Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1958)

PRETESTED BRAND-NEW! FIRSTRUN! SUCCESS! Saturday Evening Post Over 650,000,000 readers of Norman Reilly Raine's 65 Tugboat Annie stories! 27-year run continues by popular demand. SUCCESS! Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Tugboat Annie motion picture feature a box-office recordbreaker in the top motion picture theatres. N. Y. Times —"story superior" — "a boxoffice natural." SUCCESS! Chicago Audience Test 92 % of Lake Theatre audience rated "Tugboat Annie" a TV favorite— certified by Haskins & Sells, C. P. A. SUCCESS! CBC TV Network R. B. Collett, Adv. Dir., Lever Brothers Limited, writes: ' 'excellent viewing audience" — "general public, through mail and telephone calls, indicates strong appeal for every member of the family." Tugboat Annie outrates such shows as Perry Como, Gunsmoke, Wyatt Earp, Dragnet, Climax, Disneyland and many, many others in Canada network markets. TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF AMERICA, INC. 488 MADISON • N.Y. 22 • PLaza 5-2100 IN REVIEW THE JERRY LEWIS SHOW How unfunny can a comic be? Jerry Lewis did his best Tuesday night (from Las Vegas) to provide an answer in depth. Though appearing in advance advertisements dressed in space helmet and clothes on a copy theme of being the best thing since Jupiter C, the comic never left the ground. During the program, Mr. Lewis offered a plug for another comic, Milton Berle. The Jerry Lewis Plea: Be sure to watch Milton Berle's tv debut as a dramatic actor (last Wednesday) and good luck, Miltie. It is ironic but for the first time, Mr. Lewis' antics and desperation to make something out of nothing material was reminiscent of the Milton Berle fighting odds and ratings near the twilight of his tv comedy fame. Mr. Lewis, as Miltie used to, asserted himself without rhyme and reason — "getting into the act" regardless of who was on stage. It is beyond comprehension what prods a comic to such senseless overexposure. The Jerry Lewis Show came near being a desert of tv entertainment, perhaps under the influence of the Las Vegas countryside. The only oasis provided was an amusing bit by Mr. Lewis with a mixed choral group. A pantomime offering on lessons of love had its moments but the attempt was thin. The other portions of the program, despite the guest stars — Betty Grable, Sophie Tucker and Hans Conreid — seemed worthless. Mr. Lewis even took over the first Oldsmobile commercial. Miss Tucker by sheer force of personality and showmanship did inject a change to the dreary, tedious pace set by her host. But even Miss Tucker was not enough. Mr. Lewis in Las Vegas just didn't have it. Production costs: $140,000. Sponsored by Oldsmobile through D. P. Brother on NBC-TV, Tues., Feb. 18, 8-9 p.m. in color and black-and-white. Producer: Ernest Glucksman; director: Jack Shea: musical director: Walter Scharf; choreographer: Nick Castle. NBC OPERA COMPANY If NBC doesn't stop whetting musical appetites by its occasional televised operas and NBC Opera Company tours, it is going to send masses of converts away from their tv sets seeking more opera. Then the joke will be on NBC, as it was for Verdi's Rigoletto, the jester who became the butt of his own last bitter jest. The opera staple made a compelling tv show Feb. 16. For old opera hands and those who understand Italian, the English version of "Rigoletto" may have held some disappointments. Others may marvel that it all came out so lyrically on the part of translator and singer. Those who harshly criticize this tv production— on points of space, audio, language or other counts — probably cannot remember what it means to see "Rigoletto" for the first time. It is a transporting experience, given any kind of decent performance. The NBC Opera Company production was all of that and more. NBC's camera version of action, costumes and settings matched the worthy accounts of the Rigoletto and Gilda roles given by Igor Gorin and Dorothy COLORCAST I N The Next 10 Days of Network Color Shows (all times EST) CBS-TV Feb. 25 (8-9 p.m.) High Adventure with Lowell Thomas, Delco Div. of General Motors through Campbell-Ewald. Feb. 25, March 4 (9:30-10 p.m.) Red Skelton Show, S. C. Johnson & Son through Foote, Cone & Belding and Pet Milk through Gardner Adv. NBC-TV Feb. 24-28, March 5 (3-4 p.m.) Matinee Theatre, participating sponsors. Feb. 25, March 3 (7:30-8 p.m.) The Price Is Right, Speidel through Norman. Craig & Kummel and RCA Victor through Kenyon & Eckhardt. Feb. 25 (8-9 p.m.) George Gobel-Eddie Fisher Show, RCA-Whirlpool through Kenyon & Eckhardt and Liggett & Myers through McCann-Erickson. Feb. 26, March 5 (9-10 p.m.) Kraft Television Theatre, Kraft Foods Co. through J. Walter Thompson Co. Feb. 27 (7:30-8 p.m.) Tic Tac Dough, Warner-Lambert through Lennen & Newell and RCA Victor through Kenyon & Eckhardt. Feb. 27 (10-10:30 p.m.) Lux Show starring Rosemary Clooney, Lever Bros, through J. Walter Thompson Co. March 1 (8-9 p.m.) Perry Como Show, participating sponsors. March 1 (10:30-11 p.m.) Your Hit Parade, Toni through North and American Tobacco Co. through BBDO. March 2 (7-7:30 p.m.) My Friend Flicka, sustaining. March 2 (8-9 p.m.) Steve Allen Show, S. C. Johnson & Son through Needham, Louis & Brorby, Greyhound Corp. through Grey Adv. and U.S. Time Corp. through Peck Adv. March 4 (8-9 p.m.) Eddie Fisher-George Gobel Show, RCA-Whirlpool through Kenyon & Eckhardt and Liggett & Myers through McCann-Erickson. Page 12 • February 24, 1958 Broadcasting