Ahis week at Cult TV Blog, John continues his "Tony Wright Season" with another of my favorite series, The Persuaders!, starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis, and, in "Someone Like Me," Tony Wright. If you find you're seeing double after watching it, don't say I didn't warn you.
Speaking of seeing double, at The View from the Junkyard, Roger is reviewing The A-Team episode "Double Heat," in which the Team travel to Marina del Ray to involve themselves in a kidnapping designed to keep a key mob informer from testifying.
Bob Sassone has some nice footage, unseen for 60 years, of the great Vince Guaraldi performing "Linus and Lucy," which was actually written for an unsold Charles Schulz documentary, before it went on to great fame in A Charlie Brown Christmas.
My first introduction to Dick Tracy was not through the comic strips, nor the movies, but through the cartoon version that featured Tracy with some animal assistants. I know, sounds like some kind of drug hallucination, doesn't it? Anyway, Martin Grams has a piece about a Tracy adventure novel from 1945, Dick Tracy Meets the Night Crawler.
Daniel Boone is another of those shows I remember from my childhood, but I never really stopped to watch it much. Why? I don't really know—I like Fess Parker and all— even after reading Paul's review of the series at Mavis Movie Madness. Maybe someday.
We throw the word "great" around quite a bit; I did so myself in referring to Vince Guaraldi above. But Robert Duvall truly was great, and at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence has a fine tribute to his remarkable career; he also shares the TCM Remembers short honoring Duvall.
How about a little more video? At Television Obscurities, Robert has the network promo for ABC's series Room 222, from 1970. Was that series a comedy or a dramedy? I lived in The World's Worst Town™ when it was on, and it aired in our market, as I recall, in a late-afternoon, off-network slot.
And last, but most assuredly not least, I'm back on Eventually Supertrain with Dan to discuss the penultimate (I think) episode of Garrison's Gorillas. And stay tuned for The Yellow Rose and Ghosted; it's another fun show. But how could it not be with that crew? TV
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Well, here we are on Black Friday, and hopefully, everyone had a thankful Thanksgiving and took at least a few minutes to reflect on the true meaning of the day. It really does represent a whole lot more than just the first cog in the Christmas machine, and we can probably come up with a great many reasons to be thankful, if we just shut out the noise and think about it for a bit. Having said all that, I'm now prepared to add some noise of my own to the general din of the day.
Mavis Movie Madness commemorates Thanksgiving with a look at A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, one of the lesser Peanuts efforts, as Paul correctly describes it. I know that people like to think of this as a classic, usually packaging it with The Great Pumpkin and A Charlie Brown Christmas, but while there are some good moments, it doesn't add up; never have you had a greater desire to shout, "Where are the adults?"
How many of you remember the sitcom Fay? It was a vehicle for Lee Grant, and ran for ten episodes in the 1975-76 season. At Television Obscurities, Robert shares the video of the fall preview of the series. Does it give us any clues as to the failure of Fay?
Was there ever an episode of The A-Team that didn't tick all the boxes on the show's signature formula? Well, at The View from the Junkyard Roger reviews "It's a Desert Out There," in which a couple of tweaks to the formula provide a surprising episode.
At Cult TV Blog, John continues his fascinating series on whether or not The Prisoner could refer to Soviet Russia, with the episodes "Checkmate" and "Hammer into Anvil," and while they may not fit John's thesis, they still make for a couple of fascinating episodes.
Now, as a kid I happen to remember the big screen version of The Flintsones, the spy spoof The Man Called Flintstone. Did we stand in line at the theater, waiting to get in along with a bunch of other kids? Perhaps. I hadn't thought about it for awhile until Captain Video came up with the comic book adaptation of the movie. Whaddya think? Does it still hold up after all these years?
At Eventually Supertrain, I'm back with Dan to talk about Garrison's Gorillas; there's also the continuing saga of Ghosted, and a mystery show! Like Dan, I'm not telling you about it: you'll have to check it out for yourself and see!
Finally, I'm back on Ed Robertson's great TV Confidential podcast to discuss Darkness in Primetime. (Part two is here). Hopefully, I live up to the high standards of Ed's other guests; that's part of what makes it a fascinating show.
Speaking of which: have you started your Christmas shopping yet? TV
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You might well recognize the name of U.S. Senator John Pastore, "the tart-tongued Democrat from Rhode Island," who for years has been the bane of the television industry with his campaign against what he sees as excessive sex and violence on the networks. This week, he explains the motivation behind his campaign to "clean up" television; not surprisingly, it begins with his constituents.
The networks often point out that they don't really get all that many complaints about the content of their programming, Pastore says, but that's misleading. "People don't write to stations and networks like they write to congressmen, you see, and I have heard from many people," he explains. "I go to church on Sunday, and I’m stopped by half a dozen people who make a complaint about it. Or I have people visit with me or I go to a social affair or I go to a civic club, and it's continuous. It's continuous. I've been swamped with complaints." Pastore doesn't believe that everything on television is junk; in fact, he says about 90 percent of television is good. But that other ten percent; ah, there's the rub.
"There isn’t a man I’ve met in the broadcasting industry who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong, who doesn’t know when a joke has gone too far, when a gesture has gone too far, when a dress is cut too low, when the feminine body is too much exposed, when a joke begins to lose its subtlety and becomes a vulgarity—and that has happened!" Pastore says. The networks claim that we live in a more permissive era, and they point to today's motion pictures as evidence of how it's reflected in the entertainment industry. "But the fact remains that television was invented to service the family in the home," Pastore counters. "It's an entirely different medium than a moving-picture theater. With a moving picture, you can read a review. If you feel it's going to be a picture that's a little out of bounds, you don't buy a ticket and you don't go."
It's different when it comes to television, though. "When you turn on that knob, that knob, and you hear from a licensee of the Government, you expect something decent. And you have a right to expect something decent." Which leads to one idea that Pastore's been advocating for years: pre-screening of shows by the National Association of Broadcasters. Pastore claims that many of the problems resulting from controversial shows such as ABC's Turn-On could have been avoided if such programs were simply screened in advance, the content adjusted when appropriate, and changes made if necessary, not unlike what will be done with the motion picture rating code. Not every program would need to be prescreened; "Take My Three Sons. Who has to prescreen that? The Doris Day Show, do you have to prescreen that?. . . there are so many shows they know beforehand are all right." But, in the case of Turn-On, "there was a reluctance to say exactly why it was taken off the air and finally I butted in and asked, 'Wasn’t it taken off because it was too risque?' and the fellow [Elton Rule, president of ABC-TV] said, "Yes." Said Pastore triumphantly, "That's it!"
Pastore scoffs at those who deny that there's a link between on-screen violence and its real-life counterpart. Relating his conversations with network heads, he urges them to take responsibility for what they show in their programs. "All I'm saying is, look, you're sensible people. You're men of the world. You're fathers of families. You know the difference between right and wrong. There’s so much about this you can do on your own! Then, when you get to the marginal cases, maybe you need a Surgeon General's opinion."
The last thing he wants, Pastore says, is censorship. "I'm opposed to Government regulation, because I think they can do this job on their own. Not only that, I tell you very frankly, we don’t want to do anything here that will impinge on the basic constitutional rights of freedom of speech. I’m very strong on that." But it's up to the networks, and particularly the judgment of the NAB Code Authority. When Pastore says he's against government regulation, he pointedly adds, "For the time being, of course not." It's an argument that the editors of TV Guide have made many times themselves, that if the industry doesn't police itself, someone else is going to. Of course, what we may find naïve today is the very idea that television can be cleaned up. And a larger question: does anyone out there even care anymore?
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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: Tentatively scheduled guests: Theodore Bikel; Beatles’ protege Mary Hopkin (singing "Good-By"); comic Louis Nye; and soul singers Sam and Dave. Also on hand: comic Ron Carey, the singing Primo Family and juggler Ernest Montego. (This appears to be the actual lineup on the show.)
Palace: In a repeat, Van Johnson presents the Beatles (in a film clip from Liverpool); Mickey Rooney (in a baseball sketch); Liza Minnelli; actress Chris Noel (with films of her visit to Vietnam); comic George Carlin; the acrobatic Palace Duo; and comic illusionists Milo and Roger.
I think when you're able to lead with the Beatles, you've already got a leg up on the competition. Mickey Rooney, Liza Minnelli, and George Carlin give the Palace the bench strength it needs, and even though Ed's lineup is not weak, common sense says this week's nod goes to The Palace.
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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.
With television's regular season turning to an endless cycle of repeats, Cleveland Amory has the opportunity to look at those programs that the average viewer might not be familiar with, and this week he turns his attention to the Sunday morning ghetto of religious programming, and NBC's Frontiers of Faith.
As was the case with so many religious programs of the time, Frontiers of Faith, which debuted on the network in 1951, has evolved over the years, from being a more or less televised religious service, to one that explores music, dance, and drama, using both documentary and interview formats. Since it's not a commercially-sponsored program (its sponsor is the National Council of Churches), it has the added advantage of not having to deal with sponsor controversies, which means it's free to tackle controversial topics and guests, "from the Archbishop of Canterbury to James Baldwin." Two programs from a couple of years ago, both featuring Dr. Lycurgus M. Starkey Jr., pastor of the College Avenue Methodist Church of Muncie, Indiana, serve to illustrate the point: one was called "The Manly Art of Seduction," while the other explored James Bond movies and sadistic paperbacks, called "The Violent Ones."
Amory singles out a particularly notable series of episodes aired earlier this year. Called "Challenge of a Closer Moon," it was a timely examination of U.S. foreign aid to underdeveloped countries—the "closer moon" of the title—and what we were, and were not, getting from it. Said moderator Donald Barnhouse, "It is said about aid to developing countries that it is a kind of Operation Rathole." He then interviewed guests from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Agriculture Development Council to demonstrate, as Amory says, "that it is not."
Programs like this are important, even though this isn't particularly my style of religion, but as Amory points out, "the people who wanted preaching and singing went to their church or synagogue; that, if they didn’t, they didn’t want it; and that, even if they did, they didn’t necessarily want it again." What I do want out of television is something challenging, provocative, and willing to take chances with creative formats. You can't accuse Frontiers of Faith of failing in any of those areas.
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Until 1971, Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30. Until 1971, the Indianapolis 500 was run on Memorial Day, whether it fell at the beginning, middle, or end of the week.* That means that this year's race is scheduled for this Friday, with a good number of special programs, all on KXTV, leading up to the self-proclaimed Greatest Spectacle in Racing. On Saturday Track Talk (11:45 a.m.) presents a 15-minute update on qualifying and preparations for the great race, including interviews with some of the drivers. Sunday, it's Rookie (7:30 p.m.), which tells the story of rookie drivers trying to make the field of 33 for the race. It's not an easy task; in 1967, only one first-year driver (not including those with experience in Formula 1) qualified for the 500. Tuesday (7:00 p.m.), it's a half-hour of qualifying highlights, including the pole-winning run of A.J. Foyt. And on the day of the race itself, it's the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade (1:30 p.m.), held two days ago, and hosted by Steve Allen. The race itself isn't yet shown live on home television; to watch it live, you have to head down to your local movie theater carrying the closed-circuit broadcast, or wait until the following Saturday for the highlights on Wide World of Sports. Otherwise, you can do as I did for many years, and listen to the live radio broadcast. The 1969 race is won by Mario Andretti, the first and only 500 victory for the great racing family.
*When Memorial Day fell on Sunday, the race was transferred to Monday, May 31. Ironically, the race is permanently scheduled on Sunday nowadays, with the actual Monday holiday being the back-up date.
There's another program note that runs through the week: the debut of Dick Cavett's new thrice-weekly primetime show (10:00 p.m., ABC). It's the latest landing spot for Cavett, whose 90-minute Monday-Friday daytime show ended in January after a little less than a year; it was always problematic that a show with Cavett's relatively intellectual heft would make a go of it as a morning series. The series kicks off on Monday at 10:00 p.m. PT, with Truman Capote, Liza Minnelli, James Coburn, and Candice Bergen; in later weeks, it will air on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, running throughout the summer. I think there was always a thought on the part of the network that Cavett would serve as a backup in case Joey Bishop's show failed, but as it happened, Cavett was thrust into the late-night spot earlier than expected, when Bishop quit in a contract dispute; he slides into the role at the end of 1969.
And the Apollo 10 flight comes to an end this week with the splashdown scheduled for Monday; all three networks plan live updates throughout the weekend and on Monday; NBC's Today expands to three hours for the event, including an appearance by "Harvard medical student Michael Chrichton [sic], discussing health problems that could be created by interplanetary travel." It's too bad that Apollo 10 tends to get overshadowed by the flights of Apollo 7 (first successful Apollo flight), Apollo 8 (first trip around the moon), and Apollo 11 (first moon landing), because its successful test of the lunar module in lunar orbit was essential in making the moon landing possible. And think about this: that Apollo 11 flight took place only two months later. Amazing to think all those missions could take place in such rapid succession, doesn't it?
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What else? Saturday leads off the week with The World of Charlie Brown and Charles Schulz (8:30 p.m., CBS), a look at how Schulz's comic strip Peanuts has become an industry unto itself, from serving as mascot for the Apollo space missions to movies, musicals, books, and more. I've always enjoyed Peanuts, although I'll freely admit that once Calvin and Hobbes came along, that became my favorite, a position it continues to hold today; I always admired Bill Watterson for not selling out his characters for every commercial purpose around, unlike—well, frankly, unlike Charles Schulz. Later that night, CBS is on hand in the sun and fun capital of the world, Miami Beach, for the Miss USA Beauty Pageant (10:00 p.m.), hosted by Bob Barker, with singer John Gary as special guest star. The winner: Miss Virginia, Wendy Dascomb.
In looking through Sunday's features, I came across this description for the 1934 King Kong with Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray: "Bizarre retelling of the “beauty and the beast’ legend." Now, I've heard King Kong called many things, usually variations of "epic," but I've never seen it called "bizarre." Oh well, it's on at 2:00 p.m. on KTXL. Later, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic spend on hour on what Lenny calles "the first psychedelic symphony," the Symphonie Fantastique of Hector Berlioz, on Young People's Concert (4:30 p.m., CBS). In primetime, NBC Children's Theatre presents a children's ballet based on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (6:30 p.m., NBC). Think about these last two shows for a minute: the presumption that children, or "young people," would be interested in two one-hour programs dealing with classical music and ballet.
On Monday, Arthur Godfrey is on hand to host an hour of highlights of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (8:00 p.m., NBC). The Old Redhead also finds the time for a dressage exhibition on his horse Goldie, and sings "Mr. Clown." If that's just not for you, you might be interested in "The World of Carl Sandberg" (8:00 p.m., NET), an adaptation of the 1961 Broadway show starring Fritz Weaver and Uta Hagen, plus period folk songs from the Tarriers and Carolyn Hester. You can see a clip of this fascinating program here; Sandburg, had only died two years previously at the time of this airing.
Tuesday sees a repeat of A Hard Day's Night (9:00 p.m., NBC), the Beatles' film debut, which Judith Crist calls a "mad mixture of sophisticated satire and glorious silliness." It's the movie's third run on the network, in what Crist hopes will become an annual tradition. One of the most enduring, and endearing, aspects of the original NBC broadcast was the first (only?) appearance of the "NBC Penguin," taking the place of the Peacock to introduce this movie in "lively black and white."
On Wednesday, that great thespian, William Shatner, stars with Elizabeth Ashley in the Prudential: On Stage presentation of ". . . The Skirts of Happy Chance. . . " (9:00 p.m., NBC), a comedy-drama about the members of an anti-poverty program in a small city. On Stage is the program launched by NBC following the disastrous "Flesh and Blood," called "the worst disaster of the TV season," the previous year; as I noted at the time, the plan was for "five original 'upbeat' dramas" in the coming season—dramas that will be 'exciting, hopeful and affirmative.'" It's produced by David Susskind, and written by Albert Ruben and directed by David Pressman, both veterans of Susskind's N.Y.P.D., which was very good but wasn't exactly what I'd call "upbeat" and "hopeful." But maybe I'm wrong.
Thursday night, it's a repeat of "Arrival," the stunning premiere episode of Patrick McGoohan's surrealistic allegorical drama The Prisoner (8:00 p.m., CBS). Last season, it aired as a summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show; this season, it takes the place of the cancelled Jonathan Winters Show. I've found that the best way to prepare for the series is by watching Danger Man, the secret agent series starring McGoohan as John Drake, who bears a stunning similarity to Number 6. Later, the late John F. Kennedy's 52nd birthday is commemorated with a repeat of the 1964 documentary The Life and Times of John F. Kennedy (9:00 p.m., KTVU), narrated by Cliff Robertson, who played JFK in PT-109.
Other than Michael Crichton, the most interesting guest on Today this week (Friday, 7:00 a.m., NBC) may be author Edward Luttwak, promoting his book Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook, which TV Guide dryly describes as a handbook "on how to take over a nation." It's important, Luttwak notes, to understand the difference between a coup and a revolution; the former consists of "the rapid takeover of governmental mechanisms by insurgents without destroying them, thereby enabling a swift transition of power." Luttwak points out that not every country is suitable for a coup, and that the key to success lies in flexibility and "maximum speed in the transitional phase, and the need to fully neutralize the opposition both before and immediately after the coup." Not surprisingly, it's actually been used as a guide in several coup attempts staged around the world; Luttwak wrote an updated version in 2016, which includes technological advances made since the original version. I'm not sure why this isn't on my bookshelf.
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According to the Teletype, Steve Douglas, the character played by Fred MacMurray on the long-running My Three Sons, is getting married during the new season. No word on who the lucky lady is, but she'll have a seven-year-old daughter in tow. Historian and former JFK assistant Arthur Schlesinger Jr. is writing the script for "The Unfinished Journey of Robert F. Kennedy," the David L. Wolper documentary that will be the only non-fiction film ever shown on ABC's Movie of the Week. And Chad Everett, star of the upcoming CBS drama U.M.C. (it hasn't yet been renamed Medical Center) will be doing a guest appearance on Liberace's summer show for the same network.
Speaking of CBS, Richard W. Jenks, the new president of the CBS Broadcast Group, addressed the many rumors regarding the network's cancellation of the Smothers Brothers. Richard K. Doan reports that Jenks "flatly denied" that the Brothers were dropped due to declining ratings, nor was it done to protect the aforementioned Senator John Pastore from criticism on the show. And it's "simply wrong" to claim that CBS has given up on topical satire. In fact, says Jenks, the decision was made based on the network's responsibility to both viewers and the industry. In strong words, Jenks said that "someone has to be the judge of the difference between entertainment and propaganda," and that the network does not subscribe to the theory that "free speech not only permits, but compels, the dissemination of antisocial material." Voicing an idea that would strike contemporary viewers as being somewhat quaint, Jenks said that those appearing on the network have to be "as interested as we are in avoiding unnecessary offense to the pious, the immature and the innocent." There is, I think, a lot to that.
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MST3K alert: Invaders from Mars(1953) A boy awakens in the middle of the night to see a spaceship disappearing underground. Helen Carter, Arthur Franz. It's another presentation from the MST3K quasi-spinoff Rifftrax, spotlighting something that we've always known: the surest way for space aliens to conquer the Earth is to take over the back yard of one particular family in one sleepy little town in America. Makes perfect sense to me; maybe they got the idea from reading Edward Luttwak? TV
When it comes to "Mod," no city defines the term better than the London of the 1960s. And that's where Lucille Ball is this Monday in a special hour-long edition of The Lucy Show entitled "Lucy Goes to London" (8:30 p.m. PT, CBS), with Anthony Newley on hand to take the world's favorite redhead around on a tour of the world's swingingest city. The premise sees Lucy winning a limerick contest that earns her a one-day tour of the city. Newley plays her tour guide, the owner of a threadbare travel agency, her other guests are Wilfrid Hyde-White as a museum guide; James Robertson Justice as the museum's drector; Peter Wyngarde as Petruchio, Shakespeare's male lead in The Taming of the Shrew, and the Dave Clark Five (as themselves?). Newley also finds some time, as himself, to perform songs from his hit musicals Stop the World and The Roar of the Greasepaint).
As Robert Musel looks on, Lucy is preparing for a mod dance sequence to be staged at Osterley House, one of the stately homes you always see in tours of England. Looking at some of the "far-out costumes that end 6 inches above the knees", she wonders out loud to Musel if they're supposed to be short skirts or long belts, then proceeds to show off her own "notably elegant legs" in various outfits that form a pictorial during the scene. It can be painful sometimes watching these shows where your favorite stars try to act younger than their years, but if anyone can pull it off, I suspect it's Lucille Ball. Anyway, you've got a link to the video up there; you can check it out for yourself.
In case you were wondering, and it should come as no surprise, the Brits love Lucy as mucg as we do; throughout her time there, "Truck drivers gaped and slowed down to give her the traditional thumbs up of approval, and there was a good deal of cheerful backchat with passers-by." In fact, while cast and crew were filming at Mme. Tussard's, she received quite a fright when she was approached for an autograph by a cleaning woman. The poor lady just wanted a good look at Lucy, so she had stood quietly, staring at the star and hoping not to attract any attention, totally unaware that from an angle she appeared to be part of one of the wax displays. And, of course, when one of those figures appears to come to life and start walking toward you—well, what else can you do but scream? Lucy happily, if somewhat shakily, signed the autograph.
One scene in particular demonstrates Lucy's dedication to her work. It takes place at the poluted river Thames, which Musel describes as "'not much better than a sewer in some stretches." Lucy's character expresses a desire to go punting on the Thames, but Newly's hapless travel agent can only come up with an inflatable raft. Ball was warned that if she sank with the raft, as was called for in the script, she'd need typhoid and other shots, and if she swallowed any of the "sludge," she'd probably have to have her stomach pumped. Why don't we just go to a nice, clean—and safe—reservoir and film it there? Lucy, however, disagreed, and since she also happened to be Executive Producer of the special, her word was final. To prove it, she "went into the Thames up to her lips right then and there." No stunt doubles for this star.
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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: Jim "Gomer Pyle" Nabors, who sings "The Impossible Dream" and "Swanee"; singer Peggy Lee; jazz pianist-bandleader Duke Ellington; Mirella Freni and Gianni Raimondi, of the Metropolitan Opera; comics Joan Rivers and Norm Crosby; the Kovac and Rabovsky Gypsy Ballet; Upstairs at the Downstairs, comedy troupe; Tanya the Elephant; and the Muppets puppets.
Palace: Comedienne Phyllis Diller, making her debut as a Palace hostess, presents singer Tony Martin; comedian Bob Newhart, who offers a monolog about a policeman and a would-be suicide; Herman’s Hermits, rock ‘n’ roll group; dancer Lada Edmund Jr.; magician Kirk Kirkham; Del Morals’ acrobatic act; and the Palace Duo, trapeze artists.
You might remember that last week I promised I'd compare TV Guide's scheduled listing of Sullivan guests with the actual show lineup; this week's description was pretty accurate. There was only one significant addition, but I think it's worth mentioning; the four-person comedy troupe Upstairs at the Downstairs, one of those members being one Madeline Kahn. Otherwise it's a tough call, with Bob Newhart and Herman's Hermits making a strong statement for Palace. On the whole, though, I think Peggy Lee and Duke Ellington make the difference, and on that basis Sullivan carries the week.
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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.
It's always nice to be able to analyze one of Cleveland Amory's reviews from the perspective of having actually seen the series he's reviewing, and this week we have such a case, with CBS's WWII action-adventure series Jericho. I never saw it during its original sincle season, but I had the chance to view the entire series this year, so when Cleve calls Jericho "the season’s best new adventure-filled, action-packed series involving undercover work in a fun war," I'm in a position to agree with him. Mind you, I didn't like the show quite as much as he did, or perhaps his ardor dimmed somewhat as the season progressed, but as Amory points out, it has a good many things going for it.
Having watched Jericho just after finishing Garrison's Gorillas and just before starting Combat!, I can tell you that the show, good as it might be, doesn't measure up to either one of those. It's certainly not as gritty as the latter (but then, what series is?), and the entertainment value of the former was just that much bit higher that it allowed one to overlook the implausibility in which both Garrison and Jericho traffic. However, as a devoted fan of Hogan's Heroes, I'm in no position to lecture anyone on plausiblity. Amory himself points out that the the trio might be well-served by going about their jobs displaying a little more grimness and a little less relish. As he concludes, "Fun's fun, boys—but still . . .
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I've had numerous occasion over the years to quote from Richard K. Doan's weekly Doan Report, a valuable source not only of insider stories, but of hard news perspectives on various issues within the industry. This week, while we're still absorbing the debuts from the new season, we get to see the debut of the Doan Report itself! Doan was, in the past, the radio-TV editor of the New York Herald Tribune; now, with the Herald Tribune closed for good as of August, the newspaper industry's loss is TV Guide's gain. And what, pray tell, is the first item on the plate? The ratings for the season's new shows, of course!
The first "definitive" poll of the season is in, that being the Nielsens for October 10, and while the week's top show was a returning favorite—Green Acres—first among the newcomers is ABC's WWII series The Rat Patrol. As for the biggest disappointment, at least in terms of potential, that belongs to the network's Stage 67, which was highly touted at the start of the season but "was so scorned by critic and viewer alike" that it's likely going to be replaced by a Wednesday night movie. The jury's still out on where Stage 67 winds up, and whether it survives as a weekly series or an occasional special. But since a Wednesday night movie requires more than just an hour, that's going to necessitate moving the week's second airing of Peyton Place. Where to? At this point, probably in place of The Man Who Never Was, although Shane and Hawk, two hour-long dramas, are in big trouble already. As for the year's biggest bomb, The Tammy Grimes Show, well, that's already a scratch.
The axe swung quickly at CBS as well, with Jean Arthur's new comedy to leave the air on December 5 after 12 episodes, to be replaced by a prime-time version of To Tell The Truth. And while the network hasn't announced any other casualties yet, "the Smothers Brothers, signed for a new variety hour, had been alerted to stand by for a January debut." Sure enough, when the new year comes around, the Brothers will be sitting in place of the revival of Garry Moore's show. Perhaps the best news for the Tiffany Network applies not to this season, but next Carol Burnett will be returning next fall in a comedy-variety hour, the first woman to helm such a show since Dinah Shore; it's probable she'll be replacing Danny Kaye, who's "experiencing ratings fatigue."
Meanwhile, all is quiet at NBC; there are no reports of "second season talk," although The Roger Miller Show and The Hero are said to be on tenuous ground. A possible replacement: a long-promised live-action version of Dick Tracy. It's only been 58 years, but we're still waiting.
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President Johnson's tour of Asia takes up some airtime this week, with all three networks providing special programs of the events leading up to the Manila Conference dealing with the Vietnam War. CBS and ABC have reports on Saturday night, while CBS covers the president's arrival in Manila on Sunday (6:30 p.m.), the opening ceremonies of the conference on Tuesday (10:00 p.m.), and a 15-minute special on the conference's close on Thursday. (10:45 p.m.) Meanwhile, NBC plans daily coverage on Today (7:00 a.m.), and ABC, in addition to any special reports, plans to cover the story on the evening news. ABC also has a special, "To Save a Soldier" (Monday, 10:00 p.m.), narrated by Henry Fonda, which looks at the medical evacuation teams working on the battlefields in Vietnam.
As for the rest of the week, on Sunday, KXTV tours the magnificent collection of Oriental art donated to the city of San Francisco by Avery Brundage; Brundage may be best known to most of you as the head of the International Olympic Committee from 1952 to 1972, a man for whom amateurism in the Olympics was a hill to die on, and one of the most controversial figures in sports in the 20th Century. Tuesday, Truman Capote is one of the guests on David Susskind's program (9:00 p.m., KQED), discussing his life and works, including "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and In Cold Blood. On Wednesday, Tony Bennett stars in his first hour-long special (10:00 p.m., ABC), with trumpeter Bobby Hackett, drummer Buddy Rich, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, Candido on bongos and conga drums, and flutist Paul Horn and his quintet. Bennett also performs with the Ralph Burns orchestra. Thursday sees the conclusion of a two-part Batman adventure (7:30 p.m., ABC) starring Liberace in the dual role of Chandell, the famouns pianist, and his evil twin brother Harry; as I recall, this story pulled in the highest ratings of Batman's run. And on Friday, Swingshif Theatre (1:00 a.m., KNTV in San Jose) presents "Who Killed Julie Greer?," an episode of The Dick Powell Show that served as the pilot for Burke's Law, with Powell himself in the role of our favorite millionaire police detective, Amos Burke.
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On Thursday, one of television's most enduring—and endearing—specials, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown makes its television debut(8:30 p.m., CBS). It's the third of the Peanuts animated specials, after A Charlie Brown Christmas, which aired for the first time last December;and Charlie Brown's All Stars, which premiered in June.
I think it's safe to say the Great Pumpkin is the second-most popular of all the Peanuts cartoons after A Charlie Brown Christmas, and it's probably also the second-most successful as far as merchandise marketing is concerned. I mean, have any of you gone been in a grocery store in the last month? If so, you've almost certainly seen boxes of pumpkins for sale, and just about every one of those boxes has Charlie Brown, Linus, and Snoopy on the side, sitting in a sincere pumpkin patch, waiting for the Great Pumpkin. And this is 58 years after the cartoon first aired! I've mentioned in the past how Hallmark really cashed in on it at the time, putting out The Peanuts Book of Pumpkin Carols, including the classics "Great Pumpkin is Comin' to Town" and "Pumpkin Bells." (Maybe they still publish it; it's been a while since I've been in a Hallmark store.) Then, of course, there's the legend of Snoopy vs the Red Baron; the storyline had been introduced in the comic strip the previous year and was instantly popular (just ask the Royal Guardsmen); it plays a crucial role in the plot of The Great Pumpkin. We don't do much for Halloween in the Hadley household besides greating trick-or-treaters at the door, but we always make it a point to watch The Great Pumpkin on Halloween night.
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Arthur Schlesinger Jr., John F. Kennedy's house historian and a past contributor to TV Guide, writes this week about the changes television hath wrought in politics. "More and more Americans, it appears, are forming their impressions of the world on the basis of the things they see on the tiny screen," he begins, adding that in 1964 Broadcasting magazine declared that "television had become the 'Nation’s primary news medium.'" (Substitute "social media" for television, and we're probably at the same point.) Some argue that reliance on the medium produces "a more alret and better-informed electorate" while others counter that it is "reducing our politics to a mixture of high-pressure salesmanship and beauty contests." Schlesinger attempts, in this article, to sort through the various claims and evidence and come up with an understanding of where the truth lies.
As far as news is concerned, Schlesinger believes that "the greatest influence in shaping political judgment is stil the reality of events themselves." This is the area in which television has had its most pronounced success; Schlesinger cites television coverage of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Vietnam as a prime example of an event that would not have had the same effect on the public had it not been on television, not only exposing the public to open debate on the issue, but giving viewers "the effect in many cases of heightening the sense of popular participation in public matters." This day-by-day coverage of politics has also made it more difficult for important issues and personalities to fly below the radar, giving the electorate "a larger knowledge of public personalities and a greater acquaintance with public issues."
On the other hand, television has also played a role in what Schlesinger refers to as "pseudo-news"; that is, "the creation of news on the initiative of the medium." That news may be legitimate, even important, but too often it winds up being "mischievous and irresponsible," as in the case where a TV news crew attempted, in the course of an interview, to spur Schlesinger into criticizing President Johnson. Although their efforts failed (and, to the crew's credit, they still aired the interview even without any provocative comments), this kind of interview technique, "designed to lure or trap people into sensational statements they would not otherwise make[,] can be dispensed with."
Schlesinger is less sure about the effect or usefulness of editorialization by news personalities. Frankly, he wonders, it's quite possible that television has a tendency to constrain such commentary. His preference is for panel discussion shows, most frequently seen on public broadcasting or local television. Schlesinger believes these shows "have improved the level of political discussion in part because they permit the suggestion of subtleties and complexities in public problems." Shows of this kind nowadays tend to become either echo chambers or shoutfests—one can only imagine what he'd think of them.
Finally, there's the question of paid political programming. Schlesinger's greatest fear is reserved for what he refers to as the "spot announcement," what we'd call a commercial. The length of political speeches has steadily decreased in the era of mass communication; whereas 60 years ago an audience would travel miles to hear a candidate discourse for a couple of hours on important issues, the coming of radio reduced such speeches to 45 minutes, then a half hour. By 1956, Adlai Stevenson's television advisers said that 15 minutes "represented the outer limit of the attention span of an American audience." Today, even that is too long. The result has "degrad[ed] the level and character of our political discourse" (preach it, Art!), resulting in "the vulgarization of issues, the exaltation of the immediately ingratiating personality and, in general, an orgy of electronic demagoguery." Perhaps the majority of the television audience doesn't want an intelligent discussion of the issues (it doesn't), but doesn't the media have an obligation to provide it for the minority who do? Schlesinger suggests that government subsidies enabling networks to give more time to candidates without losing ad revenue might be a possible solution.
Television has also resulted in an emphasis on style over substance, preferring "the poised, photogenic, otherdirected, manipulable candidate." Presidents such as Adams, Jackson, and Lincoln wouldn't have stood a chance in such an environment. Of course, Schlesinger's former boss, JFK, was among the first politicians to recognize the power and potential of television, and the words "poised" and "photogenic" describe him to a T. Schlesinger doesn't acknowledge that, but he does allow as to how the national grief following Kennedy's assassination was in part "a result of the way television had made him a cherished figure in remote lands." If television would "app[ly] as much as much thought and talent to this as it does to selling detergents," it could play a great role in making "our democracy more rational and responsible."
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MST3K alert: I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) A psychiatrist's drugs turn a youth into a monster. Michael Landon, Whit Bissell, Yvonne Lime, Tony Marshall. (Saturday, 1:00 a.m., KCRA in Sacramento) "You are not drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s, young man, you’re just not old enough."Michael Landon was two years away from Bonanza when he starred in Werewolf, and he remained a fan of the movie for the rest of his life. "I think it's a good movie. I like it. My kids like it. They better like it, their dad's in it." TV
s I mentioned the other day, for the first time since its premiere in 1966, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown won't be airing on network television this year. I hope those of you without Apple+ have The Great Pumpkin on DVD, because it cdrtainly isn't Halloween without it.
The Great Pumpkin is probably second only to A Charlie Brown Christmas in terms of popularity, and it isn't surprising. It's a charming story, what with its sly satire on the Santa Claus mythos, Snoopy in his Sopwith Camel, and Charlie Brown's miserable trick-or-treating experience. It also generated quite a few tie-ins, including this: The Peanuts Book of Pumpkin Carols, published by Hallmark. Although I have to admit we've never had carolers coming around our neighborhood singing pumpkin carols, I wouldn't presume to speak for all neighborhoods; perhaps it's a local tradition where you live.
Here are a couple of my favorites—
GREAT PUMPKIN IS COMING TO TOWN
Oh, you better not shriek,
You better not groan,
You better not howl,
You better not moan,
Great Pumpkin is comin’ to town!
He’s going to find out,
From folks that he meets,
Who deserves tricks,
And who deserves treats,
Great Pumpkin is comin’ to town!
He’ll search in every pumpkin patch,
Haunted houses far and near,
To see if you’ve been spreading gloom,
Or bringing lots of cheer.
So, you better not shriek,
You better not groan,
You better not howl,
You better not moan,
Great Pumpkin is comin’ to town!
I’M DREAMING OF THE GREAT PUMPKIN
I’m dreaming of the Great Pumpkin,
Just like I do this time each year.
When he brings nice toys,
To good girls and boys,
Who wait for him to appear.
I’m dreaming of the Great Pumpkin,
With every Pumpkin card I write.
May your jack-o-lanterns burn bright,
When the Great Pumpkin visits you tonight.
And here's my personal favorite; I've shared "Pumpkin Bells" before, but we all know you can never have too much of a good thing.
PUMPKIN BELLS
Dashing through the streets,
In our costumes bright and gay,
To each house, we go,
Laughing all the way.
Halloween is here,
Making spirits bright,
What fun it is to trick-or-treat,
And sing Pumpkin carols tonight!
Oh, Pumpkin bells! Pumpkin bells!
Ringing loud and clear,
Oh what fun Great Pumpkin brings,
When Halloween is here!
Pumpkin bells! Pumpkin bells!
Ringing loud and clear,
Oh, what fun Great Pumpkin brings,
When Halloween is here!
You can see the complete list here. In the meantime, we'll be watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Halloween night as we always do. I hope you'll join us, at least in spirit. After all, 'tis the night for spirits. TV
I don't know; perhaps if you're of a certain age - my age, for example - you'll recognize this. I came across this typewritten sheet (which alone may tell you how old it is) in the archives of Thomas Jefferson University, from 1967. It would have been about that year that I first saw this, when I was in grade school.
Nowadays we'd use the term viral, as in "This went viral," but back then things like this were just copied and shared, until more or less everyone everywhere had them. So it's quite possible that this song sheet of Halloween "Pumpkin Carols" is the exact same sheet that we had in school in Minneapolis; and if not the same, then very much like what we had.
Pumpkin Carols, of course, come from the Peanuts cartoon It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and, like A Charlie Brown Christmas, it was popular right away. Hallmark came out with a book of Pumpkin Carols, which I suspect is where this came from, again back in the day where plagiarism wasn't that serious if you didn't profit by it. Anyway, here are some that I remember quite well - do they seem familiar to you? If so, you might want to click on that link above and look at all of them - and maybe get together tonight with your friends and sing some. I'll be looking out the window, waiting for the Carolers to come.
This week's cover features William Windom, star of the NBC series My World and Welcome to It. My World was a high-concept show combining live action and animation, as Windom played John Monroe, a cartoonist who was a thinly-disguised version of James Thurber. If you like Windom and/or Thurber, then you probably would have liked this show. Not enough did, however, as it ran for only the 1969-1970 season.
I remember watching it at the time and not really getting it, and it would appear this was a concern to others as well. Carolyn See suggests it "sounds a little like a wonderful cake with a few too many ingredients, or maybe an Indian recipe where you're expected to throw in the onion along with the coconut along with the pickled ginger and 23 other items besides." Windom, however, feels that for viewers willing to give it a chance, to "think outside the box" as we might say today, it's worth forgetting any preconceived notions you might have, particularly if you're a Thurber "purist" who might have trouble with his famous cartoons walking and talking. For those who do so, he says, "Then you can make the decision to take it or leave it alone." You might even wind up learning something about Thurber.
I don't know what Windom's reputation was up until then. His most famous role might well have been as the Senator in The Farmer's Daughter, which firmly established him in the good-guy pantheon. I was surprised that most of the guest appearances in which I've seen him cast him against type as the villain, the smarmy, slightly greasy con man or killer. Later, of course, he'd go on to have a long, long run as Seth in Murder, She Wrote. It appears as if people accepted him as a bad guy as long as he was a guest star, but that he was destined to play the wise, humorous, good-natured type in a series. Whatever - I always enjoyed him, regardless of what he played, up until his death in 2012.
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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: Guests are Liza Minnelli, actor David Hemmings, Henry Mancini, composer-guitarist Mason Williams, Laugh-In's Judy Carne, the rocking Santana and the Trio Hoganas, aerialists.
Palace: Host Engelbert Humperdinck presents Sid Caesar (with Maureen Arthur and Mickey Deems), Nancy Ames, Gladys Knight and the Pips, comedian Jack E. Leonard and English musical-comedy performer Lonnnie Donegan.
Well, this is an interesting pair of lineups. As we move ever closer to 1970, we see a very different set of guests from what we're used to. Sullivan's lineup, for example, features Judy Carne, one of the stars of the hippest show of the time; David Hemmings, who starred in Antonioni's iconic Blow-Up; Mason Williams, who composed "Classical Gas" and hung out with the Smothers Brothers; Liza Minnelli, now on the verge of moving beyond being Judy Garland's daughter and Santana, who apparently is ageless.
Englebert, who would get his own variety series in a few month, was ABC's attempt to clone the success they had with Tom Jones, but it didn't pan out. I don't think Nancy Ames ever evolved beyond the B list of the era's singers, and I've never been much of a fan of Gladys Knight, et al. Of all the guests on both shows, it's only Sid Caesar who really hearkens back to an older time. And I'm afraid this isn't going to be enough to save Palace; this week, Sullivan takes the title.
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A new feature for us this week is a look at Cleveland Amory's television review, which appears in TV Guide every week throughout the first-run season. Amory, who was the magazine's TV critic from 1963 to 1976 was one of the cleverest writers on the staff, fond equally of puns and referring to himself in the plural, using the royal "we." He was usually able to find both good and bad in each show he reviewed; that, plus the fact that he occasionally seemed to be writing for his own amusement rather that to inform the reader, sometimes makes it difficult to tell what he thinks of a series.
That's not the case this week with Room 222, which Amory quite likes. It's a prime example of the move by sitcoms of the era to become more relevant, dealing with issues such as race which previously had not gotten a lot of attention. Amory approves of this, as well as how the characters - black as well as white - stay away from stereotypical characterization, showing various shades of grey instead of (pardon the expression) simple black and white portrayals. The writing and acting are both thoughtful, Amory says - "with a little extra work on the writing, a little extra care on the characterizations and, above all, fine acting . . . a half-hour show can give you more for your money than all the old hour-long bang-bangs and beat-beats put together" and in particular he singles out Lloyd Haynes and Michael Constantine for praise. Based on the first two episodes he's seen, Amory finds Room 222 an engrossing new series.
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This week's issue is from upstate New York, which gives us an interesting look at the sports programs of the week. The World Series is over, with the New York Mets having put the finishing touches on their remarkable championship run almost ten days before this issue came out,* and so for the most part the stage belongs to football.
*Remember when the World Series ended before Halloween?
CBLT, Channel 6, coming from Toronto, has Canadian Football Saturday at 2:00pm ET, with the Toronto Argonauts taking on the Ottawa Rough Riders in Ottawa. South of the border, ABC's college Game of the Week is a Big 10 showdown between Iowa and Michigan State - showdown being a relative word, I guess, since these two former powerhouses had fallen on hard times, with Iowa finishing the season 5-5, while Michigan State wound up 4-6. A far cry from the success these two have achieved this season; as I write this, both teams are undefeated. Saturday night belongs to hockey, as Channel 6 picks up CBC's famed Hockey Night in Canada, with the St. Louis Blues facing the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
On Sunday it's more conventional action, although CFTO, Channel 9 in Toronto, has another CFL contest, this one between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes. NBC has the AFL doubleheader this week, with the early game giving us the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins starting at 1:30, followed at 4:00 by the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers. Meanwhile, on CBS' NFL coverage, most of the stations in the area get the St. Louis football Cardinals and the Cleveland Browns, with CBLT picking up coverage of the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts.
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It's a big week on television as we approach November. Let's check out some of the highlights.
On NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies at 7:30 ET, it's the network broadcast premiere of the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1963, Tom Jones. (The movie, not the singer.)For years, whenever I heard the title (not having seen the movie), I could only think of the singer. In those days before the internet, it wasn't always easy to get a description of a movie, even one that had won Best Picture, and until I saw Tom Jones for the first time I wasn't sure what to expect. Was it one of those "angry young men" movies that the Brits were so good at making movies about? After all, the star was Albert Finney, who'd been in his share of them. I heard somewhere that it was a comedy, other places that it was a drama. Whatever the case, I can say with confidence that when I did see it, it was not what I'd expected. It's an utterly charming, totally bawdy sex farce, with Finney* never better as the reprobate Tom, accompanied by a zany cast of bizarre characters. Judith Crist, in her stellar revue, wrote that "Movies haven't been the same since," and I can't argue with that. You might not think you could produce such a farce out of a novel written in 1749, but Crist praises how the movie "captures [author Henry] Fielding's classic in all the glowing coarseness, robust wit, unadorned venality, forthright hypocrisy, social cruelty and elegant crudity."
*Surely it was an injustice that Finney lost the Best Actor Oscar that year to Sidney Poitier, whom I generally like. But his performance in Lillies of the Field can't hold a candle to Finney's.
Sunday at 7:30 on CBS it's the fourth showing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, the third Peanuts cartoon to make the transition to television. Like A Charlie Brown Christmas but unlike the second cartoon, Charlie Brown's All Stars, it's become an annual tradition; I wonder how much of a role it played in making Halloween the big deal it is today? One thing I do remember is from grade school, a year or two after this airing, when I was introduced to one of the "Halloween Carols" to which Linus alludes during the cartoon. To the tune of "Jingle Bells", the refrain went something like, "Pumpkin Bells, Pumpkin Bells/ringing loud and clear,/Oh what fun Great Pumpkin brings/when Halloween is here."
Monday Night Football won't become a TV staple until next year, but CBS makes a tentative foray into the prime-time market with a exhibition game pitting the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. CBS supposedly turned down the chance for a weekly Monday night game, leading NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle to offer the game to ABC; the rest, as they say, is history. Perhaps as an indication of CBS' apprehension about football's drawing power, the game starts at 9:30, a half-hour later than next year's start time. That way, it's not so disruptive on the schedule - or the ratings.
Tuesday starts off with "The Desert Whales," the latest episode of ABC's The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, narrated by Rod Serling. That's followed by The Red Skelton Show on CBS, with special guest star John Wayne, who's celebrating his 40th year in films. Opposite that, ABC's back with one of their made-for-TV movies, The Young Lawyers, which will return next season, with a slightly different cast, as a regular series. Whatever the viewers saw in the movie apparently didn't translate to the series, which ran for a mere 24 episodes.
Wednesday has one of the hottest musical acts of the day, along with another big network movie premiere. The musical special stars Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, with special guest star Petula Clark. Herb Alpert (the "A" in A&M Records) and his trumpet are big stuff throughout the '60s, starting with "The Lonely Bull" and featuring five #1 hits; he and his band won six Grammys.
The movie premiere, on ABC's Wednesday Night Movie, is of Georgy Girl, which earned an Oscar nomination for Lynn Redgrave*, a bittersweet comedy-drama which Crist calls "offbeat and kooky and sentimental." You might not have seen or heard of the movie, but I'm willing to bet you might remember the theme song, which also was Oscar-nominated. The Seekers perform it here, on a clip from a Sullivan show of a couple years before:
*That year Redgrave went head-to-head against her sister Vanessa, who was nominated for Isadora. Neither Redgrave sister won.
Thursday's variety night if it pleases you. At 8:00 CBS has The Jim Nabors Show, with Juliet Prowse as guest star. An hour later flip over to ABC, where This Is Tom Jones (the singer, not the movie) boasts Barbara Eden, Wilson Pickett and comics Hendra and Ullett. To round out the evening, turn to The Dean Martin Show at 10pm on NBC, with Tony Bennett, Sid Casesar, Charles Nelson Reilly and Pat Henry.
Friday morning opens with Today, as Judith Crist makes one of her occasional appearances to preview this weekend's new movies. On The Mike Douglas Show, author Irving Wallace promotes his new novel, The Seven Minutes, which is about a book called The Seven Minutes. It's not as strange as it seems, although the story itself is much stranger. At 4pm on NBC is a game show I freely admit I've never heard of, Letters to Laugh-In, hosted by Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens, and featuring two of the show's regulars each week, along with two guest stars. The premise is that viewers send in their favorite jokes, which are then judged by a panel of four. This week, the two Laugh-In stars are Henry Gibson and Teresa Graves, who are joined by Jack Carter and Louis Nye. The show runs for four months. I wonder if it was even shown in the Twin Cities?
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Finally, if you've been reading these features for awhile, then you know one of the frequent subjects discussed in TV Guide is the effect on television on children. This week's article, as is often the case, is written by Edith Efron, and asks the question: what can children learn from television?
The process by which children develop their viewing habits is a fascinating one. At age two, the toddler, driven by an overwhelming curiosity, is captivated by "the light and bright and motion." By three, they understand what they're watching and have "distinct preferences." But by the time they reach elementary school, they're being bombarded by so many information and sensory experiences that "no one can untangle, with any precision," what the child picks up from TV as opposed to other sources.
In fact, the data on television's effect on children is often contradictory, as befits a discussion that has only been around for perhaps twenty years. While some experts suggest that "the brightest children are early starters" who would have watched TV from an early age, other studies claim that bright children who watch TV tend to fall behind children who don't. One thing that many experts on both sides agree on, however, is that by age 10 children start to get bored by television, and their viewing tends to decrease. Why? Because by that time children crave mental stimulation, and they don't find it on TV, which for them is a passive experience.
I can understand this. Though I'm often a harsh critic of the quality of TV, particularly in today's programming, I've always defended television in general, particularly the idea that someone who watches a great deal of it tends to be less creative , less communicative, not as smart. For example, I learned much of history not from my time in the high school of The World's Worst Town™, but by watching Alistair Cooke's America. My love of classical music started with Bugs Bunny cartoons, and my fondness for reading was cultivated by Captain Kangaroo. My desire to write, particularly fiction, came from watching movies and critiquing their storytelling as much as by reading, which I often did while watching television. (A habit I maintain to this day, to my wife's exasperation.)
I don't argue that everyone is like me; there are a lot of TV kids who became couch potatoes, and kids who never watched it who are far better at almost everything than I am. But I'll leave it to you, readers, to decide whether or not television is Savior, or Satan. TV
