Word: televisionland
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Summer was once a pleasant, carefree time of year in televisionland. Network programmers had a relatively simple job: switch on the reruns, perhaps trot out a few Gold-diggers to spell Dean Martin for the hot months, and relax. If the viewers flicked off their sets and headed for the ball park, so what? They would be back again in the fall...
These have been tearful days in televisionland. Earlier this month, the Cunningham family sobbed and even Fonzie got a little misty-eyed at the wedding of Joanie and Chachi, as Happy Days bade farewell after eleven seasons on the air. Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin) said an equally weepy goodbye to family, friends and Indianapolis apartment as she left for a new job in London, bringing to a close nine seasons of One Day at a Time. But the most heartfelt lamentations may be taking place offscreen, in the executive suites at ABC, CBS and NBC. The demise of those...
...Televisionland, inspiration seldom soars higher than a flying nun and quality is usually borrowed, not born. Thus it should be no surprise that the season's liveliest new situation comedy is an ABC adaptation of Neil Simon's five-year-old play, The Odd Couple. The success is not simply Simon's; the only writing he does for the weekly program is his name on the back of a weekly royalty check. The real source of the Odd Couple's life is the most empathetic team of situation comedians since Gleason and Carney. They are Tony...
...premieres of NBC's and CBS's new shows last week (ABC held its fire until this week) suggest that life in televisionland is no more real this season than it ever was. It is just more earnest. The Beverly Hillbillies lit out for the White House to donate $95 million for pollution control. Lassie taped a show battling the same cause last week. Not to be out-involved, other series are tackling the grievances of migrant workers, the excesses of twitchy-fingered National Guardsmen, the spread of gonorrhea, the need for penal reform, the problems of abortion...
...televisionland, summer comes a little earlier every year. Reruns that used to start appearing in June, now arrive practically in the shadow of the groundhog. Last week no fewer than six series, from CBS's Gunsmoke to NBC's Tuesday Night at the Movies, began their long cold summer of repeats. This week six more shows, including ABC's Garrison's Gorillas and CBS's The Lucy Show, break out the old film cans...