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Show 0smmWWWr -mmmm I . ; , ! j , 1 : I : '.C- ; v I , , - ' I , , I i '1 1 , i:-: V,.. S. J r V . i ; ' .y I I t t . ; M ' f 7 ' f t f- - ' ' k -. . , j . ' . , "Vf f . ! ; 11' ' t i it i j v if - - j t - . t 5 i X ; I J A', ; ; - i-... ..J .. - .; w i f: !" sf A . . j , . i (Left to right, top) Graham Chapman, Charlie Hill, Shabba-Doo, Mimi Kennedy (center) and Owen Sullivan (bottom) are the comedy regulars on the new comedy-variety series THE BIG SHOW, presented Tuesdays on NBC-TV. r7 t --4.,, LC, f-'i ? - jA ..... iJ$(f iru 4!fr- I J ABC News takes a hard look at the plight of the people of Cambodia in the documentary ABC NEWS CLOSEUP THIS SHATTERED LAND, Monday, March 24 on ABC-TV. In the only interview ever given to American television, Pol Pot (top, left), former Cambodian Prime Minister and now head of the country's guerrilla forces, talks about Cambodia. by Joey Sasso CONFIDENTIAL REPORT: Valerie Bertinelli refuses to guest on any variety show. The 'One Day at a Time' star explains: "Every time I have gone on a variety show, the host wanted me to sing. Well, it just so happens that I'm not a good singer and I'm not going to take singing lessons just to appear on a variety show." . . , Alan Alda has just signed up for another year of 'M'A'S'H' and he says he'll continue indefinitely on the series. "I have no intention of leaving the show just as long as it maintains a high quality." he said. "As soon as I see we're doing old shows, I'll quit." . . . Diana Canova may leave her featured role in 'Soap' if the pilot she's making is successful. In the new series, Diana will portray a recently divorced blue-collar worker who moves into her father's home with her nine-year-old daughter . . . ABC refuses to give up on 'The Lazarus Syndrome.' which starred Lou Gossett. Audiences have rejected it twice. Now the network has reworked the format and will try again, calling it 'Mac St. Clair, M.D.' . . . Wayne Rogers is frank about the success of his show, 'House Calls.' "Everyone knows," he says, "that you have a tremendous built-in advantage following 'MASH' on the schedule. We've benefited greatly from it." . . . Larry Hagman is making a wonderful salary as star of 'Dallas.' But even if he were unemployed he'd still be living like a king. And the reason: His wife Maj grosses $1 million annually designing and selling custom spas. TV TICKER: Pernell Roberts is a loner and a rebel and he's loving every minute of it. "That's because I've always done what I wanted to do," the 51-year-old Roberts told me. Roberts says he takes one day at a time, and if the show he's in isn't going in the right direction, he'll just leave, no matter how high it is in the ratings. Even now, in the midst of success with his hit CBS-TV series 'Trapper John, M.D.,' there's talk that Roberts won't be back. In 1965 he walked out on the hit Western 'Bonanza' after six years, and missed out on being a millionaire . . . Steve Forrest has been signed to star and Arte Johnson, Dane Clark, Linda Cristal and Larry Bishop have been signed to guest star in MCA-TVUniversal's Operation Prime Time four-hour two-part presentation of John D. MacDonald's bestseller, best-seller, 'Condominium.' . . Scuttlebutt is that Joe DiMaggio is upset about a proposed TV special on his former wife, the late Marilyn Monroe. Joltin' Joe apparently is demanding script approval on any material mentioning him. TV CLOSEUP: Everybody loves that wacky 'WKRP in Cincinnati' gang, but few people realize that there's a real-life station in Cincinnati with almost identical call letters and staff that's almost as crazy. They don't mind being confused with the TV show at all at WKRC in Cincinnati. And strangely enough, there are more similarities than the call letters between the fictional station and the real one. "We love the show here and watch it a lot," Randy Michaels, program director of WKRC, told me. Michaels explained to me that when 'WKRP' first started on nationwide TV, the producers showed the real station's management the first few episodes to make sure that no legal problems would arise. "We get an awful lot of mail addressed to WKRP," admits Michaels. "It's a bit of a problem because our ratings are based partially on the amount of mail we receive. Our similarity with WKRP has been a very good thing for us. We've had a huge amount of spin-off publicity." |