Evening star., 1951-10-16
On the Air
Hope Isn't
The Hope Of
TeIevision
By Harry Macarthur

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two or three years a mediocrity
equal to that which radio took
|25 years to develop.
Even II he can't honestly deny
this allegation, any true friend
Of television must find this the
time to charge into the fray. He
should not hesitate. this true
friend Of television. just because
the TV people have refused in
the past to heed his sound advice.
II television is to fall completely
into disrepute, never let it be be-
cause advice was not forthcoming
in time OF crisis. II television
win not take the medicine pre-
Iscribed. that will be just too bad,
but we can at least haul the
remains of to the cemetery with
eonsciences clear.
-
It Is expected, in fact, that
selevision will ignore the advice
it Is about to be given here. but
that isn't going to keep anybody
around here quiet or any un-
solicited advice suppressed.
The thing for you to do. fellows
and there's no time to lose
is to send a strong man with a
sharp axe out to chop down one
or two Of those micro-wave relay
towers. The sooner communica-
ton with Hollywood is cut off
completely. the sooner television's
health will start to improve.
If this deprives us of some of
the leading comedians, who feel
that they thrive only beside Bev-
erly Hills swimming pools. that Isl
a chance we will have to take. The
odds still are in our favor.
The several leading programs
which already have originated in
West Coast TV studios have man.
aged to make one thing abun-
dainty clear. We've been a little
unfair about kinescope record
ings. Some of those shows look
like that to start with, what
with fiat lighting on less-than-
spectacular SETS.
So far, at least, Hollywood can't
claim to have frightened the
televiewers' lives in any great de-
gree. Eddie Cantor's recent first
show from out there was the
dullest he's done yet on Tv. as
hackneyed as any radio show res
ident at Sunset and Vine for
years.
Red Skelton is another who is
not shown off to best advantage,
In three appearances he has
blown a welcome breeze of fresh
comedy through the living room,
but he has done 1t in spite of,
rather than because Of. the tech
nical departments.
Shelton is the one seen in long
shots when projecting a facial
expression and seen In closeup
when talking about and working
with a hand prop you are not
allowed to see. Skeletons all right,
but he'll be great if those wizards
of picture taking ever manage to
televise the proper sort of pic
lures of him.
II ***
II The latest to show Hollywood
in a poor light as a television
center was Bob Hope, who
Launched his new season this
week as one of several comics to
be seen on Sound Of Time. u
new Sunday-at-7 feature on NBC-
| lWNBW.
| OF all the big-name entertain
|ers to come to television from
another medium, Hope remains
Ifarthest from any sort Of under
standing of the nature Of TV
There is something almost AFRO.
giant about his insistence that the
televiewers at home should be
overjoyed to look on while he per-
forms a Hollywood-type radio
show for the edif1cation Of a stu
dio audience.
Hope again studiously avoided
any awareness of the presence OF
the cameras and the audience al
home on Sunday night, except for
one brief moment. This was when
he looked squarely into the cam
era at the living room audience
addressed it as Les Brown. and
thanked it for the music.
4 + +
Before he got around to this
the Hope show sounded exactly
like any of the radio programs he
has done since he discovered that
any mention of the La Brea tar
pits IS considered a witticism in
some circles-the ones in which
studio audiences travel.
He stepped between the cur
tains, acknowledged. the applause,
and suggested that NBC, having
cut him from an f.our and q half
to a half-hour, was grooming him
for station break. He then man
aged to get in jokes about Dagmar
(television has covered everything
except, Enroll Flynn CIV is fast
becoming Americas favorite i'm
door sport), Bing Crosby (doesn' t
know whether to 60 with NBC or
buy it, and Franchot Tone
(trainer of the fighter who lost
263 bouts). Hope ought to do this
course in par, all right: he's been
around it often enough.
| Somewhere in the course of the
proceedings, Miss Dinah Shore
Ilsang Hello. Young Lovers" To-
lday's good news is that Miss Shore
Il will have her own programs, with
Iout old jokes, on NBC-TV Tues
IIdays and Thursdays at 7:30, start.
III q