Evening star., 1952-02-28
On the Air:
SuIIivun's
TV Secret
Now Is Out
by Harry Macarthur

W1lCH lives u BfEuU UlUIlb VI0WCTi
nervous fts, including q number
who hhd mF0ast OF the F0Wh'
(WFt1PEFv Sunday, ! tEilrj IA
otherwise dIVertinG variety Sh0wi
ilS name "A btaF Lee Bf0Ba ailG
hls DARN deed IA described IN thl
etlPRsnb l6sue OF e0P0netI WhIef
ldentiheS hlEl "a 4 VETERAN Phllar
delphis bF08deastepI" BF0sal tht
Ellaaaglne Felates IN A Bleee tltle(
hBd BHlllVanI FV's Miracle Man.
met the miracle man on 4 tpRlF
one GMV and after s9fteninR hin
Hp peHFed fgFth hiS WlAdemr TN
alaIeRHe, AeeeFdlnR 70 e9F9net
went like tbIkI
VaHV ease and p9lse ON stage,
RFgga said, New vow haven't Rel
II any more"
" know It," Sullivan moaned
none look at those cameras ane
I'm a dead pigeon"
"Thats the point" said RFoza
Don't look directly into thl
cameras, Look at the audiencG
and work to them"
Now there's q great piece OF ad'
vice. In its logic lies the cure foI
the most outlandish case of stage
fright ever developed. You'd likG
to be a vaudeville star, but you're
scared to death of audiencesi
Don't you worry. The secret Is tC
turn your back on the audience
and tell Jokes to those two stage
hands sitting in the wings playing
pinochle. The audience may have
to turn to pinochle while you're
entertaining the stage hands, but
you'll get over your stage fright
If TVS miracle man really is
this camera shy. Of course. he
might make a good program
better by working his miracles
from the other side Of the
cameras. His take-home pay could
be just as tidy sum.
The only other alternative Is to
seek advice about television from
some one other than a veteran
broadcaSter. He may know ali
there is to know about radio, but
television isn't radio. And tele-
vision is. after all, the medium
which permits millions Of persons
to watch Toast Of the Town" on
nights.
II
Intelligence Test-"The lower
the child's 10, the more likely he
is to watch many television mys-
tery-crime programs. It says this
right here in TV, which describes
itself as "the news magazine OF
the television world.
This is not Just o capricious
but one Of the con-
clusions reached by q recent sur
vey Of children's viewing habits
undertaken by Xavier University
In Cincinnati. The habits studied
we're those Of o cross section con-
sisting Of 998 sixth and seventh
yratie pupils In Cincinnati.
The average voting person In
this group watches televisi0f1 30
hours d week and thinks Milton
Ber1e Is funnier than any one else,
but this is not what might fright
sn d student Of surveys or d
sighter Of trends. What gives you
The Jolt Il the Get Of fgures
showing the percentage Of this
sf0up which sees each Of the
kh6duhits, 6t bi06dsahds thunder
shows.
f4hat che reads iike thiSi "t3ia
Story" % per cent flights Out"
ID bef cent l'Ble f'6Wf," AZ per
sehti nPiaihei0thesfnahy" 40 per
lenti MAN Against Crime 10
DeP cent nMaFtih HeheIU per
senti nFEMeh IN Aetl0h," 4b per
leHt "Fhe Webl" 4l per eehti
Hand OF Mystery" 40 per eenti
Suspense" 10 per eentr eter "A
Nv eNplalns
nFhe pattern Of responses here
IA significant, the report states
Children tend To 400 oil AV ngner
F9p example, tho " peF cent WhG
watch Mystery Playhouse on
sunday niRhtA az llilh a tend
Ia see 'PlAlnsGletheRm et Risgl
Hands 0f Mystery at 10 Rnd
Famous Jury Trials Rt 1850
Inspection Of responses clearly W.
dieated that q low 10 rating WRl
related 10 concentrated VlewlHg al
Inystery-c -crlme pF0gFams,
There ere 0 couple OF Things
. survey of this sort does not
show, of course, It does not show
The relationship of heridity, or
The relationship, that is, between
the 10 Of parents and that OF
children allowed to stay up until
ll:l5 on Sunday nights TO see
something called "Msytery Play
house"
It can not, either, show Diff
ference between cause and effect.
show. that Is, whether these crime
shows affect children or that the
low 20 brings with 1t q penchant
for crime shows.
The Other Side-In all fairness,
there Is another faction which
should be heard from. This one
might well be represented by FL
lott Lewis, whose theory Is that
crime shows "are O good safety
valve for most listeners. In other
words. they provide a harmless
outlet for the homicidal tenden-
cies which lie buried, not too
deeply. in many Of us. Certainly,
it is better to get rid of these po-
tentially dangerous thoughts vi
cariously, through listening to q
story, than to risk allowing them
to take over our own actions"