This week in TV Guide: August 5, 1972

War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy's epic 1869 novel, is a big book—a very big book. It makes for a big movie—a very big movie. So big, in fact, that when Soviet director Sergei Bondarchuk decided to adapt it, he did so in four separate parts, each having a running time between 84 and 147 minutes, totaling 431 minutes; that's seven hours and 11 minutes for those of you keeping score at home. And when ABC shows it next week, even though it's been shortened by about an hour (and dubbed into English), it will be spread out over four consecutive nights. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

This week, in anticipation of the event, TV Guide presents an article by Tolstoy's daughter, the Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, in which she shares memories of her famous father and his thoughts on his masterpiece. It came, she says, in the midst of a period in which he could not write, and the comedy he did try to write was a failure. And then the moment came, in 1865, when he fell from a horse and broke his arm. His first thought, after regaining consciousness: "I am a writer and I am going to write something big and beautiful." He worked on War and Peace from 1865 to 1869, his wife faithfully copying the manuscript in longhand every night, while Tolstoy revised pages over and over until he "could no longer improve them." It is not true, she says, that her mother copied the novel from beginning to end seven times, but she would copy some pages twice, while others had to be recopied up to 20 times. 

Tolstoy's daughter taking dictation from her father, a year before his death, 1909

Tolstoy's research into the War of 1812 was massive. He had an entire bookcase devoted to books on the war; "He had to know how General Koutousoff mounted his horse, what kind of hands Napoleon had, and he studied the histories of Mikhailovsky, Danilevsky, Thiers, Dumas and many others"; he travelled to the battlefields to see for himself where the armies were stationed. Upon his return, he said, "I think I am going to write a description of the battle at Borodino that has never before been written."

The richly drawn characters, the Countess says, were drawn in part from Tolstoy's own family. Natasha Rostova, the main character, "has so many traits of my aunt Tania—always gay, exceedingly interested in people around her, trying to help everyone." Old Prince Bolkonsky, strict and aristocratic, "is a character who reminds us of my father's grandfather Volkonsky." And there are others; in fact, "Sometimes, entering the large living room in Yasnaia Poliana and looking at the portraits of my ancestors, hanging on the walls, I would never think about them as my ancestors, but always as the characters of War and Peace. Can you imagine that?

As he grew older, Tolstoy became more interested in philosophy, religion, his understanding of life and God. He never reread his great novels, his daughter says, he forgot about them; "Once when we were reading War and Peace aloud in the living room, my father came in and silently listened for a few minutes. 'What are you read ing?' he asked. 'It is not badly written.' We burst out laughing." For all his interest in what she refers to as "the essential beliefs of life," Tolstoy "never preached to or taught people in his novels. In one of his diaries he wrote: 'An artist should never try to preach to people through his works. . . . It should be like a ray of light that inspires people.'" For that reason, she says, War and Peace is a timeless work, one still read and performed more than a century after its composition.

I bring all this up not only in hopes that you might be as interested in seeing War and Peace as TV Guide obviously hoped its readers would be (all four parts are streaming on the Criterion Channel), but as a reminder of how much TV Guide itself has changed over the years. Of course, it's hard to believe that you'd be presenting a Tolstoy epic on broadcast television nowadays in the first place, but the idea of having the great Tolstoy's daughter (or any equivalent person today, if there is one) write an article for the magazine is inconceivable. The current version of TV Guide doesn't have any interest in publishing anything that one couldn't find in the average fan magazine at the checkout aisle in the grocery store, let alone something of genuine historical merit. Ah, well.

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I've mentioned this many times before, and I'm going to mention it again here, partly because it continues to be true and partly because I need another paragraph, but summer issues of TV Guide can often be a case of trial and error as to whether or not we'll find stimulating items to look at. After all, Cleveland Amory generally takes the summer off, Ed Sullivan and The Hollywood Palace are long gone, and our programming options mostly consist of, as you will see, reruns, summer replacements, and failed pilots. Nevertheless, this issue has fulfilled its objectives; we should take a moment to mention the many series that pass by without mention this week, from all-time favorites to others that might go unrecalled were it not for a passing reference here: shows like Mary Tyler Moore, The FBI, Cade's County, Alias Smith and Jones, Medical Center, Longstreet, Mannix, Night Gallery, and more. But whether familiar faces or newcomers, original episodes or reruns, here's what the week brings us.

On Saturday, William Shatner gets to ham it up as the heavy in tonight's rerun of Mission: Impossible appropriately entitled "Encore" (10:00 p.m., CBS). The case involves an unsolved murder of the 1930s, which was filmed on one of the Thirties-style sets at Paramount. I wonder if they had time to work in a hand of fizzbin while they were at it. If you've already seen that episode, why not opt for something original, such as The Ken Berry "Wow" Show (10:00 p.m., ABC), which follows The Persuaders! and The Sixth Sense in the network's 10:00 p.m. death slot. Robert Goulet is Ken's special guest tonight, and there are cameos by Jim Nabors and Dr. Joyce Brothers. In fact, Ken Berry had always seen himself as more of a musical-comedy actor than someone in a sitcom, so this isn't the odd fit that some might think. Nonetheless, it remains just a summer replacement. 

I've always considered sports to be as indicative as anything of the changes culture has gone through over the decades, and Sunday offers us a pretty good example of how big money has taken over. For instance, there's the "Women's Pro Tennis Tour" (2:00 p.m., syndicated), which is actually the finals of the Virginia Slims tournament in Columbus, Florida (back when TV Guide was a little more circumspect in including sponsor names, especially when it came to tobacco companies). Top pros, including Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King, compete for $25,000 in prize money, and a first prize of $6,000. If you think that's paltry, consider the "hefty" $50,000 purse in the ment's tournament, the then-prestigeous U.S. Professional Tennis Championships (1:30 p.m., PBS), from the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hills, Massachusetts. Top pros including Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, Arthur Ash, and John Newcombe compete for a $10,000 first prize, one of the biggest in tennis! And at 5:00 p.m., it's the final round of the PGA Championship (ABC), which for many years was the final major golf tournament of the year. This year's tournament is being held at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan, for an astronomical purse of $200,000, with winner Gary Player getting $40,000. By contrast, this year's PGA champion, Xander Schauffele, won $3,330,000 out of a total of $18,500,00 in prize money. I could say something about all this, but I'm not paid enough.

Monday offers a little something for everyone: Jan-Michael Vincent guest stars in a tale of revenge on a Gunsmoke repeat that also includes Kim Hunter, Pat Hingle, and Greg Mullavey (8:00 p.m., CBS); NBC's Monday night baseball features the Atlanta Braves taking on the Reds in Cincinnati (8:15 p.m.); Robert Lansing makes a rare comedic appearance on The Doris Day Show in a story involving double identities, something he knows about since he starred in the 1966 spy series The Man Who Never Was, which had him playing a man who takes the place of his exact double; and if you can make it to late-night, Steve Allen and his wife, Jayne Meadows, guest host for the week on The Dick Cavett Show (11:30 p.m., ABC). But you know I'm a sucker for programming coincidences, and we have another of those tonight, with Boston's WKBG airing the 1949 movie That Forsyte Woman (8:00 p.m.), starring Errol Flynn and Greer Garson, and based on the 1906 novel The Man of Property, the first book in John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. And wouldn't you know—since it has a running time of two hours, you'll be able to switch over to WGBH at 10:00 p.m. for chapter 23 of The Forsyte Saga, the epic 26-part 1967 BBC series that served as one of the prototypes for Masterpiece Theatre on PBS. (You might recall that Cleveland Amory had high praise for the series in his review.) Errol Flynn's role in the movie was played in the series by Eric Porter, while the Greer Garson role went to (no relation) Nyree Dawn Porter.

Tuesday's notable is a Movie of the Week that previews one of the most influential and well-remembered shows of the 1970s, Kung Fu (8:30 p.m., ABC), starring David Carradine as the fugitive monk Kwai Chang Caine, traveling through America in the 1870s. The pilot includes Keye Luke as Master Po, and has a strong guest cast including Barry Sullivan and Albert Salmi. I recall Brooks and Marsh's Directory to Prime Time Network Shows describing Kung Fu as a "philosophical Western," which I think is a pretty good way to put it. Judith Crist doesn't have much to say about it, callit it "a never-never land that might just as well be never."; I think she missed the boat on this one. Guitarist great Chet Atkins is Arthur Fiedler's special guest on Evening at Pops (8:30 p.m., PBS), and NBC takes the prize for the special with the dumbest title and the biggest cast: The Special London Bridge Special (9:30 p.m.), starring Tom Jones and Jennifer O'Neill in a musical fantasy with appearances by Kirk Douglas, Rudolf Nureyev, Elliott Gould, the Carpenters, and Hermione Gingold. and cameos by Chief Dan George, Lorne Greene, Charlton Heston, Engelbert Humperdinck, George Kirby, Michael Landon, Terry Thomas, and Jonathan Winters. It's filmed in London, of course, and, since the original London Bridge isn't in London, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

We're treated on Wednesday to a number of original summer programs of varying quality, starting at 8:00 p.m. with The David Steinberg Show (CBS), the fill-in for The Carol Burnett Show; tonight's guests are Tommy Smothers and Valerie Harper. At 8:30 p.m., it's The Corner Bar (ABC), replacing Henry Fonda's series The Smith Family, which was itself a replacement for The ABC Comedy Hour. (Got all that?) With Alan King and Howard Morris as producers, and King and Herb Sargent, the show should have had more than it did; it doesn't make the fall schedule but returns the following summer (with a different lead) for another stint in the replacement game. That's followed on the same network by the sketch comedy series The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, which features animation by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam, and includes Spike Milligan, Barry Levinson and Larry Gelbart among its writers. At 9:00 p.m., ABC concludes with The Kopykats, which—as you might expect—includes a lineup of famed impressionists, among whom we have Rich Little, Frank Gorshin, and Fred Travalena. Tonight's host, Tony Curtis, offers his own impression of Cary Grant, taken from Some Like It Hot. It's the last show of the series; stay tuned next week for "a report on strip mining." 

Thursday, Ed McMahon hosts NBC Adventure Theatre (8:00 p.m.), a collection of episodes that originally aired on Bob Hope's Chrysler Theatre anthology series. Tonight's episode, "Clash of Cymbals," was first shown on Christmas Day, 1964, but has nothing to do with the season; it's a story of romantic tension as a famed conductor judges a scholorship competition in which he's involved with one of the finalists. The story boasts a fine cast, with Louis Jourdan, Laura Devon, and Jack Klugman. It's a good thing all the episodes of Chrysler Theatre were shot in color—imagine an eight-year-old episode of anything airing on network television today. It would have been a new program for many people in 1972, though, and it's probably a lot more entertaining than, say, Failed Pilot Playhouse. Which brings us to. . . 

Friday, when CBS's network movie slot is filled by a trio of unsold pilots that provide ample demonstration, on the face of it, as to why they remained unsold. I added that proviso because you can never be sure about a show based on the brief description in TV Guide; for all I know, these were three of the most hilarious programs ever shown, and their failure to turn up on the fall lineup is further evidence, as if we needed it, of the failures of network executives to recognize talent when they see it. That said, the trio begins at 7:30 p.m. with Man in the Middle, starring Van Johnson as "a family man caught between a left-leaning daughter, a right-wing mother-in-law, and a middle-aged business partner on a youth trip." But what do you do for an encore? That's followed at 8:00 by Keep the Faith, in which "you'll learn a lot about chutzpah (the Yiddish word for gall)" in the story of "a young rabbi who tries to fire the ill-tempered temple caretaker." Bert Convy and Howard Da Silva star, with Milton Selzer and Nancy Walker; all four of them deserve better. Being in an ecumenical mood, we wrap things up with Shepherd's Flock, with Kenneth Mars as "an ex-football star trying to succeed in the ministry despite a quick temper and a bad case of foot-in-the-mouth disease." Don Ameche, who definitely deserves better (and got it), is part of the supporting cast. It's no wonder that WTIC, the CBS affiliate in Hartford, is showing Elizabeth R instead.

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Good news from Richard K. Doan—there will be no presidential debates in 1972! As soon as George McGovern won the Democratic presidential nomination last month, he challenged President Nixon to appear with him on TV. That was to be expected, considering McGovern's considerable deficit in the polls. And as soon as he did so, Nixon declined, saying that "his views were sufficiently known already to the American electorate." That, too, was to be expected, considering he had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Would it have made a difference in the end? Who knows; maybe McGovern would have won a couple more states.

Also from Doan, CBS's chief programmer, Fred Silverman, is vowing to take on NBC's reputation as the network of specials, a title that dates back to the days of Pat Weaver. He's promising "60 to 70" prime time specials in the coming season, including a minimum of three presentations on the revived Playhouse 90, a series of producdtions by theater impresario Joseph Papp, "ranging in length from 90 minutes to 'a whole evening,'" and a two-hour adaptation of Gay Talese's best-selling book Honor Thy Father. The 1972-73 season was the first that I spent in exile in the World's Worst Town™, so it's difficult for me to say, from personal experience, whether or not Silverman succeeded in his boasts. Honor Thy Father did, in fact, make it to the small screen, in a "cheapo TV movie" starring Joseph Bologna and Brenda Vaccaro, described by one critic as "an episodic, dull, and tedious foray into trying to make gangsters look sympathetic." I didn't see anything about Joseph Papp and CBS other than the time he worked there as a stage manager between 1952 and 1960. Playhouse 90, however, did return in 1973, presenting Ingmar Bergman's The Lie and Brian Moore's Catholics, the latter being an import from British television.

Meantime, the Teletype brings us news of a new made-for-TV collaboration between Darren McGavin and Dan Curtis, the duo who brought us last season's The Night Stalker. This one is called Time Killers, and is slated to co-star Wally Cox, Margaret Hamilton, and John Carradine. And indeed, this one makes it to the screen, under the title The Night Strangler, in which McGavin reprises his role as Carl Kolchak, the best reporter on the paranormal beat. George Kennedy is reported to have signed for the ABC telemovie A New American Tragedy, in which he plays a middle-aged aerospace engineer who finds himself unemployed and unemployable; it winds up titled A Great American Tragedy, but it makes it to the screen in October. Ted Bessell is reported to be returning to be returning to television as well, after the less-than-stellar performance of Me and the Chimp. The project, which he'll star in and produce, turns out to be The Ted Bessell Show, in which he plays "a newly married magazine publisher who has problems keeping his marriage and his magazine from foundering." It airs in May, 1973, as part of yet another CBS Tuesday night tryptic of unsold pilots; it's described, however, as "very adult for TV," funny, and worthy of getting a chance. Alas, no such chance comes.

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This week's starlet is Sherry Miles, who knows how to push her way onto the scene. As Leslie Raddatz recounts, her first appearance on The Joey Bishop Show came when she worked her way into the studio with some movers, and doing a number while they were setting up scenery for the show. Tongue-in-cheek, Joey suggested she come back that night and do the same thing. She did. And then there was the way in which she worked her way into a spot on Hee Haw by showing up day after day at the producer's office, performing a new routine each time. I wonder why succeeded where last week's starlet, Christopher West, failed? Who can say.

Under the tutilage of career consultant John Cestare, she's worked her way out of her innate reserved nature, going from Sherry DeBoer, "the introverted little girl from Honolulu," to Sherry Miles, crashing The Joey Bishop Show. She's appeared as the "Dodge Girl" in West Coast commercials, appeared on Pat Paulson's comedy show and Adam-12, and done a handful of movies. I Googled her under the name "Sherry Miles," and found an IMDb page that confirmed she worked through the 1970s; in other words, the average, unassuming career for the average TV Guide starlet.

But—when you Google "Sherry DeBoer," you're brought to a page called "Political Animals," a nonprofit billed as "California's leading political animal welfare organization," which DeBoer co-founded in 1997 after working as a nurse in a wildlife rehabilitation hospital and then as a state humane officer. She's worked since then as a lobbyist for humane treatment of animals, where she's found her calling. Until then, "I had nothing to show for the years of dating and pretty dressing." On campaign contribution cards, she lists "Gladiator" as her occupation and "God" as her employer. To this day, she continues her work as the president of Political Animals. Proving, once again, that while you might not succeed at what you thought you wanted, it just prepares you for the work you really need. Without that past life, would the "introverted little girl" have become a high-powered advocate in the political arena? I'll bet she pushes her way through the scene in Sacramento as well.

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We haven't done a recipe for awhile, and there are plenty of them in this week's issue courtesy of food consultant Helen Feingold, designed to remind you that just because you're eating healthier, that doesn't mean you have to give up that great flavor. Let's try some Carrot Drop Cookies, followed by Nutted Popcorn Balls. As always, if you try any of these out, let us know!

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MST3K alert: Devil Doll (English; 1963) A newspaperman, writing a routine piece about a hypnotist-ventriloquist, learns of a bizarre mystical link between the man and his dummy. Vorelli: Bryant Halliday. Mark English: William Sylvester. (Saturday, 2:05 a.m., WTIC in Hartford) Arguably the best movie ever shown on MST3K—which, granted, is a very low bar to overcome—this British cult classic boasts an appropriately creepy storyline, convincing theater scenes (rather than looking like someone's garage), and effective performances, including that of a pre-2001 William Sylvester, who's much better than they give him credit for. TV  

Around the dial

Cult TV Lounge takes a relatively short trip back to the 1990s (I still have a hard time realizing that the '90s are 30 years ago) with the Japanese anime OVA Cyber City Oedo 808, directed by the great Yoshiaki Kawajiri, with obvious nods to the William Gibson and Philip K. Dick. If you're a fan, it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

Also worth checking out is the latest episode of The Guardians, brought to us by John at Cult TV Blog. In part five, we pick up the dystopic story in progress following an assassination, with bodies and orgies left and right. And who, or what, is Quarmby anyway? Is this the direction we're headed in? Or are we already there?

One of my fond memories of childhood is watching wrestling on TV with my grandfather, with the result that I always had a soft spot for the sport, even when it seems like it's bordering on depravity. Paul has similar memories, and at Drunk TV he revisits them with the 2007 documentary The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling, a searching look at the WCCW's ups and downs.

At Comfort TV, David's perusal through prime time in the 1970s continues with Wednesday, 1974. What was it like? How about Get Christie Love!, Cannon, Little House on the Prairie, and Petrocelli? I'm betting most of you remember most of these, but there are bound to be some that you haven't thought of for awhile, if ever.

At Eyes of a Generation, Bobby gives us a unique look at "the battle for television," circa 1945. Not only do you get some interesting graphics on early TV equipment, you get insight into the rivalry between RCA and CBS over their "different techincal approaches to television." They were even talking about color TV in 1945; find out more about what might have been.

It's been 25 years (1) since Garry Berman's first book, Best of the Britcoms, and this week he takes a look back some of the glorious British panel shows that display such typically British "wit, speed, and spontaneity." Be sure to take some time to watch the clips that Garry has included, among which a show called 8 Out Of 10 Cats, which you can't miss.

In the mood for some TV-movies? Well, then, head on over to Reelweegiemidget, where Gill (with some help from Darlin Husband) shares some of the teleflicks they watched over this summer. Some you'll recognize, some you won't, and some you'll want to check out. And after all, isn't that what a good reviewer is for?

I don't have to tell you that it's been a rough time for some of our heroes of the past, which makes me even more glad to share Terence's latest at A Shroud of Thoughts, which is not an obituary! It's a look back at his memories of Sunday night television while he was growing up. He and I are of roughly the same era, and I can certainly identify with those memories.

At Television's New Frontier: The 1960s, we're in 1962, and the beginning of McHale's Navy, the drama that became a comedy. The show owes its roots to Car 54, Where Are You? and The Phil Silvers Show, but falls short of them in several ways. Still, a lot of you have fond memories of the show, and you'll want to see the many faces that appeared on your TV during that season.

As Travalanche notes, many of us associate Sally Struthers with a single, and singular, role: that of Gloria on All in the Family. There's been a lot more to her career than that, though, and it's good to be reminded that she's done movies, live theater, voice-overs, and guest spots on many shows, both before and after marrying the Meathead.

Roger has an interesting observation at the outset of his review of The Avengers episode "Fog" at The View from the Junkyard: it's all right to acknowledge that "the things we love don't have to be perfect." And that's true; you'll notice that when I really pick a show apart because of its implausibilities, it's not just the nits: it's likely that I'm not being entertained.

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Bringing discussion groups to television

More and more frequently, books are coming with guides for reading groups included as an appendix. Could the same be done with television programs?

As we've seen in the first two parts of this series, television has the ability to offer stories that contain stimulating, provocative questions, either within the storyline itself or as a subtext to the program. Even a sitcom like Hogan's Heroes generates questions about the nature of undercover and sabotage actions in relation to the concept of just war. The question is this: are viewers being encouraged to look for these discussion points when they watch television. 

Some series, such as The Defenders, thrived on the provocative. A first-season episode, "The Benefactor," addressed the issue of abortion, and was controversial enough that all three sponsors cancelled their participation in the episode, and several network affiliates refused to air it. A similar controversy would arise a decade later in the sitcom Maude, when the title character chose to have an abortion. Now, abortion is one of those issues that's going to create a firestorm no matter which side the show takes, and if it tries to remain neutral it's likely to be pillored by both sides. If you're a viewer looking for a little relaxation, perhaps a few laughs, this is probably something you'd just as soon not deal with.

But what about issues that are less electrifying? The average episode of a war drama like Combat! can cause one to ponder the significance of war without doing anything more than showing combat footage. Police dramas (think Adam-12 as opposed to, say, Law & Order) often put their heroes in uncomfortable situations. And when our protagonists, in the heat of combat, are confronted with difficult decisions from among a host of unappealing alternatives, don't you find yourself wondering what you'd do in the same situation? Perhaps, in fact, you have faced this kind of choice in real life, and you find yourself contrasting your own actions with those in the show.

Part of this—asking the viewer to share the risks, as it were, of the characters they're watching—is, of course, is in the very nature of creating drama. I've often complained about shows that put their main characters in a "false jeopardy" from which you know they'll emerge. But if there is any justification in creating such a situation, it's that it challenges you to put yourself in that character's shoes. What would you do?

See, I think this kind of television is tremendously stimulating, as well as being productive. It can help offset the many tropes about TV as a time-waster and provider of mindless entertainment. I'm not suggesting that all shows should be this way all the time, nor do I think this would offset the many real faults that television has had from the very beginning. But if there's a way that the experience of watching television can be improved, I think it's worth looking at. Perhaps it could even create a demand for more thoughtful television. 

Many of you have probably taken part in online "watch parties," where everyone watches the same episode of a program at the same time and offers live commentary as the show progresses. Those can be great fun, and they're one way that TV can still help build community. This isn't exactly what I'm talking about, but it does contain some of the elements necessary to make it happen. 

So what would a television discussion group look like? How would it work?

I think the best model to follow is that of the typical book club. Rather than asking participants to binge an entire series or a number of episodes, choose one or two episodes a month—from the same series or two different ones, from complimentary or contrasting genres; it doesn't matter—and give people an entire month to view them, whenever it's convenient for them to do so.

Then, at the same time and day of the week each month, the group gets together. It can be an online chat, or it can utilize something like Skype, Zoom, Teams, FaceTime—anything like that. In fact, I'd encourage the use of something that allows members to interact face-to-face; it makes the discussion more real.

This isn't going to be a free-for-all, though; it has to be a structured discussion to make the idea work. That's why book clubs have discussion guides, and that's why a television discussion group would have to have the same. The moderator in charge of choosing the month's viewing, whether that always the same person or it rotates among the group members each month, compiles a list of topics for discussion, and provides the other members with the list prior to their viewing the episode. Then, when the group gets together, the moderator uses those questions as a guide to leading the discussion. From there, it's up to everyone to make the discussion work.

What kind of shows would make up an average season for the discussion group? Well, I'm obviously partial to classic television, programs that are available either through free streaming services, DVDs, or from sites like YouTube. If you want to use the gray market as your source, that's up to you. If it's feasible, some members might be able to share discs. No matter what, though, these shows have to be accessible to all members of the group. I'd think that anyone joining a classic television group, for instance, would already be interested enough that they'd have many of the shows, and they'd probably enjoy being introduced to the ones they didn't have. 

I could list a number of series that I can think of, those that have a proclivity for provocative questions, but often it's going to be one or two episodes of a particular series, rather than every single episode, that spark particular questions worthy of discussion. A question of medical ethics could come from Marcus Welby, or Medical Center, or The Eleventh Hour. Combat! often provides situational fodder, but so does M*A*S*H, and Hogan's Heroes gives you questions about lying and political assassination. The detectives in Naked City often voice their own concerns about ethics and investigations, and legal dramas like The Defenders and Judd for the Defense raise important questions in almost every episode. Mission: Impossible puts the ethical questions on an international stage, and The Bold Ones, between its legal, medical, and political wheels, frequently makes for interesting discussion. Route 66 can take an almost Rousseauian approach to questions about how much someone should become involved in the affairs of others. The Twilight Zone and Star Trek often contained interesting and or provocative storylines. The Law & Order franchise, which I don't like, nonetheless poses ethical issues about both the police and the DA's office, questions they might not have intended for people to discuss. And then there are the made-for-TV movies, especially ABC's Movie of the Week, that are always dealing with one issue or another. Any of the episodes or movies in my "Descent into Hell" series would qualify as well. What I'm saying is that there is no shortage of programs out there—in fact, you've probably already seen many episodes that set you to thinking about it, and talking about it afterward.

What kind of topics is the group discussing?

I think most thoughtful programs will suggest their own topics: legal dramas involve questions of ethics regarding tactics used by police and attorneys, the rights of the individual vs. the interests of society, the very concept of presumed innocence, and whether or not a court martial is more or less just than a civilian trial. War dramas raise issues related to political assassination, the role of civilians during warfare, and the morality of deception and outright lying. A series such as Mission: Impossible invites questions about the right of the United States to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countrys in orderto further American interests. Police dramas deal not only with the actions of police officers, but their rights as well: should a police officer be required to forfeit certain constitutional rights that are guaranteed to the average citizen? Were the people who helped Richard Kimble escape on The Fugitive justified in doing so, given that he had been legally convicted and that helping Kimble technically means obstructing justice? Medical programs often present uncomfortable choices for both doctors and patients, from whether or not there is a "right to die" to issues regarding minors, organ transplant, and the like. Shows of varied genres will often bring up confidentiality rights between doctor and patient, attorney and client, minister and penitent, with conflicting interests. None of these issues need involve divisive political discussions, but all of them require participants to put themselves in positions where they often have to make difficult choices between various interests, or question the ideals vs. the reality of the society in which we live.

One of the reasons I wrote about Ethics in America last week is that it gives us a demonstration of the directions in which such a discussion can go, which are often completely unexpected given the starting point. And I think something like that is thrilling, not only to watch but to participate in. One of the things I particularly like about Ethics in America and the other Fred Friendly seminars is the high level of respect that participants have for each other, as well as for the premise of the program itself. They take these scenarios seriously, as well as their obligations to share their candid, thoughtful opinions on the questions before them. 

Here is a link to a movie watchers' discussion group that functions more or less like what I'm proposing for television. Speaking of which, here's a link to a television viewing discussion group that meets in person! I think these provide models for anyone who wants to start a similiar group for television. 

Now, for all I know, there may be dozens of groups like this all over the place, and I just lead such a sheltered life that I'm not aware of any of them. (Don't blame me in that case; I was probably too busy watching television to notice.) But I think we owe it to ourselves to at least consider challenging ourselves in the way in which we watch television, and how we think about it afterward. And we owe it to ourselves to challenge programmers to provide us with this kind of programming as well. So what do you all think? TV  

What's on TV? Saturday, July 30, 1966

It's nice to look back at Saturday mornings when cartoons ruled the day. That classic era is actually a fairly small window, you know; up until the early 1960s, Saturday mornings consisted mostly of movies (mostly Westerns) and live-action shows like Rin Tin Tin, and by the end o the 1960s the scene was dominated by superhero cartoons and some made-for-TV animation that was truly horrible. But there was a period in-between, as you see this week, when there was a combination of classic toons that started out as movie shorts—Bugs, Daffy, and the like—Hanna-Barbera and Total Television characters, and shows that had started out in primetime before finding a home on Saturdays. For me, that's the Golden Age of Saturday mornings, and even though it could be preempted by sports broadcast via satellite from Europe, it was still a dependable way to grow up. These memories, along with everything else, come from the Northern California edition.

This week in TV Guide: July 30, 1966

One of my favorite sections of the old TV Guide was the two-part TV Teletype, which appeared on yellow pages at the front and back of each issue. One page was devoted to industry news from New York, the other to Hollywood; as the television industry moved more and more to the West Coast, the New York sections became smaller and smaller, often running no more than a couple of paragraphs. With its short, succinct sentences separated by ellipses, it was a dandy way to pack a lot of news into a page or two, and it was often the first thing I turned to in each issue—after the sports section, of course.

When it comes to this week's issue, well, it's full of articles but not a whole lot of information, if you know what I mean, especially when it comes to the lede. I can't really ignore an article about Johnny Carson, but I don't want to spend a lot of time on it either. So, I thought: why not write about these articles as if they were part of the Teletype? I can't promise that this little experiment will work, but what's life like without taking some chances? So. . . 

Here's Johnny! MAURICE CONDON reports that the people of Norfolk, Nebraska remember their favorite son, currently hosting NBC's Tonight Show. . . "John Carson was a good student," says Jennie Walker, Carson's math teacher at Norfolk High. "John always had a fast and funny answer" to whatever you might ask him, according to Chuck Howser, high school buddy. . . The Caauwe family now lives in the house Carson grew up in. "I sleep in Johnny Carson's bedroom!" says nine-year-old Theresa. She won't be the only woman to make that claim over the years. . . Carson got his broadcasting start at radio and TV station WOW in Omaha. He once paid for a 20-cent long-distance call by check, delivered to the station's auditor by armed guards. Cost him $25 to rent, recalls general manager Bill Wiseman Sr. . . . For next year's celebration commemorating 100 years of Nebraska statehood, Marie Laubsch, former owner of Carson's favorite hamburger haunt, says, "You tell John to come home and I'll come out of retirement and fatten him up with some of those good Norfolk hamburgers!"

MURIAL DAVIDSON reports from backstage at Virginia Graham's show Girl Talk that it's all fangs and claws when the girls let down their hair and let loose their tongues. . . Show's producer-director, Monty Morgan, says if Clare Boothe Luce wants to write a sequel to "The Women," she should start here: "She would come up with all the feminine cattiness she could ever need.". . . Example: famed gossip columnist Cindy Adams, discussing her various trips and exploits, starts a story about beingin a fabulous restaurant. Interrupts columnist Earl Wilson's wife, "As a waitress?" . . . Columnist Sheila Graham said that Zsa Zsa Gabor's most recent marriage "would last only as long as it took you to walk from Tiffany to Cartier." Zsa Zsa takes offense says Sheila's "too old" to sympathize with those in love. Sheila didn't reply, but friend and fellow columnist Suzy Knickerbocker did: "Zsa Zsa has an age complex and she has a right to one." . . . An actress and an author came to blows before a show; turns out they were both ex-wives of the same husband. . .  Virginia says you can always tell who the biggest stars are: "the bigger the woman, the less mean or catty she is about other women."

Singer John Davidson admits to ROBERT HIGGINS that "I'm terrified that people won't like me," feels that he's trapped in "all-American boy" image. The son of a Baptist minister, Davidson is tired of living up to a certain image, perhaps one reason why he becomes a virulent athiest and humanist. . . Davidson is so dedicated to his career he has no time for anything else. "I'm scared that people will find out that I'm only interested in things that affect me," says that until a year ago, he'd never read a newspaper. . . With no social life, he finds himself at home with monkeys. "They ask nothing in return. It's guaranteed acceptance." When his last monkey died, Davidson cried for a half-hour. . . Davidson knows that until he stops running scared and faces himself, people "will never know how much I have to offer."

Why aren't their more Negroes in the television industry? What it all boils down to, says EDITH EFRON, is that "most Negroes—even, in many cases, graduates of Negro colleges—are still unqualified for work in a complex industry." . . . Broadcast Skills Bank created by National Urban League to increase numbers, provide training lacking elsewhere. Problem: Negroes aren't applying. Westinghouse's George Norford says they haven't been particularly welcome in the past, remain skeptical about the "honesty and sincerity of the programs.". . . Says Otis Finley Jr. of the Urban League, "Our job now is to help our students leapfrog over generations of neglect and frustration into the age of astronauts, automation, cyberneties and mass-communication." It hasn't happened yet, but Negro composer George Broderick says those in the industry today are trail blazers: "They’re opening up the paths that the others will eventually follow." 

So there you have it, highlights from this week's issue. Of course, that's not all there; for the rest, just read on.

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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 Brigitte Bardot; comics Alan King, and Wayne and Shuster; singers Leslie Uggams, Jimmy Roselli, the King Family and the Four Seasons; and the Bel Caron Trio, adagio dancers. Ed interviews Brigitte about her impressions of the United States, and Wayne and Shuster appear in a sketch about two bank robbers who are being watched on closed-circuit TV. 

Palace: Host Arthur Godfrey presents comedian Sid Caesar; singer Abbe Lane; the Mamas and the Papas, rock ‘n’ roll group; comic Corbett Monica; the Berosinis, Czecholslovakian acrobats; and Les Apollos, balancing act. Sketch: Sid portrays a Viennese filmmaker who tries to save a failing Hollywood studio.

We can be reasonably certain of this week's lineups, since both shows are in the midst of summer reruns. I suppose your affection (or lack thereof) for Arthur Godfrey goes a long way toward determining how you feel about Palace, but he does have a good supporting cast, particularly Sid Caesar and Abbe Lane. (I was never a big fan of the Mamas and the Papas, so we'll give them a pass.) On the flip side, Ed has Alan King, his favorites Wayne and Shuster, and, of course, Bardot. I'm afraid I can't really decide, so I'm calling this week a Push.

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The weekend begins with the world's biggest single-day sporting event, the World Cup soccer final, shown for the first time ever on American television in a same-day broadcast from Wembley Stadium in London, via Early Bird satellite. (Saturday, 9:00 a.m. PT, NBC) The TV Guide Close-Up says it's live, but other sources say it's on a two-hour film delay; my own research indicates that NBC broadcast the match simultaneously in all time zones, and a 9:00 a.m. PT start translates to 5:00 p.m. in London. Since the kickoff actually occurred at 3:00 p.m. over there, this tends to confirm the film-delay theory. I like the idea that it was live, though.

Regardless, it's quite a debut for the sport. The match, played before a crowd of nearly 100,000 (including Queen Elizabeth) pits home favorites England against West Germany. "I After regulation time ends with the match level at 2-2, England scores twice during the 30-minute extra time to win 4-2.* With England's recent loss to Spain in the European Championships, this remains the country's only major international tournament victory. And despite the growth of soccer in the United States, the World Cup final wouldn't be shown live on broadcast television (or even same-day) until 1982.

*A good thing if it's true that the match wasn't shown live here; the two-hour delay would have enabled NBC to edit it to fit its two-hour timeslot.

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It's another week in which summer reruns are dominant, but that isn't going to stop us from finding the odd, the worthwhile, and the otherwise amusing. For example, I'm amused by Saturday's episode of Gunsmoke (10:00 p.m., CBS), in which "Festus is working a sa reporter for Dodge Citys new paper—despite the fact that he can't read or write." Sounds to me like he'd fit right in at most of today's newspapers, such is the state of journalism today.

On Sunday, The third anniversary of New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is celebrated with a tryptic of one-act presentations—a play, a ballet, and an opera—all based on the same source material, Frank Gilroy's one-act play "Far Rockaway," which tells the story of "a man who seeks punishment for an unpunishable crime." Gilroy's play is accompanied by "The Act," a ballet adapted from the story, and the one-act opera "The Hero," which sets the play to music. (7:30 p.m., NET)* If Frank Gilroy's name sounds familiar to you, it should: in addition to winning a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize for his play, The Subject Was Roses, he wrote, produced, and directed movies, and wrote extensively for television, including "Who Killed Julie Greer?", an episode of The Dick Powell Show that served as the pilot for one of my favorite programs, Burke's Law. (Powell played Amos Burke in that pilot.) Quite the Renaissance man, wouldn't you say?

*By the way, virtually all of the above background information comes not from the TV Guide listing, but from online sources which curiosity impelled me to look up. What I won't do for you, the readers.

You remember how I mentioned last week that Burr Tillstrom and the Kuklapolitan Players were servng as guest hosts for Hugh Downs on Today? That was in 1965; this week, Downs is again on vacation, and this Monday (7:00 a.m., NBC), actor James Daly begins his third week of a month-long stint as Downs's substitute. (When you work as hard as Hugh Downs did, you deserve a month-long vacation.) It's not as much of a stretch for Daly as it might seem; he was also one of the hosts on NBC's weekend radio program Monitor for a couple of years, so he knew the lay of the land, so to speak. Among the guests this morning is writer Harold Feisher, discussing the murders of eight student nurses in Chicago on July 13 by Richard Speck. I point this out because of an event that happens less than an hour after the conclusion of The Today Show, something that you don't read about in today's TV Guide: the murder of 15 people in Austin, Texas by sniper Charles Whitman, firing from the observation deck of the Main Building tower at the University of Texas. Remarkably, you can see live TV coverage of the event as it unfolded, broadcast on Austin station KLRN. (Parts one, two, and three.) The Chicago killings were considered America's first mass murder, and therefore, the worst; it only took 18 days for that record to be broken.

On Tuesday, Walter Cronkite hosts a CBS Reports look at "UFO: Friend, Foe or Fantasy" (10:00 p.m., CBS), investigating a controversy that was unresolved in 1966 and remains unresolved today. Cronkite's report looks at several recent high-profile sightings along with possible eplanations, and includes possible explanations for the phenomena. I remember being fascinated by the topic back then, buying UFO magazines and reading about them; I probably watched this show as well. Of course, I was also six years old at the time.

Wednesday gives us a chance to appreciate one of the most talented men on television: Frank Gorshin. He appears first as The Riddler in part one of a two-part Batman in which he pretends to be filming a movie as a cover for his nefarious plan. (7:30 p.m., ABC) Later, he's one of the guests on singer John Gary's summer replacement series for The Danny Kaye Show. (10:00 p.m., CBS) Gorshin does impressions of famous men in history, as if they were played by Richard Burton, John Wayne, Peter Falk, and others. That's pretty good.

Hopefully you've seen my recent podcast on television courtroom dramas, a genre I've alway enjoyed; it's not surprising, therefore, that I notice CBS's Thursday Night Movie, the 1960 courtroom/political potboiler A Fever in the Blood (9:00 p.m.), starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as a politically ambitious judge presiding over a high-profile murder trial, and Jack Kelly as his rival for the party's gubenatorial nomination, who also happens to be the procutor in the case. It's produced by Roy Huggins, and includes Angie Dickinson, Don Ameche, Ray Danton, and, in his film debut, Carroll O'Connor. 

Since we started the week with sports, we'll end it the same way, with the College All-Star Game (Friday, 7:00 p.m., ABC), with the best of this year's college seniors taking on the NFL champion Green Bay Packers from Soldier Field in Chicago. I've written about the College All-Star Game before, so I'll just let you know that the game turned out about as one-sided as you'd expect: Green Bay 38, All-Stars 0.

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In "For the Record," Henry Harding reports that both ABC and CBS are considering launching late-night talk shows to compete with Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. The networks are winning support from their affiliates, with more than 80 percent of CBS stations supporting such a move. The challenge being faced by local stations: it's more and more difficult for them to purchase movies. The inventory is shrinking and as the networks add more movie nights (five in the upcoming season), they're buying up all the best ones. No word on who CBS is considering, but the favorite at ABC is Joey Bishop, who's had plenty of experience filling in for Carson. And if you have him in your local late-night host pool, you'll be the winner.

Elsewhere, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow tied the not on July 19; he's 50, while she's 21. The marriage only lasts two years, but the couple remain friends until Sinatra's death; after the news broke about Woody Allen's infidelity, Sinatra reportedly offered to have him "taken care of." Frank's also reported to be the real father of Mia's son Ronan, but we have a one-rumor-per-story limit in these things.

Politically, Ron Nessen, NBC's Vietnam correspondent and future press secretary for President Gerald Ford, is in good condition after undergoing surgery for a shrapnel wound suffered while covering the war. Meanwhile, now that Ronald Reagan has thrown his hat in the ring for the California gubernatorial race, he's bowing out as host of Death Valley Days. His replacement is veteran actor Robert Taylor.

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On The Red Skelton Hour

This week's starlet is Christopher West, "100 percent girl and 200 percent expert on how not to get a TV role." She doesn't have to try to succeed at the first part; as you can see, she's got everything it takes. And as for the part about not getting roles—well, it hasn't been for lack of trying. She goes on "four or five" interviews a week, her agent providing "sure-fire" tips such as "Be perky, cute and sexy" or "Look witty" or "Think sinister." 

She also applies what could be called a creative approach to looking for work. Once, she interviewed at Universal, where she was told to "look all-American, wholesome and uncomplicated." The producer barely gave her a minute or two between rushing from the stage to the cutting room to the projection room. The next day, she sent him a skateboard, attaching a note which read, "Knowing how busy you are, I thought you might want something to ride to the set." She didn't get the part. Another time, she was at MGM for a part described as a "grieving sexy type." Between bites of a sandwich, the casting director told her that "we're going to decide from pictures," whereupon the next day she brought him a box lunch with a photo wrapped around each sandwich. "I believe this is what you wanted," she told him. She didn't get that part, either. And then there was the time her reading was continuously interrupted by secretaries and assistants telling the producer that "So-and-so won't be able to pick up Meredith at the airport." After every interruption, he asked her to start all over again and tell about herself. Finally, she said, "Listen, I don’t have anything better to do. Why don’t I pick up Meredith?" Nope, no part.

The parts she has landed have included more than a dozen spots on shows from Dr. Kildare to The Red Skelton Hour. In the meantime, she keeps trying; she comes equipped with résumés with three different heights, depending on what the director's looking for: 5-feet-5, 5-feet-5¼ and 5-feet-5½. Her IMDb credits run through the 1990s, which shows that you can't keep a good actress down. Especially if she's willing to send you a sandwich or a skateboard.

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MST3K alert: Daddy-O (1959) A rock ‘n’ roll singer who doubles as a race driver is charged with manslaughter. Dick Contino, Sandra Giles, Bruno Ve Soto, Gloria Victor, Ron McNeil, Jack McClure, Sonia Torgeson. (Friday, 5:00 p.m., KRON in Oakland) Actually, the thrust of this story is that the singer/race driver infiltrates a criminal organization in order to avenge the death of his best friend (the manslaughter mentioned in the description). It features hot cars, hot blondes, and hot goods. You'd think that would be a winning combination, wouldn't you? Well, wouldn't you?   TV