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Show by Joey Sasso CONFIDENTIAL REPORT: Did you enjoy watching Glenn Ford, Sam Elliot and Tom Sellock in that 'Sacketts' miniseries recently on NBC? Glenn, for one, didn't enjoy making it. Nope, no "rivalry" with his younger co-stars such as Selleck and Elliot was involved. The bad vibes were for the TV movie's director, Robert Totten, for whom Glenn has so many discouraging words he won't go on record with very many of them. But at a recent bash in Beverly Hills, Glenn said that I could print this appraisal of the director with whom he (and reportedly some other members of the cast) did not get along: "You can say . . : you can say he stinks!" . . . Production has finally begun on that long-delayed movie-for-TV about the life of Freddie Prinze but not with 'CHiPs' star Erik Estrada in the role of the late comic, who shot himself two years after 'Chico and the Man' made him an overnight star. Ira Angustain, a regular on CBS's 'White Shadow' series, ultimately ended up playing Prinze. But some connected with the production tentatively called 'Can You Hear the Laughter?' may not be laughing when they hear from the late star's mother, Mrs. Maria Pruetzel or her lawyer. When I asked Mrs. Pruetzel what she thought of the movie-for-TV, she firmly declared: "They are not going to turn my Freddie's life into a circus, showing him as a kid who just lived for drugs. That's not true. That's not my Freddie. And I'll fight them all the way to court if I have to!" So far, no one connected with the production has heard from Mrs. Pruetzel or any attorney representing her. Besides, as one crew member told me, "Freddie's life is in the public domain. We're not trying to hurt his memory or his family. We're just remembering the way it was." CELEBRITIES IN CANDID: Bob Keeshan, known to millions of children as Captain Kangaroo, is doing battle with the parents of America. The 52-year-old superstar blames parents for the sad state of children's programming. "In the last six or seven years, there has been a great effort by the networks to produce better TV for kids," said Keeshan, who has been entertaining children as CBS-TV's Captain Kangaroo for 24 years. "The parents of America are responsible for this. Very often a parent will say, 'I'm busy. Go watch TV.' And parents seem to show no concern with the TV friends kids have, even though kids spend more time with them than real friends. If parents would involve themselves with their children's television watching, there might be more support for the quality efforts of broadcasters." RAMBLIN' ROUND TV-LAND: The smash ABC series 'Love Boat' is. keeping the careers of many show business veterans afloat. It is also giving many of the show's millions of young viewers their first look at such long-time favorites as Ray Milland, Harriet Nelson and Don Ameche. "The show is good for the older stars because it opens them up for the younger audience and it gives them new fans," Henry Colman, 'Love Boat's' co-producer, told me. "And unlike most other TV shows, there is not the pressure and tension which do not make for the best working conditions. So the older stars love to come to us because they get the attention and love they deserve." 'Love Boat' skipper Gavin MacLeod told me he has learned a lot from old-timers like Ray Bolger, Vincent Price, Van Johnson and Phil Silvers. "They are real professionals and when you lean on them for help they love It," MacLeod said . . . Suzanne Somers has signed a $2 million contract to do a series of TV commercials for a hardware company . . . 'Poldark.' the romantic adventure series set in 18th century Cornwall, is playing a return engagement nationally on PBS for 29 weeks. i |