Variety (March 1959)

BABIO-TELEVISION f 59- r 60: Show Biz Back To TV ; Continued from page 1 ; claimed in unison, “Where are we going and why are we letting this ■ happen? ” The result of this net | (and network) thinking holds forth; a promissory note that could hiring : back a many-faceted type of qual* i itative show business to tv in place j of the johnny - one - note format. (nine westerns in the Nielsen Top; 10) that’s invited heaps of abuse j on the industry over the past cou- • pie of years. I It’s interesting to note that thus far the agencies and sponsors who are responding to the bid for an early wrapup of next season’s plans ; are shunning the make-’em-in-a- J hurry violence sagas and the west-; erns'in favor of entertainment on a ; more lofty and ambitious scale. And what is most heartening, par-; ticularly to the networks, is that j there appears to be red hot yen ■ on the part of the sponsor for live ' programming. As an indication of what’s in store rext season for the sorely _ tried viewer, take the recent sue-' cession of events at CBS that col-; leclively point to what may well j be that network’s most exciting j and entertainment-packed semester, j A few weeks back CBS revealed. it had sold ' to Equitable Life for ! $.> 000,000 ■ its new 90-minute live , “Blograohy" series, patterned _ along the lines of the Helen Kel-, ler, Helen Morgan and Lord Mayor I Robert Briscoe of Dublin bios on “Playhouse 90.” This will alter- ! nate* with “Playhouse 90,” which,; it's new definite, will be found; same lime, same alternate-week pT~ce. sam^ network. Then la t week came program chieftain Hubbell Robinson Jr.’s disclosure of the biggest show in the Columbia book — the weekly series (some 60 minutes, some 90 ; minutes, some two hours) in which •all the network’s creative stable of producers will rotate with dramas.. musicals, comedic-s, or whatever: fresh entertainment ideas are j evolved. Most of ’em will be live.; A sponsor deal, says CBS, is im-; minent—probably the most expen-; sive item in web annals. The CBS - TV six-months-in-ad-; vance sale of such half-hour prop¬ erties as “Blue Men,” “Dennis the ‘ Menace.” "PeelvS Bad Girl,” the ; reported sponsor dickers for the; new Cy Howard “Small World of, Julius” situation comedy series and : the Rod Serling weekly half-hour - drama series all suggest a definite ' desire on the part of clients to by- pars the murders and the gun-; slinging in favor of a more Varie-; gated programming diet. In the i ca-e cf the aforementioned CBS. 1 entries, all but “Dennis” represent» house-built properties on which staffers off the network’s top cre-j ative shelf have been toiling for : months. ! ABC-TV’s pacting of the new; James A. Michener Monday night j series; David Susskind’s $2,000,000 | deal with General Motors for eight; Art Carney specials; Perry Como’s blue skies (and stock; deal for the; weekly “Kraft Music HalL” hour : entry: NBC-TV’s teeoff next season ; with Laurence Olivier’s “Moon and i Sixpence” (already taped), which' in turn may cue a whole series of j 90-minute and two-hour specials on' the same lofty programming level (a Maria Callas opera of her owp. choosing is a possibility); NBC’s, envisioning of bigtime showcases for Dean Martin and Shirley Mac- Laine, both individually and per¬ haps collectively; the possibility that NBC-TV specials may hit the 200 mark next season, oh the basis of preliminary dickers and inquir¬ ies, plus the Sat. night 8 to 9 NBC rotating of bigtime personalities— all of these, along with such basic and continuing live staples as Dinah Shore, Ed Sullivan, Garfy Moore, “Omnibus,” Hallmark Hall of Fame and DuPont Show of the Month, suggest that in ’59-’60 tv and show biz will be keeping com¬ pany again. Tele Followup .Continued from page 26 bit of closing advice: “Stay in love with the theatre, stay in love with show biz.’* Art. The Chevy Show Although there were some good I production ideas for last Sunday’s (1) “Chevy Show” outing on NBC- TV, the potential never seemed to be realized. Perhaps it was the need for anchor-gal Dinah Shore, who had the day off, hut whatever or whoever it was, the hour definitely lacked the spark to pull it out of the routine class. Pinch-hitting for Miss Shore were Art Carney, Janis Paige, Shirley Temple and Alfred Drake. The quartet cavorted through sev¬ eral musical numbers including three different versions of “How High The Moon,” a safari through the Sunday comic strips, and a musical sketch pegged on domestic friction. They worked enthusias¬ tically through it all ‘but there were few lifts. For the oldtimers, perhaps, there may have been A kick in seeing Shirley Temple in a curly top wig as Little Orphan Annie. She hardly looked any different from her moppet star days at 20th-Fox. Drake came up for an okay score with “Wandrin’ ” and “Were [ Thine Thet Special Face” and Miss Paige was especially noticeable singing, dancing and mugging with an uninhibited spirit. At times, i however, she reminded of nitery comedienne Kaye Ballard, hair- • do, facial contortions and all. The pre-music patter was weak presenting a hurdle which even : Carney couldn’t overcome' and the : parody “Don’t Take Your Guns ; To Town” was a banal effort. Gloria Krieger and Charles K. L. Davis trilled their way • through “In The Still Of The i Night.” If anyone wants to re- j make the old Jeanette MacDonald- : Nelson Eddy pix. Miss Krieger j and Davis are tailor-made for the ; parts. Gros . Young People’s Concert ! Leonard Bernstein continues to ' provide television with some of ; its finer moments. The versatile ' composer-conductor rates another ; notch in his baton for his excellent handling of the N. Y. Philharmonic 1 Young People’s Concert last Satur- . day afternoon (28). The hour-long j session, transmitted by CBS-TV 1 live from Carnegie Hall, N. Y., is the third in a four-part music ap¬ preciation series, he’s conducting. In the latest of the juve-targeted programs,. Bernstein, In simplified terms and showmanly fashion, ex¬ plained apd demonstrated the fac¬ tors that contribute to making music humorous. His method of instruction is fascinating and there’s nothing Mgglescending in his approach to th^KftuthfuI audi¬ ence. In fact, witlattimstein’s as¬ sistance classical expositions may eventually squeeze some of the more popular. fcnE. of music, which nobody is l*iering to ex¬ plain. . > Jess. Wednesday, March 4, 1959 Ringling Bros. ‘Built-ln-TV’ ; Continued from page 19 ; Lucille Ball Continued from page 2 dramatic show with Jackie Gleason,, and we’re trying to get him for one which we would do on our ‘West- inghouse’ series.” As to her plans for the future, the titian-haired comedienne says “I have our own shows to do for Westinghouse next year, plus two on my own as part of the series. I’ll go either way—dramatic or comedy, which ever is the best script'. I would like a complete de¬ parture from the ‘Lucy’ characteri¬ zation. That would be fun. I’m also spending next year exploiting my workshop and producing for it ... I have a Broadway play in mind for 1961, on which I want to work with Morton da Costa. What about details? I ain’t talking. It would be my first time on Broad¬ way, although I played the subway circuit for 22 weeks in ‘Dream Girl’ about 10 years ago:” What does she think of today’s comedians in particular? “Red But¬ ton’s trouble when he was on tv was that he tried to please too many people before going on the air. To me, Milton Berle is. one of the greats. Jack Benny is the one we learned a lot from; he never minded giving a show to someone else; his showmanship has been our pattern. I think Sid Caesar is great. I love Hope and Skelton. Dean Martin is one of the people I laugh at the most.” What about Jerry Lewis, is his absence from her list an oversight? “No, I laugh at Dean —I dig him,” she says. Two other Lucy faves aren’t exactly comics; they’re Bill Holden and Gig Young. Producer-director she’d like most to work with: Billy Wilder. Lucy feels tv is saturated by oaters “because the kids dominate that dial. I don’t think they should have so damn many westerns. But this is the probldfri of the networks. And why do the networks have two good programs opposite each (other? I.don’t like this competition j feeling-—there is enough room for : all of us. I would like to see more ! balance in programming. Comedy j is a victim of the western trend.” I Lucy skies to N. Y. March 8, will j take In a few B’way shows and tape '■ a guest shot with Arthur. Godfrey, ! that show to be aired March 10. Pittsburgh — Clark Race, after just a few months as the all-night deejay on KDKA, has been upped to a daytime berth on the Westing- house station; He takes over the 3-6 slot in the afternoon six days a week, moving Art Pallan back from 10 a.m. to noon following the early morning Rege Cordic show. Pallan’s also on later from 6:15 to 8. THE HOT SHOWS COME FROM ZIV! the tv show (about 40 minutes of Video time) is more of an appetizer for viewers to catch the real thing when it hits their home town and at the same time is effective sponsor identification for outfits picking up the video tab. John Ringling North, prexy and producer of the circus, and his braintrusters are also toying with the notion of making a taped or filmed 30-minute production of the highlights of the show for local participation sales during the sea¬ son. Idea is to get local or region¬ al sponsors to present the film on tv before circus arrives in town. Charlotte Origination E.dsel-sponsored show on the na¬ tional hookup will originate from Charlotte, N. C., immediately after Ringling show opens its 89th sea¬ son with a four-day stand at the Charlotte Coliseum and before go¬ ing on to Winston-Salem for three- day engagement at the Memorial Coliseum. Edshel show will be seen live by motor car dealers and their families. General public will not be admitted to this specially- presented production. As now shaping up, telecast will have Ernie Kovacs in role of ring¬ master. .Circus acts will include Ibarra Brothers, “demoniac divers”; Capt. Hugo Schmitt, Ben White and Edward Healy with their elephant acts; Maryse Begary, as one of several aerialists; tightwire performers Ala Ming and Manuel Santos and Dely and foot juggler Tony Durkin; equilbrists Yong Brothers and Sister, the Two Sons and Kaichi Namba; Hans Naumann and his tiger act; trapeze acts with Frankie Doyle, the Comets and the Flying Rockets; portions of “Bless My Britches,” the horse acts with Charles Moroski and Gina Lipow- ska, Marion Seifert and Lynn Brent; Harold Alzana and his high- wire turn and as the closing bit the' Zacchini human cannonball spe-. cialty this time, however, with double cannons. Big show is set for Gotham at the Garden starting March 27 and will stay through May 12. Mean¬ while the show continues to exhibit its wares, in many instances, in large, modern indoors arenas. Pres¬ ent show is traveling with mini¬ mum. staff and stock, having re¬ duced its load to a mere 11 motor¬ ized trucks and three balloon type Penn R.R. baggage cars with 70 hands to put up the show. Under canvas, the operation de¬ manded 700 workers (not counting performers) and 80 pieces of rail¬ road rolling stock now waiting to be disposed of in winters head¬ quarters in Sarasota. Present-day type of operation appears profita¬ ble, even under bad weather condi¬ tions, with majority of indoor hous¬ ing deals arranged on a highly- efficient business-like basis. Absent is the sawdust, carny-like atmos¬ phere. The two-day stand here, for example, brought a fat gross of $35,000 for four performances, a large measure of this attributed to the promotional efforts of local Junior League of Charleston which backed the circus effort. More and more, the circus spectacle is get¬ ting chi-chi support wherever it plays road hops and consequently managerial end of the Big Top spends a good chunk of time in cookie-pushing ceremonials before and after contract-signing occa¬ sions. Nor are admissions scaled low during road engagements. Charles¬ ton date, as an instance, was scaled at $1.60, $3.89 and top of $5.60. Treading their way around the three rings opening night were several N.Y. newsmen garbed in clown pantaloons. Amateur joeys, in heavy clown makeup, included John Crosby, Bill. Slocum... and Steve Scheuer. Circus announcer trumpeted their respective appear¬ ances as they emerged from Clown Alley for the “Klownville Koriven- tion” display. The newsmen’s names evidentally * baffled the Charleston audience. “Who'(flat?? they muttered when Slocum came on. “Wonder if he’s a relative of that so-and-so Union general in the Civil War who trampled here on the way to Georgia.” “Can’t be Bing,” they snorted, when Crosby, much in the manner of the celebrated DeCastro at Astley’s, shuffled into the noisy arena. Roustabouts, looking on, 'said derisively: “Wonder how we are going to get him off?” Crosby, who’s now an old hand at personal appearances, wailed: “Where’s the spotlight?” Wauhillau LaHay, publicity di¬ rector at Kenyon & Eckhardt agen¬ cy for the Edsel account, sashayed the press to the circus. For this, circus chieftains allowed her to portray a heavily-sequined temple dancing doll and intimate com¬ panion to the seductive Schehere- zade in the spec, “1,000 And One Nights” with music by John Ring¬ ling North and batoned by band¬ master Izzy Cervone. Summer TV J Continued from page 17 ^ ! sticking with the Tuesday night 10 to 11 hour, subbing Garry Moore with a new Andy Williams variety showcase developed out of the CBS shop and spotlighting young talent on the ascendancy. Sullivan is in process of pre-tap- ing his Summer shows for Mercury and Kodak. Godfrey will* advance i tape his Tuesday night show. Eight-week replacement for “Per¬ ry Mason” will be repeats of “Stu¬ dio One,” “Pursuit” and “Climax.” i At NBC it’s a case of filling in for Dinah Shore (maybe Janet : Blair); Perry Como on Saturdays (probably a singing stable out of i the General Artists Corp. shop) (and Steve Alien. Also replace- . ments for the Friday night fights and maybe “Ellery Queen” on Fri¬ days. Tuesday 9:30, with Bob ; Cummings due to go off. may also pose a summer problem. At ABC-TV, it’s a veritable : windfall for the “getting in cheap” rerun boys on their multiple vid- pix. ! WRCA-TV’s Big Feb. Hike WRCA-TV, N. Y., set new record , for biz when its combined- spot and local billings for February climbed 24% over same period last year. January billings also con¬ stituted a record in the station’s history. New February biz included Tide- i water Oil, Eureka Vacuunj Clean- : ers, “Music Man,” Max^Tactor, i Fruit of Loom, Hudson Paper, • Julian Freirich Meats, Pepto-Bis- : mol, Mrs. Clean, Charles Pfizer ; and Bon Ami. ON EVERT (CHANNEL \ BROOKS [COSTUMES 3 WmI 6lil St., N.Y.C.'Tal. n. 7.5100 "ft ft VIDEOTAPE vy Dynamic neiv dimension in TV programming PRODUCTS DIVlSrON TM AMPEX COUP. REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA