Evening star., 1951-01-29
On the Air
Morgan Has
Talent Hunt
To End Them
By Harry Macarthur

Henry Morgan came back to
television the other night, but it
was not made Immediately clear
whether or not this is a step for
ward for the medium. Mr.. Nor
gan, of course. can always be de-
pended on to do the unexpected
and he did not let his admirers
down in that direction.
We already have had the new,
subdued or toned-down-to-a-col-
lege-yell Milton Berle this season
and now we have the new Henry
Morgan. Not once on his opening
night did he insult the sponsor
or disparage his product by in
timating darkly that it tasted like
gasoline and to partake of it
would be to risk the agonies of
indigestion. On Morgan this is
unexpected, as unexpected as any
thing he ever has done.
Mr.. Morgan's new project, 1.-THE
Great Talent Hunt" (WNBW-
Friday, 8 p.m.). is well-matched
to the mood of his wit and he
probably is the best man around
to be master of ceremonies of it.
1t is burlesque of the numerous
amateur and semipro talent
hunts, something right down
Morgan's alley. though it is dam
gerouS, since those shows often
burlesque themselves.
The program depends as much
on the caliber of the Contestants"
each week as it does on Morgan
and his platoon of writer's. Last
Friday he presented Cd a man
who produced something resem-
bling "Nola" by rapping himself
on the skull with small mallets;
CD a woman who played a west
ern ditty on a collection of cow
bells; CD man who strapped
pair of rattles to his biceps and
beat time to -Four Leaf Clover"
by f1exing his muscles, and "a
a cockatoo, aged 81, whose mis-
tress intimated it could sing "Ah,
Sweet Mystery of Life" but
which. when urged, managed only
to shrek a healthy "A-a-a-a-h"
to represent the first word and
note.
This was quite a comic assort-
ment of talent. It would be no
surprise to learn that Mr.. Morgan
finds his contestants" in the
Offices of theatrical agents, but
I'm willing to go along with his
gag.
On thinking it over, incidentally.
it is evident that Mr.. Morgan
showed a great deal more re straint
than it first seemed in the treat
ment OF his sponsors product. He
had more opportunity to get into
trouble than he ever has had
before. There was full-size COM
mercial after every speciality num-
Der and small one IN each num-
Der.
The major drawback of the
Morgan Talent Hunt" is that itI
has been installed by some one,
who can't like him very much. in
opposition to Pulitzer Prize
Playhouse" (WMAL-TV) and
Ford Theater" (WTOP-TV. The
choice between those two is often
difficult enough without compli-
eating it any further for those
who like Morgan but can also
leave him alone.
The only advice today is that
the choice should be easy the
next time you see Judith Ander-
son listed as the star of the ABC-
TV Pulitzer Playhouse" Her per-
formance Friday night in THE
Silver Cord"-at least the last
half OF it viewed after duty was
out OF the way-Was superb. This
apron-strings drama has some
mileage on it, but Miss Ander-
sons portrait of a selfish, schem-
ing mother, who won't relinouish
her two sons to marriage, gave it.
the full impact of something seen
for the first time.
Those people who listen to jerry
Strong at 6 o'clock in the morn
ing may never know it, but Jack
son Lowe is moving over to WINK
today. He will come on the air at
the other end of the schedule, 111s
hours after Mr.. Strong signs off.
to fill the 9 p.m.-to-1 am. period,
Monday through Saturday.
Mr.. Lowe, who will have to be
the Mayor of Eighth and streets
NV" now instead of the mayor
OF Connecticut Avenue" came to
WWDC in December, 1912. and
has been there ever since. He is
happy about the change, though.
since it will allow him to be on
the air every night, uninterrupted
by baseball or basketball. His
promise to WINK listeners is an
all-request program in accordance
with his belief in playing as much
music as possible and the music
people want to hear"
The 1880 Club" record show
on WWDC will be taken over by
Willis Conover, who will be spin
ming platters daily from 4 to 6
and from 8 to 10 pm. Two other
WWDC personalities also will ex-
tend their schedules starting
today. In addition to his to 10
am. show, Art Brown will return
at 1915 pm. for As minutes.