Evening star., 1963-03-01

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castigated TV, its '61-'62 sched-
ules were 80 per cent action
adventure, situation comedy,
variety, quiz and movies.
The upcoming fall schedules
now stand at an "a per cent
density in the same categories! /!
Rosen also points to the de-
cline in prime time public af-
fairs programming, although
the figures he uses to back his
contention are highly selective
"a week in May, 81, versus
comparable records for a week
ending January 81. 1868.
Is television worse? Possibly
Some of the TV developments
land criticism of certain as
poets Of the medium) these
past few weeks. tend to support
such a contention. For ex-
ample:
Q The extraordinary cancel
lations Of shows this season by
no other yardstick than their
ratings. Merv Griffin's daytime
series, a departure from the
afternoon norm, was dumped
after a brief run. Griffin-with
IS, 200 pieces Of mail expressing
sympathy-is still asking If 26
weeks is a thorough test. +"
Peter Tewksbury wondered the
same for his imaginative,
charming It's a Mans World
series incidentally, the fact
that one Of its principals, Glen
Corbett, viii show up on Route
66 March Is and is being con-
sidered as a replacement for
George Maharis, should be the
clincher. The cast stood by
loyalty for weeks but when
nothing happened, had to look
elsewhere for work.
. Eric Sevareid, in the Colum-
bia Journalism Review, sound
ing off on TV news shows and
the "breathless accents of a self
conscious baritone, fresh out of
his high-school speech class,
reading five quick bulletins.
I get the feeling people tune in
these programs just to see what
hasn't happened, that atomic
war or bubonic plague hasn't,
after all, broken out :" The
great, deeper and more subtle
problems of our day. Sevareid
contends, should be treated ac-
cordingly by newsmen with
mature and perspective
minds" OF course. But how
can such a newsman function
in the time slashes at their
disposal? Only the stylists,
more Snowman than anything
else with shy smiles and trick
dellveries) seem to succeed
Harry Reasoner's Calendar is
going off. Mike Wallace is re-
joining CHS News. Jim Hagerty
gets a new man for his II
o'clock ABC News. Improge.
ments?
What is surprising in Rosen'l
piece is the inference that any
one man would be able to effect
overnight or overseason i'm.
provement in a medium thai
has had is years-and the
experience Of radio before it
to harden its economic arteries
into a fixed pattern. Equally
curious is Rosen's description
Of Minow's accomplishment
(the expediting of worldwide
Tv via satellites. all-channel
set legislation, educational Tv
aid. pay-TV tests, etc. as
secondary successes" How dc
you improve programming with
out first attempting to reverse
the economic structures which
produced It?
Other straws in the whining
wasteland wind?
o MICS decision - announced
yesterday--to hold to movies or
Monday as we'll as Saturday
next season. The network
signed q multi-million dollar
deal with MGM (the reluctant
studio) and goth Century-Foz
that will make available such
pictures as Bad Day at Black
Rock" Father Of the Bride, ;
Daddy Long Legs" The Sew
en- Year Itch" THE Tall Man, ;
"The Diary Of Anne Frank.
and others.
. The possibility that the
wasteland may not be exclusive
A TV survey (Allensback Asso.
citation for Folk Testine) asked
people what they did while
watching in Germany. At least
81 per cent Of the televisior
watchers stated that they fel