Evening star., 1952-03-07
On the Air
Cost Costs
| Simplify
| Tv Drun1u
By Harry Macarthur

from NABET and the man from
|IATSE.
Simplification is precisely wha
one union is bringing to one ares
lof televsion. however. Thing
being as they are the TV drains
producers look enviously ct tn,
Broadway hit. "The Fourposter.'
with its two-player cast, and wisl
their writer's would 60 and ds
likewise. Or better still, the!
dream. would be q TV world frl
LOT Cornelia Otis SINNERS. whit
wouldn't need supporting casts.
It Is the cost of acting which
brings these thoughts on and which
Is directly responsible for the sim.
plifcation mentioned above. Ar
actor or actress playing a walk-or
role in a one-hour TV drama get
Ia minimum fee Of $45. which in.
Guides eight hours of rehearsal
If he has q few words to say
any number from / to 50-ths
salary jumps to 81. II he hal
more than so words to say, thu
salary goes up again.
I This tends TO make the: cost
conscious TV producer keep his
pencil sharp. Four characters say
ing one sentence each In a script
are likely TO become one character
with four lines In a teleyision play.
The telephone. as you may have
noticed. comes In for q lot Of use
in q TV drama. With q telephone.
one actor can pass along to the
audience a two!way conversation,
thus eliminating the other actor.
And eliminating his salary from
the cost sheet.
It's something TO keep in mind
IL you ever decide that you, too,
ought to be a television writer.
4 4 \ u
Wrong Tack-A1l sorts Of wea-
|pons have been used in the battle
between the movie people, who
wants to lure customers to the
theaters. and the television people,
who want the customers to stay
home. Now it appears that one Of
television's own weapons elderly
movies-iS to be used against it.
/ Word from the West Coast has
it that Metro GoIdwyn-Mayer, the
leader OF the dlm studios anti-TV
group. has been jealousy regard
ing all the fun television is having
with Metros Red Skelton. It is
not going to let TV have all the
fun, either. It has put together,
out Of its spacious vaults, a pack
age which includes a pair Of old
SHELTON films, "WhiStling Ia the
Dark" and "Whistling In Dixie. !"
Titled "The Red Shelton Carni-
val" this new" release is to be
tried out In Dayton. Ohio, and if
successful win tour the LoeW,s
circuit.
It Is easy to see how the the
ater people might reason that
they might as well show old
movies, too. II people are going
to SIT around looking at Old
movies. M-G-M may turn out
to be raising some exhibitor hopes
falsely, though. People are not
lured into staying at home by
old movies on TV. It's the fights
and Milton Berle. And it's free.
4 = **
Programs and People-'Kukla,
Fran and Ollie" win reach its
1.000th regularly scheduled per-
Torrance on March "a, but with
out particular fanfare 1t
started on October Is, 1947, be-
fore Bob Smiths "Howdy Doody
Time" which recently celebrated
its 1,000th performance
"Howdy Doody" got there FIRST
by not taking summer vacations,
which Burr Tillstrom and the
KuklapolitanS take -. Eddie
Cantor will play himself in ''The
Story of viii Rogers" Warner
Bros. technicolor biography Of the
humorist Cantor and Rogers
were old Ziegfeld 'Follies" mates
Representative Emanuel
Celler. chairman Of the House Ju-
dietary Committee. will face the
searching questions Of youth
Wants to Know tomorrow
(WNBW-5 p.m.) Eddie
Mayehoff. who recently completed
q role IN the Bob Hope Mickey
Rooney film, Military Police
man." Is back In New York to set
dates for a series Of Tv appear.
anceS -. There's also q musical
comedy possibility for fall q.
Mayehoff. who led q small or
chestra at the Cafe Caprice herr
and other places before turning
comic. performed the surprising
trick Of almost stealing q picture
from Dean Martin and Jerry
Lewis when he made his film
debut In That's, My Boy"
| y + 4
No One Finah-It is Steve Allen
Iwho reports aboard the Dinal
iShore bandwagon In his SEE Ing
lStars" features In the current issue
LOT See.
"She Is still considered .ths
Queen and not without reason.
writes Mr.. Allen. For o dozer
years, she has consistently main.
|tained the quality of output thai
first made her an almost overnight
sensation.
"She really doesn't have q style
IShe sings like hundreds Of othel
lvocalists, but sings better. Wher
IDinah sings, you not only lik,
her voice; you like Dinah."
| II you haven't yet caught III
with Miss Shore on Tuesdays ane