Evening star., 1952-04-02
On the Air
|Let'sHuveNo
|VilIuinous
[Midqets
By Harry Macarthur

tainerS. Every one would be hap
pier, except possibly some short
sighted sponsors and some adver'
Itising agency folk whose primar!
interest is in how much they Cal
get Is per cent of.
Any writer for stage or screeI
is bound by the conventions ane
tabus of the medium, of course
The movie-writer, for example
finds the Production Code staring
him in the face whenever he sits
down at his typewriter. What
comes out on stage or screen may
not be the sole creation of the
writer, to be sure. 1t may bea1
the stamp of a producer and di-
rector as well, but it at least is
the work of creative minds work
ing in a common cause.
The unhappy author, though
is the radio or television scriptist
who discovers that the producers
and directors are not the only
blue pencils in his path. The
sponsor has one. too.
| An example of the nonsense
that can clutter the mind of a
man trying to write a TV drama
is the list of 'dos and don'tS'
provided each new writer on
Racket Squad" a television show
devoted to the sale of a certain
brand of cigarettes. According to
Harold Heffernan, North Ameri-
can Newspaper Alliance Holly
wood columnist, this mimeo-
graphed list reads:
1.-The word lucky" is taboo.
2-No other brand of cigarette
should be seen or mentioned
either specifically or by inference
(sic).
3-Commercial copy should not
be referred to jokingly.
4-Whenever an undesirable
character smokes a cigarette, have
the package concealed.
7 5-Whenever any character
(other than undesirable
smokes a cigarette, please have
him smoke a Philip Morris taken
from a pack-in which the front
side is exposed to the camera.
6-The tax stamp on the pack
age should be defaced, $50 as to
make it unrecognizable.).
7-Midgets should not be re-
lferred to in a derogatory fashion
nor should they be ridiculed.
8-At no time will a cigar OF
pipe be filmed.
9-At no time should any
phrase, character or music asso-
lciated with another tobacco manu-
Ifacturar be mentioned.
X X y X .......
If you've got a TV script about
pipe-smoking Sherlock Holmes
chasing a mad midget across the
Sahara Desert. you'll have to
peddle it somewhere else. Without
his pipe for solace, he'd never
make it across the Sahara afoot
And on Racket Squad" they'd
never let him ride a camel. Come
to- think of it, they wouldn't let
him walk a mile.
AMERICANA-VieWer James c.
Livings of Seventeenth place NE.
thinks that was a nice touch of
Americana the other evening on
Royal Showcase" (WNBW-Sun-
day, 7 p.m) during the Man
haitian Towers" number.
IF you stopped long enough to
light cigarette" he writes, you
may have missed it. >.
IAN immigrant and his wife
timidly walking down a New
York street, shoulders dropped,
the two shapes almost merging
into one-as if each is trying to
hide the other. An accidental en-
counter with policeman-pack-
ages, purse and sundry articles
spill to the pavement. The immi-
grants draw back. hands over
mouths. The policeman stoops,
retrieves the articles, returns
them with a smile and with a tip
of his cap Saunters on. ...
"A look passes between man
and wife. Slowly, smiles replace
the hunted look, their shoulders
|go back, their step becomes firm
as they pass from the scene, arm
in arm. That's ALL"
4 X X II
PROGRAMS AND PEOPLE
The vintner sponsor of Charlie
Wild" (WTTG - Thursday, IL
PM reports that this weeks pro-
gram will be "the most unusua
Charlie Wild television show We
have ever attempted. This specia
Charlie Wild adventure is built
around the Jewish Passover. Dur.
ing the program, Passover Sede1
will be shown and explained to
the coast-to-coast TV audience. ~
|. Ruth Gilbert of the Dance
Playhouse staff here is in New
York to appear for several weeks
on James Melton's Ford Festi-
val' (WNBW - Thursday, 9:3O
p.m) Madeleine Carroll will
be the guest panellist this week
when "It's News to Me" moves to
Fridays at $50 pm. (WTOP-TV)
There1l be a preview of part
|of Washington's Cherry Blossom
Festival tonight on 1.-THE Kate
Smith Evening Hour" (WNBW-
I8 o'clock. Among Miss Smiths
guests will be the Four Aces, who
will sing Allan Zee's Spring Is a
Wonderful Thing" the festival
theme song which they will sing
ak h1,a TaR4ro4~