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TV TALK
New winter season hits full stride with Como and Gleason confusing the ratings boys and feud makers
Executive Como follows through on production details
Singer Como warms up with a song— "then 1 can be funny."
Thinker Como goes over lines while sets are changed.
Perry Como is a changed man. Used to be, when he had to talk to strangers, about all he could manage was "Hello" and "Yes" and "No" and "Goodbye." Now, however, he has suddenly become a very articulate fellow. He can talk, and talk well, with the greatest of ease. In fact, he's gotten so good with words that he often uses his own instead of his writers' on his tv show. Goodman Ace and his assistants slave away polishing Perry's script down to the last adjective, and then Perry gets in front of the cameras and twists the script around. But — although Ace is a veteran writer and Como a former Mr. Shy Guy — Perry improves the show with his changes! . . . Incidentally, don't believe the rumors that there's a big off-screen rivalry between Como and Jackie Gleason. There certainly is hot competition between their two shows and their ratings, but the stars themselves are the best of old friends. Jackie was a little peeved at one time, but he called it off. He even wanted to show up on Perry's pro
gram and have Perry on his! You can imagine how that idea would have gone over with the brass at the two networks ... As you know, everybody loves Jimmy Durante, and Durante is crazy about people. But sometimes his writers wish it wasn't true. Here's what hap-, pens week after week at rehearsals: All the people who can sneak away from their work for a few minutes — messengers, newsstand dealers, pages, parking-lot attendants — go to see Jimmy rehearse. Then, if they don't like a certain sketch, they tell Jimmy during a break. And he listens! He not only listens, he figures they're right — and the poor writers have to start a new sketch from scratch ! . . . Some comedians, like Jack Benny, are as sedate as sedate can be in their private lives. Others, like Red Buttons, try to be comedians off stage, too — with varying degrees of success. Phil Silvers is one who is just as funny in a restaurant as he is when he's working. Phil enjoys being the life of the party just as much as he likes being the star of his show — and,
believe us, he takes over when he walks in ! He can also get pretty mad, and he's seething at his network. He figures he's got one of the funniest programs on the channels and deserves a better time spot for it. He isn't at all happy that viewers have to tune out Milton Berle or Bob Hope or Martha Raye right in the middle to get him — because too many people forget to do it. Incidentally, Phil is one of the few stars who hasn't forgotten the person who made his success possible. He gives full credit to columnist Hy Gardner, who caught him in a burlesque show years and years ago and kept raving away in his column until other people started hiring Phil . . . Andy Griffith — who became a tv star overnight when he did the video No Time For Sergeants and a big Broadway star the night he opened in the stage hit of the same name — is another man who owes his career to the undying faith of one person. In his case it's a record company executive who never gave up, even when some of (Continued on page 21)