This week in TV Guide: December 13, 1969

I'll admit that, as I was leafing through this week's issue, I wasn't sure what I was going to use as a lede. Oh, there'll be no problem filling up space, don't worry about that. But I was looking for something that leapt out at me, something besides the usual stories —you know, changing trends, updated technology, things like that. I might get to David Lachenbruch's article on killer X-rays by the end of the day, but as the first story? It just doesn't sing. And then I ran across Burt Prelutsky's profile of Michael Parks, and my problem was solved.

Parks, the star of NBC's Then Came Bronson, is, let's say, intense; "the angriest young man on two wheels." He's also undiplomatic, having told producers and studio heads where they could go and what they could do with their cameras. Prelutsky describes him as "brash, arrogant, defensive and insecure. He is also undeniably talented." When he first interviewed Parks for another story, it took him less than ten minutes to take an extreme dislike to him. "l didn't know you from Adam—pardon the joke— when you rang my doorbell," he told Parks. "I didn’t dislike you; I had no reason to. But, believe me, I’m working on it now." That seemed to satisfy Parks, and from there on they developed a common ground, if not a close friendship. 

What we come to learn about Parks is that he is honest to a fault, unable to pull his punches, almost allergic to tact. He'd just finished producing an anti-capital punishment film for the ACLU, and so Prelutsky assumed he was a liberal, but far from it. He's against the Pill ("I'm opposed to birth control. People are beginning to look at children as a plague. That's terrible."), against welfare* ("the way it is now. Too many people collecting it own new cars and go to the race track all the time."), the Warren Supreme Court ("It’s a laugh; it's not a good laugh. They’re undermining justice and destroying the Constitution."), and gun registration ("I’m opposed to it. In 1936 Hitler made the Germans register their guns, and in 1939 he just went around and collected them with no trouble."). His candidate in 1968 was George Wallace. I mention this not to make any kind of political point, but to illustrate the issues of the day, and how similar they seem to be to the issues of our day. Once again, the more things change. . .

*Lest you think he doesn't put his money where his mouth is, so to speak, he once tried to return payment he was contractually owed for a Quinn Martin project that was cancelled, on the grounds that he'd done nothing to earn it; because he desperately needed the money, his agent and Martin agreed to make it a loan that Parks would pay in full after he'd made three more movies.

Visiting Parks on the set of Then Comes Bronson, Prelutsky finds a changed man. His agent, Jack Fields, says Parkes had evolved; "Maybe for the first time in his life, he's happy." He's enjoying the series, and enjoying having his family around. "You know what they key is with that kid?" Fields asks. "Don't ever give him orders; if you just take the time to talk to him, he'll deliver the goods." I knew there was a reason I liked him.

It doesn't last, of course. After disputes with Bronson's producers, Parks will say that he was informally blacklisted in Hollywood, but continues to work in independent projects. He'll find late-life success working with directors who, like him, are nonconformists: David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, and Robert Rodriguez. No matter how difficult he could be to work with, everyone agreed that he was a true talent; as Prelutsky says, "If he were half as talented and twice as diplomatic, he would have had this town by the tail." Jack Fields told him once that he was winning Pyrrhic victories but losing the war, but I guess there are some of us who will always keep thinking that if you win enough victories, the war will take care of itself.

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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 guests are singers John Davidson, Lainie Kazan and the Jackson Five; comics Guy Marks, and Wayne and Shuster; puppets in a dance number choreographed by Peter Gennaro and featuring Muppet Big Bird (from Sesame Street); El Conquistador Strolling Violins; the Mecners, novelty act; puppet Topo Gigio; and the Ed Sullivan Singers.

Palace: Flip Wilson co-hosts with Andy Williams’ scene-stealing bear (Janos Prohaska). Guests: O.C. Smith, Judy Carne, singer. Dana Valery, the Friends of Distinction, comic Gene Baylos, the juggling Villams and the Dancing Devils, Argentine folk dancers.

A situation like this calls for honesty, and as you all know, I'm nothing if not honest around here. I'm not a fan of John Davidson. I'm not a fan of the Jacksons. All right, there's Lainie Kazan, but she has other assets working for her as well. It's all there for Palace to steal, but can it take advantage? I'm not a fan of Judy Carne, and I'm not a fan of O.C. Smith (I don't eat green apples). Note that I'm not putting down any of these acts; they're not my flavor, but you may disagree, and you're prtobably more well-rounded if you do. As for me, well, this week's a Push.

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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 shows of the era. 

It's rare that we get a Cleveland Amory review about a program that is well-done. (Do you know how long it took me to come up with that line?) We've seen Cleve dole out faint praise to shows that are good enough, but how often have we seen him nearly faint with pleasure over a program that may well exemplify the future of entertainment? I speak of The Forsyte Saga, the landmark 26-episode BBC series from 1967, now being shown on NET, and if you think I exaggerate Amory's praise of it, let me use his own words: The Forsyte Saga is "entertainment—prime, rare, rib-roast, Kansas City-cut entertainment. To say it is great is an understatement. It would be hard to imagine how it could be any better. It is, in short, television’s shining hour—and if you are lucky enough to be in a locality where The Forsyte Saga is shown, you will see not only what might have been, but also, and perhaps more important, what in the future must be." Is that good enough for you?

The Forsyte Saga, based on a series of novels by John Galsworthy, tells the saga of an English family over the course of nearly a half-century, from 1879 to 1926. So successful was it in England that evening church services were rescheduled in order to allow parishioners to catch the next episode. And it's not just the mother country that's gone wild over it. In the Netherlands, sporting events and public meetings have been rescheduled; in Israel, it's prohibited from being shown on the Sabbath to allow bigger audiences. It's a smash in Norway, in Zambia, in Taiwan and the Soviet Union. And now it has come to America, and Amory is right: it will change the face of television here. It's progenitor of the miniseries, gives birth to Masterpiece Theatre, and introduces the glories of British television to American audiences.

But, Amory reminds us, as good as The Forsyte Saga is—and proper credit belongs not only to Galsworthy's novel, but to the writers "apparently prepared to admit that Galsworthy was Galsworthy and they were not", the producers who cast great actors and actresses, and those stars, who are "magnificent" one and all—it is "no impossible dream that has somehow managed to come true once and can never again." It can be done here, tomorrow or even today. It needs only three things: a good book, the ability to stick to it, and good actors to bring it to life. That isn't asking too much, is it?

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One of these years, I'm going to spend the entire month of December with issues from the same year and in the same market; it's the only real way to get a true picture of when your favorite Christmas specials are shown. As I recall, I did come close to doing that sometime in the distant past, but I'm too lazy to check on it now, and in any case, it leaves me with something to look forward to in the future, and where would we be without that? 

Anyway, the point is not what might happen next year, but what is happening in the here and now: Northern California in 1969. And for that, we'll start with the deeply moving special J.T., making its debut on the CBS Children's Hour (11:00 a.m. PT). It stars Kevin Hooks, son of actor Robert Hooks, and later on one of the stars of The White Shadow, as a shy black youngster from Harlem, trying to nurse a sick alley cat back to health as Christmas approaches. Ja'Net Dubois plays J.T.'s mother, and Michael Goran is the store owner who comes to understand what J.T. needs. J.T. will later win a Peabody Award, as well as a place in the hearts of those who see it. (Take that, Hallmark!) You can be one of them, as it's available here. Later on Saturday, the Doodletown Pipers host a musical Christmas special (7:30 p.m., KXTV in Sacramento; also Sunday at 6:00 p.m. on KCRA in Sacramento), and while Lawrence Welk and his Champagne Music Makers have their annual Christmas show next week, there's plenty of holiday spirit tonight as well. (8:30 p.m., ABC) 

Sunday features one of those "family specials" that are so often a part of the holiday season even though they have nothing to do with Christmas: Hans Brinker (7:00 p.m., NBC), starring Eleanor Parker, Richard Basehart, and Cyril Ritchard, with Robin Askwith as Hans. (You can see that one here.) Monday, Carol Burnett welcomes back her old colleagues Garry Moore and Durward Kirby, along with the Mitchell Boys Choir, for Christmas music and comedy. (10:00 p.m., CBS) 

Tuesday's Red Skelton Hour features, in Red's "Silent Spot" pantomime section, "The Magic of Christmas," with Santa at work in his toy shop. (8:30 p.m., CBS; view it here) And on ABC's Movie of the Week (9:00 p.m.), Lloyd Bridges and Shirley Jones star in Silent Night, Lonely Night, about two lonely people who meet at Christmastime. (By the way, this airs opposite another made-for-TV movie starring Lloyd Bridges, The Silent Gun, on NBC. I wonder how often someone has appeared on two different movies airing on two different networks at the same time? And with similar titles?)

Now here's something I don't understand—a couple of things, in fact. On Thursday, we find something called "Christmas Story" at 7:30 p.m. on NBC. What is it? The Little Drummer Boy, the Rankin-Bass classic narrated by Greer Garson, with Jose Ferrer, Teddy Eccles, Paul Frees, and the Vienna Choir Boys. That's followed on the same network at 8:00 p.m. by "Variety Special," which happens to be Bing Crosby's Christmas special, with Carol Burnett, Juliet Prowse, and Roy Clark. (The Close-Up at right is from a different TV Guide issue.) Could we get any more generic in our program descriptions? Why didn't TV Guide just use the actual titles of the shows? (Bing Crosby uses less space than Variety Special.) Especially since the Crosby clambake is followed by "Bob Hope" at 9:00 p.m. Or would that have been asking too much? (This isn't the Bob Hope Christmas special, by the way, although it is his year-end show, with an appearance by the Football Writers Association All-America team.)

Friday features high drama for The Brady Bunch—Carol has laryngitis, and may have to cancel her solo at the church's Christmas service. Will she recover in time, or will Dr. Marcus Welby be called in at the last minute? Tune in at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. Later, Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters celebrates Christmas in a big way, with Lorne Greene, Jimmy's eight-year-old daughter Cece, and 25 members of the Lennon family, before an audience made up entirely of Lennon family members, friends, and neighbors. (10:00 p.m., ABC)

By the way, remember that Lloyd Bridges doubleheader on Tuesday? We've got something similar tonight, although on a much smaller scale; Antoinette Bower guests on NBC's Name of the Game at 8:30 p.m., while she's also playing Berlin Betty on Hogan's Heroes at the same time on CBS. So maybe it wasn't quite as unusual as I thought; at the very least, it shows who the working actors are. Meanwhile, the CBS Friday Night Movie at 9:00 p.m. is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, while the TV series it's said to have inspired, Here Come the Brides, airs opposite it on ABC. Coincidence?

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All right, here's that story on the dangers of X-rays emitted by color television sets. It's written by TV Guide's resident tech expert, David Lachenbruch, so it should be reliable. Not surprisingly, the opinions of top radiation scientists have been mostly buried because they're not as sensational as the scare headlines newspapers love to run. 

The concern isn't that the rays given off by TVs are harmful to individual viewers; rather, it's that the collective release from some 20, 40, or 80 million sets might add to background radiation, which could increase the pollution of the atmosphere. It's also possible that people who spent a lifetime in front of a color set could experience a cumulative exposure that could cause illness or defects in future generations, but there's considerable doubt within the scientific community about this. 

In fact, because radiation is so easy to block by using metal shielding within the set, it's never been considered that much of a problem. The standard for acceptable radiation emission was set extremely low—five times stricter than that used by UL. All the fuss started in 1967, when an unnamed television manufacturer (General Electric, for the record) discovered a higher-than-permitted amount of radiation escaping from their sets due to inadequate shielding and a poorly designed regulator tube. The sets were recalled, the tube replaced, and additional shielding added. 

Most important, says Lachenbruch, "Even though some of the sets radiated hundreds and even thousands of times the amounts specified by [the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements], there have been no reports of any harm to any individual." According to Dr. Victor P. Bond, associate director of Brookhaven National Laboratory, it's certainly prudent to limit exposure to radiation; nevertheless, "it is quite clear that the probability of significance or even detectable medical effects from X-rays emitted by faulty color receivers is vanishingly small." Even the Public Health Service has decided the risk is too small to continue with further tests on existing sets.

So, the bottom line is this: John C. Villforth, director of the Bureau of Radiological Health, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, says there's no reason for people to "go easy" on color TV watching. "There is no danger in color TV." Now, when it comes to the programs on TV . . .

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Finally, no cultural review of TV Guide would be complete without a look at one of the dominant figures in American television in the last part of the 20th century: Aaron Spelling. Dick Hobson calls him a "Triple T," which stands for "Tremendous Television Tycoon." (His associates call him "Big A".) Keep in mind that at this point in his career, Spelling is only 43, yet he has "made-to-order suits, a big black Cadillac, and a $275,000 house in the Golden Triangle section of Beverly Hills. He plays softball on Sunday afternoons with Tony Curtis, Bill Cosby, Paul Newman and James Garner." And his weight never goes over 145, because he works so hard. 

He's become ABC's chief independent supplier of prime-time programs, numbered among which are The Mod Squad, The New People, seven of the 25 Movie of the Weeks, and more pilots in the pipeline than the Air Force. (He was also responsible for one of my favorite shows, Burke's Law.) He believes that what's in today is the youth movement, and when someone asks about The New People, which is getting smothered by Laugh-In, Gunsmoke, and Here's Lucy, he replies, "At least it's a show of today. I'd rather fail with The New People than get rich with Petticoat Junction." I suppose, although I'm not sure the network, let along Paul Henning, would agree. 

We get a chance to see Spelling at work: in his office, at meetings with ABC executives, and on the set of The Mod Squad, where he helps comfort Peggy Lipton, still grieving over the recent murder of her close friend, Sharon Tate. "Driving to the studio I had to pull over," she tells her costars. "I couldn't see through the tears." "When your phone didn't answer," Clarence Williams replies, "I thought you were up identifying bodies or something." If that doesn't give you an idea of the atmosphere in Hollywood at the end of the Sixties, nothing will.

What I find most interesting about this article, though, is the temptation that must have existed back in 1969 to see Aaron Spelling at the top of his game—and yet we haven't even begun to approach Peak Spelling. So many of the people we read about in these pages are of the moment, if you will; movers and shakers, stars and starlets who were big at the time, or about to be big—and yet they're either strangers to us today, or people who were already as big as they were going to get, though nobody knew it yet. 

Not Aaron Spelling. I'm sure he never doubted that there were more hits in his in box, but could anyone have predicted how many, or how big? This is the man who goes on to give us Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Dynasty, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, 7th Heaven, and Charmed, and those are only the biggest hits. By comparison, in 1969 he's just getting started. Had TV Guide surveyed his career based only on those eight series I listed above, he would have been considered one of Hollywood's most successful producers ever. But to think that he was already there well before any one of them—well, we should all be so lucky. I wonder what level comes after Triple T? TV  

Around the dial

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack kicks things off this week with the first of Thomas Grant's Hitchcock scripts, "I Can Take Care of Myself," a thin if nasty story with Myron McCormick, Linda Lawson, and Will Kuluva. Not a great episode, but it is Hitchcock.

John returns to the mysterious world of Sapphire & Steel at Cult TV Blog with part four of "Assignment Six," continuing the story that he's been relating the last few days. This assignment has its strengths and weaknesses, but it's an interesting glimpse into the direction the series might have taken had it continued for another series.

At Classic Film & TV Café, Rick reviews the streaming service Tubi and answers the question of whether or not it's worth watching. The answer is "yes," if you don't mind commercial interruptions in return for it being a free service. Read it and find out why it might be an essential part of your viewing options.

Let's stay on FAST (free, ad supported TV) for a moment, as Silver Scenes presents us with some December picks that are currently streaming on Roku. If you're looking primarily for Christmas favorites, you can find that out here. Again, if the commercials don't bother you (as they didn't for the first 50 or so years of TV history), you'll find some good viewing options.

At Drunk TV, Paul enlightens us on a massive DVD undertaking: the complete series box set of Bonanza. For those of you keeping score at home, that amounts to 431 remastered episodes on 112 discs. Stay tuned for season-by-season reviews—good luck, Paul!

We're currently making our way through the classic ABC WWII series Combat!, so it was sad to see that Jack Hogan, who played PFC Kirby, died last week, aged 94. I get that information courtesy of Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts, who has a thoughtful review of Hogan's career and credits, which include Detective Sergeant Miller on Adam-12.

At The View from the Junkyard, Roger and Mike compare notes on the Avengers episode "The Joker," a Steed/Peel adventure that's a remake of the black-and-white story "Don't Look Behind You." How does it work? Read and find out.

And let's end on a Yuletide note: The Imaginative Conservative compares versions of A Christmas Carol, including the acclaimed made-for-TV movie starring George C. Scott. How do they shape up, and how does this compare to your own rankings? TV  

Divorce Court, White Christmas-Style

In the world of TV Heaven, it's time once again for the latest episode of one of the most popular shows of the 1950s, Divorce Court. Tonight, an all-star cast is on hand to give us what promises to be one of the most exciting courtroom dramas of this or any other season.

Bill Welsh: This week on Divorce Court, we bring you a case from the world of entertainment, between two singers whose marriage appears to have hit a sour note: Bob Wallace, famous song-and-dance man, successful Broadway impresario, one-half of the act of Wallace and Davis, versus Betty Haynes Wallace, part of the Haynes Sisters, appearing in many of the shows of Wallace and Davis. Presiding is Judge Voltaire Perkins. 

Bailiff: All rise.

Judge: Greetings, gals and guys. (To Welsh): So what’s the action, Jackson?

Bailiff: Wallace vs. Wallace, married for four years, the grounds are irreconcilable differences.

Bettina Lovelace: Council for Mrs. Wallace, your honor.

Shyster McQuirk: Council for Mr. Wallace, your honor.

Judge: So, you want me to permit the split, eh? Well, let’s hear it. Ladies first, I always say.

Betty: Your honor, I gave up a successful act with my sister when I got married. Judy and I were starting to really go places, play some of the bigger clubs. We met Wallace and Davis in Miami just before Christmas, four years ago, and we asked for some advice on our act, what we might be able to do to make the act bigger.

Bob: Seems like you know how to get bigger all on your own.

Judge: Quiet, you! You’ll get your turn. 

Betty: Anyway, he tells me that everyone has an angle, and I figure that means he’s going to help us hit the big time, maybe even television. Well, we’re on our way to Vermont to play in a lodge there, and he follows me there. I don’t know what he’s up to but, well, he was so famous, and so important in the business, that I thought I’d better be nice to him if we want to go anywhere. We had a few drinks, some laughs, and I thought that was it. And then I get a job at a club in New York, and he follows me there! 

Bob: That’s not how I remember it. 

Betty: And I think that, well, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be involved with someone like him. He’s always talking about how he can introduce us to people who can help our career go places, somebody like Frank Sinatra, or even Lawrence Welk. That’s all it was, though, talk, talk, talk. As soon as we get married, suddenly all that’s over, and I’m stuck at home taking care of the kids while he and Phil go on the Ed Harrison show. He never listened to me when I asked him about it. I think he was jealous, if you want to know the truth. He was afraid I’d become a bigger star than he was because I was younger and better looking than him. You may not believe it now, but I was quite a looker back then, but he took care of that, too. Whenever I had trouble sleeping, he'd tell me to go downstairs and have something to eat. Look at me now! I weigh 350 pounds. Do you think anyone's interested in hiring a 350-pound singer who's not Kate Smith?

Judge: I don’t know. Can you sing “God Bless America”?

Lovelace: Your honor, my client is entitled to recompense not only for the lost income from the Haynes Sisters act that Mr. Wallace ruined, but for the mental anguish that he’s caused by his comments. She should be kept in a lifestyle to which she’s become accustomed.

Bob: (To McQuirk): Say something! She’s making me out to sound like a cross between Simon Legree and Ivan the Terrible! 

McQuirk: Your honor, my client wants to throw himself on the mercy of the court!

Bob: Wait a minute! Who’s side are you on here, Junior?

McQuirk: Mine. I always make sure they get my good side.

Bailiff: Order in the court!

Judge: I’ll have corned beef on rye, hold the pickle.

Bob: Judge, can I say something?

Judge: It’s your dime, Charlie. 

Bob: What she’s telling you isn’t how it happened at all. Sure, I was willing to give her a break. They were a couple of nice kids, and my partner Phil was interested in Judy, so we followed them to Vermont. But that’s all there was. Jealous of her? Are you kidding? I’m just a crooner who’s trying to stay ahead. Do you think I’m worried about some sister act from Florida? 

But that’s the kind of person she is. Everything was fine, and then we get married, and it all went to her head. Suddenly she was Mrs. Bob Wallace, and she wanted all the fine things in life. The new cars, the clothes, the apartment in New York and the winter place in Florida. As if I could keep up with all that. I have trouble just paying the grocery bill every month. Would you believe she had a 26-inch waist when we were married? I didn't expect her to stay like her sister--she has a waist so small you can wrap your hand around it. But this? When they asked her to appear in the Macy's parade, I didn't know if she was supposed to sing or if they were going to inflate her and float her down the street.

Betty: Your honor, are you going to let him insult me like that?

Judge: I don’t know. How would you like him to insult you?

Bob: I just can’t figure out what makes this chick click. One minute everything’s hearts and flowers, and I’m her knight in shining armor, and then all of a sudden it’s like I’m trying to pull something over on her, and I get the passive-aggressive third degree. “You never listen to me,” “You never take me anywhere,” When I ask her what's the matter, she says, “If you don’t already know, there’s nothing I can say.” What am I supposed to be, a mind-reader? Trying to get her to tell me what’s wrong is like trying to pull out a tiger’s front teeth. I get dizzy just trying to keep up with her. (To himself) Gary warned me to stay away from women like her.

Betty: See—he doesn’t try to understand me.

Bob: Look at how defensive she gets—there’s been something wrong with her thinker since she was a kid. You can’t reason with someone like that—not listening to her, it’s just self-defense. She’s always talking about what she needs—she needs to see a shrink, is what she needs. And speaking of shrinking—

Betty: There he goes again with the insults!

Judge: Quiet, everybody! 

McQuirk: Your honor—

Judge: Scram, Sam!

At this point Phil Davis, Bob's partner, and a man in a marshal's uniform enter the courtroom.

Judge: Ah, there’s the man with my sandwich. It’s about time!

Phil: Bob, we've got a problem.

Bob: You've got a problem? What do you think this is?

Phil: This is a marshal from Miami. It seems there's a hotel manager there who's suing us over an unpaid bill from the Haines sisters. They're waiting for us over on The People's Court. TV  

What's on TV? Sunday, December 12, 1965

It's hard to imagine a more normal Sunday than today; three football games in the morning and afternoon, and some entertainment in prime time. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea has a plotline that sounds like it borrowed from Fail-Safe, as the men of the Seaview try to figure out why an unmanned, remote-controlled submarine has malfunctioned, heading toward New York with all missiles armed and ready. Meanwhile, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Stephen Brooks try to head off a mad bomber who threatens to blow up a passenger train unless he's given $100,000. And on Amos Burke, Secret Agent, Burke and his fellow agents are in trouble. Kind of vague there, but at the end of the day I suspect all three of these stories will have happy endings, don't you? Today's listings are from the Northern California edition.

This week in TV Guide: December 11, 1965

This week's cover story is on Forrest Tucker, and whether or not you agree with our friend Hal Horn that he's "the greatest actor who ever lived" (I knew you'd like that, Hal!), there's no doubting that, at 6'5", he fills the larger-than-life persona of the character he plays on F Troop, Sergeant Morgan O'Rourke. The comparison is appropriate, as Leslie Raddatz points out, for Tuck is a flamboyant holdover from pre-Method, pre-Mumble days, dressed in dark glasses, a blue blazer with club monogram, gray slacks, and a pale blue shirt open to the neck to reveal a yellow ascot. As his mentor Jimmy Lake taught him, "If you're going to be an actor, look like an actor."  

But despite the flamboyant appearance, he's basically "a modest man who is surprised and grateful for the good things that have come his way." He's made over 90 movies, mostly Westerns, and a 1950s TV series, Crunch and Des, with Sandy Kenyon. His big break came when he was cast as Beauregard Burnside in the highest grossing movie of 1958, Auntie Mame. From there, he was cast as Professor Harold Hill in the national touring production of The Music Man; over a five-year period, he played the role over 2,000 times. "[F]or the first time I had a role I became identified with. That’s important for an actor. Now I think the same thing is going to happen with F Troop. There aren't many actors that had a chance to make it twice."

When he's not on the F Troop set, he's likely to be found on the golf course, behind the wheel of a cart "decorated with the names of friends, the legend 'Tuck loves Marilyn' [his wife], flags of the United States and the Explorers Club, two small flower boxes filled with artificial pansies, brass carriage lamps, a saber, two bugles and two saddle bags. In the trunk is a completely stocked bar with an ice chest." Flamboyant, remember. 

That story about golf leads to a more profound story, one that I think tells a great deal about Forrest Tucker. He was in Stockton, California for a pro-am tournament, and while standing in line for tickets to a Gene Krupa concert, he met a little girl on crutches, suffering from a bone disease. She told him that her boyfriend was studying medicine and that after he became a doctor, he would operate on her. Later, he saw her in the balcony at the concert; she explained that she was up there because she couldn't dance and didn't want to make her friends feel uncomfortable. Tucker lifted her up and danced around the floor with her. The next day he had a car pick her up and bring her to the golf course, where a wheelchair took her around so she could follow him. "I didn't pay any attention to my game. Every time I made a shot I’d go over and talk to her and make sure she was in a shady spot." It wasn't until he'd sunk his last putt on 18 that he found out he'd shot a 63.

"For 11 or 12 years, that little girl and I exchanged Christmas cards. Then one day I got a letter from her saying that her boy friend was a doctor; he had operated on her legs, and she had thrown away her crutches. She’s married now and has a couple of kids." As he finishes the story, tears roll down from under his glasses and drop on the sleeve of his blazer. So, as it turns out, behind the stardom and the flamboyance, Forrest Tucker is just a big softy. Probably just like Sgt. O'Rourke, which is why he plays it so well.

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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 include comic

Alan King; trumpeter Al Hirt; the Swingle Singers, who adapt jazz styles to classical music; singers Barbara McNair and Wayne Newton; the Gomberts, a clown troupe which specializes in balancing and juggling; and the Bratislova Slovakian Folkloric Company, a Czech dance group.

Palace: Hostess Caterina Valente presents Bill Cosby of I Spy, who does a monolog about buying a new car; Bill Dana as Flamenco dancer José Jimenez; Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, instrumental group; magician Channing Pollock; the Black Theatre of Prague, pantomimists; Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfa; and the Fredonias, German tumblers.

Pretty fair comparison this week. Alan King and Bill Dana are both very funny, Al Hirt and Herb Alpert are both terrific trumpet players, and the Bratislova Solovakian Folkloric Company and the Black Theatre of Prague are both great Czechoslovakian acts. However, I've never been a big fan of Bill Cosby, so based on the strength of Barbara McNair and Wayne Newton, I'm going to have to give the edge here to Sullivan, who hits all the right notes.

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Well, if you want Christmas programs, you've come to the right place. starting on Saturday as The King Family presents the first of three Yuletide-themed shows (8:00 p.m. PT, ABC) with "Jolly Old St. Nicolas," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and "Holiday of Love"; that's followed at 8:30 p.m. by The Lawrence Welk Show, and while the maestro's actual Christmas episode isn't for a week or two yet, there's plenty of seasonal sounds tonight, including "Winter Wonderland," "Silver Bells," and "Frosty the Snowman." Then, on Sunday afternoon, it's an hour of Christmas cartoons featuring "The yuletide adventures of Hoppity Hooper, Commander McBragg and Dudley Doright." I don't think I've ever seen that collection. (4:00 p.m., ABC)

Sunday evening's highlight is NBC's 15th annual presentation of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera Amahl and the Night Visitors on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. (6:30 p.m.) It will be the third year using the new, videotaped production that debuted in 1963—much to Menotti's dismay. The production featured a new cast, set, and staging, and was done while Menotti was out of the country; when the rights to the opera revert to him following the 1966 broadcast, he'll withdraw permission from NBC to air the program. It will remain off the air until the 1970s, until it returns in yet another new production, this time supervised by Menotti.

Monday sees Andy Williams and his traditional family Christmas show (9:00 p.m., NBC), featuring the Williams brothers, Andy's parents, his wife Claudine Longet, children Noelle and Christian, and the Osmond Brothers. These shows are always a delight, and this one is no exception, as you can see in this clip. Tuesday night it's singer Jo Stafford's turn, with her special from England (7:30 p.m., KXTV in Sacramento), featuring the Westminster Abbey Choir, the George Mitchell Singers, the Corona Stage School Children's Chorus, the Lionel Blair Dancers, and comedian Harry Secombe.

Bob Hope takes the reins on Wednesday (9:00 p.m., Wednesday), and it's not only his annual Christmas show, it's also Bob's first colorcast. Guests are Bing Crosby, Janet Leigh, Nancy Wilson, and Jack Benny, and the show includes a funny bit where Bing tries to get rid of a visiting Bob so he can sell the Crosby home—as you can see here. (Bob's USO show entertaining the troops will air early in January.) And while Thursday's an off night, Friday more than makes up for it, starting with a rerun of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (7:30 p.m., NBC), followed by Mitch Miller's Christmas show (8:30 p.m., NBC), first shown in 1961, with Leslie Uggams, Diana Trask, and William Ventura. And in local news, KCRA in Sacramento presents an abridged performance of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker (8:30 p.m.), performed by the San Francisco Ballet Company and Orchestra. I'm a little disappointed nobody's showing Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, but it only came out last year; maybe it's a little too early.

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There's some other fun stuff on TV this week, starting on Saturday, with the Get Smart episode "Aboard the Orient Express" (8:30 p.m. PT, NBC), best known for the cameo appearance by Tonight Show host Johnny Carson as the train's "Special Guest Conductor." (You can see it here.) It's the first of two guest appearances on the show by Carson; he's also in the 1968 episode "The King Lives?" in an unbilled cameo. (An earlier episode also joked that KAOS master of disguise Alexei Sebastian impersonated Carson for two weeks on Tonight before he was found out.)

Sunday's NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears (10:45 a.m., CBS) is an important game in the standings, as the penultimate week of the season sees the Bears still in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, but it'll be remembered for more than its impact on the standings, as Bears rookie running back Gale Sayers turns in one of the greatest all-around performances of all time. Playing on a wet, muddy field, with darkness closing in on Wrigley Field, Sayers rushes for 113 yards, gains 89 yards receiving, and adds 134 return yards, capped by 85-yard punt return for a touchdown, in Chicago's 61-20 victory. His 336 total yards gained is the third-highest in league history at the time, and his six touchdowns ties an NFL record, one which still stands. No wonder people, to this day, swear they've never seen anyone like the Kansas Comet. You can see it all here.

Steve Lawrence's short-lived variety series comes to an end on Monday (10:00 p.m., CBS), and appropriately enough he's joined by his wife, Eydie Gormé, for a two-person show. It seems about right; Steve and Eydie were a very popular duo for many years, and Steve was almost a semi-regular on Carol Burnett's show, but he always struck me as a guest star more than someone who could carry an entire hour (even with Charles Nelson Reilly as his sidekick). 

On Tuesday, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic return with the second of this season's Young People's Concerts (7:30 p.m., CBS), illustrating how an orchestra performs a piece in the way that its composer wanted it played. I suppose a show like this would be considered too advanced for young people to follow today, but I enjoyed them. Later, a CBS News Special (10:00 p.m.) asks a question we'll all be asking soon enough: "Where We Stand in Vietnam." Included in the special is the result of a public-opinion survey that aims, according to CBS News president Fred Friendly, "to learn, as definitely as possible, exactly what the American public believes about war and peace in Vietnam." If you're looking for something strictly entertaining, go with one of the all-time greats, All About Eve (9:00 p.m., KCRA in Sacramento), with Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Marilyn Monroe, Gary Merrill, and Thelma Ritter. 

Wednesday's big event is the much-delayed launch of Gemini VI, originally scheduled for Sunday morning (although the TV Guide has it launching on Monday), but postponed when the Titan II booster engines shut down just over a second after igniting. (You can see how the drama unfolded here.) Television coverage was scheduled to begin at 4:00 a.m. Sunday on NBC, with ABC and CBS starting at 5:00 a.m.; since Wednesday's launch occurs about 90 minutes earlier than the Sunday attempt, I'd assume coverage was adjusted accordingly. Later in the day, the networks will return to report on the first-of-its-kind rendezvous between Gemini VI and Gemini VII, which had launched on December 4. 

The film adaptation of John le Carré's dark spy drama The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, and Oskar Werner, opens in the United States today, and, with that perhaps in mind, David Susskind's Open End discusses "The Deadly Game of Spying: Some Real Live Spies." (Thursday 9:00 p.m., KVIE in Sacramento) Included in the guest list are Peter Tompkins, author of A Spy in Rome. It's not quite as gritty, perhaps, but Gilligan's Island (8:00 p.m., CBS) deals with life and death as well, as Gilligan is given 24 hours to live after the Skipper thinks his little buddy was bitten by a deadly insect. Since this is not the last show of the series, I'm guessing it's a false diagnosis.

Amidst a plethora of Christmas programs, Friday's best bet is probably the great anti-war movie Paths of Glory (midnight, KSTV in Sacramento), with Kirk Douglas outstanding as a French colonel ordered to lead his men into a suicidal attack by an ambitious but incompetent general. This movie will become more significant as the 1960s continue.

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Next year's fall season is starting to take shape, according to the Teletype, with a number of pilots maneuvering for places on the schedule. Let's take a look at some of them.

"A 20th Century-Fox pilot, Men Against Evil, features Howard Duff, Jeanne Crain and Ben Alexander. It's about policemen and their private and professional lives." It makes it to the schedule, under the title The Felony Squad. Likewise, "ABC's Saga of Western Man series is doing a program called "The First Christmas." It's now filming in Israel and Jordan but won't be seen until the Yule season of '66." It does, under the title "Christ is Born." "Roger Miller, whose song "King of the Road" made him one of the Nation's top singers, will do an hour special for NBC Jan. 19. It could be a pilot for a Miller series." It is, although it will be off the air in little more than a year. "Jack Webb, recently signed by Universal Studios, will produce, direct and star in a two-hour special based on his old Dragnet show. It may again become a series." It does, for four seasons.

On the other hand, "Andy Griffith has decided to stay with CBS another year, his seventh. It'll probably be his last." It isn't; The Andy Griffith Show runs for an eighth season before morphing into Mayberry R.F.D., and two of Griffith's later failures, The Headmaster and The New Andy Griffith Show, air on CBS as well. "Allan Sherman is writing the theme song for Sid Caesar's The Mouse That Roared, a pilot being shot by Screen Gems." And a pilot is where it ends, although you can see it for yourself here. 

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MST3K alert: The She-Creature (1956) A psychic researcher investigates a performer who uses hypnosis on his female assistant. Chester Morris, Marla English, Tom Conway. (Friday, 3:30 p.m., KSBW in Salinas.) An afternoon timeslot is way too early for this one, which ought to have a midnight showing. Not that there's anything objectionable about it, except perhaps for the acting of the putative hero, Lance Fuller. Chester Morris is better known as good guy Boston Blackie, and does just fine here. Tom Conway (brother of George Sanders) is fine as well, but it's perhaps a mark of how far his career had fallen by this time that the actor, who once starred in the Falcon movie series, is in this stinker. TV