Evening star., 1952-01-02
On the Air:
Initial Set
|Of Awards
Is With Us
BY Harry Macarthur

u uIle, LIE GliU Vi GllG Usual, VI
seasonal, year of the theater and
broadcasting. Award-giving will
start now. increase rapidly in
pitch. then dwindle off, only to
start up again at mid-year when
a full season of television can
properly be judged.
The TV program which has not
had bestowed on it some prize
blue ribbon or chowder and
marching club accolade by Au-
gust, 1852, will be truly unique
1t undoubtedly will deserve some
sort of attention as the least
priced program in television, which
possibly will mean that it is great
but unsponsored.
But to get back to today's
awards. These are the ones made
annually this year for the second
time) by Look Magazine. They are
the results of votes turned in by
"the television industry-network
producers, directors
agency programmes and re-
viewers"
The winners. it is reported in
the current issue of the magazine,
in which the awards announce
ment is made, "are the choices
of the professionals whose jobs
are to create, develop. produce,
direct, sell and review the pro-
grams on the four networks"
X 4
1t might be pointed out, before
going any further with this, that
the reviewers, whose aim is to
you and the other view
ers, are in the minority here.
They should not be blamed too
much if you fail to go along with
the Look choices and, on the
other hand, they shouldn't be
given too much credit If you feel
the selections are proper. Here
then are the Look Television
Awards:
Best variety program. "Your
Show Of Shows" Who can argue?
This particular viewer can't
watch it every week, but every
time it's seen it impresses as a
truly magnificent achievement in
maintaining freshness and the
look of a brand-neW Broadway
revue every week.
Best comedy team, Sid CaSear
and Imogene Coca; best producer,
Max Lehman. Still no argument
The people who make the best
variety show best certainly must
be best in their lines of work,
(And a man on the public record
as a pre-"Show Of Shows" ad.
mirer of Sid Caesar and Imogene
Coca loves to see it happen.)
Best master of ceremonies, Mil
ton Berle. No. Admired as he may
be by the Berle fans, Uncle Milty
is no master of ceremonies. Ed
Sullivan, for all his liches and in
spite of the fact that he directs
his attention to the theater audi
ence. is a far better master OF
ceremonies, introducing the acts
and then getting out of the way
to let them entertain. John DAILY,
within the limits of Whats My
Line?" and tits News to Me-"
even better performs the master
of ceremonies function. So does
Clifton Fadiman on This Is Show
Business.
Best dramatic program. Studio
One" No argument, except the
note that the voting was done
in mid-season or earlier, before
"Celanese Theater" had made its
full impact.
Best director, Alex Segal. No
again, especially since
he now is producer director of
"Celanese Theater," though the
award was made on the basis of
his work last season on Pulitzer
Prize Playhouse"
Best children's program, "Kukla
Fran and Ollie" Still no argu-
ment, certainly. This isn't actually
a children's program, of course,
but if it has to be classified so to
win an award, let's not complain
it is, it's the best there
is of it.
Best educational program, 200
Parade" Again the argument is
not with the award, but with the
classification. Educational is such
a harsh word to hang on such a
lively entertainment, one of the
really few television programs
eagerly anticipated from Sunday
to Sunday. You can be dis
couraged by all sorts of dull busi-
ness during the week and then on
afternoon Marlin Perkins
and his animal friends make you
glad, after all, that you bought
that TV set. If this is educational,
there is education here for the
people who devise our school
systems.
\ X X
Best public affairs program and
special achievement, the telecasts
OF the Kefauver Committee hear
lngs. These says Look Magazine
put HALEY, an unknown lawyer
into offlce president of the New
York City counciD and threw Ke-
fauver's hat in the Presidential
ring" A special achievement, in
deed; how it ranks among public
affairs is verdict for the future
to make.
Best news program, News Cara
van" John Cameron Swayze's
daily news report is the one