Evening star., 1952-02-29
| On the Air
| NBC Sneuks
Its Culture
Into TV
By Horry Macarthur


Lobe" This was the networks
plan for injecting culture into the
television audience by pre- -emptine
regular program periods for doses
OF same. It was announced in
the beginning with pride, awe and
a certain amount Of fanfare and
If you thought that was the end
Of Operation Frontal Lobe" it
just goes to show how wrong you
can be.
Operation Frontal Lobe" has
been functioning all along, sneak
ing culture into your diet while
you weren't looking, or rather
while you were looking but didn't
know it was culture. This has
been going on since last October,
according to Variety, a journal
which knows about everything
that has been going on in show
business since 1866 or five min
uteS ago.
You thought, perhaps, that
story of Robert Vogeler's trial and
imprisonment which Fred Coe
presented on "Television Play
house" was just well-done, dra-
matte documentary? Nope. That
was a dose of Operation Frontal
Lobe" So was the same programs
story Of Louis Braille, "A Softness
in the Wind"
4 +
Operation Frontal Lobe" also
was responsible for Robert Mont
gomery's New Years eve docu-
rnentary, "Class Of '67," and for
his more recent infanti1e para
lysis drama, ''Rise Up and Walk"
Last weeks lights out" play
about the Eye Bank and the three
part peer Cyht," which has two
more Sundays to 90 on "Cat1e0
Theatef" are other examples Of
the RESULTS If NBG -fv's plan f6f
spreading euitute Via nv.
fhe project also takes credit f6t
Single performances, such as
Glah.Gatt6 Meh0tti's "Athahi ana
the Night Visit6tsJ ahd Aftif0I
f6seahihi's teievisi6h appearances
With The kB6 stHiph6hyl
Scripts III the W6rks h6t vet
sehedHled for specific programs
iheilde dramas on the lrlal ahdI
aealh NJ Socrates the communal
experiment conducted by lhe PlyzI
MHHth egl9hg ahd dislArtlHhR M
the HHLh IN seh99ls N the seVlet
EHhe NJ Germany 'Fhe recently
HnnaHneea RlXsRRFt serles HhI
oMan" the pFaleeted aRRealanGe,
via hlmr nj Bertrand RBssell and
the Navy history, "Vigtary RtI
Sea- are ether "0peFRtlHn Frontal
Lobe" protests,
Apart fran these special pres
entatlans, however, the ARC-VV
strategy seems to he to sneak GVl-
tUre into the schedule, without
calling special attention to 1t, Ap-
parently 1t gets into more homes
this way and may even 80 down
more easily II 1t is not labeled,
Even Martin Kane, PriVate1
Eye" Is scheduled for Its dose OF
culture, according to Variety, and
II Operation Frontal Lobe" can
spread culture there, brother, it's
success. That's one place
though certainly not the only one
where It's not likely to 60 un-I
noticed.
Future ArrlVes-While Speaker
Rayburn was putting TV and
radio on the front page by point
ing out that House rules forbid
teleVision or broadcasting Of com
mittee hearings, another matter
Of Importance TO televislon's
future was getting into print
farther back toward the classified
ads. Pay-as-you-go nv, In case
you didn't notice. stuck its head
IN the Federal Communications
Commissions door and asked II
II could please come out Of The
laboratory.
The Zenith Radio Corp. OF
Chicago filed a formal petition
asking for an operating permit for
PheheVlsleH, This IA one OF the
systems by which subscribers pay
for faeVles or other programs they
wish 10 see All home, A scrambled
picture Il teleVised and can be-
received clear by only those who
order the unseFamblihg signal
which Is sent over telephone lines,
PheneVision was tried out al
year ago In Chicago, successfully,
according to Zenith, II Is the
first of several such pay-as-you-
60 or subscriber teleVision systems
to be brought before the FEC with
q formal request for permission to
operate commercially,
This gives the commissioners
the task of deciding whether or
not II Is proper 10 assign a tele-
vision channel, which belongs to
all OF the people, to a hroadCaster
who proposes to use II only for
the benefit of some OF the people
who are willing to pay. They are
not TO be envled In fact, the COM
inissloners probably started doing
q little envylng on their own the
moment Zenith turned up---of
Wayne Coy. who isn't one OF
them any more.
49,
Programs and Pe6pie-f3uff t'iii=
stf6ni, Fran Allison and the
Kukiap6iitahs viii be In Washs
inet6h the week OF March H.,
teieVisiha "Hukia Fran and Ollie"
from The WNBW studios, 4,
Frank slhatfa, wh6 has been teie=
casting fF6m the West e8ast, viii
Be IN NeW Y6Fh March 10 fer the
first OF f0HF sh6ws (WF6PzFV=I
Tuesday 4 PM he VIII do fFem
there - Meg MundV, JeFia
euFtFlRht and Wendell eereV will
head the east when "eelaHese
FheateF" NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
day 10 pm,i tes Philip RaFTy's
comedy, nFs sAimal KlnRd0m, +"