Evening star., 1952-02-27
Ga the ALL
Just Blend
In With the
Furniture
Nv Harry MseATthuV

" Harry MseAFthuF
Mlltpn q, Fprd has been ON tele,
ylslpn fHF enly q few weeks now
nNt no ALREADY can ha Ret deWH Rl
NnleNe, II he is not the only one
he Is one OF very few people or
teleVlsipn, or anywhere Ielse fpl
that matter, who does his best u
give away q steak every night,
Since these are bona tide, au-
thentic, bought and paid fol
steaks, this Is one giVeaWay show
which might well be condoned By
even the sternest anti-giveaWay
critic. These are troubled times
for the carnivorous and nothing
that puts red beef on the table Ii
to be criticized.
Mr.. Ford performs this chari-
table service nightly for some
lucky viewer Of his TV show, O
melange Of Ford, his parrot
Richard; music, dancing. comedy
comic moments plucked out Of old
movies, commercials and maybe q
few other things. 1t is seen on
WMAL-TV from 11:05 pm. to
midnight, Monday through Friday
ALI the prospective meat eater
has to do to earn Mr.. Ford's
nightly steak is win a simple con-
test (indentify a jig-saw picture
of a movie star, count the dots
in a whirling pattern. etc.,, then
call Milton @. with the right
answer. The first part of this is
a lot easier than the latter part.
Ford says he has been told,
without even asking, Of sew
eral apartment house telephone
switchboards which light up like
the control panel Of a submarine
in a crash dive the moment he
waves that slab Of COW at the
camera. II 1t happens In two
houses, 1t must happen
III many. Anyhow, the WNGAL-TV
telephone operator has o hot old
time for awhile juggling her 13
trunk lines.
#%A
Mr.. Ford already had gained
some attention around here on
The radio before he took to tele-
vision. He still serves q large
radio audience, for three hours
every afternoon and for almost
four on Saturday. over WWDC.
He also tape records programs
during the week, totaling any
where from one to two hours. for
in New York. He used
10 commute from here to do the
New York show live, but had to
give II UP.
"1'm a real hick when / get TO
New York" he said the other day
'1'd get UP there and with all
those things going on / never
s0u1d have sense enough 10 do the
;h6W, let d fiieht's sleep ana come
home. t had To d6 the show, then
to Oh the town, tttif the night
.iubs, get maybe Afl hours sleep,
jhefi come back here Afid DO Oh
IhR Air with that Che hours Bieet]i
'Y6u can't do that forever Y6u
.aR't even do IL very long, t dis
l6vefedi / had 10 giYe IL upt TheI
B0hs9F said | e6uidh,t go theI
Ih6W unless | Md lt live but II
lldnlt care Contrary 10 general
lBERleh t8u dGh't oct FlGh lmEHes
ilateiH Bust Because s9Ene one IN
dew YGfk hires keul II ! hAq tg|
live AH one or the etheFI " had
h be NeW Fgrk,"
Fortunately the sponsor
lhanged his mind and MFi Ford
ltlll has his New Work Fadle sheWs
iase Whlle no continues W 10 4
9gsy man IN washington bread
casting,
"Hnw about this TV shnw9" he
was asked, How much OF your
time does that take up noW9"
I'm not sure" he said with 0
Iook Of slight surprise at the real
Ization, you can't really say, ]
may be trying to dream up an
Idea while I'm shaving, while I'm
eating breakfast or while Tn
downtown, ] guess it's al
ways with me-"
Mr., Ford's approach to enter
5aining may be q zany one, Incl
ientally. but there Is some sound
thinking behind his attitude to-
ward TV. He is continually trying
% talk his way out Of rather than
nto bits involving jackson Weav-
r., Commedienne Sue Ryan,
Dancer Evelyn Davis and the
'thers.
"r think the forced. high.pres-
ure, Milton Berle type of thing
las go ito co." he said. 1T seems
20 me that the more relaxed ap-
,roach will last longer. Garroway
vas great on that Sunday night
show, though maybe o little too
for some people. Steve
Allen, for my money, Is fine.
"As q matter OF fact. I think
4 you're going TO be on television
night after night, the only way
10 last 10 10 blend right In with
Inc living room furniture"
Man has o point there, oil
right.
With the Comics. Phil Harris
10 the ono who got away from
CHS, which was trying 10 Get
hin away from NBC, over which
no and Alice Faye have been
broadcasting since the fall Of
1868. NBc has Just announced
the previously runaored signing
Of Mr.. Harris TO O new "long-
term contract for both radio
and television." u 10 expected
that no will all guest star roles
on NBc.TV programs while O
iormat Of his own 10 being dc.
Veloped.
Alan Young. who has been on