Variety (July 1953)

Wednesday, July g, 1953 Television Reviews Continued from pife 35 however, Mrs, Byrne bedame too academic and the program suffered a momentary sag. A sewing instruction, in which mail-in requests are featured, provided an additional close tie-in with the home audience. Participation spots are deftly woven into, the script; Camera Crew Under Cecil Bidlack did . an excellent job. to at Sct ..by Ken Wendorflf m ocphcre of good Viewing. SPACE FUNNIES' •• • AVith -Stan Sawyer-' '••••• rr<Miurcr: l)an Gallagher Director: Charles Hinds 61) Miift,; Sun., 12 (noon) -Sustaining . JVCBS-TV, N. ' ¥. ' ••• Designed for moppet consumption. ’‘Space; Funnies” should please viewers in that category. iKritei’tainmont value for the younger set is derived mainly from t lie i ntegralion. into the .. proceedings of cartoons and a Laurel & llarcly comedy. Title ties in wi;h an imaginary trip through space, t a. ken aboard a rocket ship piloted bv; Slim Sawyer in the guise of .Captain Jet. . . Preom show, Sunday (5), opened V It b Sawyer -and a kid assistant, fa cliil'erent juve is used, each week) inside the space ship and about, to take olT; an a trip to Mars. . Car . twins and the L&il comedy, Oil on film, were brought into the picture, while the rocket was supposed zooming to wards -/-Mars. : program’s formal calls for a different planet to be visited each week. -. Sawyer, wearing futuristic garb,feeds the kids a line of patter designed to stimulate, their imagination, Tfis gab is v geared strictly along juve lines. TVer also pitches a club membership gimmick to heighten juve interest. Animated Cartoon s offered. though' h ot especially, strong, Wore adequate attention holders. The L&H clip was fair; " A few tricks were used to give the rocket ship occasional motion and to giye the kids the illusion of travelling through space. Jess./ BROADWAY TIME With Dorris Carr, .Ardeen. Dc Camp, Jack Washburn, Stan Wilson, Jimmy Diamond, Russ Coglin, Freddie Jorgensen. Producer: Jay Grill Director: Jim: Baker ; 30 Mins., Tliurs., 10:30 p.m. BROADWAY SQUARE AUTOMOTIVE center KGO TV, San Francisco ( Byrne-Grill ) Most impressive musical . to hit the Bay Area since the Freddy Martin days. Sharp showmanship and imaginative Production make it an easy flowing eye-stopper. Twelve musicians, handpicked from local station arid symphony orchs, blend together like butter and honey* Most double on strings arid brasses— : lending Breadth to the clef department. Solid talent lineup receives smart showcasing from producer Jay Grill, , Cast includes Ardeen De Camp, doubling oh: voice and violin; Jack Washburn, handsome young baritone; clever calypso singer Stan Wilson; and Jimmy Diamond, one. of the best ivory ticklers hereabouts. Premiere (25) featured four production numbers. Ardeen offered a rich violin . interpretation of Wili-o-the-W isp/’ vocal ized . ‘ ‘Romance;” Washburn socked a solid ''Tell Me You’re; Mine” and "April in Portugal.” Stan Wilson raced the heart beat with a guitar-vocal rendition of “Bing Crosby Polka” and “Cry of the . Wild GOosO;” Jimmy. Desmond’s 88’s spelled a hot “Mom bo Jambo:” Only two wrinkles detract from show’s neat appearance. . Lovely Dorris Carr* signed as femcee, suffered from an overdose of inactivity,. Except for memorization; of a few intro lines, her roll was. negr Iigiblc. Second wrinkle was. the 'Taggc*d'.’.'cpriiedy'-.TeHef..-;:froin.--''Russ; Coglin and Fred Jorgensen, . Their corn ball jokes ; and flippant commercials. threw an off beat curve to an otherwise smooth, production pattern. ••.' , .• •*. Director Jim Bakdr arid technical crew . deserve kudoes for competent lensing. If future presentations are in tune with initialer, show should attract handsome share of dialers. Tone. snafuing proceedings for several minutes. In . spite of this, Abbott and Snow acquitted themselves like vets, Miss Snow in particular projecting her warm personality to better effect than she does on her own studio show. . “Stairway to Stars” impresses as a welcome addition to the local TV live .show group, Vfiea, TALENT SHOW ROOM With Jim Conway, guests Producer: Mike Murphy Director: Joe Byrne 60 Mins.; Sub., 10:30 a m. NORTHWEST SIDE, ARROW MOTORS WBBM-TV, Chicago > ( Sander RodUin ) ‘‘Talent Show Boom ” publicized to “discover’ new talent that will help revitalize , show business in Chicago,” and pledged to short commercials, turns out . to . be a thinly disguised amlateur hour that is woefully long on commercials and pitifully short on talent. Talent, by chance, if hot by design ,. Was: limited, to kid amateurs ranging in age from five to 18 and included the usual crop of singers, a tap dancer, a violinpiano duo and an embryonic magician. . Jim. Conway, making his 'teevee debut, deserves a better showcase to display his stock in trade,, which is smooth; delivery and excellent stage presence, than this unhappy assignment that had him spieling lengthy commercials that employed every Cliche in the car Salesman’s book. (Each car ..described was “clean, throughout,” most were “good transportation, one owner, clean used cars.”) In its present format “Show Room” ..Can hope for nothing, more than to run a pbor second to a program it closely ; duplicates, the vet “Morris ; B, Sachs' Arhateur Hour” now in its 19th radio and M-rto-'.. fourth tv year. The only distin t^.STARS . ^ guishing feature of this latest entry With Dud. , Abbott, Mary Snow, into the amateur talent field is a switch in method of picking a winner, i.e., judges’ decision in place of audience Choice. NBC has decided to be generous about entrance rules for its contest involving the . series of ads it running in trade and consumer publications this summer. Ads, cover the 12 reasons why NBC is the “top network,” and contest winner is the person who guesses those 12 reasons. * . •' • *. '• ' •' NBC is permitting CBS personnel to enter. ABC Radio Has signed; With Freedoms Foundation to air a Sunday night docurneiitary-styled series on America’s freedoms. Series, as yet untitled, Will go into the 9:30 p. in. slot starting July 26, with the first program, dealing with the Chinese in America, titled “Chinaman’s Chance.” . ' .. Vv: ABC wilL produce the show, with the Foundation providing research and case histories. Web is peddling, show to sponsors. There are a lot of startled expressions on the faces of Harlem residents who have run across a group of Negro youngsters Wearing jacket s with the name “Noviks” emblazoned across the back. The “Noviks,” the kids explain, is a social-athletic club. . Just Where they got the name remains a mystery, but staffers at WLIB, N. Y , which has Harlem studios in the Hotel Theresa arid Which airs a large block of Negro programmiiig, is inclined ; to believe the club is named after general manager Harry Npvik. They figure the kids must have wandered into the Theresa studios, seen the name, and become intrigued with it. WNYC, N. Y.’s municipal station, , Will air most of the discussion program of the Fifth Annual Conference on American Foreign Policy, scheduled for July 11 to 16 at Colgate U. Among the speakers station will pick up will be Harold Stassen, Mutual Security Director, Sen. Mike Monroney ID-OJ, Sen. John . Sparkman |D.-Ala.) Ferenc Nagy, former Hunganari Prime Minister, and a group of foreign legatees participating in the conference. Representatives of 30 nations Will be heard onWNYC’scoverage, which is scheduled, for 15 hours during the seven-day meeting. Past WNYC broadcasts have been aired: by the Voice of America. Jpe Smithi the WARD, Johnstown, Pa., disk jockey, has himself a real deal these sweltering mid-summer days. Smith does his daily platter-spinning direct from the nearby Ligonier Beach, dressed in bathing trunks and With a beach umbrella over him. Every so often, 1 ; lie" gets one of: the local “beachconibers” to pinch-hit for him at the mike to take a dip himself in the pool. It’s been a good '.stunt and a lot of publicity as a result has come to the WARD deejay. Now starring o'rt NBC's : ALL STAR RE VUB Saturdays, 8-9 P.M., EDST Mgt.Y Wllilpm MorrUAgtncy Jolmny Shrader Producer-Director: Dixon Lovvorn 30 Mins., Fri., 9:30 p.m. BRIDGE CITY STORES W1IAS-TV, Louisville New entry in the locallive show lineup is conducted by nian and. wife team, Bud Abbott and Mary Snow. Abbott has an early combo disk jockey-live talent show on WHAS radio, while his spouse Mary Snow has her own TV show “Small Talk,” -.' which is . slanted to the femme audience. On the spot televising of this show, originated in a large: warehouse, newly converted to a selfservice department store. It’s located on the Jeffersonville, Ind., Washington, July, 7., side-uf^theMunieipal.'B'ridge.Which. National Citizens Committee on connects Indiana and Kentucky. Educational TV predicted yesterBotli give out: with the sales. pitch,: day (Mon.) that three more educafcaturing refrigerators, air-nopdi tional stations, all on the West tion.crs, and items . in the heavy Coast, will be on air by the end of goods .category. . -. Their • .sales:. talks the vnmmpr are sincere, .and authoritative. ^ ... ’ . _ , _ , , TaUml-wise,. this is just Another Mg aniate.ur talent* show. . Winner of. otganizati°n, lepoiied that KUSC each show will be eligible to com of Southern Calif.) In L. A, -is SWING ON TV GRID Tom Gallery, NBC-TV’s sports director, left . last . Weekend on campus-to-campus swing of all the universities and colleges Whose id teams have been lined up for the NCAA-incepted Saturday telecasts, General Motors is sponsoring the llrgame series (plus two “panorama games” in which four monitors Will be alerted to, highlights 9 of eight games on two successive Saturdays). GM tab is $3,500,000. Gallery’s decision to get an early summer start in tiejhg together all the details stems from the fact that last season the late timing of negotiations cued some h e c t.i c periods of uncertainties rind 11thhour decisions. DuM Axes ‘Rookie Cop’ DuMont network has cancelled “Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop,’’ ... . ... .... . ... half-hour police series which has pete against other winners after a, ; putting the finishing touches on its been on the, web only nine weeks. rmmhf‘t* nf wr#»ks si>ri«*s. for an allr microwave relay and will start test Program had recently undergone pattern next week. It will be first ; ■ ^ . . p. UHF outlet in L. A. Noh-commcrcial stations in San Francisco and Seattle will be on the air within 60 days after issuance of construction permits, which cast changes, . Conrad Janis having replaced William Redfield as the lead. Web lias moved the service show, “Guide Right,” into the Friday, 8:30 p. time to replace number of Weeks series, for an all cxpCn.se trip to Panama Florida, Via L & N. R. R. Evident that railroad is providing transpoi tation in return for the plug, Acts consisted of a male vocalist, with some pro experience,; a tuxedoclad moppet of about six-years age, who sang, and daiiced; a girl vocalist, and a Kadoodlchoppers type of orch from Indiana: .Winner by , . .. ... . . ^ . Unnamed judges was the girl ne^s* h^ye money, studios and called for eight weeks with op vocalist. transmitters on hand,. • tions to renew. If and when a sale Initial telecast had difficulty . Educatmnal; TV Assn., on the show is made, DuMont Will getting on the air, a power failure which filed for Priseo station, has pul it back on the air, but mean ■■■■■ ■ .. already negotiated leases -for pse While doesn’t want to foot the bill are expected shortly, the commit the Stark-Layton package. Web is tee said. Both of these stations, retaining “Hughes” kinnies to pedwhieh will operate on VHF chan die to sponsors, since original deal of studios and equipment for operation. Seattle station; which was | given $182,0.00 worth of equipment by Mrs. A. Scott Bullitt, owner of KING-TV, and is also recipient of | a Ford grant, 'is wkiting.only for its I permit to get . iiito operation. on a sustaining basis. Washington, July 7. U. of Notre Dame, which has filed for a commercial channel in South Bend, is charged with violating terms of its state charter of incorporation in a petition filed by a rival applicant. The competing applicant, radio station WHOT, charges that in organizing a subsidiary corporation, Michiana Telecasting Corp., to apply for channel, Notre Dame went contrary to a state act which incorporated the university as a nonprofit corporation. Eileen BARTON latest Coral Release “TOYS” “I AIN’T GONNA DO IT” ' Dir.! MCA i ii mean sales W6AL-TV NBC • CBS ** ABC • DuMont • Ldncasltr, Pa* delivers an ever-growing oudlence. Proof is tremendous write-in response front this rich Pennsylvania market area* Write — Channel 8 Robert Alda as Deejay In line with its policy of bringing i;v show biz names as dii joekies, WNBC, the: NBC . key in N. Y,, is planhing a .late-evening eross-lhe-bpard show with Robert Alda. . Program, which., would air nightly at 10:35, Would precede the : Skitch Henderson airer. . . Aldai . : is currently emcee of “What’s Your Bid?” the Charles .Anteii . Sunday night telecast on DuMont, but status of program is now . in doubt , with Anteii understood to be in. . the process of budgcl-cutting •' Cost per Thousand * .. Dollar for Dollar . . . i»i KSTP WGAL $feinmtin Sfation < S alette preien f alive MEEKER AM TV FM Clair McCottough, Presid«nl New York ♦ Chicago • lot An9#t*i ton franciKS ChotzinofF to Europe Samuel ChotzinofT, NBC’S musical director, left last week on a Summer^tour^of^Europe;---^-^. : While in Rome, he’ll confer with Arturo Toscanini on the maestro’s plans for the fall season. ifii: You Figure It Is a Better • t ■ • • .* ' ' '■ Buy Than Ever! 50,000 WATTS CLEAR CHANNEL ' *ET STATION FOR THE NORTHWEST NETWORK MINNEAPOLIS • ST. PAUL KWttERTCD1 I : . |V l COWARD TORY j I C0MPANV.