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Show anmnitBiiir ysa wnn seasoDim Enas (CunaEecrE. wBnsnif s nap imesit? looking back on tvs past year, theres little to talk abont except the disasters lv Jerry Buck Associated Press Writer The most difficult thing to recall about this past television season is the name of one genuine wasn't any. Laugh-I- n hit. There just stayed at the top of the heap and such veteran se- ries as Gunsmoke and The Wonderful World of Disney enjoyed a huge ratings renaissance. Doris Day, after shedrural ding an unbecoming also ended up in the top image, 10 for the year. Only one newcomer, Ken Curtis and Manuel Padilla Jr. appeared in segment of the always popular Gunsmoke series. Marcus Welbv, M.D., made it to the lop, placing ninth. And that stars Robert Young, whose Father Knows Best is still remembered by many viewers. The season registers over-al- l as a droning, mediocre hum- - by ried viewers and the names of Jackie Gleason and Red Skel- The Survivors, based on a g novelist concept by Harold Robbins and starring Lana Turner and George Hamilton, may have been the seasons worst disaster. Quite possibly, it also was the most expensive in television history. The Survivors was seen as the linchpin in a new Monday night lineup for ABC, but at midseason they were all wiped out. ton were chiseled off the schedule. Skelton did manage to land show on NBC. a half-hou- r interrupted occasionally staccato bursts of disaster. best-sellin- DEBBIE SPECULATION is that this will be the last season for Ed Sullivan and Lawrence Welk. Even Lucille Ball is no longer c onsidered invulnerable. One reis that Sullivans long reign port at CBS will come to an end to make way for a Disney-typ- e show on Sunday nights. 90-min- d Reynolds' debut on television was not the event NBC had hoped for. On the premiere show there was a falling out over the inclusion of a cigarette commercial. In return for dropping the commercial in future shows, Miss Reynolds surrendered a stipulation in her contract calling for long-awaite- This coming year shapes up as a period of transition. The accent is shifting to youth, and CBS has entered the foray for a share of the youth market. But essentially it is a year of change, and 1971 will see a new reign of stars as Henry Fonda, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, Glenn Ford, Dick Van Dyke, Tony Curtis and others desert the sagging movie market for the safe haven of television. an automatic renewal of the anew seirSes BEodyoE BDirSdlgeisr Lloyd bridges almost blushed when I reminded him of the time 25 years ago when he played a secret agent in the movie serials. He laughed and his heavy brows almost hid his small, deep blue eves, and tiny crinkles radiated across his face. It was hard to tell if he added any extra color. I told him that his name had stuck in my mind since seeing that serial as a child. He shook his head ruefully and said, Id hoped everyone had forgotten that one. We did 13 episodes in about 30 days. That was the most confusing thing I ever did. Wed be in one spot and wed do scenes for four or five different episodes at a time. sun-redden- ed AFTER a sluggish period during which he played a succession of gun slingers and psychotic killers in the movies, Bridges is now one of the actors most in demand for television movies. He made three TV movies last season, including Silent Night, Lonely Night, and will be back in at least three this year. In addition, he is getting ready to star in his fourth television series., ' San Francisco International, in which Bridges plays an airport manager, will be a part of the Four in One series on NBC Wednesday nights. Asked to describe the role, lie answered: Its a kind of Burt Lancaster part. He burst out Gulager, a former regular on The Virginian, will play the head ol airports security. at the laughing, possibly of a sensitive thought touching nerve at Universal Studios. Lancaster plays a manager in also produced by Airport, Universal. He indulges in He added, things like business and sex. He has an significant developments Time and of the year were: in took taste public changes first of toll their the stars who have dominated the medium for the past decade or longer. having a daughter and my own daughter, Cindy, could play it. They decided she should be a little older. The not did achieve real success until he was in his 40s, said, I always hoped Id be in a position where I could do the kind of parts I wanted. Im not in that position yet, but Ive done some good first as a World There was a time when you could have safely bet that the names of the top stars were engraved in stone in some sacred broadcasting grotto. Their ratings were astronomical and their demands at contract time made network executives squirm and fume and capitulate. remem Francisbe seen Premiere n ration. a hit se- movie, then will run for six episodes on1 ,fFoir hi One." Clu made-for-televisio- movie emerged as the major vehicle for television drama, and ailing original drama showed further signs of deterio- who He probably is best bered for Sea Hunt. San ries in the 1950s. co International will Street, the brightest, most intelligent and innovative program on the tube in years. It was for children, yet it outshone its grownup counterparts. Sesame Street, along with the British got Forsyte Saga, import, Tw'o daughter. We parts. All was not gloom. The season Sesame the birth of saw people to watching public television regularly for the first time. talked about BRIDGES, show for a second year. In the end, NBC was happy to have the clause out, and cancelled the show. Lloyd Bridges of San Francisco International. No more. The demographic charts showed CBS was not attracting enough young mar - The television movie is, in a sense, a cannibalistic affair. Although larger in scope and long- er in length, it is produced to television values, usually written by TV writers and stars TV actors. It is carefully researched to appeal to the television audience. The TV movie was a tremendous success this season, with all three networks in the field. Original drama, on the other hand, was in short supply, and a good deal of it was bad. THEN Came Bronson, a show that combined an almost lyrical appeal to wanderlust with a compelling revelancy, didnt make it as a series. Brackens World, a shopworn soap opera about a Hollywood that no longer exists, if it ever did, caught on. Televisons first black hostess, Leslie Uggams, quickly fell victim to the ratings. Regardless of that, Miss Uggams is a warm and talented performer. Anne Bancrofts special on CBS sticks in the mind as the best of the entertainment ' V eials. 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