, a group of Negro youngsters who created some fine rhythmical effects on their make-shift instruments. Nothing but the Best will be worth watching. The production itself, however, was not up to the calibre of the Armstrong trumpet and immortal song style, a Wiley treatment of slow on-beat unstylized tunes or a graceful Zorina ballet. The continuity, ordinary in content, was badly paced in delivery too. Between song, dance and trumpet numbers things fell pretty flat. Mr. Albert, well known for his ease in speech and mannerism, took it a bit too easy on this telecast. The pace of the production suffered. But individual segments were well directed and well staged. The director concentrated on each personality, not on the show as a whole. Skillful use of lighting created several good effects. Particularly appealing was the show's introductory scene. Performers, as their names were announced, were hit with a single spotlight. Each stood at a different distance from the camera. In utilizing the depth of the set to its best advantage an almost three-dimensional effect was created. On the assumption that a woman is more inclined to follow a man's advice than that of another woman. P&G has Mr. Albert selling the ladyfolk on the advantages of Lilt home permanents. An attractive blond girl who has given the product a try is on hand for visual purposes but Mr. Albert does the talking. The show's theme is carried over into commercial copy too. Mr. Albert is doubly anxious that his feminine viewers try Lilt because after all they are entitled to "nothing but the best." BOOKS TELEVISION SCRIPTS FOR STAGING & STUDY by Rudy Bretz and Edward StashefT. A. A. Wyn Inc., 23 West 47th St., New York 36. 332 pp. $4.95. EXHAUSTIVE treatment of one area of television is contained in this book, which includes a guide to creative camera work. Original directors' scripts, marked to show floor plans and camera positions, are included. Accompanying one script are televised pictures of certain scenes to show what the TV audience actually saw. Techniques of good photography and staging are explained with an interesting text and many pages of pictures and drawings. WHAM f ROCHESTER RADIO CITY 77u StXMtCct^ (^(txti^K Stoics AM-FM * NBC Affiliate Geo P HoUingbery Co., Ndt l Rep. Page 18 • July 13, 1953 Broadcasting • Telecasting