Evening star., 1952-02-13
On the Air
hank Kate
| For urninq
OF Godfrey
By Harry Macarthur


] which Miss Smith never has beer
properly thanked and it is. high
time something was done about it
| TeleviewerS Of some years
standing will remember when
ICBS-TV. drunk with the success
lof Arthur Godfrey's Talent
scouts" as a "simulcast." sched-
luled him on Wednesday nights
with a TV variety Of his own. Mr..
Godfrey took this on with his
/ usual unconcern for the proprie-
ties. He remained his usual rum
pied self and If his suit needed
pressing that was the suits tough
luck,
Informality was the keynote, II
anything was. Godfrey sat at q
desk. read letters, introduced acts.
interviewed friends, scratched his
nose. delivered himself Of fright
eningly double entendre ad Ibis
and occasionally got up to wander
around the stage.
| i + i 4
Some of this informal approach
was vey fine. 1t was on this show
that Godfrey, stung by a request
for more movement" from an ex-
ecutive who didn't know anything
about television either, countered
with coyey of hula dancers, who
did, indeed, contribute movement.
1t was on this show, too, that
Godfrey once threatened to toss
the studio audience to heck out
Of there If it didn't shut up and
listen to a man who had some
thing serious to say.
The informality occasionally
got out Of hand. however. It was
the director of this show who, ac-
cording to a reputable rumor,
once found it necessary to shout
a quick offer of a prize for the
first cameraman who could come
up, not with a picture of the
wandering Godfrey. but with q
picture of anything he could put
on the air.
Well, NBC-Tv came along and
put Kate Smith in this same
Wednesday night spot, to give
CBS-TV's Godfrey the first real
competition he ever encountered.
Formality has replaced q great
deal Of the informality on the
Godfrey program. It now Is a
slick variety show. with special
effects, lavish scenery and the look
of careful production upon it. It
even seems to have been rehearsed
more often than not and to an
onlooker it would appear that
Godfrey is turning up at the right
time in the right chalk marks on
the floor to keep the cameramen
happy.
1t can't be anything but the Kate
Smith competition whieh is re-
sponsible for the change. This
may go down in history as one
of her great contributions to show
business-the tanning of Arthur
Godfrey.
Explanati0n-Note from Cody
Pfanstiehl of WTOP-Tv about
what happened to the Navy-Duke
basketball telecast Saturday:
Don't blame you for mentioning
the irate fandom when the bas-
ketball game was cut off, but in
our own defense. we wouldda had
many irate calls from OTHER
people if we had held up Gene
Klavan's Government Talent
Hunt show! You can't please
everybody. And Klavan did give
the final bib. score on his show
as soon as he got it.
"It's a question of whether we
wanted to be clouted by basket
ball fans or Friends of Govern
ment Workers"
And, as any one who ever tried
to make a success of the Wash
ington Caps will tell you, there
ARE more Government workers
than basketball fans around
these parts. In fact. 1t must have
seemed to the Caps people at
times that there are more of al
most anything around here than
basketball fans.
X r 4 Il
Old Fav0rite-The television
version of a radio show which
managed to combine literacy and
popularity in a remarkable degree.
Information Please" at last is
scheduled for its television debut.
OF the air for several years now,
lit is slated to come back in a visual
version in June as summer re-
placement for 1.-THE Fred Waring
Show" on CBS-TV 1WTOP-TV)
on Sundays at 9 pm. Clifton
Fadiman. according to present
plans, will be in his old post of
master of, ceremonies. quizmaster,
or whatever you choose to call it.
The only old regular on the panel
of experts so far set for the TV
Information Please" is John
Kieran. who has been doing well
lin television with his own 'Kier-
ans Kaleidoscope" (WMAL-TV--
Wednesday, GAS p.m).
Il 4 +
Substance - Thee housewives
who have been demanding pro-
grams Of more substance than
shadow for daytime viewing might
well make a note to check the
forthcoming "It's a Problem. >
Having been tried out with re-
ported success as local show In
New York, .It's a Problem" viii
make its NBC-TV network debut