Evening star., 1952-02-12
By Harry Macarthur

lr IN DOWN Dy learning LIlelT 1cS-
sons and never indulging in
Ipranl.s that would get them ex-
Ipelleu from school. There also
was a couple with problem fol
IMr. Leuenson and the studio audi
ence, namely, should the young
wife be allowed t. remain plump
and happy or relucc and become
slim and irritable?
NOne of this .;ou4 s like much
in retrospect. out it n4.kes for a
pleasant and occasionally even
heart-warming half-hour when il
comes under the influence OF Mr.
ILevenson's affection for people and
his ready humor.
A* +
Nothing to Fear - There has
been a great deal of talk in the
broadcasting trade about the press
reaction to Today" NBC-TV's
two-hour venture into daily
brcakfast-tirre television. The re-
action has not been overly en-
thusiastic, with a few exceptions
of which this corner was one.
There was and is, it seems
to us, room for hontest differences
of opinion here. It is true that
To-day" had and has a tendency
to pay more attention to its COM
munciations techniques than to
their end result at times. It is
true that Dave Garroway did
pick up a phone once, call a for
Ieign correspondent. and get only
the information that the weather
was uncomfortable. Some critics
have called this a waste of time
Iand facilities. without stopping to
think that a number of people
might find it interesting that a
man feeling Europe's pulse was
most concerned (even if only for
la moment) with the weather.
Some critics have complained
that you can't shave or eat
breakfast and watch To-day" at
the same time. These same people
have complained that it is repe-
titious. some times it is on purpose
so it can get through to you
when you are not shaving or eat
ing breakfast.
NBC-TV has taken this criti-
|cism in a fairly normal fashion.
The first reaction of the producer
of radio or television show taken
to task by a reviewer is not that
the reviewer found something
lacking in the show, but that
there must be some Interior mo-
tive. The NBC-TV reaction has
been that To-day" has invaded
the field of the morning news
papers, and the newspapers don't
like it.
This has seemed like nonsense
even to man who welcomed ITO
day." and a fair opportunity tc
make a test turned up this week
with yesterday mornings plane
crash in Elizabeth, N. j. The late
news bulletins on the radio Sun
day night were sketchy-only a
report that a plane with more
than SO persons aboard had
crashed into a 40-family apart
ment building.
This was enough to make q
man turn to To-day" earlier thar
usual, to see what 1t was doing
about this biggest news story OF
the day. It was doing fairly well
by it. The NBC-TV mobile unit
wasn't getting through yet, but
the program had verbal reports
from the scene, motion pictures
taken not long after the crash and
a survivor list for interested
friends and relatives. 1t was fairly
complete coverage. as television
news goes, but it must surely have
whetted more interest in news
paper accounts than it satisfied
Those films. for instance. were
ladjuncts of the stories read later,
not requirements for them.
NBC-TV might well stop fret
Iting about replacing the morning
paper with To-day" and start
concentrating on those things
only television can do. It's oul
guess that the program and news
papers can get along very well fol
some time to come. Even the
lheadline-only readers turn to the
Hollywood columns, the women's
lpage. the movie reviews, the COM
lies. the department store ads anc
THE sports page.