Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

IN REVIEW CHARLIE CHAN SELLS! 78 markets snapped up in first six weeks! Coca-Cola in Atlanta! NBC 0-&-0 in Los Angeles! Dixie Beer! Bowman Biscuit! Prescription 1500 in 10 markets! J. Carrol Naish, the NEW Charlie Chan, "the best ever to do the role." See it today, and you'll have to agree the new CHARLIE CHAN sells! Television Programs of America, Inc. 488 Madison Ave., N. Y. 22 • PLaza 5-2100 THE REAL McCOYS ABC-TV's The Real McCoys may not (to quote network publicity) be "the biggest thing to hit California since the earthquake of 1906," but it gives promise of outlasting several other so-called westerns this fall season. It's not precisely an adult western, but a family situation piece about the McCoys, who pull up stakes from the hills of West Virginia and move to the San Fernando Valley: a kind of dear hearts and gentle people motif against a western setting, with salty old Walter Brennan in fine humor as Grandpa Amos. The opening episode deals with the crosscountry move and the inevitable readjustment to a new setting in an old, run-down house. This gives rise to many humorous incidents as the migrant family copes with inconveniences. If this series continues to adhere to the premiere standards of aptly-drawn characterizations and a well-written script, Mr. Brennan and cast need have little worry about their Nielsen rating. Production costs: Approximately $47,000. Sponsored by Sylvania Electric Products Inc. through J. Walter Thompson Co., on ABC-TV, Thursday, 8:30-9 p.m. EDT. Started Oct. 3. Director: Sheldon Leonard; producer: Irving Pincus; associate producer: Norman Pin cus. THE POLLY BERGEN SHOW How important is a new show's first offering to its future success? Polly Bergen and NBC-TV will be awaiting the answer following the first two exposures (first, poor; second, excellent) of the Polly Bergen Show, alternating on Saturday nights with Club Oasis. The first show (Sept. 21), built around a "panel" arguing how best to use the talents of a singer on tv, fell flat — and this is treating the so-called "panel" kindly. Adding nothing — except an urge to switch the dial — were lack Bailey, Sylvia Sydney and Julius LaRosa. Jack Carson atoned somewhat for his contributions to the negative "panel" in a funny, but corny, vaudeville routine with Miss Bergen. And, Miss Bergen herself performed more than adequately in several numbers successfully designed to show that she could dance as well as sing several types of songs. Miss Bergen's second show (Oct. 5) was an entirely different matter. It was excellent entertainment from start to finish, with the beautiful and talented star ably supported by Ernie Kovacs. Mr. Kovacs expanded his famous Nairobi Trio into the Nairobi Symphony with highly pleasing results, which again brings up the question asked many times before: Why doesn't this guy have his own show? It is to be hoped that the first show will be forgotten and that future shows will be more in line with the second offering. Production costs: $45,000. Sponsored by Max Factor & Co. through Doyle Dane Bernbach, on NBC-TV, Saturday, 9-9:30 p.m., alt. weeks. Packager: Kam Productions. Producer-director: Bill Colleran; associate producer: Stanley Poss; music conductor: Luther Henderson Jr.; scenic designer: Paul Barnes; unit manager: Al Sher; writers: Mike Stewart, Phil Minoff and Tom Murray. THE PAT BOONE CHEVY SHOWROOM Probably the most rewarding fact about ABC-TV's new Pat Boone Chevy Showroom is that a talented singer from the younger-than-Como-and-Crosby set has arrived in weekly network tv in full possession of his bearings. No gyrations, no gimmicks — just singing and being his refreshingly wholesome self. The Oct. 3 Chevy Showroom premiere showcased Mr. Boone's talents for various tempos ("Love Letters in the Sand," "Yes, Indeed," "Technique") plus an appealing duet ("There's An Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil") with guest Anna Maria Alberghetti, who, needless to say, sings well in her ,own right. Choral effects added luster to the fleeting half-hour, as did Mr. Boone's introduction of his daughter, Cherry. Mr. Boone further demonstrated his versatility by leading into Chevrolet's truck commercials and engaging in polite patter with Miss Alberghetti about his family. The show's most intriguing touch: a "Tunivac" machine which, when the lever was pulled, handed Mr. Boone a ukulele. For all his virtues Mr. Boone retains the one slightly irritating quality that marred his motion picture debut ("Bernadine") : an occasional and obvious lapse into the ultra-informality of throw-away dialogue, doubtless picked up from idol Crosby. Production costs: Approximately $50,000. Sponsored by Chevrolet Div. of General Motors Corp. through Campbell-Ewald Co., on ABC-TV, Thursday, 9-9:30 p.m. EDT. Started Oct. 3. Producer: Joe Santley; director: Frank Satenstein; musical director: Mort Lindsay. THE WALTER WINCHELL FILE The presence of Walter Winchell as narrator-actor does much to keep this new film series from lapsing into the run-of-the-mill category. The storyline of the first offering, concerned with a New York detective who must decide where fear ends and courage begins, wasn't particularly unusual and resolution of the story problem with a gunfight climax is all too familiar. However, on the plus side is the presence of Mr. Winchell, who connotates big city reporting to most people and epitomizes much of the glamor associated with New York journalism in bygone days. Fortunately, too, this feeling is not furthered by pseudo-"Front-Page" histrionics. Casting for the first show was good. Jacques Aubushon, as the middle-aged Continues on page 96 Page 14 • October 14, 1957 Broadcasting