Variety (January 1961)

January 4, 1961 Fifty-fifth , RADIO-TELEVISION 93 Syndics Restoring Chi TV’s Production Shops Back To Semblance Of Respectability By LES BROWN Chicago. To paraphrase a Mark Twainism, the reports on Chicago's demise as a tv-radio production centre have been greatly exaggerated. and intends to offer also the kidshow, “Treetop House.” WBKB, the ABC-TV o&o, placed Stuart Brent’s literary show, ‘‘Books and Brent,” on tv stations in New York No thanks to rather to private enterprise, the Windy City trade is making a comeback in the national picture with programs for syndication and even, occasionally, for the netw orks. The wav the fever for a syndie sweepstakes ticket spread here in 1960, it could very well turn into a production epidemic in the year ahead. the webs, but j and Hollywood; and Brent formed his own Company to market a radio version of the show’. Murray Hill, trainer of a tliespic simian known‘s as Chatter the Chimp, filmed over 100 five-min¬ ute episodes of “Chatter’s World”' for insertion into children’s shows. Sterling Films is distributing, and with a good measure of success. Norm Ross and David McElroy are There are those who insist it's ,*» Pfddle their eonversa not a comeback but a rebirth, since i tl0”aI (Hjf and syndl" indie efforts actually began back ! aat‘°" r‘g.hta »l11 f*?0" ™vert to in the days when the networks ; Irv, K“f,c™e‘ for „h* WBBM-TV were just beginning to divest their i °PU.S At Random-’ Hal Stein and "Hello World” WILLIAM B. WILLIAMS Make Believe Ballroom WNEW Mon. thru Sat., AM at 10, PM at 6 Represented By: MCA representations, forwarding re-: the population— a figure rapidly ports, The addressee, the Pilking ; being approached by the commerton Committee which was set up C1^ network which will he virtuby the Government in 1960 to nose "of" mw into the future of the broadcasting transmitters in the West Country services in the U.K. The formation and Scotland, of this committee has been the 1 Time and again over the past political highlight, so to speak, of year or been specu lation on the date when the comthe television year in Britain even . mercia, tv companies „m hit the though, since the setup will take ceiling of their advertising revover a year to compile its report i enue. But although they have for presentation to the Govern; agreed to reduce the amount of ment, it is going to ha\ e no imme tbe webs bave sought successfully diate effect on the picture here, to extend the peak viewing period What makes it of some instant in and increased their rates, with the terest is, the forward planning on result that the upward curve of the part of the webs that has been revenue continues, brought to light accordingly, plus ; One of the more significant as other moves and bids applying to pects of the year past has been the future. ’the alertness and aggressiveness In which context, who will get shown by BBC-TV in competition , I nilf n* :*““&. oi„ **,. uv « mu.uci iuai me the third British network and what • with the profits-grabhing commcr Golf, now in its third cycle on out of program production in Chi, f0Jl0\Ving day and maybe spend a about toll tv are the focal points, cial outfits. Longtime referred to ABC-TV, with reruns in synuica. but neither are they significantly . week as an ex_0fTicie member of International Telemeter, the Para' as “Auntie BBC,” sometimes aft'ection III Youth Council frying to study mount subsidiary, has given dem tionately but more often with some DeMet and Schwimmer are now , ireai Lnic?S°. as oniy a marKeirlhe mental machinations' .of juve onstrations of the system that is derogatory undertone attached, it operating separately, with the ior1 " nere tne picKin s are _iusn. me 1 niie delinquency so prone to young operating at Etobicoke and has has been busily proving that mer’s part in “Bowling” s\vapped | {people. said it is prepared to talk turkey Auntie can show a niity leg. It for Schwimmer’s share of “Golf.” , fo{md Us new ABC foot 1 rd 6et so far away from a tv enfranchises. The Rank Organiza claims that it is ogling audiences DeMet now bases m New fi® : screen and from the haunts where j tion and Associated Rediffusion away from the other lamps even but his shows — including the svndi lenmc moneymakers for the . _tar«. -■’WJ — 1S- .... cated “National Pro League Foot ?arent companies, and every year ^ade ball” and last summer's taped re tlie' seem 10 be miI^ed harder. ; caps of major league baseball — Only’ network video program.^ ^ are still produced at the Sidney ! emanating from the Windy City « listening"" and watching' * post • elude film producers Daniel M. been showing the garter in foreign Goltz facility here, so technically currently is NBC-TV’s "Today On wben j once agajn had the ur^eiAnpel, Lord Brabourne and An markets. Its Television Promotions they're still Chicago products. r the Farm.” a Saturday morning 'tn th«T pntnpc ivith ' rp. thony Havelock-Allan. has been department, helmed by Ronald local o&os of creative responsibili! p^c^R^riSe<^nthe^ationVai ed Caf J1’1* 1 an indigo mood, for permission to ^eY^earlfa”^' 1 whW.'L* “tfon WGNW 1«* enough to DeMet, as early as 19od, weie_syn_ _ indicating it in a catch breath and my balance. British Probers Mull Future Of Broadcasting 3d T¥ Web, Tollvision Share Spotlight By ERNIE PLAYER London, (to the future and concentrate on Everybody’s doing it: sending memos, writing articles, making the present, brings up the statisti¬ cal point that BBC-TV \s present coverage of the U.K. is 98.8' < of ’Golf.” incidentally, is now owned entry for Massey-Ferguson. Butstored objectivity and a capacitv ‘spawned. Those are the princiDal Waldman, was formed early in by UPA prexy Henry Saperstein. : NBC indicated clearly where its ;for enthusiasm that could separate ■ moves. As for the third network in I960 and is still going up through but DeMet remains its producer. , local outlet stands, when U sent tbe good and tbe breat from the terms not of feevee but of the con the gears, but already has some pretentious and the*5 shoddv Iventional dissemination of pro considerable successes throughout Schwimmer’s present properties, ' out a staff from New York— pro ’ protcnlious and the*5 shoddy besides “Bowling,” include “Cham duccr, director and writer — instead . . . . ’ T : grams, both the existing commeri the world to can-can about, pionship Bridge,” another ABC of using WNBQ personnel. As Lor ? 1 ?sy s cial webs and BBC-TV have been ; BBC-TV’s emphasis on electronic TV entry 'in :ts second yean; a network radio, apart from °on ,^ u^tness^ the^hTit’ i hammering away propagandawi.se, programs, by the way. leads on to radio feature. “Alex Dreier Com McNeill s 27 year old Breakfast | a*od a"d uand,>annpd inneiv i while there is a sch°o1 oi thought ; another notable fact: 1960 has been ments,” in more than 100 markets Club on ABC. there are only the , VIs’ J"e Y Pt?®d’ L*?® Li a'ifor handing over the channel to the year of the tape, and vidpic under North American Van Linos ^ MAQ insertions in "Monitor” tne D®aside oi a ther interesls ,not formulated) ! production has taken very much sponsorship; and a pilot for a ten‘ and an occasional WBBM pub hospital patient or in the ;ward of ; entirel . a back seat BBC-TV itself, nis series, which will be making . affairs offering on CBS. fhe% reaction of^1 av-e^age6 per The Continental Way: 625 i which not so long back partnered the rounds next selling season. ; By and large it’s private enter t0 what has beln called most On one point speetaculors agree. 1 *TA in putting •■The Third ManSports Key to Upswing , P um J U at is g tvtng : statlire 1 to the untairlyi the lowUest of the arts. ' that the Pilkington Committee will «» «!»., ."“fe >ha Inspector Sports shows seem to dominate ' 'abeI-:T1,e auc‘ , Perhaps my involvment in such . most probably recommend, and the J'al*’'a' Its the cyndie activity here, with ^ss stones to date ha\e heen fewv.experielices would give me a fresh Government will afterwards act to venture of the star— -and s.iot !t "VVGN-TV peddling the Notre Dame > ^ comine AP' and wholesome perspective on a implement, that Britain should electronically, games regionally, in season; Frank uy e 0QQS ale consiaere<3 , medium so manv critics seem to change from its existing 405-lines! Anglo-U. S. Ties At lass touting a boxing show; Fred 8°odNiles Productions piloting a tour j ‘ ” nament <bridge show; and Max : Cooper working on a “Jackpot : I hp i poa i Golf':’ series. Cooper, a former asj -L \_7L sociate of Schwimmer and DeMet, ; made his own debut as a tv enter¬ priser last fall with “Winter TV Baseball'’ from the Cuban Leagues, but the project was aborted after one term by Fidel Castro. The TV Critic Bv HY GARDNER take so much relish out of belit, standard to the Continental 625, Coproduction is or? the up and tling. .allowing a due overlap period so ; up> albeit not t0 an overwhelm Perhaps some of the enthusiasm i that present -receivers shan t be . jngiy obvious degree as yet. giving of the non-pro viewer would make , rendered obsolete overnight. An tbe ^ord a diffcient definition me more respectful of my respon j okay lsn ^ certain, ai from coproduction as practiced in sibility as a critic, make me realize {though BBC for one has indicated yeS(eryear. This is not to say t hat that, however jaded, I am in the ’ that is ready and willing to in flimjng riPa]s d0 not still come minority when I habitually look j trod-uce tint transmissions if and a|ong — witness BBC’s pitching in When given the go-on. with American Broadcasting on the BBC, incidentally, suggests that Winston Churchill war diaries sealthough the remaining space in ries— but rather to ‘•tress that down on what comes over the tv screen instead of looking squarely . .. . . •“ soems that whenever an actor -into it. I might even get to admit Playboy Magazine got its feet 0r entertainer who has ’ ' ■ wet in television a year ago with a CC1 in a tv program or s _ syndicated variety shovv “Play terviewed, he automatically lashes ‘ an open mind after such indoctrin^ seirice, this ougnt more properly Rediffusion Ltd. is working boys penthouse, but it was a 0ut at tv critics. Producers and ation I'd go out and find another I to be applied to bringing tv to hoots with American Broadcast -ns* Josmg proposition the first year, stars, and we might as well in job— mavbe that of a tv executive, art is that cannot as yet receive on a handful of plavs with U. S. Mag is recouping in t.ie second ■ dude sponsors, networks and That would teach me! ‘any. Which, to say goodbye now an(j British artists. NBC dnterna go-round, however, wit.T Oificial ar;Cm.ies an felt that a show into I ]las been timing a coni' dv Films handling distribution and « hicli tens or even hundreds of " " the show’ edited down from 90 thousands of dollars have been inminutes to an hour. World Book ■ vested, deserves more from a juror Encyclopedia also produced a tv Ulan the typical damning one-sensenes. “Beginnings,” but of an e;i tence brusholT: “It was just a Big tirely different sort. It's being car yawn.”’ This tvpe of criticism does r.-ed on the 40-odd stations of the liltle for the improvement of the National Educational Television .medium or for the literary stature network. |(,f the critic. Frank Atlass. former WBBM-TV exee who heads his own production While we concede that many too ti, widely ballyhooed shows are be M'ri^l'e'v ' Doublmnint1' Gum ' sliows »«>«* !»>'<• more ami Iiai" a eammllnient from' ,n,?a ttmf ‘T f1"0 ™nsis,an'1V dour u liter S. Lee PosoMin for a nliol Professional script for a projiosed network ‘ e s' dramatic series. But s consider his torment. Alter creating "ir« T.:rhf Time” Focusing bleary eyes on the flickfor the National -Lutheran Council. °,rin^ liu]e ^‘r™n ll0U1' aftor hour. Fit d Niles go< the syndication hug oav after clay, and month after and plunged in with a property month must eventually lull the tv called “Ed Allen Time.'’ an excr mlic into a sort of self-induced ei-e show which originated on a hypnotic trance. It is only natural Detroit station. Niles otherwise then that horrdom frequently sets specializes in tv eommerciols and hi and blurshis viewpoint so that industrial iilms. “Light Time.” in httle other than news, sports and cicientaliy, is a kidscries with a special events can interest or enmorality pitch which the NLC is tertain him. distributing gratis to stations. This isn't as much the fault of Local talent has heen linding the critic as it is an occupational s.nichcation hard to resi>{. and indie nazsrd. station \VGN-TV last year go (lead! Get Lost For Awhile serious about it. even to the point cl creating its own syndication ! do11 1 profess to come up arm. It's headed bv former sales whh a cure-all. But we < do have manager Brad Eidemann. l,ne or tuo notions we d like to Station is marketing its two Pea la? 011 the table, body. Award winners. “Great Mu^ic j If I were a tv critic I think I’d From Chicago’’ and “Blue Fairy,” ask my editor, whenever 1 was in The X. v The MEL BLANC “BUGS BUNNY SHOW” — A PC -TV ‘JACK BENNY SHOW”— C BS-TV skein with comedienne Lora Bryan ;in which the local ABt’-l'V outfit involved. Such ventures hr.\e brf>n rendered technically po^ibic !w the perfection of rom-m-ter- “inch mean that the U.K. with its ced¬ ing 405-lines standard is no Ion “er on a lonely limb alon«’cide the L’l and 525 line operations of the Con¬ tinent and the U. S On the vidpix front, the bro-he "s Danziger. Harry and Lie. continue to . machine-belt scri'^. ha- ng wound up the "Man I'rom iri'-rpol” 39 and followed it .-‘h “T‘ , Cheaters'’ with John Ireh.nd V ’( ^ Rank Organization has piloted cue titled “Ghost Squad” and is ; o hoping to pet aw ay v. n'i a a based on the ea < •> d ' ”e Home Office paUedo* ;• ! S r nard .SpiMmiy Sar >»■;.' /• V-'rr: i { one stage the funm-t of ‘ h hasn't dont; a 'h:)v: :n * e •Four Just ?!? u" * o:n h :f > plans as yet un* rails! d Ition. Independent Tm; .. ion i'y , Ithe suiisidia y ol A 1*- j Vision, has a cnuide nf »:f ^ : has piloted on the (’rr’i’s ' J {Pursuers,” v i‘h I.o :| has been rolling -'fa ;.!v ’ ': e 'Associated "Bril is-]-, K' ’-t • =-s ifrom Cre>‘view Prod’.Mion 'ar. ling Starr and W hia-n Goc / ;:;m -o get either 39 hah-iu nr er. m nr 1 26 hour-long nv.sterv \ .: >> on a [local floor this sr-rin" wh’e ah'O {Inning up fe*dures for th atonal r.elease.