Evening star., 1950-11-26
7 TeIeVisi0n-Rudio
Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Heo|y Star
In Bright New Show for Home Viewers
By Horry Macarthur

curtains again and thanks the
studio audience for coming. He
obviously doesn't care about the
rest of us.
It's enough to drive the at-home
audience to Stop the Music" if
it hasn't long since turned to
Groucho Marx. That Burns man
is at ease about television because
he won't admit to himself that
he's on it.
The above-named reservation is
that Burns and Allen are pretty
funny people, generally, in the
act they have been doing through
the years. He is a cagey enough
Snowman that he may take a
good look at teleyision some day
and realize that it is something
more than a means to give some
one a long-distance look at a
vaudeville turn.
Bergen Filmed q Show,
But for Studio Audience
Edgar Bergen demonstrated on
his Thanksgiving debut (WTOP-
TV-4:30 p.m) that his televi-
sion thinking has been directed
at methods of visually dressing
UP his radio show. He managed
to prove that something which
looks good on paper may turn
out to be less than sensational in
the actuality. There were some
laughs, all right. in the Bergen
script, even in that elderly
whats your name?" routine he
does with Mortimer Snerd. But
there also were a pair of short
comings, one king-size and the
other minor error in Judgment.
The first of these was the TV
sin we have just been wailing
about. When it first was an
nounced that Bergen would do
his television shows on f1lm the
inference was that things were
all right in that quarter, that he
recognized that this was a new
medium and not just radio to
look at.
Well. he did the show on film,
all right. but he performed 1t on
q theater stage before a studio
audience. And that was the audi
ence he played to. This is espe-
cially painful in Bergen's case
because he has always seemed to
be man with imagination and
there are SO many imaginative
things he could do with cameras
and his particular cast.
With him, ventriloquism has gone
beyond the original trick of SEEM
ing to throw the voice into the
mouth Of a dummy by talking
without moving the lips. Charlie
Mccarthy has taken on q definite
personality OF his own. No one
would complain If Bergen, in films
for television as he has in films
for theaters, cheated" by dub
bing in voices instead Of standing
there moving his lips in unison
with Charles. But he can't do
that standing on a stage before
an audience.
The other mistake Bergen made,
lit seemed to one viewer, was the
attempt to crowd too much into
"a half hour show. He managed
TO get in comedy dialogues with
Charlie. Mortimer Snerd. his new
charmer (Podine Puffington) Ray
Noble. piano solo by Diana Lynn
and a large Thanksgiving finale.
Nothing ran overlong, of course,
but nothing cqAld get properly
started, either.
The reservation in the dissent
ing opinion must also be made in
Bergen's case. of course. He is
an experienced Snowman and,
while his Christmas program al
ready has been filmed. there is
hope for the future.
New Network Storts
With WINK Outlet Here
A sixth radio network will start
sending programs into land out
Of Washington today when the
Progressive Broadcasting System
starts service. with WINK as the
local outlet. The dedicatory broad
cast, Salute to Progress" will be
heard today from 2 to pm. on
WINK. with Bob Hope. Spike
Jones. Peggy Lee, Harry Won Zell
and Edward Arnold, plus some
stars who will have regular PBS
shows, taking part. Among these
latter will be Alan Mowbray, Stan
Kenton. Connie Haines, frankie
Laine and Mel Torme.
Among the new networks Mon
day. -through-Friday daily pro-
grams to be broadcast by WINK
will be: Betty Carr. Detective, ~
with Hope Emerson, $50 am:
1"Cindy." with Jeanne Cagney
9:45 am; Grand Motel" with
Marc Lawrence. 10:15 am: MARY
Grove at Home" 10:30 am: This
Is Nine" with Barbara Britton
10:45 am. and Uncle Remus, u
for children. at 8:45 pm. Pro-
gressive children stay up late,
huh?
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