Evening star., 1951-04-09
| On the Air
| TVS Unions
| Fuscinute
|Mr. Borqe
By Harry Macarthur

neither pro nor con, but more
that of a detached observer who
finds high comedy in mans dem
onstration Of his quirks and
foibleS.
Sometimes he is even startled
by the attention paid to minor
union matters.
II belong to four unions my
SELF" he was saying the other day
at luncheon. Rather, I used to.
Petrillo made me get out Of AGVA
(the American Guild Of Variety
Artists and it was on the front
page of the New York Times and
papers all over the country. !
could stand on my head and play
the piano with my hair and not
get any publicity, but I resign
from a union and it's big news"
The variety of unions and the
divisions Of their duties during
the production Of a teleyision
show delight the piano-playing
humorist. whom you can see every
Saturday at Z pm. on WNBW.
Il y II
1--WE start rehearsalS for my
show at 1890 in the morning" he
said. There are 200 people on
stage and no actors. The unions
| get all their men In there and
there isn't any room left for the
actors.
"They have people to do every
thing. One day the director
wanted q chair moved q few
inches downstage and ! started to
give 1t a push. A little old fellow
about 80 came up. tAh-ah, Mr..
Borge.' he said, that's what I'm
here for He pushed the chair a
few inches and I never did see
him again.
Zone time we were using an
electric organ" Mr.. Borge went
on. "and I wanted the loudspeaker
moved. 1t was right in the middle
of the stage and I wanted it
moved over to the side. That
seemed simple enough to me. but
I asked to have it moved at 1890
and it finally was moved about
five minutes before we went on
the air.
"It took three unions to move
it. One man pushed the speaker, !
a second one moved the wire and
"a third one plugged it in. And
before they could do that, we had
to get a union to decide what
unions could move the speaker
and another union to decide that
the first union had the right to
decide"
Mr.. Borge doesn't seem to be
unhappy about this. He merely
considers it one Of the funnier
aspects of the human comedy, so
long as 1t doesn't push costs so
high that it drives television out
Of business.
Il II II y
Director -at-Work: June Lock-
hart had a little trouble on
first examination of the script,
|evaluating the character she
played recently in THE Just and
the Unjust" on Pulitzer Prize
Playhouse" (WMAL-TV - Friday,
10 PM. Director Frank Telford
tried to explain.
THE basic theme" he said, sis
that you can't marry the man you
love and, as a result. your whole
life will be- changed" Miss Lock-
hart only looked quizzical and he
tried again.
Look" he said to her. tits as
/ if I took your equity card away
and you could never act again"
She got 1t right away.
Programs and People: A new
hillbilly session entitled Town
and Country Time" is due to start
tomorrow night at 10 on WMAL-
TV. It will be a weekly half hour
conducted by Connie B. Gay, with
the aid of Grampa Jones, Square
Dance Caller Ralph Case and
Smitty Smith,. guitarist and singer.
Having had his I'LL Of freak
entertainment. or perhaps having
discovered. that audiences have
had their I'LL of same, Henry Nor
gan is winding up 'The Great
Talent Hunt CWNBW-Friday
$3.50 PM with this weeks tele-
cast. He's not going OF the air,
however, merely changing his TVI
formal. To what. he doesn't say,
but "The Henry Morgan Show"
starting April 20 (same time and
channeD, will be "Morgan's idea
of what q comedy show on TvI
should be-" "One thing it won't
have is studio audience. :. !
Voice of Firestone." on NBCI
radio and television tonight at
$3.50. is a real veteran of broad
casting. The first commercial
simulcast of q musical show, has
been on the same network at the
same time since starting on radio
in 1928 and now is starting its
I23d year with q new 52-week
contract.
II Il II Il
It's Just Like Stock: The case
Of CloriS Leachman, one Of tele-
visions buster and brighter dra-
matte personalities at the moment,
is fair demonstration of the de-
mand the medium places upon
some of its performers. Tomor-
row night Miss Leachman will be
seen in the leading feminine role
in 1.-THE Foggy Night Visitor"
on Suspense" (WTOP-Tv $50
pmD It was only a week ago
tonight that Miss Leachman was
playing Mildred in "Of Human
Bondage" An actress can average
three TV roles a month. as Miss
Leachman does, but she has to be
~ l. l.