Variety (August 1956)

22 RADIO-TELEVISION' ys^reff Wednesday, August 22, 1956 It’s No Time for Comedy as Webs Impose ‘Gag Rule’ on Political Jobes By DAVE KAUFMAN Hollywood, Aug. 21. With the temperature of U. S. politics approaching a white-heat intensity in this Presidential elec¬ tion year, the three tv networks have imposed a “gag rule”' on their performers, to insure they don't get caught in any cross-wind of politics. Nets are determined no derogatory cracks are made against any candidate, potential candidate or political issue. They will a'low spoofing of politics in general as long as such kidding remains in the bounds of good KING'S Pubservice Shows Seattle, Aug. 21. Two public service radio pro- ! grams dealing with Seattle schools 1 and libraries went back on air , Sunday (19) on KING here. ! “Seattle School Forum,” cover- 1 ing education problems, is aired at I 9:15 p.m., with staffer Paul Smith i handling. “Living Library,” fea- 1 luring John Richards, head of • Seattle public libraries, follows at 9:30 p.m. as defined by the webs. It's the natural temptation now ■ for comedians particularly to turn . to politics for their material, but j the webs are carefully scanning | scripls to see such a spotlight isn’t ' off’ nsive or derogatory. ! Robert Wood, head of continuity I acceptance for NBC-TV on the! Coast, explained: “A few gags i about politics in general arc ac- CBS’ N.Y. TV City Plans Take Shape The William Zeckcndorf-Billy Rose-Palace of Progress idea—the We' V a,"°o d ^:^ ** T* allow any cracks against conlro- ^ »n New York—may be stale- vorsiol figures or issues. If we mated, but the proposed Television did. we would have to give equal'City for CBS in the near-Pennsy tiirm to the other side. Zone seems to be taking shape. "As an example of what we will This is one of the few deals Webb allow, the Chevy show last week & Knapp, of which Zeekendorf is included a takeoff on the conven- president, is keeping under cover, lion in Chicago, but there was ar recently disclosed in Variety. nothing in it about the issues or j As it shapes l(p the site would embrace 30th to 37th St., 11th to candidates. This is within the standards we have set and shouldn’t offend anyone. Our per¬ formers and producers are aware of our rules on polities, they arc . all co-operating, so we aren’t hav-; ing any trouble in that connec¬ tion.” he said. ‘Don’t Hurt Your Sponsor’ Dorothy Brown, who heads west¬ ern division continuity acceptance for ABC-TV, generally echoed Wood's comment. She pointed !2th Avenues, with the exception of a larger “el” on 31s’ to 33d St. when the plot would range from 9th to 12th Aves. In a measure, this might be con¬ sidered an extension of the “sky lights” skyscraper idea when it was figured that tv studios for closed- circuit merchandising, along with a general broadcast central, would he part of the dream "Palace of Progress.” Among major hurdles out, too, it is the sponsor, more to any such site, it appears, is the than the network, who may object parking, unloading and general to cracks against politicos or is¬ sues. “Anyone in politics, any public figure, should expect to he a certain amount of kidding,” she added. Miss Brown went on to say "it’s the sponsor’s feeling that’s the overriding consideration in these matters. General Motors, for example, mi^ht not want men¬ tion of any candidate on a show' it sponsored. But as far as we are vehicular traffic problem. The r.earby hotels, stores, ejc. gave it all a frankly jaundiced eye. ERNIE KOVACS EXITS WABC AYEM STINT Ernie Kovacs is ankling his two . and a hail-hour early-morning ra- concerned there has been no edi-i dio stint on WABC.. the ABC flag- torial position taken. However. | ship in New York, after nearly it's chiefly a matter of good judg- ! two years in the spot. Kovacs, cur- mr nl and common sense. For ex¬ ample, I would say any c“acks against Vice President Nixon (Continued on page 40) “Project 20,” NBC-TV’s )votor- rently doing the Sid Caesar sum¬ mer replacement stint on NBC-TV ' and busy through the season with ' guest shots, wants to concentrate on television and winds the WABC i stint after the Friday (24) stint. I Starling next week, station is in- ' stalling “Morning Star” in the 6:30 to 9 a.m. time, with a different personality taking over the mike each week. Rocky Graziano kicks it off next week, followed by Eddie Bracken.' Jack E. Leonard, Ted Mack. Peter Donald and Russ Mor- each with a weeklong stint. Maybeliine Coin For Steve Allen Sun. Show ial history of the 20th Century, has show will comprise records and in- been set for sponsorsnip throirh ' l(n - V w>\vs the winter of 1957-1958, with North , American Phillips Co.’s Norclco division picking up the tab for an additional five shows. NoreRio had earlier pacted for three of the spe¬ cials, starting with last season’s “The Twisted Cross” program on the rise and fall of Hitler, and the new purchase brings the total to eight shows at an approximate time-program cost of $1,600,000. First of the remaining seven shows under Nore’co aeg's is to he “The Great War,” the World War I opus just being wrapped up by Pete Salamon and his staff. It’s SAMMY KAYE Columbia Records - current release, “EVERY SUNDAY MORNING” b/w "ONCE AGAIN.” New Album Release: Comprising the Great Swing Classics “WHAT MAKES SAMMY SWING” Unique, exciting treatment with his Swing and Sway Orchestra Augmented with 15 strings Continuing in Album popularity “MY FAIR LADY (For Dancing)” Martin Block To Get Own TV Show Martin Block, long a top disk jockey on radio, gets liis first reg¬ ular tv show starting Sept. 17 via WABC-TV, N. Y. It’s to be a morning strip aimed at the house¬ wife, running in the 11:30 to noon period Monday-through-Friday. When Block moved from WNEW, N. Y., to ABC some three and a half years ago, it was under¬ stood he’d do tv as well as radio, but till now he’s only done some one shots. Meanwhile, he con¬ tinues his WABC and his network radio shows. He won’t use the “Make Believe Ballroom” title ior the tv’er, calling it instead “The Martin Block Show.” Format is being kept under wraps, but it’s definite that Block will spin records and interview personalities. He saiA it would be “tipping his hand” to discuss the format now, “but we won’t do m#ny things that are expected of us and we will do many unex¬ pected things.” NBC-TV, which last week set a fi\ e week one-third sponsorship on the Sunday Steve Alien show with the Polaroid Camera outfit, this week followed up with a two week deal for the same open one-third wlih Maybel line. New pact leaves only seven weeks with one-third open between now and the end Of slated for Sunday, Oct. 14, in the ; llie year * 9 to 10 p.m. slot. The remaining ; Maybelline, via Gordon Best, is show scheduled thus far is “Para- ' talcing on the Oct. 14 and Nov. 11 ble of Freedom,” the sUvy o" An- , segments. Viceroys and Jergen’s stria and Vienna origlnaffy tit'ecl. I Lotion are in for the other two “Kob'.i'lh of Freedom.” A 90-nun- thirds of the show on a regular u.o entry, that will rim Dee. 6. a ' bn-us. with Die opening caused by Thursday, in the 9:30 to 11 snot : the cancellation by Crosley of its (competing directly, ineulentally. third early in October. with the CES “Playhouse 90”). ’ .- Remaining shows slated for : Koreleo sponsor h'o are “The Ja.-.z j Age.” with Fred Allen in a Ivans- ! ROUNSAVILLE BUYS TWO RADIO STATIONS Atlanta, Aug. 21. Robert W. Rounsaville, owner and operator of WQXI, Atlanta Mutual affiliate and a group of other AM stations, Saturday (18) announced the acquisition of two additional radio mills, WIOK, Tampa, and WSOK, Nashville, Tenn., for a total outlay of $540,000. Rounsaville declared that the prices constiuted a near-record paid for local stations. Stations were sold to Rousavllle chain by H. C. Young Jr., of Nash¬ ville. No personnel changes are contemplated in the two newly- acquired stations, Rousaville said. In addition to WQXI, Atlanta, which went on the air in 1948, Rounsaville properties included WCIN, Cincinnati; WLOU, Louis¬ ville, Ky.; WOBS, Jacksonville, 'Fla.; and WMBM, Miami Meach. In addition he holds permits for WATL-TV, Atlanta; WQXN-TV, Cincinnati; and WQXQ-TV, Louis¬ ville, none yet in operation. TV-Radio Production Centres HHtUMGG senbed narrat’on. “The Slory of the 1930’s,” “Four Kings. Two Queens.” the siory of the Un rcl Kmgdom which w'll run as a t swi¬ ping or, and “The Living American Vc^..” Of these five, one w'll run next spring, the others in t ie i’.F.l of 1957 and w'rier of T.7-7'\ ’Val wa< set for Nr-elco via the C. J. La Roche agency. Sullivan Back in Hosp New Haven, Aug. 21. Ed Sullivan, convalescing from injuries received in an automobile accident earlier this month, has been admitted to Grace - New Haven Hospital. It's believed a bronchial condi¬ tion prompted the move from his Southbury, Conn., farm to the hospital. Spencer Allen Exits WGN as News Director Chicago, Aug. 21. Spencer Allen has handed in his resignation as news director of WGN and WGN-TV, effective O.ct. 1. For some months Allen has been apprehensive as to the role he and his news setup would play in the new organizational blueprint that has emerged at the Chicago Tribune stations the past year and he decided last week to bow out when he and the new management team headed up by Ward Quaal were unable to come to a meet¬ ing of minds. Allen joined WGN in ’38 and was made news chief in ’53. No re- j placement is set. IN NEW YORK CITY . . . Mark Goodson (Goodson-Todman) honeymooning in Europe with his bride, the former Virginia McDavid . . . Daryl Grimes doing a lead in this week’s “Modern Romances” . . , Sen. Homer E. Capehart had Herb Shriner’s song,. “What Part of Indiana Do You Come From,” in¬ serted into the Congressional Record . , . Patsy Bruder into “Goodyear Playhouse” Sunday (26) . . . Frank Conniff, assistant to William Ran¬ dolph Hearst, replaces Jack Lescoulie (he’ll be in San Francisco cov¬ ering the'convention) on WRCA-TV’s “Meet the Champions” on Satur¬ day (25), with Yogi Berra as guest . . . Tom Hatcher into the CBS-TV soap, “As the World Turns” . . . Jackie Kannon, currently playing the lead in strawhat version of “Wish You Were Here,” set for “This Is Show Business” on, Tuesday (28), his second stint on the show . . . WRCA-TV director'John Chapin to the Coast for a month’s vacation, . Frank J. Sullivan, formerly with NBC and the William Esty agency, named v.p.-general manager of the Television Program Divi- ison of LPS Industries Corp. . . . Jimmy Yoham set for Monday’s (27) Ernie Kovacs show, his fourth stint on the show this summer in sketch roles . . . Nicholas E. Baehr set to script- the Mickey Mantle story for Kraft Theatre for the Oct. 3 show, eve of the World Series . . . Charlie Sinclair, Rogers & Cowan flack, off to Europe with family for o.o. of R&C offices and clients and for additional research for upcoming fea¬ ture film he’s co-authored with David Osborn . . . Tom Donovan, CBS director, on the Coast to direct a couple “Climax” segments, one of them Aug. 30 starring Shelley Winters. He returns to N.Y. to direct “Studio One” on Oct. 8 . . . June Carter, one of the Grand Ole Opry gang, just wound shooting of 22 telefilms in the “Stars of the GOO” for Flamingo Films . . . George Skinner spelling Bill Leonard on his WCBS-TV “Feature Report” in the station’s “Six O’clock Report” till Sept. 7 while Leonard covers the conventions and vacations . . . Jack Landau, assistant to the producer of the Stratford Shakespeare Fes¬ tival, set to design the set for the upcoming Barry & Enright quizzer, “21” ... Eli Wallach stars Tuesday (28) in “A Fragile Affair” on the Kaiser hour. Comedy is based on a Ferenc Molnar play translated . into English by Gilbert Murray . . . Lee Polk, currently directing WABD’s “Freddie the Fireman,” set by the Geoffrey Wade agency to direct the live Alka-Seltzer commercials on John Daly’s ABC news¬ casts . . . Merrill E. Joels playing in “Fifth Season” this week at the Saratoga Spa"Theatre, but his 10-year-old son, Kerry, kept the tv end going with a stint in “Alcoa Playhouse” Sunday (19) ... Kate Smith signed for another six appearances on the Ed Sullivan show this sea¬ son, with the deal restricting her appearances on other variety shows but otherwise leaving her free for series, dramatic shows and specs. First Sullivan stint is Oct. 7 . . . Casey Allen 'handling announcing chores on “Kaiser Hour” . . . Walter Slezak signed for a costarring role on “20th-Century Fox” hour telefilm production of “The World of Emil Markheim” . . . Allen Swift doing straight announcing on an animated spot series for 5-Day Deodorant Pads being produced for Gray agency by Storyboards Inc. . . . Midge Stark, ex-Maxon agency, now with Jade Productions, packagers of Dennis James’ “High Finance” on. CBS-TV. Casey Allen returned from working in a film for Standard Oil in North Carolina in time to go into a lead opposite Jan Miner on “Hill¬ top House” on NBC radio . . . National Television Film Council will hold its first fall meeting Sept. 27 . . . Video Pictures commercials for Oldsmobile and RCA are getting top play at the conventions. The six tv musical Oldsmobile commercials feature singing stars Bill Hayes and Greta Gray, while the RCA spots star Janet Blair . . . Betty Granger, who toured v'ith vice-president Richard Nixon in ’52 as a representative of Negro Republican Wonjen, is WLIB's N.Y,, corres¬ pondent at the Republican national convention, sending back recorded reports on the civil rights issue . . . Sol Hyman, formerly administra¬ tive and head art director of Biow Co., is now art director of Pharma¬ ceuticals, Inc. . . . WNYC’s “Hands Across the Sea” program will salute Uruguay Saturday (25) and have Catherine Reiner as the fea¬ tured soprano soloist . . . Dean Hunter, of WMGM, w&s recently hon¬ ored by the U.S. Navy for aiding the Navy’s recruiting service . . . Tommy Henrich, former New York Yankee player, stood in for WPIX’s Frankie Frisch three days last week as emcee of the “Frankie Frisch Show',” regular post-game feature of all N.Y.-Giant home games. . . . About 50 ad agency execs attended a cocktail party yesterday (21) tendered by Associated Artists Productions at the Hotel Commodore in connection with AAP’s cartoon presentation . . . Tony Randall will be the guest emcee for the NBC-TV “Tonight” segments next Monday and Tuesday . . . Joan Pettingell has joined tv promotion staff of Ed¬ ward Petry & Co. She formerly v’as with the William G. Rambeau Co., Chicago, and most recently v T as timebuyer. w'ith Arthur Meyer- hoff in Chi. Joe Saccone has been promoted to WMGM record librarian. Upped from the station’s distribution desk to assistant librarian is Michael Becce . . . Tw'o ABC-TV staffers, Philip M. Bernstein, of the press de¬ partment, and Boris H. Elisayeff, college student working temporarily in the mail department, won the New York Daily News $5,000 “Little Fooler” contest. Each won $2,500 . . . Bennet H. Korn appointed di¬ rector of sales for WABD, returning to DuMont from Television Pro¬ grams of America, w'here he had served as account exec in the N.Y. office. IN CHICAGO . . . Bill Ermeling, formerly with the Telemat tv commercial firm in Bev¬ erly Hills, now with the ABC-TV Chi sales staff specializing on peddling the “Afternoon Film Festival” . . . WNBQ-WMAQ program director George Heinernann booked to deliver a lecture on “Creative Television Programming” next Sunday 26 on WNKQ’s “Live and Learn” series . .. Lee Armcntrout is resigning his WBBM producer’s berth to head up the Talent Inc., management shop vice Mary Dooling w'ho’s launching her ow'n biz in New York . . . Morris B. Sach’s “Amateur Hour” now being simulcast by WGN and WGN-TV notched its 22nd anni Sunday (19) . . . Howard (Howie) Seaman, cameraman with tlfe Chicago Film Laboratory for the past 17 years, is new chief lenser at Fred Niles Productions , . . WBBM, which is making a big play for the Milwaukee audience now that the parent CBS w r eb has no outlet in the suds capital, is dispatching the Jim Conway-hosted “Shopping With the Missus” show up there today Wed. for a round of originations . .. Chi department stores are tossing more and more coin radio’s way. Latest buy is Marshall Fields’ 10-minute ride three times weekly on Mary Merryfield’s WMAQ “Radio Journal” . . . Miller beer sponsoring “Dr. Christian” telcpix on WGN-TV, starting Sept: 30 . . . WNBQ-WMAQ ad-promotion chief Howard Coleman talking up color tv at a Lions lunch Aug. 30. IN HOLLYWOOD . . . Tom Hargis, who sat at the controls of early radio and late tv shows, will be leaving the smog far behind when he heads next month for Kentucky’s Renfro Valley to put his new radio station on the air in partnership with John Lair ... At 30 a nine-year “veteran” of tv, Alan “Bud” Yorkin moves his directorial talents from George Gobel to Tennessee Ernie when the Fords get together on NBC Oct. 4 . ♦ KGFJ’s new program director is Daniel Speare . . . Pennzoil, shun¬ ning radio for 23 years, is coming back to sponsor a news program on Don Lee . . . Perry Botkin, long guitar accompanist for Bing Crosby, is I (Continued on page 40)