Remember, at this point in time we're still a long way from regular television coverage of the House and Senate. C-SPAN is just a gleam in Brian Lamb's eye; with the exception of the State of the Union and other major speeches, cameras have never been permitted in the hallowed halls of Congress. With an eye toward the ultimate in summer replacement series, TV Guide's Neil Hickey takes Congressional temperatures to see what the forecast is.
Hickey canvassed 135 members of the House; 78 favored full coverage, and another 10 leaned toward it, while the remainder opposed bringing in the cameras. Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be a partisan split on this issue—Illinois Democrat Dan Rostenkowski, who would wind up one of the most powerful men in the House, is strongly against it. "Every one of us in the House is 'political,' and that animal in all of us will surface if each is allowed an amount of time to make a televised speech." He fears that under these circumstances, members who didn't usually speak publicly would be forced into it, lest their constituents wonder why they were silent on the issue.
On the other hand, future New York City mayor Ed Koch, then a member of the House, favors it: "We do—in democratic fashion—what the Russians and the Chinese, who have closed societies, do by revolution and killing." Republican representative Delbert Latta of Ohio, who also favors coverage, thinks the public will see through any attempt at grandstanding, but Pennsylvania Republican George Goodling thinks "no good" will come from televising the hearings. And Walter Fauntrov, a Democrat from the District of Columbia, worries that national television coverage might endanger the right to a fair trial later on; nevertheless, he feels the public's right to know supersedes these concerns, which he adds can be mitigated by safeguards. Future House Speaker Tip O'Neill opposes the cameras, but everyone knows the true answer lies with the current Speaker, Carl Albert of Oklahoma, and he's not speaking.It winds up a moot point, at least this time. Although the House Judiciary Committee votes to send the articles of impeachment to the full House, President Nixon resigns before things go any further. By the time of President Clinton's impeachment, cameras are already standard issue in Congress. It is fascinating, though, to see the representatives struggling with this question, caught up in the conflict between practical tradition and the march of technology. What's really amazing is that by the time of Donald Trump's two impeachment trials, most people didn't even seem to notice. I may be generalizing that; I can't recall whether or not the networks provided complete coverage, or if large parts of it were relegated to the cable news channels. But it certainly represents a different time, doesn't it?
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From 1963 to 1976, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever they appear, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era.The television season comes to an end, and with it comes one of the industry's most coveted awards: The Amorys. In the midst of a humorous take on awards shows, Cleve dispenses his honors on the best of the television season.
Telly Savalas, star of Kojak, wins Best Actor in a Dramatic Show; Jean Marsh of Upstairs, Downstairs wins Best Actress in a Dramatic Show. The supporting races each end in three-way ties: Supporting Actor is split between Gordon Jackson (Upstairs, Downstairs), John Alderton (Upstairs, Downstairs) and Ralph Waite (The Waltons), while Angela Badderly (Upstairs, Downstairs), Nicola Pagett (Upstairs, Downstairs) and Rachel Gurney (Upstairs, Downstairs) make the Supporting Actress race an intramural affair.
Caroll O'Connor of All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore of—what else? The Mary Tyler Moore Show—take home Best Actor and Actress in a Comedy; Ed Asner and Ted Knight demonstrate the power of MTM's supporting cast by dividing Supporting Actor, while on the Supporting Actress side there are no losers! Valerie Harper (MTM), Suzanne Pleshette (The Bob Newhart Show), Adrienne Barbeau (Maude) and Susan St. James (McMillan & Wife) share the honors. Oh, and Karl Malden and Michael Douglas of The Streets of San Francisco win best Support of Each Other. Walter Cronkite is Best Newscaster, and William F. Buckley Jr. is both Best Interviewer and Best Interviewee. Finally, the shows: Kojak is Best New Drama, Good Times is Best New Comedy, and Calucci's Dept. is Best New Comedy to be Canceled.
An Editor's Note at the end tells us that "The Amory Awards to not necessarily reflect the views of TV Guide, but the editors will defend to the death, or thereabouts, Mr. Amory's right to bestow them." Freedom of the Press still lives! Well, sort of.
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On special occasions, we get to take a simultaneous look at three of the great rock music shows of the pre-MTV era: NBC's The Midnight Special, ABC's In Concert, and the syndicated Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Let's look at this week's listings and see who's better, who's best.Yes, this is a very special week. Not only do we have all three of them this week, but thanks to the multiple stations carrying Kirshner, we actually have two editions to compare to Special and Concert. Let's not waste any time; we'll get right to it!
Kirshner #1 (KRCR, Redding): The Mark-Almond band, Dave Mason and Jessie Colin Young are the guests. Also a taped segment featuring the late Jim Croce. Highlights: "The Neighborhood Man" (Mark-Almond), "Baby...Please" (Mason), "Song for Juli" (Young).
Kirshner #2 (KOVR, Sacramento): The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne team up on "Take It Easy." Other highlights: "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" (Ronstadt), "James Dean" (Eagles, Browne).
Special: The Kinks are this week's hosts, with the Electric Light Orchestra, Buddy Miles, and rock artists Suzi Quatro and Alan Price. Highlights: "You Really Got Me" (Kinks), "Showdown" (ELO), "Life is What You Make It" (Miles), "Glycerine Queen" (Quatro).
In Concert: Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Black Oak Arkansas, from the California Jam. Highlights: "Lucky Man," "Karn Evil 9 Impressions 1 and 3" (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), "Hot 'n' Nasty," "Dixie" (Black Oak Arkansas).
What a feast of choices, hmm? I admit that I'm not a fan of anyone on Kirshner #2, but they're all big name, and if you like them, it's a spectacular show. In Concert would probably have been better if they'd had Emerson, Lake and Palmer for the whole 90 minutes. And Kirshner #1 has hits from top to bottom, and you can't go wrong with Mark-Almond as your lead act. But The Midnight Special has a very strong cast, from the Kinks through to Suzi Quatro, and one of my personal favorites, ELO. Any show with them will almost always get the nod, and so we'll give the edge this week to The Special. I wonder when we'll run across a matchup like this again?
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How about some food? If you're like me (and, as always, be glad if you aren't), you might have had hot dogs on Memorial Day. But what if you're looking for something just a little different from the typical wiener-in-a-bun?
If you're interested, the Fourth of July is right around the corner!
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We're in the Bay Area this week, and of course things are a little different, given that we usually visit the area in one of our 1960s editions. But let's see what kind of fun we have in store!
One of the highlights has to be KQED, 20th annual Auction, which begins Saturday (1:00 p.m. PT) and runs throughout the week. Several PBS stations throughout the nationstaged fundraisers like this in the 70s, including KTCA in the Twin Cities. These were tremendously fun affairs to watch; Action Auction, our local event, was once held in the Garden Court at Southdale, the nation's first indoor mall, and for several years after that was broadcast from the State Fairgrounds; representatives from all the local stations took part as guest auctioneers, selling routine items as well as vacations, cars, and popcorn wagons. KQED has a fine collection of prizes this year: a guest role as an extra on The Streets of San Francisco, cruises to Hawaii, South America and Alaska, and an antique Persian rug. This article relates the colorful history of KQED's auction which, like that of KTCA's, has long since faded into the ether of television history.As far as Saturday morning is concerned, do you remember this era, when ABC was really into doing hour-long "movie" cartoons, often crossing over with the network's prime-time programs, past and present? Well, Marlo Thomas voices her most famous character, Ann Marie, in ABC's animated movie That Girl in Wonderland (11:00 a.m.), in which she visits Snow White, the Wizard of Oz, and Sleeping Beauty while preparing a book of fairy tales. Meanwhile, the real Alice in Wonderland, played by Charlotte Henry, turns up in the classic, star-studded 1933 movie version (6:30 p.m., KGSC), with a guest cast that includes Gary Cooper, Edward Everett Horton, W.C. Fields, Richard Arlen, Cary Grant, Billy Barty, and Jack Oakie.
Also on Saturday, Summer Semester (6:30 a.m.) begins an interesting, and timely, series on "The American Presidency," with political scientist Dr. Robert Remini is the lecturer; when I saw the topic I thought it might be someone I'd read in college, but no such luck.
Sunday gives us a Columbo repeat (8:30 p.m.) that's on my list of all-time favorite political episodes; a "dynamic" Senatorial campaign stages the murder of his campaign manager to look like an attempt on his life, in an effort to win the election, Jackie Cooper is very good, and appropriately greasy and shift, asn the candidate parties won't kill to get. Later, the latter-day Walter Mitty, George Plimpton, does another of his documentaries in which he goes behind the scenes of his attempt to become an actor in John Wayne's Rio Lobo. (9:00 p.m., KTXL).And speaking of smarmy, greasy characters as we were a moment ago, Rod Steiger is up there with the best of them, and he chews the scene in the movie No Way to Treat a Lady (Monday, 9:00 p.m., ABC), as a "mad but clevel" killer. Would have made a great episode of Columbo, don't you think? We've also got a "Panic Now!" CBS Reports special entitled "Food—The Next Crisis!" (10:00 p.m.) that deals with the coming food shortage in the United States in the wake of the "worldwide competition for food." For instance, "more American-grown food is being 'drained and tapped' abroad because “grain-eating and pork-eating countries have now acquired a taste for beef." The result is sure to mean tightening the belt for American consumers.
Tuesday is the night of the California primary, a local affair given that it's a non-presidential year, but KTVU celebrates in another of my all-time favorite political thrillers, 1962's Advise and Consent (8:00 p.m.), based on the Pulitzer-winning novel of the same title, with a cast that includes Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Burgess Meredith, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, George Grizzard, and Paul Ford. The story ain't bad, either.
In case you haven't noticed, the week is heavy with movie highlights, since in the land of the rerun, the movie is often king. We start with 1964's The World of Henry Orient (Wednesday, 9:00 p.m., NBC), which Judith Crist really likes, calling it a "delightful 1964 lineation of the agonies and ecstasies, the laughter and the lump-inthroat of teen-age girlhood," with Tippy Walker and Merrie Spaeth as the adolescents, and Angela Lansbury, Peter Sellers, Paula Prentiss, Tom Bosley and Bibi Osterwald are some of the adults.
That's followed on Thursday by the network prime-time premiere of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (9:00 p.m,. CBS), with Maggie Smith brilliant in her Best Actress Oscar-winning performance. Crist adores this one as well, particularly Smith's portrayal of "the spinster teacher, a romantic tyrant, a woman of self-delusion who imposes her illusions upon others in the guise of putting 'old heads on young shoulders.' 'Give me a girl at an impressionable age,' she declares, 'and she is mine for life.'" And that, friends, is why school is so important—for good or ill.
On Friday, one of television's most literate and funniest sitcoms, The Odd Couple (9:30, ABC), comes up with a doozy: Metropolitan Opera star Marilyn Horne, one of my favorite singers, stars as Felix's latest discovery, "a timid woman who’s too shy to perform in Felix’s opera unless her friend Oscar is in it too." And that leads us to. . .l l l
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