Word: seasonally
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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After viewing twelve of the season's 23 new shows, one concludes that Dann's foreboding is all too true. Rarely has a season seemed so regressive. The stars are primarily safe and established, the formats are past their prime, and most of the scripts are an insult to intelligence. The fault is certainly not all Pastore's; the television industry is completely capable of hitting bottom all by itself. And if a people gets the television it deserves, the American people should be ashamed of themselves...
...drama of Man v. Disease is as old as Hippocrates, but it still works -witness Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, The Nurses. And, this season, witness CBS's Medical Center. One minor problem seems to be that the scriptwriters are running out of diseases. In this week's premiere, for example, O. J. Simpson plays a guest role as an All-America college halfback desperately trying to suppress symptoms of a mystery ailment lest it jeopardize a $500,000 pro offer. (A nice bit of casting, that, although in real life O.J. got an estimated $350,000 from...
...major gamble of the new season is the Jim Nabors Hour (CBS). Nabors, who, as Corner Pyle, USMC, had the second-highest-rated show last season, is venturing into variety. Those who can stand Jim will discover that he has a big baritone voice in addition to the familiar grits-eating grin and the stage-rustic accent. For those who can't, the Jim Nabors Hour will be only as entertaining as its guests...
...least, the new television season is ahead of its time: by soft-pedaling assault and murder, it accurately forecasts the Federal Government's report on TV violence. The report, scheduled to be released this week by the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, links video violence to real violence, particularly in poorer families or families that are disorganized or culturally deprived. In those cases, "in the absence of family, peer and school relationships, television becomes the most compatible substitute for real life experiences...
...though "once in a while you may find an isolated incident." Meanwhile the networks are planning their own investigations, and the U.S. Surgeon General's office is well into a report of its own. All the research may prove to be the best offering of the 1969 television season...