Variety (August 1956)

Wednesday, August 22, 1956 RADIO-TFXEVISION 23 ‘OMNIBUS’-TV’S ‘C YCLICAL KIP’ AIcoa-Goodyear’s ‘Spec Aura’ In Drama Reshuffle; Brodkin Exiting Operation Wet Mop Ocala, Fla., Aug. 21. To prove that the slogan “Wherever You Go There’s Radio” is no empty phrase, radio station WMOP here is going underwater. On Thursday (30), the station will attempt an entire day of broadcasting underwater at Florida’s Silver Springs. WMOP man¬ ager Jim Kirk and Vernon Arnette will go underwater at 6 a.m. in a submarine tank and will attempt to stay under until the station signs .off the air at 7:15 p.m. All programs will originate under¬ water. The gurgling stunt is expected to be covered by tv and news- reels, as well as magazines and newspapers. WMOP, which has been plugging the event at station breaks as the “wet mop underwater" operation, will have news editor Ed- Stierer, program director Gene Turner and deejay Ned Needham dcmg special programs from the tank, barring an invasion by the fish. Both Kirk and Arnette have been working out at Silver Springs for the past two weeks getting into condition for the underwater marathon. If the pressure and temperature prove too much, the two will alternate to keep the broadcast going. Shepherd in Soup Over Soap As WOR Fires Him All Over Again It isn’t often that a performer can lay claim to having been fired, rehired and cut off the air and fired, all in the short span of a week. So if Jean Shepherd, the now ex-WOR, N. Y., all-night talk¬ athon artist, whose loyal following has been described as a cult and who turned a literary hoax into a probable bestseller, claims some sort of record; • let no one dispute it. It looks at last as if the running battle between the unorthodox Shepherd and the staid WOR man¬ agement is finally over, with Shepherd off the station for good —this time. It all started a week ago Thursday (9) when WOR in¬ formed Shepherd that it would not renew his contract, which expired two days later (11). When Shep- 'herd asked why, the reply was that he’s not commercial enough. When the news got out, Shep¬ herd’s flock got busy, deluging the station with calls and even holding a mass protest meeting in front of the hurnt-out Wanamaker’s Bldg. So WOR, in a “let’s not be too hasty” turnabout, asked Shep¬ herd to continue his show for an¬ other week pending negotiations on a new contract with the William Morris office, his agents. Shep¬ herd agreed, and took to the air again Monday (13) on those con¬ ditions. Everything was hunky till Thurs¬ day (16) night (actually Friday morning) when a listener phoned to say he had read that Shepherd can’t sell soap, and wouldn’t it be a good idea if all his listeners went out and bought a cake of soap to disprove the theory. “After all,” the listener stated, “we night people wash, too.” So Shepherd went on the air with the message; everyone was'to buy a cake of soap. But what brand? Shepherd called for sug¬ gestions, then repeated some of (Continued on page 26) 52-Week Renewal On Chevy’s ‘Crossroads’ Heartened by a climb of 20% to 35% of the available tv audience over the past few months on its "Crossroads” half-hour Friday night show on ABC-TV, Chevrolet has put through a 52-week renewal, extending into Oct., '57, on the religioso segment. “Crossroads” will be competing next season with the Walter Win- chell variety stanza (NBC) and “Zane Grey Theatre” (CBS). NBC-TV Gets Off Hook On Bolger In Curtis Deal It looks as if NBC-TV is going to get off the ground after all with its Ray Bolger “W ashington Square” series. Web yesterday (Tues.) was wrapping up a deal for half-sponsorship of 14 of the musical series with Helene Curtis, for airing on Sunday afternoons from 4 to 5, alternating with “Wide Wide World. NBC reportedly got the price down to $100,000 net per show, exclusive of time charges, and nabbed a verbal order for half the tab from Curtis last week in Chi¬ cago, during the convention. Web (Continued on page 42) Heiitemann Shifts To N.Y. for NBC George Heinemann, longtime NBC programming chieftain in Chicago for the web’s WNBQ and WMAQ o&o’s, moves to New York Sept. 1 to take over the program¬ ming spot of WRCA-TV, the web’s flagship station. Heinemann re¬ places Steve Krantz, who is exiting to join Screen Gems (see separate story). No replacement is set in Chicago for Heinemann, who among other shows brought in the now- network “Ding Dong School.” Heinemann’3 been the program chief in the Jules Herbeveaux- helmed o&o operation since 1951, when he was upped from opera¬ tions manager of WNBQ to pro¬ gram chief of the tv’er. ~Tie took over programming for WMAQ in 1953 when the radio and tv opera¬ tions were merged. Prior to 1948, when he rejoined the web, he had been with CBS after starting as an NBC pageboy. 3-PflRI STUDY OF 115. GOVT. On the basis of the blueprint for the “Omnibus” roster for the up¬ coming season, which premieres on Oct. 7 in the Sunday night 9 to 10:30 period on ABC-TV, some of the most ambitious projects yet undertaken by the Ford Founda¬ tion’s Radio-TV Workshop are on tap. While not precisely an innova¬ tion, the “Omnibus” in-depth prob¬ ing of vital subjects as encom¬ passed in the “cyclical format”—a theme whose scope is so large as to warrant a succession of pro¬ grams—will be extended consider¬ ably during the new semester. However, what has all the ear¬ marks of a tv innovation is the fact that, although “Omnibus” will inaugurate a “big name” pattern. Utilizing top stars from this coun¬ try and abroad, Workshop factotum Bob Saudek will adhere to the $67,000-per-show production allot¬ ment as in past years (in contrast to the $200,000 to $300,000 -cost per average 90-minute spec). Major item on the new “Omni¬ bus” agenda is a three-part look at how the Federal Government operates. As in the case of last year's three-part “Constitution” se¬ ries, Boston attorney Joseph N. Welch will be the guide. The cyclical program technique will not be restricted, however, to the examination of the Federal Government. What shapes up as an absorbing and extended look at the Manhattan sociological phe¬ nomenon known as the Bowery will probably get a two-part show¬ casing. Also Leonard Bernstein is down for a two-part musical treat¬ ment—one concerning the devel¬ opment in America of the musical comedy, the other a takeout on Bach. Also in the works is an offbeat treatment of Oedipus Rex. which will star a major “imported” name. An-'in-depth examination of the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg, now two years in the planning, will be either a single or two-part treat¬ ment. Also on the Saudek sched¬ ule is an inquiry into the gentle art of murder as it is practiced in literature, and a pickup from one of the major medical colleges of the country for a 90-minute treat¬ ment of school doctors at work. Shifting of “Omnibus” into the ABC Sunday night time from its erstwhile Sabbath afternoon slot¬ ting on CBS has already touched off an anticipated programming rivalry, with a considerable hiking of the budget and prowl for major properties for the competing Al- coa-Goodyear hour dramatics on NBC-TV. Pepsi on a Celeste WQXR, N. Y., which doesn’t accept singing commercials, has found a way to get Pepsi¬ Cola back as a client. The w.k. Pepsi tune will be played on a celeste, but with¬ out the singing accompani¬ ment. A spoken commercial will be tied to the tune. Pepsi¬ Cola signed up for a 26-week spot campaign, which began Monday (20). Pepsi quit the New York Times station in 1944, when singing commer¬ cials were banned. For Xmas Spec A new musical version of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” Is set to preem on NBC-TV Dec. 23 under “Alcoa Hour” auspices. Pro¬ gram will be extended to 90-minute length that night for the special, which is titled “The Haopy Scrooge” and will star Vic Da- mone, Johnny Desmond, the Four Lads, Patrice Munsel and Basil Rathbone. Labeled a “holiday original.” “Scrooge” is expected to be the forerunner of a series of holiday specials to be sponsored by Alcoa. Entire show was packaged by Theatrical Enterprises and will be produced by the now agency—this is its first major television deal— under the production aegis of Joel Spector, former Broadway and tele producer who put the project to¬ gether. It also marks the first time that NBC-TV will air a snec com¬ pletely packaged and produced by an outside agency, with the regu¬ lar Showcase Productions staff taking a hiatus for this Alcoa presentation. “Scrooge” was written by Fred Spielman and Janice Torre. Spiel- man, a Coast composer, has writ¬ ten music for Metro and other stu¬ dios, while Miss Torre, who did the book and lyrics, is also an ex- Metro scripter. Deal has already been negotiated for the Warner Bros, publishing houses to handle publication of the score, and The¬ atrical Enterprises is currently in (Continued on page 42) Aside from the 10 Dinah Shore- Bob Hope showcases going into the Sunday night 9 to 10 segment on NBC-TV this fall, the network, along with the Alcoa-Goodyear al¬ ternating sponsors on the hour dramatic show are making a de¬ termined bid to restore the hour drama to its onetime preeminent status. Herb Brodkin is exiting as producer of the Alcoa-Goodyear series (he has some film commit¬ ments on tap). But along with Brodkin’s departure from the show will come a whole new concept in hour dramatic programming un¬ der the Showcase Productions packaging aegis in which the Sun¬ day night stanza will more or less be interrelated with the Monday night “Producers’ Showcase” (also out of the Showcase Productions shop). Thus the Alcoa-Goodyear dra¬ matics may find Alex Segal step- oing to direct 10 of the shows, with other name produeers-direc- tors getting assignments a la “Pro¬ ducers’ Showcase.” Similarly, an effort will be made to acquire the type of story properties which will give Alcoa-Goodyear more of spec aura” rather than the more conventional - type dramas that have characterized the hour in the past. It’s no secret that NBC along with the sponsors have been far from haopy over the decline of the 9 to 10 ratings and the show’s overall prestige, although from a critical standpoint the trade has regarded the drama hour under Brodkin as one of the more quali¬ tative in tv. Aside from upcoming film com¬ mitments, it’s likely that Brodkin will be integrated into the Show¬ case Productions pattern with pos¬ sibility of his moving into “Pro¬ ducers Showcase.” This, of course, would be dependent on the extent of his pix commitments. Some How-To Proposals On Lifting TV Out Of News-Commentary Doldrums By ART WOODSTONE Reputable tv newsmen have ar¬ rived at a two-ply plan for* lilting video out of its news-and-commen- tary doldrums. They believe in the need for a half-hour nightly hews program an idea that has failed to hear fruition, though suggested et CBS-TV. And to jazz up the news shows, they demand that video commentary be made a nightly part of the spectrum, not merely a weekend or special events item. This is a news year of big politi¬ cal doings, probably to be high¬ lighted by a razzle-dazzle, body- punching battle for the Presidency in November, and now being suc¬ cored by the conventions and the seriousness of international power- plays. The newsmen figure radio is keeping up with the times and television is not. Below are observations and solu¬ tions, some partial and others whole, given by newsmen recently. Mike Wallace, tv newscaster for WABD, DuMont key in N.Y., has opinions that embrace the half- the way to mecha- twice as much news into a quarter-, hour as tv. Reason, he felt, was. that film consumes more time than a voice on radio, therefore marking the heed for more news space on tv. Wallace felt that the sponsor can gain strong identity for his product by letting the newscaster take an editorial stand, for which there factor. The WABD reporter didn’t agree with the newswriter that most sponsors are afraid of form¬ ing adverse commentary through tv editorials. He thought only a few would worry. He also thought that a show would be nurtured by any adverse commentary from Washington, since room could always be made to air it (and that’s FEa. TV Interests Miami, Aug. 21. Ted Granik, NBC producer and j chief stockholder in WJNO, Palm Beach, an NBC affiliate, this week sold his interests in the tv station to John H. Phipps for $882,000. Phipps, owner of WCTV, Talla¬ hassee, and three radio outlets in that area will take over, subject to approval of the sale by the FCC in December. Granik, who founded the Palm Beach tv’er in 1954, is a winter resident of the resort and active in civic affairs. Future plans on his south Florida activities have not been announced. v/ould be more time in a half-hour | not to forget the hoopla incident show. Increased costs of a longer show could be covered by more sponsors, all of whom would be gaining more faithful supporters through the editorial stands of the commentators. Wallace found that his own 7 p.m. news show “reached rating peaks” whenever he in¬ dulged in one of his film editorials, e.g., Middle-East, Civil Defense, Puerto Ricans. He found, ironical¬ ly, that it’s the “rating war” among the various local and network newscasters that keeps the respec¬ tive bankrollers from the first to try a change for the better. Besides editorials- to create and hold interest in news shows for longer times, Wallace said, the im¬ minence of transoceanic video and hour concept_— - nize news-in-depth and editorials I the advent of hand cameras make on tv. He said that radio can jam ' on-the-spot reporting a strong to such equal time demands video’s past): f John Daly’s Views John Daly, veep in charge of ABC-TV (and radio) news and special events and a network news¬ caster, said that ABC already had commentaries on its tv news show, though he admitted that they were infrequent, due to the restrictions of the quarter-hour format. The network writer suggested that com¬ mentators might go as far as using the personal pronoun, I, in edito¬ rializing. But Daly thought that the only need in tv is for the com¬ mentator to base opinions on “de- ducible fact,” and to give both sides of the picture. Daly concurred with Wallace that sponsors aren’t afraid of an (Continued on page 26) Boca Too Small, So NBC Shifting Site Of Convention to Miami NBC’s 30th anniversary conven¬ tion, scheduled for Boca Raton in December, -is being shifted to Miami Beach. The network is tak¬ ing over the Americana Hotel (which is still under construction) with the web’s anni hoopla as the hostelry’s initial event.' To safe¬ guard against completion of the hotel in time, NBC has a protective insurance clause. Boca was the site of the NBC convention five years ago. How¬ ever, the network affiliations have grown to such an extent that the resort is no longer capable of han¬ dling the hundreds (both radio and tv affils) expected to turn out for the event. Four-day convention starts on Dec. 13 and will mark the first anniversary of Bob Samoff’s as- 1 cendancy to the presidency.