Evening star., 1951-12-14
On the Air:
No BefIe Is
Better Than
All BerIe
By Harry Macarthur

Berle, but that dire possibility
may become a reality in Pitts
burgh. The PENNSYLVANIA city, like
many of the television cities, has
only one TV channel occupied,
until the FEC "freeze" is lifted
and the materials situation per-
mits new construction.
With four networks in opera
ton, with local sponsors clamor-
ing for the opportunity to spend
their money and with viewers
giving loud voice to their senti-
ments, there is a great deal of
pressure on the one station in
these one-station-cities. The vari-
Gus pressures in Pittsburgh
finally resulted this week in the
scheduling by WDTV of the first
half of THE Frank Sinatra
Show" at 8 pm. Tuesday and
Keep Posted" at $50.
The stations plan is to have
the Berle show alternate every
second week with the Sinatra-
Posted" lineup and, according to
Variety, the theatrical trade
journal. the next move has been
left up to Berle's sponsor. The
sponsor has had. until now. an
all-or-nothing policy. On a pre-
vious occasion, when the Pitts
burgh station. a DuMont outlet,
wanted to show a special Johns
Hopkins Science Review" on
Tuesday at $50. it was not allow
ed to carry the first half of the
Berle program.
This time, when WDTV an
the proposed alternating
schedule. Pittsburgh columnists
got a flood of mail. The greater
of it. Variety says, was
from viewers who wouldn't mind
seeing Berle every other week and
some - the tasteless cadS - said
they wouldn't care if he were
dropped altogether.
This showed the station man.
agement clearly where it stood
and it answered with another
ultimatum the Berle sponsors
ultimatum that he'd be shown in
Pittsburgh every week or not at
all. 1t will be every other week or
not at all, said the station, which,
naturally, wouldn't mind giving a
weekly Pittsburgh showing to
Keep Posted" a sponsored Du-
Mont program.
You can bet that Berle won't
give UP this segment of an audi
ence easily. He'll get into Pitts
burgh if he has to take the kline
scope down there himself, show
ing it in bars and carting it from
house to house. This is a little
milestone on television's path
though, the first instance of a
station wilfully dropping "Mr
Television.
Week End Guests.
TOmorrOw-Lola Albright, John
Loder and Freddy Martin and Or
chestra, on THE Ken Murray
Show" (WTOP-TV-8 PM
Olsen and Johnson, on "All-Stal
Revue" CWNBW-8 p.m.)
Carol Bruce and Phil Foster, join
ing Faye Emerson in a salute to
Brooklyn, on Wonderful Town
WTOP-TV-9 p.m.) -. Herb
Shriner, Florence Desmond, Rob-
ert Merrill and the Bill Baird Ma
rionetteS.. on Your Show of
Shows" (WNBW-9 p.m) .
Nat King" Cole, Eileen Barton
and Mel Torme, on Songs for
Sale" (WTOP-TV-10 PM
Sunday - Fred Hartley and
James Carey. discussing do We
Have a Sound Wage Policy?" on
American Forum" (WNBW-
2:30 p.m) =. Senator Guy Gil
lette. on Meet the Press"
(WNBW-4 pm.) -. Represent
ative Walter Judd, William Brad
ford Huie and Henry Hazlitt, dis
cussing China, on "Chronoscope"
(WTOP-TV-5:30 p.m0 :. Polly
Bergen, Jane Scott and Nat
King" Cole, on "Star of the
Family" (WTOP-TV-6::30 p.m.)
/. Rosemary Clooney, on The
Paul Whiteman Revue" (WMAL-
TV-7 PM Helene Francois.
singing sister of Denise Darcel,
on THE Jack Benny Show"
(WTOP-TV-7:30 p.m.) Alan
Young, Roy Rogers and Dale
Evans, on "The Comedy Hour"
(WNBW-8 p.m.) Sophie
Tucker, Ferruccio Tagliavini and
Harold Lang, on Toast of the
Town" (WTOP-TV-8 PM
Everett Sloane. in Perspective" on
Television Playhouse" (WNBW
. p.m) +. Ann Sothern, on
"The Fred Waring Show"
(WTOP-TV-9 p.m.) :. Bobby
Clark and Audrey Hepburn, on
Celebrity Time" (WTOP-TV-
10 p.mD Gilbert Miller. on
Leave 1t to the Girls" (WNBW-
1920 PM.
Monday-Margaret Phillips, on
Hollywood Screen Test" (WMAL-
TV-7:30 p.mD Rear Adm.
W. g. SCHNEIDER, on "Pentagon,
Washington" (WTTG-8 pm
Veronica Lake and Roddy
Mcdowell, in THE Blues Street, "
on "Video Theater" (WTOP-TV
-8 p.m.) jerome Hines, on
Voice of Firestone" (WNBW-
$3.50 p.m.).. :. Four medical artists
demonstrating the relationship
between art and medicine, on
Johns Hopkins Science Review
(WTTG-8:30 PM William
Eythe. in "Perchance to Dream. /"
on Lights Out" (WNBW-9 pm }
/. :. Jean Pierre Aumont, in