Variety (Jul 1948)

30 Wednesaaf, July 7, 1948 COL. STOOPNAGLE'S STOOP With F. Chase Taylor, Dave Bal- • lard, Bichard Collier, Gregg Mason, Eda Heinemann Producer-TVTitct: Arthur Moore Director: Charles Polachecfe 30 Mins., Wed., 9 p.m. , Sustaining; „ , CBS, from New York There^s the makings of a charm- ing and entertaining video person- ality in F. Chase Taylor's Col. Stoopnagle character, out the ma- terial that Arthur Moore strung together for. the teeoft of this se- ries last Wednesday (30) didn't do much to advance tlie possibility. If there was anything that the event did indicate was that the task of the comedy writer iK» television Is manifoldly tougher than for Moore had apparently proceeded from the premise that all a show with Stoopnagle needed was an ex- hibition of his inventions and a pi-ocession of stooges to join the star in zany gestures and dis- jointed dialog. Without a story or plot upon which these bits could be hung on, the show had a pup- pet-like air about it. Everybody and everything seemed to be grop- ing along, minus form, rhyme or dii'ection. , , On paper the fdPmat of "Stoop" must nave looked promising. The Idea, basically, was to have Stoop- nagle, lounging on the front porch of an old frame house, exchange small talk with neighborhood char- acters and guests.' That's just about what happened on the first installment, and with that failing to give off sparks of promise, it's hard to imagine what the show will do for an encore. It could drop'that paper format and con- vert itself into a charade quiz. Taylor himself turned out. quite^ adept at transforming his standard radio character into a likeable and amusing video personality. Pro- jected was a good-natured, slow- moving fellow, somewhat on the dim-witted side; He was consist- ently at ease before the capieras and his timing was pretty snug, considering the material he had to work with once he passed ftom talking about his commercials. He might, with benefit to liimself, eliminate the Spoonerism routine. It missed iire all the way. Among tjie characters that ■popped in and out id the image were an insurance agent, a letter- carrier, and a spinsterish,dame, the last dragged in to serve as a fawincingboard for the spooner- isms. The fadeout gag was strictly from hunger and a dud. Angered by the output of a diskjockey sup- posedly in an> adjoining studio, Stoopnagle lets go with a . flower- pot. There's a crash of splintering glass and the next moment a huge hulk of a guy approaches Stoop- nagle menacingly and plops the contents of the pot on his noggin. The tableau was reminiscent of the early flicker days, but the reaction produced was not one of nostalgia but rather ol headshalung sym- pathy for the two victims. Odec. EXPLORING THE VVl With George Russell, emcee; Wil- son R. Constant, Marts Almeida, Delora Bueno, Roberto Galeno, Charles Perry Weimcr, Fernando Alvares Orch, guests Producer: Georee Russell Director: CleOge Roberts 30 Mins.; Wed., S p.m. Sustaining WPIX, X. Y. Behind the imposing and serious title of "Exploring the UN," WPIX JS staging a light variety program in a neat but conventional format. Designed to give a glimpse into the culture of the various countries comprising the United Nations, this show is featuring foreign guest performers and travelog film clips as background material. There's not a wisp of politics and the cultural facets be- ing presented; are strictly on the popular side. Show, however, has a' serious-minded tieup with the American Overseas Aid - United Nations Appeal for Chiidi'en. On thk! preem stanza (30), Brazil was represented by a roster of native artists who sang and hoofed. The offerings were akin to the lay- outs in the top Broadv/ay niferies featuring Latin talent. Chanteuse Delora Bueno and baritone Bobei-to Galeno delivered two effective numbers apiece while Wilson R. Constant and Marta Almeida dished out the rhumba-samba terp- ing. Aided by films, explorer Charles Perry Weimer gave a brief and interesting' description of bis trek into the Brazilian interior. Kmcee chores were liandled in a casually pleasant maimer by George Russell. Fernando Alvares orch (direct from the Copacabana, N. Y.) provided solid musical back- grounds. Production oversight, however, failed to turn down the orch's volume during Weimer's lecture and almost drowned him out. Herm. RUBE GOLDBERG'S PICTURE CHARADE With Peter Allen, announcer; Betty Wragee, prize girl 30 Mins., TiKs., 8 pjn^ WPIX, New York The outlook for this one doesn't appear to be bright. Rube Gold- berg is undebatahly one of car- toondom's most distinguished prac- titioners, but he doesn't sliape up as an adept video entertainer. Goldberg can't make with the words as fascinatingly as he does with the charcoal. The result is a draggy and almost consistently dull half' hour. Format of this drawing game is simplicity itself. 'Viewers are paid off with merchandise for picture charade used and collect an addi- tional prize if the submission stumps the guests. Latter are al- lowed two minutes to Identify the subject of the sketches, with Gold- berg giving the clue at tlie half-- way mark. Goldberg's f our :^ests on the unveiling show (29) had a pretty rough time of it, tagging but two out of the seven pictures. Group comiirised Barney Rosl*) Art Mooney, Lisa Kirk, from "Alle- gro," and Candy Jones, a model. Odec. TEES CANTEEN With KatU Norris, Danny Webb lUtteUui'Ea Stashell Writer: Kathl Norris 25 Mins.: Tnes., 7:05 p.m. WPIX, New York Shooting for the teenage "set, this uneven variety show with plot can keep the kids happy and be stay-«at-honie stuff with the in^own- ups if scripter Katfai Noriis can give the show a Henry Aldrich hypo. With teenage actors fdr back- ground drama and story continuity and teenster guestars drawn from the over 100 teen canteens in the N. Y. metropolitan area, show should be lively talent entertain- ment if it is made sharper in the scripting. Scripting is the main drawback, but this may improve as the series sails are set. Miss Norris, who experimented with this package at WRGB, Schenectady, is an old hand at teen shows. Almost a teen herself and a mpst appetizing telegenic dish, she is a consultant for those inter- ested in developing canteens in the N. Y, area. Danny Webb can be' solid, with his imitations, but his attempts at dry humor fall flatter than a truant officer's arches. His stuff gets a rise-from the kiddies up to 12 but teensters are wiser than he thinks. On session cau^t he was juvenile enough but didn't ring the old school beU. Teensters' general chatter was only pseudorgroovy, lacking the real punch and ingenue of top teen scripting. Dance insert by one of the teensters, Rita Bonavoglia, came off well after a smooth intro trom the script. Disk background of top tunes made igood dance music and bridges. Sets, make up, and light- ing were good, while camera shots got boring. 'Very little variety of long shots and few closeups with almost no dollying gave a stiff effect to the show. Fact that Miss Norris and the kids didn't play to the camera at first made things even worse for the camera men. Direction was fine in a few spots but uneven throughout. Show is f.r?!?.*"^^.^?'^ * drink sponsor. With a little pump-pnming it can come out tops. ■ TELEPIX NEWSREEL With WPIX announcing staff Editor-writer: Joe Johnston 10 Mins.; Daily, '»:30 p.m. Sustaining WPIX, N. Y, Tremendous newsreel advantage hold by WPIX because- of the news-gathering facilities,of its par- ent N. Y. Daily News is already evidenced by the station's daily 10-minute newsreel. Station has two airplanes at its disposal whicij can bring filmed news of any event within a reasonable area for trans- mission the same day. Thus feat, accomplished only sporadically by other N. Y. Video outlets, has be- come such a commonplace occur- ence on 'WPIX that the station doesn't even bother to brag about it anymore. , - . Newsreel format follows basic- ally the same news format as that incorporated in the Daily News. Following a roundup of the day's events on the national and inter- national scene, the reel then turns its attention to tlie feature mate- rial for which the newspaper has won its fame. On the night caught (3>, for example, the reel included such timely events as a Swedish ship fioundering off the coast of Delaware (which happened that morning) and a Brooklyn mother who gave birth to triplets. Just as in the newspaper, the WPIX cameras went right into the hos- pital to interview the mother in her bed. Commentary is handled by the WPIX announcing staff on a ro^ tating basis with Guy LeBow do^ ing the narration capably on the show reviewed. Writer-editor Joe Johnston did a good job on the scripting but thf editing left much to be desired. Tliere were too many blank spots on the screen between stories. Music back- ground, too, could have been bet- ter selected. If WPIX could handle sound-on-film; in fact, and use: only natural sound effects for background, as is done by the Fox Mo'vietone-Camel Newsreel, its efr forts would approach perfection. Stal. Cleve. Promoter Comes To&q»sWitfaTV;3f, HikeorNoWresding' Cleveland, July 6. Television and wrestling popped a rhubarb here when Promoter Jack Ganson told WEWS no more TV shows unless his fee was upped to offset a 30% cut in attendance receipts. According to Ganson, increase in number of video sets, .particularly in taverns and in the outlying areas, has reflected in a sharp fall i» the number of season-reserva- tion patrons; patrons, according to Ganson who "come to wrestling matches because it is their hobby." Station officials have countered with statistics showing decline is way below Ganson figure, and that the heave-ho gate has been hit by series of other top athletic events falling on the same night. as the grunt card, Ganson declares he's willing to go ahead again with television if a guarantee of $900 is given to him for approximately 450 tickets, with WEWS or taverns footing the bill and passing out tickets via "Annie Oakley" route. Tavei'n keepers now reported polling their mem- bership to determine whether they are willing to stand the ducat freight. » WINNER TAKE ALL With Bud Collyer, Qufaanaster Producer: Gil Fates Director: Roland Gillett 30 Mins., Fri., 9:30 p.m. Sustaining CBS, from New York It might turn out a boon for tele- vision if a few. more shows like this were brought over from radio. The reaction from televiewers would in all probability be*such as to discourage the intrenchment ot the quiz giveaway in the newer medium. "Winner Take AU, which does co-op duty across the board on CBS-AM, gave video fans a glimpse of its doings last Friday night (1) and what they encount- ered wasn't conducive either to es- tablishing this as a "must" •weekly stopofr or to advancing the art of audience participation presen- tation in network television. , Outside of a special decor, the quizzer's format was in no way adapted for video. The result was an almost consistently static tab- leau. About the only time there wa.s any movement was when a model came trotting out to exhibit the winner's prize. Another excep- tion, and a very brief one at that, was a snatch of sambaing by a young couple. If tlie camera had latched on to the blonde member of that dancing team for a few more shots, the viewers might have appreciated this as some compen- sation for the dull proceedings. The cameras found themselves pretty well frozen to widtli of five or six' feet, vrithin which space were encamped the quizmaster. Bud Collyer, and two contestants. Collyer, never budging from the stance he took behind his manu- script rack from the outset, plied his questions and interpolated comment at a pace that suggested that he had- a train to oatch, or an- other broadcast awaiting him in a distant studio. What added to the staticism of the occasion was the fact that one of the two contest- ants was always the same person, a young fellow from Nebraska, who, as it happened, nobody was able te best. Watching him hold- ing the fort became somewhat of a bore a.fter the second round. Mixed in with the oral queries were several of the illustrated kind. Even that dldn't-perk up the interest. Neither did uie flashing on of lights as part of the game catalog the program as a specially apt entry for the video. sweepr stakes. Ode:c. D. C's 13,750 Sets Washington, July 6. About 13,750. television sets are currently installed and operating In the WaidUngton vtetropoUtan area, according to * survey by the Washington. Television Circulation Committee which teptesents the three operating stations in the area. Committee is composed of Sam Cooke Digges, WMAL-TV; Gordon Williamson, WTTG; and James Seller, WNBW. Monthly estimates are made on the number of sets here, ifunoislbing material for use iny iWf iHmK&Sm departments. 20th Preps St L. Bid Washington, July 6. 20th-Fox Will file soon for a tele- vision channel at St. Louis According to the film company construction costs will be $850,000. Recently it formed a new corpora- tion, 20tli Century Fox of Missouri and filed for Kansas City. It is a.-;- sumed same corporation will file for St; Louis. If the FCC grants all its tele re- quests the company would have its full complement of five stations, 20th construction costs are esti- mated at: Boston $1,017,308, San Francisco $1,090,636, Seattle $750.- 000, and Kansas City $850,000. The total including St. Louis is $4,557,944.11. WEWS, DTJMOIJT TALK DEAL Cleveland, July 5. James C. Hanrahan, Scripps- Howard Radio v.p'., is discussing an affiliation deal with the DuMont Network for WEWS. The association would start off on the basis of S-H's local tele outlet taking DuMont telescribcd programs. John Reed King VIEWS "Audience Participation Through the Looking Gtass" in relation to tkt video field ,an •ditericri feolwe in 3d Annual Special RADiaTELEVlSION EDITION out this inonfli TRY AND DO IT With Jack Bright, m.c., lAomaS Lender Jones, musical director Director: Herb Leder 30 Mins., Sun., 8:30 p.m. MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE NBC, from New York (Benton & Bowles) Only thing that distinguishes "Try and Do It" from other stunt participation programs is the pres ence of perhaps the talkiest m.c, in the business. Jack Bright, who fills that role here, catapulted him self into last weekend's debut (4) as though he had dedicated himself to breaking the electronic talk rec- ord, and there was no letup from his yappey - de - yapping excepting for the minute taken fop the in- sertion of a filmed blurb. "Try" wouldn't rate above grade C in its particular class even with a more gracious and ingratiating m.c. The stunts on the opening in- stallment were not only intrinsi- cally unfunny but they were cw ried off with an almost consistent lack of ease and professional tim- ing. The gags included such re- sourceful bits as having a woman putting on a bowtie for a male con- testant and a guy exchanging shoes and socks from one foot to the other within the space of a minute Included in the repertoire was the routine in which several men gr9uped in a ring put on their neighbors hat at given signals, the old melon gag involving a wife and her baldheaded husband and the whi.sthng-through-'Crackers thing While the event didn't have much in mirth-building, it gave the fullest latitude to that something which IS close to the average ad- vertiser's heart, frequent mention and display of his product. The payoff of prizes wece in merchan- dise plus a can of MaxweU House Coffee and the distribution of both takes place at a booth over which the product name is prominently displayed. In product identifica- tion, at least, "Ti-y" should score high. Setting for the game-playing is a picnic grounds, with the music furnished by a well-sounding group stationed m a village bandstand. It perhaps would be to the profit of tlie show if more time were ac- corded to the band. The relief from the constant din set up by the m.c. might be very much appreciated, and also add some color to the intended picnic grounds at- mosphere. Odec, TUNE DETECTIVE With Siemund Spaeth Director: Sherling OUver 20 Mins., Sat., 7:40 p.m. Sustaining WPIX, N. Y. Here's an excellent example of how television programming costs can be reduced to the lowest pos- sible minimum and still result in good entertainment for viewers. By simply putting Sigmund Spaeth and a piano in front of the cam- eras and letting Spaeth ramble in his own style about the origm of well-known melodies, WPIX has come up with a neat little package that should be a natural for sev- eral categories of prospective banki'oUers. W.k. music authority and author of several books on the subject, Spaeth follows basically the same format he established in the series of film shorts he made several years ago. On tlie show caught "(3), he took top hits of the current season, tracing their basic melodic pattern as far back as bird-calls in the Garden of Eden and then pointing out how the same pattern was incorporated, with minor variations, in other classical and popular tunes up to the present. Although it probably wasn't cricket, Spaeth identified the mys- tery tune on the "Stop the Music'' adio show the previous week. Tune was identified the following night by a N. Y. listener, who might or might not have sat in on the WPIX show. Spaeth demonstrated a pleasant ] >ersonality and maintained viewer nterest constantly during the 20- minute running time with his in- teresting script. Because of its simplicity, the show is basically an easy'one to produce but WPIX director Sherling Oliver dressed it: considerably witli various trick camera effects. At several points, in fact, there was no apparent rea- '. son for the trick shots and they only sei-ved to distract from the proceedings. Stal. EDGAR'S TEEN-AGE CHABM SCHOOL Director: Dick Rose ' 25 Mins.; Thurs., 7:05 pju. Sustaining WPIX. N. Y. This show should curry favor with adolescent gals—but hardly anybody else. As such, it's un- doubtedly spotted badly since 7 p..m. is usually post-supper family time. Aside from this imavoid- able (at Oiis stage) programming error, this show does a competent job within its narrow framework of objectives. It'll undoubtedly get the kids to primp and polish up on their lipstick ahd eyebrow pencil technitjue. Edgar, acting as the muse of social grace and painted beauty, performs the cosmetic magic with skill and considerable charm. Using about a half^ozen subjects in each session, he transforms ugly ducklings into glittering prin- cesses by the flick of his comb. It comes as a disappointment at the end to discover that in one case he switched gals via a camera trick right hi the middle of a demonstra- tion. It was a damaging stunt. However. Edgar does have a lot of coiffures on the ball. Herm. U.OFMINN.YIEDSON KSTP GRID TELECASTS Minneapolis, July 6. KSTP wiU televise Univ. of Minnesota football games this fall. Stanley Hubbard, station president and general manager, says. Deal will be completed when KSTP sub- mits a satisfactory sponsor, accord- ing to Hubbard. Univ. of Minnesota athletic de-' partment Iiad been hesitant about having the games televised, partic- ularly the earlier and less impoi'- tant ones tliat may not be sellouts if the weather is bad. It finally gave Hubbard the green Ught, how- ever, he says. KSTP is also televising Minne- apolis American . Assn. baseball games, but has not been able to do business with the Minneapolis and St. Paul wrestling and boxing clubs. • Femme's Play-by-Play Femme will do the play-by-play for WPIX's live pickup of a girls' Softball gapie from Cedarhurst Sta- dium, Long Island. Saturday (10) at 9:06 p.m. Producer Bay Barrett picked radio actress-writer Jane Martin for the stint because she's a terrific baseball fan. It'll be her first tele chore. Game will- be toetween the Ar- thur Murray Girls, the home team, and the Washington, X>. C, team of the American Girls Softball League,