Neil Hickey, TV Guide's New York Bureau Chief and author of some of the best news features published by the magazine, presents the first of a four-part series on how—and how well—television is covering its first war. It is a war "exorbitantly more demanding, both mentally and physically, than anything those earlier newsmen faced in Europe or the Pacific." It's a guerrilla war, replete with everything from jungle disease to ambush land mines and booby traps, field telephones that barely work, and as one correspondent puts it, "pushing the cause of journalistic profanity to new horizons." As NBC's David Burrington puts it, "There are so many imponderables and ironies here that it's sometimes difficult, if not downright impossible, to explain what's happening in terms that an American audience will understand."
Cameramen lug their equipment around in temperatures approaching 130, walking over 17 km only to find that an outpost had already been wiped out or a Vietcong squad disappeared, and wind up with less than a hundred feet of footage. Newsmen tell the story of a press conference called by Buddhist leaders in Danang, in a room with 35 dead bodies piled up in the corner. Soon, it became apparent that there would be no press conference, that the newsmen themselves were being held as hostages. They were able to escape in the ensuing firefight between government and rebel forces. Other times journalists aren't so lucky, and though none have been killed yet, several have suffered serious wounds. ABC's Lou Cioffi speaks for many when he says, "You begin wondering when the law of averages will catch up with you. I'm scared all the time, but I'm more scared now than when I first came out here. TV has nothing in its history to prepare it for this kind of story."
So why does the network correspondent put himself through such hell? After all, they've all volunteered; no newsman is ever assigned to Vietnam. "Let's be truthful," a young journalist says. "We're all war profiteers. We know that if we prove ourselves here we can short-cut our careers by five to 10 years. Here in Vietnam you can get your face on the network news three or four times a week. That's more than you can do in the United States. It's risky, but it's money in the bank." CBS' John Flynn adds, "This is where it's happening, and I see no reason to be anywhere else." And soldiers like having the newsmen around, at least at this point; "To them," an ABC newsman says, "it means somebody really cares about what they're doing. They'll share their last C-ration with you, and tie down your poncho tent properly so it doesn't blow away. I have never felt more appreciated, nor more humble." That comment about "somebody really caring"—for some reason, that makes me tremendously sad. Is that Vietnam in a nutshell, or what?
As I mentioned, this is part one of a four-part series; next week's will deal with the battle between the networks for ratings and exclusives. Looking at the glorified fan-mag that TV Guide has become today, it is difficult to imagine the magazine could come up with anything this serious, this newsworthy, nor would they want to. But to the TV Guide of this era, television was a serious business, covering serious news, and deserved to be written about and covered in a serious manner. For that matter, it's hard to imagine any of today's celebrity-driven newsmagazines (or is that "news" magazines?) producing a story as substantial as this. My, times have changed, haven't they?
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During the 60s, the Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace were the premiere variety shows on television. Whenever they appear in TV Guide together, we'll match them up and see who has the best lineup..
Sullivan: Ed's scheduled guests are Jimmy Durante; Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, who appear in segments from the filmed version of Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet"; comic Alan King; singer Connie Francis; Gwen Verdon and cast members from "Sweet Charity," who perform "The Big Brass Band"; ventriloquist Arthur Worsley; and the winners of the New York Harvest Moon Ball dance contest.
Palace: Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched makes her debut as a Palace hostess and her first network appearance as a song-and-dance gal. Guests: singer Vic Damone; comics Paul Lynde and Jackie Mason; the Baja Marimba Band; Pat Anthony's tigers; and two acrobatic acts, Sensational Parker and the Three Robertes.
This is actually a pretty strong week for both shows, but Ed has, I think, just a little more class. Nureyev and Dame Margo were two of the most famous ballet dancers of the time, and their appearance—even on film—would have been a highlight for many people who wouldn't get to see them otherwise. Durante and King are always funny, and Gwen Verdon likely danced up a storm. No backing into it this week: Sullivan's the clear winner.
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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the series of the era.
Judith Crist once referred to Shane as the movie that established the tropes all future Westerns would follow, and that level of greatness—for Shane is truly a great Western—helps explain Cleveland Amory's apprehension this week as he prepares to review the television version, starring David Carradine in the role that Alan Ladd made famous, that of the lone gunman with a past.
Fear not, though, for "from the moment we saw the opening shot and heard that wonderful Shane theme song, we were a gone critter—I mean critic." In adapting the movie into a weekly series, certain accommodations have had to be made—for one thing, Shane leaves at the end of the movie, but here we can look forward to having him every week. That's tied in to another significant change from the movie, which featured Van Heflin as the family patriarch; here, the wife (Jill Ireland) is now a widow, which means that not only do we have Shane, but she might eventually have him as well. Maybe not, though; as Amory says, "It's not Peyton Place, but it's got possibilities."
Carradine is no Alan Ladd, but that's not to say that he's worse—just different. He is, as Amory puts it, of the "modern, psychological school of acting," which means "you're going to be more interested in his 'why' than in his 'what.'" Once you get used to that, he says, "you're going to be more and more positive about him." Ireland is no Jean Arthur either; she may be "a little too far over on the Calamity Jane side for our taste—but she cries hard." Bert Freed is an upgrade on Jack Palance's memorable villain, in that he's tampered the character to make him suitable for weekly appearances. In fact, so good is this series that Amory doesn't even mind Christopher Shea, whom we know and love as the voice of Linus in the Peanuts specials. When he asks, "Why do the geeth go thouth, Thane?" Amory says, "the way it all gets to you is thomething."
You'll remember how I've said that TV Guides of this era covered live events with a combination of up-to-the-minute and to-be-announced? Well, this week's edition demonstrates that in spades. The World Series begins Wednesday, with the runaway American League champion Baltimore Orioles taking on—who? At this point, your guess is as good as anyone's, with the Dodgers, Pirates and Giants locked in a three-way battle for the flag. The weak-hitting Dodgers, defending Series champions, are led by Sandy Koufax (in his last season) and Don Drysdale; the slugging Pirates feature future Hall of Famers Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente; and the Giants counter with some stars of their own, namely Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal. Awaiting them, the Orioles have Triple Crown-winner Frank Robinson, slugger Boog Powell, and a pitching staff featuring Dave McNally, Jim Palmer, and Stu Miller.
Because of the uncertainty surrounding the National League winner, who will also host the first two games of the Series, we don't even know what time the games start: noon CT if it's the Pirates, 2:00 p.m. if the Giants take it, and 3:00 p.m. if the Dodgers come out on top. As it turns out, it's the Dodgers who ultimatelybemerge from the logjam, besting the Giants by a game-and-a-half and the Pirates by three. Little good it does, though: after Baltimore's Moe Drabowsky stops the Dodgers with 6⅔ innings of one-hit, 11-strikeout relief, Orioles hurlers go on to record three straight shutouts (the final two by scores of 1-0), winning the Series in a four-game sweep. I remember this Series with great satisfaction; the Dodgers had beaten the Minnesota Twins the year before, and being a good Minnesotan who also hadn't learned how to be a discerning fan, I thirsted for revenge. The Orioles gave it to me with one of the most powerful pitching performances in Series history: two runs given up in the four games.
Once again, the Series tops all other sporting events for the week, such as Saturday afternoon's college football match between Missouri and UCLA (3:00 p.m., ABC). UCLA Quarterback Gary Beban, who will win the Heisman Trophy the next season, leads the Bruins to a 9-1 season, losing only to Washington (but staying home for the bowl holidays, thanks to the conference's Rose Bowl-only rule), and this week they take out Mizzou handily, 24-15.
Sunday's NFL games are all over the map, with the Minnesota Vikings playing at home, and thus blacked out within a 75-mile radius. Channel 4, the CBS Minneapolis affiliate, offers an Eastern Division matchup between the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants at 12:15 p.m.; Channels 8 and 12, located in LaCrosse and Mankato, respectively, carry the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers at 12:45 p.m.; and the two stations unaffected by the blackout, in Duluth and Mason City (both Channel 3) carry the Vikings game against the Chicago Bears at 1:15 p.m. It's much easier keeping track of the AFL game—the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, a preview of the 1966 AFL Championship Game (2:30 p.m., NBC).
In this era before Sunday football doubleheaders, there's actually some time for other sporting events, such as the Canadian Open golf championship (5:00 p.m., CBS). This tournament used to be much bigger than it is today, and the 1966 field included the sport's best: Gene Littler, Jack Nicklaus and Billy Casper. To reinforce the event's stature, a footnote in Sunday's listing mentions that in case of a tie, CBS will provide coverage of the 18-hole playoff on Monday afternoon—a playoff format once seen in all the majors, but now a thing of the past, thanks largely to television.
Not exactly sports-related, but then you can't exactly leave off something on Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. called "The National Sports & Physical Fitness Test." It's the latest in CBS' popular series of interactive viewer tests, which have included "The National Driver's Test" and "The National Citizenship Test." I don't have a list of the questions in front of me, only the "official score card" included in the TV Guide; however, the Close-Up promises location shoots from the Air Force Academy, "where cadets eat heartily without gaining an ounce," a New York dance studio, and a California high school with an acclaimed fitness program. Also, for no apparent reason, the program includes clips of Bobby Thomson's famous 1951 home run, and Joe Louis' first-round knockout of Max Schmeling in 1938. Harry Reasoner hosts; I wonder if this had any of the success that the other tests did?
So if you don't have wall-to-wall sports on television Sunday afternoon, what the heck is on? Well, between the NFL football and Canadian Open, CBS has To Tell The Truth (4:00 p.m.) and Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour (4:30 p.m.); in later years the lineup would include Mister Ed. NBC features G-E College Bowl (live at 1:30 p.m.), with Oklahoma pounding North Dakota State 375-45, and a religion special. ABC's coverage is given over to the affiliates; Minneapolis' Channel 9 has reruns of The Untouchables, Naked City, Thriller, Surfside 6 and The Greatest Show on Earth (1:00 p.m. through 6:00 p.m.)
Sundays were also known as the "graveyard" for public affairs and educational programming, and that's well in evidence this week. There are the venerable Sunday news chat shows; ABC's Issues and Answers (12:30 p.m.) has a debate between the candidates for governor of California, Democratic incumbent Pat Brown* and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan. Brown, who'd defeated Richard Nixon in 1962, had said that he looked forward to sending Reagan back to Death Valley Days, a show he'd once hosted; Reagan, as we know, goes on to eek out a one-million vote win, garnering a mere 58% of the vote. ABC also has an interview show called Elections 66 (12 noon), with Vice President Hubert Humphrey and former Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater as the guests, and ABC Scope (various times), their weekly Vietnam report. Face the Nation on CBS (11:30 a.m.) has Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen; the venerable Republican senator from Illinois is quizzed on the coming midterm elections. Dirksen's Democratic counterpart from Illinois, Paul Douglas, is the guest on NBC's Meet the Press (12 noon; he's not listed in the TV Guide, but a quick Google search gives us the answer).
*Father of the past governor, Jerry.
There's a heavy concentration of news this particular Sunday, and per the cover story, some of it has to do with Vietnam. In addition to ABC's weekly Scope, NBC has Vietnam Weekly Review (1:00 p.m.); at 2:00 p.m. The Frank McGee Report (which often presented breaking Vietnam news) looks at the rise of neo-Nazis in Germany. NBC also has a special report Sunday afternoon at 5:30 p.m., "The Agony of Two Cities," looking at racial conflict in Chicago and Cleveland. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the housing problem in Chicago, as well as violent vs. non-violent protest and the meaning of Black Power.
Channel 11, the Twin Cities' independent station, presents the long-lost standby of the local channel, matinee movies, which in this case is a prime choice indeed: the Academy Award-winning Casablanca at 3:00 p.m., followed by Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes in The Voice of Terror at 5:00. Reruns of Laramie and Sea Hunt and a religion show round out the afternoon.
From time to time we've seen the frustrations that writers have had working with the Production Code, that arbiter of content that governs how certain moral issues should be presented. This week, TV Guide takes on the question of what should be done to produce a movie code that "makes sense in view of contemporary standards." The Editors' conclusion: "It isn't easy."
Things to come. |
And then there's the foreign audience to think about. Nudity and bedroom scenes are as commonplace in European movies as violence is in American ones, and "Europeans aren't exactly titillated by a sheepish Rock Hudson trying, unsuccessfully, to hold hands in a crowded restaurant with a well-corseted Doris Day."
The answer, according to the Editors, is that the movie code shouldn't worry about television and concentrate on theaters only. Most movies, they point out, can be adapted to run on television*, and the ones that can't will probably recoup any advertising losses through European distribution. "The important thing is that such a code, run by administrators empowered to interpret its provisions, will make it possible for creative men to treat any subject tastefully."
*Which in itself was the source of no little controversy.
Is that what we wound up with? My suspicion is that the code Hollywood wound up with included the Ratings System that, with subsequent changes, we've come to know and love (or hate). Television, itself under increasing pressure from the government, came up with its own ratings system, not to mention the V-Chip. But whether it be movies or television, I'm not sure that the word "tasteful" is the first that would come to mind. . . TV
Timeline Time:
ReplyDeleteMister Ed ended its CBS run in 1966; To Tell The Truth was its replacement, having been dislodged from prime time by the programming department earlier on.
Actually, it was Alan Young who ended Ed's tenure because he wanted the show back in prime time, and CBS wouldn't budge from the Sunday afternoon spot (Young's quote at the time: "I don't want to be a children's entertainer …").
Ironically, when Jean Arthur's comedy faltered on Monday night, To Tell The Truth sneaked back into prime time as an emergency stopgap; this turned out to be T4's nighttime swan song (the daytime show lasted for another year).
Irony, Part II:
Alan Young's major post-Ed credit was providing the voice for Scrooge McDuck on Disney animated shows - So There Too.
Since New York and Chicago were top-there markets, and Green Bay was the class of he NFL, I suspect all three NFL games being regionally telecast to parts of Minnesota by CBS would all be in color.
ReplyDeleteBut I thought that several regional NFL regular-season games on CBS as late as 1968 were still in black-and-white. If that was the case, probably games of the top-market clubs (and Green Bay, although in the smallest NFL market, were the perennial champs) would be seen in color.
Baltimore's sweep of Los Angeles in the 1966 World Series probably still ranks as the biggest upset in Major League Baseball history, and likely ranks alongside the New York Jets' win over the then-Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III and St. Louis's upset of Boston in this past spring's (2019) Stanley Cup Finals as the biggest upsets in the history of North American professional team sports championships.
ReplyDeleteI recall one particularly memorable headline about that series that said "World Aghast" at the Orioles' sweep. What a great headline! That Series remains a satisfying one.
DeleteThe 1969 Mets were a bigger shock, in large part because they knocked off many of th same players.
ReplyDeleteI would like to put a vote in for Liz Montgomery on Hollywood Palace. She could hold her own with Vic Damone and I think she had a marvelous singing voice besides being one of the most beautiful women in television. This was a woman of many talents and it's a shame she didn't get more song and dance to do on TV. Here are Liz and Vic in a cute duet making fun of her TV show.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkNHLpYyqaw