Variety (February 1955)

26 RADIO - VIDEO - TV FILMS Wednesday, February 9, 1955 ‘TV Playhouse’ Preps New Writing Stable; Paddy Doing a TV Spec; Other Hour Shows in Trouble Build a better mousetrap for* one house and someone else is sure to grab you for more money. Mean- ing that the Philco-Goodyear “Tel- evision Playhouse” on NBC-TV is understood grooming a new stable of writers after running up the best score in the tv scripting corps. With their names getting around, whether it’s for the Sunday night dramatics in the strategic 9 to 10 period or other showcasers, the video playwrights can command higher fees and hence are inclined to seek greener pastures for their postures. One of the foremost of such vi- dramatists. Paddy Chayefsky. is currently engaged in a 90-minute work for Fred Coe’s Monday night “Producers Showcase” on NBC. Chayefsky’s rise—and with it the opportunity to expand beyond tv, as reflected in the film dramatiza- tion of his own “Marty” on the Philco series—came under the “Phil-Coe" banner. But Coe moved out of the Sunday show some time ago. along with divorcing himself from Talent Associates, which is in charge of that and other shows on the web. though retaining his vested interest in “Mister Peep- ers." Chayefsky’s play for Coe’s cvery-fourth-Monday skein is head- ed for a May exposure, with the full script to be delivered in a couple of weeks. <The story is pegged on an actor and his activi- ties during the traditional five-day probation period under Equity and management contractual relations, with the thespian’s parents keyed to the action!) £ince NBC pactee Coe left Philco. first as story' consultant on “Lux Video Theatre” < a post he's exited), the Philco dramatics have bee in the hands of a Talent As- sociates unit headed by producer Gordon Duff and playwright Rob- ert Alan Aurthur. associates pro- ducer and script editor, both “Coe boys.” The writing stable is still the largest and with a couple of additions. But meanwhile General (Continued ori page 73) ‘GE Theatre’ In Major Star Binge By the middle of April “General Electric Theatre" will have expand- ed by at least four its number of “firsts” in further pursuit of the right-star-right-story formula that has paid off handsomely in ratings during the Sundav-at-9 CBS-TV an- chorage. Big coup by GE agency BBD&O is pencilling of James Stewart for an April 17 exposure. Between now’ and then other video strangers are Cornell Wilde and Myrna Loy—and Fred MacMurray, doing his first drama on tv. All will be seen via vidfilm. with MacMurray in the first outing Feb. 20. Wilde and Miss Loy go on March 6 and 20, respectively. Key man on deal out of the BBD&O campside is factotum Charles New’- ton. “GE Theatre” scheme to bring “firsts” to video <for purposes of f tublicity as much as for dramatic mpact * started with a bang and then a fizzle last fall before matters got on an even keel. Show was to start its policy with Gene Tierney’s tv preem. Femme had to back out, however. But then, beginning Oct. 3. Joseph Cotton, Alan Ladd and Jane Wyman did tv stints. And warbler Johnny Ray went tv actor for the first time. too. So did Jack Benny earlier, with a dramatic tv entry. NBC-TV DICKERS FOR ANN SOTHERN SHOW Hollywood. Feb. 8. NBC is bidding for "Private Sec- retary." Ann Sothern starrer on CBS-TV. Show alternates weekly with Jack Benny but latter, it’s re- ported. may go weekly next season. Producer Jack Chertok is cur- rently renegotiating a new deal with Lucky Strike,. which bank- rolls "Secretary.” Public Service WNYC, the New York municipally - owned station w hich as a non-commercial out- let bears a fulltime public service stamp, found itself do- ing some extra-curricular work in that firfd last week. Station is headquartered in the Municipal Bldg., next to City Hall, and when freelance tele- vision producer John Alexan- der realized he didn’t have a witness for his wedding at City Hall, he called upon the sta- tion for help. Although Alexander didn’t know anyone there, the station responded gallantly, with pro- gram director- Bernie Buck coming down to the Hall to double as witness and best man. Vallee s Hour CBS Radio Show; Takes Bergen’s Sun. Spot Edgar Bergen’s radio time be- comes Rudy Vallee’s in a history- repeats-itself switch. Bergen is moving out of the Sunday night 9 to 10 CBS slot as of the Feb. 20 finale and the “your time is my time” veteran inherits the period on the 27th, just after winding up a cafe fling at the Jung in New Orleans. The Kraft cheese out- fit stays with the time via the J. Walter Thompson agency. Need for breaking in new dummy char- acters for tv (in addition to main- stay Charlie McCarthy) is advanced as the reason for Bergen’s exit. It was Vallee who put the ven- triloquist on the road to plenty by way of the old Fleischman’s Yeast Hour, with the Stein song- ster embodying the format prin- ciples that became radio’s initial bigtime variety show after Val- lee's forerunner had begun to dip. It became one of the most listened- to of the era, but eventually it was Bergen who inherited the slot he shot into money over a long term, with Vallee expanding into film- making and crosscountry treks. With Vallee at the Sunday helm, show shapes as an updating of the variety pitch, embracing jabber- jockeying, guests and chatter. It will originate in New York. Shep Fields to Settle In Texas as Disk Jock In Radio-TV Entry Shep Fields after some 20 years on the road as a top bandleader, is settling down in Houston, where he’s set to start a cross-the-board two-hour afternoon disk jockey show on indie KBLS. Aside from the daily radio show’, he’s also planning a teenage radio-tv entry for Saturday afternoons for next Tall, plus local band excursions in the Houston-Dallas area tied in merchandising-wise with his radio- television clients. KBLS pirer, which starts April 4, will be a 1-3 p.m. entertainment, music, commentary and disk show. Aside from the regular sponsorship setup. Fields is also planning a "test market” operation under which national sponsors who are seeking a test market for new’ products can use his show on a test basis, which is to say at less coin than the going rate for th£ test period. He’s working out the details on this and on merchandis- ing phases of the show with the Kamln agency of Houston. Fields has been on the road for some 20 years, and feels he wants to settle down. He’s got real estate and other interests in Houston, and is moving into the radio spot via : an offer from the station. The teen- age band show would also air on KBLS. with a television version on one of the Houston outlets still to I be set. Gottlieb’s ’Now I’m 21' Editor, Variety: Thank you for calling attention to the fact that I will produce the Feb. 16 “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends” tv show when Arthur takes a week's vacation. However, for the record I would like to make a minor correction. This is not my first try at adding sight to sound. Eight-inch tv set viewers may re- call a little frolic called “Sing It Again” which prospered briefly de- spite a production budget of ap- proximately $150 a week, which also included cost of coffee and cake for the crew. Ten-inch aet owners may dimly recall another television show I had a modest hand in called "The Show Goes On" which gave Robert Q. Lewis his first important night- time exposure. I believe, however, that on Feb. 16 it will be my premiere on 21 inch sets. Lester Gottlieb, . Program V.P., CBS Radio. Saroyan as NBC Radio ‘Evaluator’ Ted Cott, operating v.p. of NBC Radio, has tapped William Saroyan as an “evaluator.” The playwright is in on a shorttermer that calls for him to write—and perhaps also voice—a series of appraisals of tangible and intangible characters as part of the web's regular Sun- day night “big specials” of hour- long range. First two programs, slotted at 7 p m., will be a discussion of Carl Sandburg and Bernard Shaw. A third entry will be a psychological "dissection” of “the actor”—any actor, but with particular refer- ence to such pretenders as Laurence Olivier, John Barrymore and others of international stature. Legit authors and directors will be included in such sizeups. Fourth in the “auralacular” packages will be on N. Y. Giants manager Leo Durocher. Last Sunday's (12) special was on Serge Rubinstein, the slain “dames and dollars” wizard. Sen. Wiley Urges TV Train Its Program Guns On Juve Delinquency Washington, Feb. 8. Television was urged to turn some of its programming efforts into the fight on juvenile delin- quency, in a statement placed in the Congressional Record last week by Alexander Wiley (R., Wise.). Wiley is co-sponsor of legislation to cope with the delinquency prob- lem. “The responsible television in- dustry,” said Wiley, “is increasing- ly demonstrating its awareness of the significance of getting across the right type of programs for youngsters, and avoiding the wrong type. “One might wish, however, that a fraction of the theatrical genius, the time and the money which have been poured into some of the great tv entertainment shows of recent months could be put into a show combatting juvenile., delin- quency—an interesting, factual, faithful representation of this hu- man problem. I am sure that the television industry has more than enough talent and am equally sure that there are ample public-spirited sponsors who would underwrite this type of network project. Tele- vision has not, as yet. made a frac- tion of the potential constructive contribution which this great me- dium can indeed ultimately make toward coping with this problem.” .The Senator expressed the hope for a continuing program series on juvenile delinquency and not mere- ly for a one-shot splash. Brokenshire Client New York’s WRCA-TV has snagged the initial sponsor for Norman Brokenshire's upcoming cross-the-board daytime variety skein, with Cunningham & Walsh putting in for L&M Filters once- weekly starting Feb. 21. Latter is the show's teeoff date. Surrounding “Go for Broke” will be singers Bill Hayes and Jet Mc- | Donald in the 1:05 to 1:30 slot. Weaver’s Got a Radio Plan * . • „ # Strictly on the hush-hush agenda at NBC Is a “blueprint for net- work radio” which proxy Pat Weaver is currently in the process of evolving. It’s reported to be a radical departure in network operation as it exists today, though Just w hat precisely it embodies is kept under strict wraps. Since Weaver departs next week for a month of skiing in the Alps, nothing will be done about it pending his return, at which time, it's understood, he’ll sit down with board chairman David Samoff and kick around the whole radio-of-the-future project. ‘Oh for the Good Old Live Days’ Vidpix Pattern Isn’t Everything It's Cracked Up To Be Say A&C ‘Midnight’ Now 11:30 “Captain Midnight,” half-hour vidpix series, under rotating spon- sorship of General Mills and Wan- der on CBS-TV at 11 a. m. Satur- day, will move into the 11:30 slot starting next month. Latter time is being vacated by the “Abbott & Costello” film package in cancella- tion by Campbell Soups. # A local version of the “A&C” series was grabbed by Chunky Candy a few' months ago for the 6 p. m. Saturday spot on WRCA- TV, N. Y. Chi TV Hot For Gab-In-Hie-Nite, Lotsa Sponsors Chicago, Feb. 8. Newest fad on the Windy City tele scene is the late-evening inter- view stanza t usually patterned along deejay lines. Revamping its midnight to 1 a. m. block. WGN-TV is blossoming out w’ith three "voices in the night” in a d.J. par- lay featuring Jack Eigen, Ron Ter- ry and Ted Travers. All four Chi stations now have their respective gab roundelays for the stay-up-laters. Only one not having its own local nocturnal spokesman is WNBQ which, how- ever, cuts up a big slice of the bed- time clientele with Steve Allen’s NBC-TV “Tonight.” WBBM-TV pot- shots the late Friday night audience with How ard Miller's two-hour disk, patter and guest spread. It was the success of Miller’s Friday nighter that first* heralded the tv future of the platter jockey format. Show bowed first on WGN-TV, switched to WNBQ for a couple of seasons before moving to the CBS- TV outlet last fall. It’s been con- sistently sold out. WBKB’s longstanding entry in the gab-in-the-night sweepstakes “ has been Tom Duggan’s nightly chin sessions from 11:10 to midnight. Strictly a talk show with guests, Duggan bypasses the recordings. Strip likewise remains steadily SRO. Duggan is currently recu- perating from surgery this month in Florida with Jack Drees pinch- hitting. The ABC-TV station also has a couple of latenight weekenders. Tom Pickering helms the “Splat- ter Party” remote from the Town Club swimming pool Saturday nights under the Polk Bros.’ aus- pices and studs Terkel has the Sun- day night at 11 half hour with his "Briefcase” for Leader Cleaners. WGN-TV’s new midnight lineup has Eigen bowing next Monday night (14) with a remote from the Chez Paree lounge. Terry has taken over the Wednesday night slot and Travers moves in Friday nights Feb. 25. Dirk Courtney, who has been pioneering the station’s late invasion, was to have continued on Thursday nights. But he and his show got the axe last week after he accidentally spouted a bit of pro- fanity into a live mike during a technical mixup. Abbott & Costello, after having made 52 films for Campbell soups, now want to return to live shows. Eddie Sherman, manager for the team, is now casting about for a live series for the comedians. Ac- cording to Sherman, a comic is at his best when working live and with an audience. Sherman said that an audience quickens the pace of the show, pro- vides a key to how their efforts are going, enables a comedian to im- part spontaneity to the proceedings and give a generally better per- formance. In contrast, according to^herman, a comic when acting in a filmed show, must stick to the lines given him by w’riters. There’s little room for creativeness, and it can act only as a showcase for the writers. He admitted there are some good filmed comedy shows. In the case of -Lucille Ball, it's pointed out, there’s no gauge of how good she could be if she were playing Lucy live. Sherman also pointed out that films may not be the bonanza some anticipate. The proposition will be getting increasingly expensive, now that performers, directors, writers, etc., get rerun fees. He said that some contracts he nego- tiated call for the full fee on the first rerun, 50% on the second and 25% on the original stipend on every other showing. Sherman left for the Coast last week after working on various deals. TeleP Names Blair Jimmy Blair has been appointed Assistant National Sales Manager of TeleProinpTer National Sales Corp. Blair was director at WBAL-TV, Baltimore, production manager of WTOP-TV. Washington, tv director of Lamb & Keen. Philadelphia ad agency, and exec producer of | WPTZ, Philadelphia. BBC-TV Snitching ^Claimed On Shows London. Feb. 8. Allegations of plagiarism against BBC-TV, accompanied by a threat of legal action and an application for a^n injunction, have been made to sir George Barnes, the televi- sion topper, by C. F. Monty Bailey- Watson, director of Hector Rose Radio Productions. He charges the state web with having used ideas which originated in American ra- dio and tv* productions which his company has imported from the States. In a letter to Sir George. Bailey- Watson says they’ve noticed an in- creasing tendency to “appropriate ideas which are an integral part of two radio and television properties, ‘People are Funny’ and ’Shilling a Second,’ ” the rights of which are held by his company and which are regularly broadcast from Radio Luxembourg. Accepting that it is difficult to avoid duplication of ideas, the Hec- tor Ross exec says it is common knowledge the BBC did not see fit to agree the type of audience par- ticipation material provided in “People” and “Shilling” when these shows were first introduced to this country, “but in view’ of their undoubted success it would appear the Corporation has now modified its ideas.” After claiming that material from both shows was “borrowed” by Wilfrid Pickles and Frances Day, Bailey-Watson opines that the point has been reached at which reasonable latitude is being abused. He also specifically charges that the Richard Afton program, “Crazy Neighbors,” will “far too closely” resemble “People.” BASIL FLATTER TO FORMOSA Basil Heatter, son of Gabriel, leaves today (Wed.) for Formosa to cover action on the 7th Fleet. Angle is that he will not only feed his own Saturday Mutual stanza but will supply the older Heatter with material too.