Ross reports -- television index. (1957)

ROSS REPORTS -TELEVISION INDEX OCTOBER 9, 1957 VOLUME 9 NUMBER kl A EDITOR: Jerry Leichter MID-WEEK SPECIAL HEWS COMMENT POSSIBILITIES Once upon a time, in the more personal days of live entertainment, the tig jot ■was to find a singer who could project a voice so it could cut through the noise of the crockery and the conversation and reach those customers at the small table in the back of the room. Then, with amplification, the big problem was to teach a singer how to stand up at a mike without strangling it, or tripping over the cord, or blasting into it. In time (possibly the day after someone discovered that Bing Crosby was also making money as an actor, and Dorothy Lamour went from songs to sarongs) it was decided that a singer could be a star on his own, especially if he knew how to put a few well-chosen (by writers) words together for his public. Then came the renaissance of the record industry - the day of the new sound, the new echo and the new gimmick voice - and singers made more money than the orchestras they used to be part of. Possibly the continuity is exaggerated, but there is no denying the laments of the TV critics over the alleged mediocrity of this season's new shows, seemingly split between filmed Westerns and live singers. The Westerns have always been staple fare, but singers are being called on to do more things out¬ side the range of their talents, all within one 39-veek season, than many show busi¬ ness veterans have had to do in more than 20 years on the stage. Routines have to be memorized in hours and presented cold on the air, instead of being polished in weeks. Singers who have barely learned how to present a song without a sound engineer doing tricks are expected to be soft shoe dancers, comedians, actors and suave men of the world m.c.'s. Record successes earned by successful splicing of taped sessions in a recording studio are expected to cover the fact that young singers, men and wo¬ men, are extremely limited in the types of songs they can handle in front of critical audiences. Before the season gets much older, and possibly more deadly, some produc¬ er may look at his prodigy with a cold eye and decide that a music -comedy -variety format is just that, and that some jacks -of -all -trades have never really learned any one of them adequately. The television camera is a truly cruel instrument in its exposure of talent deficiencies. It may eventually force singers to go back to re¬ hearsing with their bands instead of with other acts. m ; Mike Todd is reported to have denied that he arranged with the Russians to launch their space satellite so that he could have a publicity tie-in with the special CBS show he'll have on Oct l'J : "Around the World in 90 Minutes." . High Adventure with Lowell Thomas will make its once-a-month bow over CBS on Nov 12, Tuesday, 8-9pm NIT. The filmed program dealing with strange places around the globe will be spon¬ sored by the United Motors Service and Delco-Remy Divisions of GMC thru CampbellEwald Co. Odyssey Productions, Inc., is film producer, with Gil Ralston of CBS as exec producer, working in the field with the film crews jumping around the world..... . . . Hallmark Hall of Fame 1 s "The Green Pastures," opening the program's season over NBC on Oct 17, Thursday, 9:30-llpm NIT, will have a mixed chorus of 21 in choral music to be used as background, mood and segue music throughout, with no instrumentals Page 1 (MORE) ROSS REPORTS TELEVISION INDEX, Service Subscription Rates: $1 10 per year (or $30 quarterly, minimum one year subscription). Addi¬ tional or multiple subscriptions at lower rates. 1 i Service includes: Weekly reports on current television production, programs, advertisers, talent movements; unlimited telephone and mail information service; periodic reports on special aspects of television; semi-annual and annual industry surveys, and The Television Index card file. PROGRAMS • ADVERTISERS • TALENT 55 I Fifth Avenue • New York I 7 • MUrray Hill 2-5910 PUBLISHED BY TELEVISION INDEX, INC.