Evening star., 1951-11-28
On the Air:
|TheyWere
Brave Boys,
AT Least
By Harry Macarthur

| Leu IL at ledSt DC SalQ VI bOU
Elliott and Ray Goulding that
they faced their fate like men,
with heads held high. a faint
trace of sardonic smile on their
lips and a debonair waving away
of the blindfold. Installed in the
4 INBC-TV (WNBW) schedule at
tbs pm, they stepped bravely
before the enraged "Kukla, Fran
and Ollie" admirers and went
into their act, for all the world
as if the hostess had invited them
to stand up and entertain the
party.
1t is an off-beat brand of
comedy which they purvey, a sort
of unpublished version of the Ran
som Sherman type Of humor. 1t
ranges, if the opening show is a
fair sample, from satire to plain
Stiffness. The chances for success
of The Bob and Ray Show" prob
ably depend on their ability to
keep the ratio of satire to Stiffness
high.
In all fairness they ought to be
allowed a Shakedown cruise, at
least. For awhile, though, they'll
just have to claim their fame for
bravery in the line of NBC-TV
duty. 1t must have been one of
the toughest jobs ever devised in
show business to step into the
living rooms of the tx. F. and O."
fans, especially right after "Burtl-
strom" and his Kuklapolitans had
had such fine, sly fun with their
own vivisection.
! 'Burtlstrom. if you weren't
on hand is how Burr Tillstrom
has to be said on a Is minute
IprogramD
Plus Ca Change-In all fair
ness, too, time had better be
allowed to tell in the case of
Those Two" new residents of
the Monday-Wednesday Friday
.at-7:3O spot on NBC-TV. The
two are Vivian Blaine and Pinky
Lee. They are talented people,
perhaps, but, while they have not
made things any worse in this
particular corner of television,
they have not improved them
notably. either.
Roberta Quinlan and Bob STAN
ton, the Mighty Mites of Carpet
Merchandising, may have infuri-
Iated some viewers, but they also
pleased some. They at least have
had the virtue of familiarity, add
ling no unnecessary distractions
lat an hour which can be pretty
hectic, what with the young still
riding the living room range in
search of any desperadoes who
escaped capture on "Footlight
ITheater" or Frontier Theater."
Miss Quinlan usually operated
at a lower decibel level than Miss
Blaine. which sometimes can be
a good thing, and 1880 is one of
the times. Still, this departments
benevolent advice today is to wait
and see about Those Two" II
you give them enough time you
either will get used to them or
enough time will become enough
rope.
4
The Machine Age That new
tape recorder. developed by Bing
Crosby Enterprises for recording
of the electronic information for
both picture and sound Of a tele-
vision program, will be undergo
ing some operational tests soon.
While itself being tested, 1t will
be used as a protesting device for
variety and dramatic shows, so
that they can be checked for dull
spots and the like before being
telecaSt.
The device is one Of several
which Brig. Gen. David Sarnoff
asked his research scientists for
Irecently-and which they un-
doubtedly will bring out in their
own version in due time.
Another of Gen. Sarnoff's ideas
for the electronic age is his re-
Gently announced aircraft warning
system. Gen. Sarnoff also envi-
sions this as a trans-ocean tele-
vision link, with a line of airplanes
flying over the Atlantic while the
television signal Is flashed from
one to the next by microwave and
ultimately to the goal.
This shows you how far the
scientists are ahead Of some
other people in the TV field.
Think of using all those Million
dollar airplanes and all that high
octane gas just to send Milton
Berle's latest antic to London!
X 4
Programs and People - This
weeks major event-one of them,
surely-will take place on ALL
Star Revue" (WNBW-Saturday,
g PM. The featured comedian
this week will be Jimmy Durante
and his guest will be the star
whom Helen Hayes, Katharine
Cornell and Lynn Fontanne I'M
doubtedly call the First Lady Of
the Theater-Miss Ethel Barry
more. It will be her television
debut and also the first TV ap-
pearance by any member of the
theater's royal family. Steve
Allen is expected to wind up even
tually as the head man of a daily
one hour show at 1890 am. On
CBS-TV. And Dave Caro-
way, come the new year, should
be launching his new daytime pro-
gram on NBC-TV, two-hour
daily morning show tentatively
titled To-day" He'll do it
from New York, which could mean
that he is deSerting the Chicago
style" or, more happily. that he
is being sent by the Chicagoans
to bore from within. Jack