TV Guide (December 17, 1955)

as we see it The latest videochondriac in our collection (some people collect coins or stamps; we collect doctors who blame television for practically anything) is a Texan. He’s Dr. Salmon R. Halpern of Dallas, who told the Southern Medical Association that television may be the cause of at least one form of the common cold. Dr. Halpern is a rare collector’s item, and will be valued as highly as other . rare specimens, such as the dentist who said childrens’ teeth get out of whack because they lean on their chins while watching TV, the chiropractor who insists TV causes back trouble because people slump in their chairs before TV screens and the doctor who blames TV for obesity because viewers keep nibbling at snacks. Our Dr. Halpern points out that children who watch television while lying on a rug may contract an “allergic” type of cold. He does not recommend specific treatment for such colds; or preventive medicine, such as telling the kids to get up off the floor. His solution is to spray the rugs with a special chemical. Any day now we expect a doctor to blame television for another type of cold—the kind you get while watching TV from a chair in front of an open window when the temperature is two below zero. And how come no doctor has yet blamed television for scurvy; that is, scurvy in children who refuse to touch food except the cereal advertised on television? Perhaps videochondriac will not suit lexicographers as the proper word to describe doctors who attribute ailments to television. It will have to do, however, until someone thinks of a better one. Meanwhile, we are tending our collection carefully, ever on the alert for more examples of ancient ailments which are suddenly blamed on a brand new medium. CONTENTS WEEK OF DECEMBER 17.2: = Local Program Guide TV) Opens Opposite Page 12 GUIDE America’s Television Magazine TELETYPES New: Yorks ee ARTICLES Hollywood Stubs Its Toe On TV .... Robert Montgomery: ‘TV's Not What It Used To Be’ .......... 13 ‘Africa’ At $15 A Foot 16 Barbara Britton Leads Three ves 5 ee 20 SPECIAL FEATURES TV GUIDE Previews ........................ 10 A TV-English Dictionary ................ 22 PICTURE FEATURE Beauty Knows No Boundaries _.... 8 REVIEWS | The Honeymooners .......................... 18 Crossroads oe 19 COLUMN Fine Tuning © By Ollie Crawford ....19 Cover Photo © Philippe Halsman Vol. 3, No. 51 © Dec. 17, 1955 Issue 3142 Walter H. Annenberg, Editor Merrill Panitt, Managing Editor Alexander H. Joseph, Associate Editor Harry Harris, Associate Editor Oliver H. Crawford, Programming Editor Michael J. O'Neill, Advertising Director Donald P. Kahn, Promotion Director Henry H. Oschay, Circulation Director James T. Quirk, Publisher TV GUIDE is published weekly by Triangle Publications, Inc., 400 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia 1, Pa, Rittenhouse 6-1600. National Advertising Office, 400 N. Broad St, Philadelphia 1, Pa. Entered as second class-matter at the Post Office at Philadelphia, Pa. Subscription Rates: in the U. S. and Canada, 1 year $5.00, 2 years $8.00, 3 years $11.00. single copy 15c; In Pan-American Countries 1 year $7.00, 2 years $12.00, 3 years $17.00; In other Foreign Countries 1 year $8.00, 2 zee $14.00, 3 years $20.00. Copyright 1955 by Triangle Publications, Inc. No material in TV GUIDE, including program information, may be reprinted without permission of the copyright owner. Address subscriptions and changes of address to Box 8019, Philadelphia 1, Pa. Please allow: four-weeks: for change-of-address::