Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-04-07
By Horry Macarthur

future.
II have to work into it gradu-
ally, though" she noted. Its
enough of a shock for people to-
find me on the program in the
first place. can't be asking a lot
of pertinent questions and have
them gasping. She reads books?'
Il don't think I should become
too actively involved in the argu-
ments, anyhow" she added. Il
think moderator should moder-
ate-not take sides, but see that
the people on each side in a de-
bate are allowed to get their points
across"
OF the charge that the DuMont
Thursday evening program is lean
ing intentionally in the direction
of sensationalism, Miss Emerson
had this to say:
Its unfair to blame the pro-
Queer when Author Meets the
Critics has one of those sensa-
tional, name-calling arguments.
It's those people who get on the
program and turn out to be hams" "
But, Miss Emerson was asked,
isn't it the producer who selects
the books to be discussed and the
people who turn out to be hams?
! YES" she admitted. but is it
sensation seeking. to invite Sena-
tor Taft, say, to discuss his book
on television program?
Il do have the feeling" she went
on, that we often don't get as
much said about a book as We
ought to get said. But even when
We get stopped by an argument
over one point and can't get on to-
something else, you get an init
mate picture of a personality.
That camera comes right up close
and shows you the true man. 1T
shows a man getting mad, Wheth-
err it's genuine or synthetic; it.
shows when he is telling the truth;
it shows when he is lying or evad-I
ing and that's the best thing it.
does. That's the beauty Of tele-
vision"
Miss Emerson's other television
venture, the Saturday night Won
derful Town." will end it's CBS-
TV run this week, the sponsor
bowling out and giving up the
time. The star owns the show,
however. and it will be back in the
fall if she has her way, and she
appears to be woman who would.
1T won't be on Saturday night,
though" she said. 1T never should
have been on then. 1t isn't a Sat-
urday night show. Sometimes I
think nothing is a Saturday night
show opposite Sid (Caesar) and
Imogene Coca. CHS may give
Them some competition with
Jackie Gleason, but I don't think
that's any way to treat the Amer
lean people.
Those are three of the great
est personalities in television and
they have to put them on the air
at the same time! They do things
like that all the time. You'd think
the sponsors would get wise. You
know when you flip that dial to see
what's happening over on another
Grandchildren the commercial
comes on!"
wonderful Town" did, as a.
lmatter of fact, make a fair show
ing-an excellent one in view of
the competition-in the ratings.
It had a faithful audience and
sold a lot of the sponsors prod
uct. It apparently was never a
source of complete satisfaction
to it's star, however, because of
the variety show concessions
which had to be made to Saturday
night.
When Wonderful Town" does
return you will find that it will
have a slightly different formal.
In fact, it won't have any formal,
but will be varied to fit the occa-
sion, as the Mardi Gras theme
was used to capture the spirit
of New Orleans.
Il don't see any reason why
we should stick to a cut-and dried
formula week after week." Miss
Emerson said. II do think the
show should be more of a !
well. I'd say documentary, butt
that sounds educational and
4 frightens people away. It should
be documentary. though, and
there's no reason why it can't be
entertaining, too"
Before the blond actress
does anything about Wonderful
Town." however, she'll spend a.
month in Europe-her first long
vacation in several years-and
then have q go at a play. She's
had that for two years and thinks
it is high time she was getting
it on the stage. Her plans right
now call for an Olney opening
this summer, then Falmouth and
a few other summer theaters,
with an eye on Broadway in the
autumn. This might. she says,
keep her busy enough that she
will produce Wonderful Town"
but not appear on it.
Miss Emerson. incidentally, does
read all those books which come
up for discussion on Author
Meets the Critics" She has made
only one exception. She couldn't
find anything in her contract re-
quiring her to read u. S. A.,
Confidential"