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Show f WEEKLY REFLEX DAVIS NEWS JOURNAL. NORTH DAVIS LEADER, SEPTEMBER 18, 1980 STARVIEW commercials are funnier, boast stars TV By RUTH THOMPSON the wine There was a time not long knows? ago when sponsors were warned by their agencies to avoid humor in television commercials because if the tuner-i- n didnt take your pitch seriously, he or she wouldnt buy your product. But times can change for the better. While the majority of electronic pitches still are (and suitably for many) d humor straight, has muscled into the marketplace and rung a few cash well-handle- registers. In fact things have gone so far now that spools of commercials by Johnny Carson and such not only no longer threaten cardiac arrest at corporate headquarters, they may even been welcomed as proof that the companys ads have wide impact. But it may be a long time after comedian Steve Martins fall NBC special (Sept. 30) before the results are in. All CommerThe title: cials. The running time: one hour. No sacred cow is spared. Steves tribute to tightly fitted denim south of the waistline is titled Truman Capote Jeans, to cite one example. But dissection of the commercial stars raises questions. Are some of the being schizo? Take the case of Avery Schreiber. Talking to the man in real life two years ago, he was little short of worshipful about the Fritos corn chip commercial he was doing. But hes the performer who pokes fun at Orson Welles on his We sell no wine before its time commercials. Will the eminent be amused? Mr. Welles Probably. Will company? Who Gertainly the choice of Welles as spokesman was both shrewd and, according to a talent agent, lucky. He said that 10 years ago Orson Welles was on his list of the 10 most desirable virgins. Virgins, in this context, meaning superstars who had not done video endorsements. But hell probably never do it, sighed the agent. Wrong. Almost anybody would have told you that Dean Martin was another major leaguer who couldn't be bought for any amount of money. Wrong again. Just ask American Telephone and Telegraph. Its long search for an appropriate spokesman came to a happy ending recently when D.M. said yes. Some of the points that made him the winner was his celebrity status and his relaxed, easy delivery that appeals to all and all age age groups groups are what the Bell System wants to endear itself to. Dean Martin, to sum it up, is persuasive because he is believable. believ-abilit- y 0 But on the scale, nobody tops Lloyd Nolan and Martha Raye on the current television scene. Both tell the camera denture they are long-tim- e wearers. Martha smiles her satisfaction at what the sponsors cleaning solution does. Nolan evokes past pain, remembering what it was like when fruit seeds sneaked betwixt his plate and his flesh before he discovered his sponsors dental adhesive. Also easing past pain is the e nice pay and reside uals that commercials' stars receive. FERRAR tute for creativity ... We wel- come the new technologies and well be watching their performance. But viewers will continue to give most of their time to us. Its going to for be a very good decade your industry and mine. These words, spoken by an NBC executive to the American Advertising Federation, reflect the defensive attitude that commercial broadcasters have taken towards the effervescent cable industry, which threatens to steal advertisers (among other things) from the networks. As the cable industry continues to grow (according to A.C. Nielsen, cable is currently in more than 16 million of the 76 million homes with TV sets), it is developing a natu- ral hierarchy similar to that of the networks. About 600 cable systems accept ads, and advertisers have begun to realize that cable is a largely untapped source of exposure. Thus, the National Cable Television Association has published an advertising directory. A Cable Pen pals galore FCC fights pirates Dear Pen Pal, the worlds largest program of its kind, recently matched its 2 millionth pen pal. The namematching operation to provide is a children with special feature of Big Blue the international Marble, childrens television series. According to Mary Nagel-mansupervisor of the pen pal program, Since we started in the summer of 1974, weve processed 1.3 million domestic and 700,000 foreign requests for pen pals. Most of these requests are from youngsters aged 10 through 16. Nearly 1.5 million requests come from girls. An average of 30,000 to 35,000 children a month have written to the pen pal center from 146 nations. Any child, age 8 d through 20, who wants a should write Dear Pen Pal, P.O. Box 4054, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. Texas connection Efforts by the subscription television industry to crack down on video pirates have been given a boost by the FCC. The agency says that the manufacture, import, sale, offer for sale, shipment or use of a decoder not approved by the agency is a punishable violation of the Communications Act. The commission said violators are liable for fines of up to $500 for each day of an offense, or $2,000 for willful and repeated violations. It says it has authority to levy such fines because devices installed on TV receivers to decode or unscramble TV signals by a licensed STV station are part of a complete system required to be approved by the FCC prior to manufacture (and) sale. Ever since he came off the moon, astronaut Neil Armstrong wants his feet on the ground. No publicity. He lectured on the campus of Illinois University but allowed no press. They showed up and he ducked out ... John Ritter tossed a party to celebrate the fact that he is no longer referred to as Tex Ritters son. Fact is, the newest crop of fans yawn, Tex who ? pen-frien- TALENTED TWOSOME (SOLUTION: 19 letters, 4 words) Abby, ABC, Alice, Baer, Berle, Bradford, Brisebois, Cabot, Cue, DeVito, Dial, Diffrent Strokes, Eight Is Enough, Fame, Gail, Gilbert, Gobel, Greene, Ingalls, Ito, Lavin, Lear, Lucy, McNichol, Mork, Muti, PBS, Pictures, Rae, Rooney, Ross, Schroder, Screen, Shoot, Shots, Smart, Song, Soo, Stage, Star, Stiers, Take, Tatoo, Taxi, Test Pattern, Williams, Wojo M!M uiopy uouie0 Ajoq :3MSNV n, pen-frien- Morgan Fairchilds role in Flamingo Road, the new NBC series, was played in the original 1949 movie by Martha Hyer, who, like Fairchild, not only comes from the Dallas-FoWorth area of Texas, but also attended Southern Methodist rt big-nam- LOG Television is no substi- Words in the list below appear across, up. down, backwards and diagonally in the diagram. Find each word and draw a circle around its letters, then cross the word off the list. Some circled letters appear in more than one word. The letters that form the answer will be left over. Unscramble and arrange them to create a word, or words, that will provide the answer. Clue: TV'S TV TATTLE Bowie take-hom- Broadcasters ready for cable onslaught Technology By Bob one-to-1- CABLE By ANN Circles TV Advertising Bureau has been set up, and an Ad Hoc Cable Measurement Committee has asked various research organizations for the most accurate methods of measuring cable audiences. Large corporations such as Time, Inc. and Viacom, which own the pay-cabsyndicates Home Box Office and Showtime respectively, have put their money behind cable. Whether the networks like it or not, broadcasting and as cable is narrowcasting, sometimes termed, are bound to clash. But already there are crossovers; CBS, for example, has established a division to create original cable material. Production companies have teamed up with Showtime and HBO. Group W has produced two stage musicals for Showtime, and HBO has benefited from Operation Prime Time, which produces programs that and later premiere on pay-T- Frost travels light; Cathy Lee readies act her possessions, collections, By CINDY ADAMS NEW YORK David memorabilia, scrapbooks, Frost, who rarely travels light etc., etc., to the Museum of that is, without a woman The City of New York - checked into Miamis along Eden Roc Hotel alone. Two days of suntan and bed rest later, he flew to London ... Cathy Lee Crosby is putting together a cafe act to take a shot at Vegas ... Singer Sylvia Syms is teaching a quickie course on music at Northwood Performing Arts Institute in Dallas. Dorothy Stickney willed all le xxxx-x-xxx-x-x-xxx-x- v vails that only viewers who can afford to pay would be able to watch sporting events. The need for public television, which has been practically on the brink of finana-ci- al disaster since its should the time ever come ... Dorothy Loudon (Sweeney Todd, Tony winner for not Annie) surprises me in terms of her success but in terms of her transportation. One day I saw her swishing through town in a battleship-siz- e chaffeured limo. The next day I saw her waiting for a bus on Central Park West. Phyllis Diller: Everybody says Im a beautiful person inside. Leave it to me to be born inside out! ... The American public resented their swashbuckling hero, Errol Flynn, being called a Nazi spy. The book didn't sell ... Farr ah Fawcett is still as demanding as though she were running hot. Demands studios give her k a limo and, on location, a portable jacuzzi ... Barbara Stanwycks TV pilot for a sitcom series will probably only be shown at the Smithsonian on account of it seems that Madison Avenue gave it the treatment. much-ballyboo- inception, has come under question now that cable offers so many alternatives. The has Carnegie Commission come up with a proposal for a culturally oriented pay network called PACE (Performing Arts, Culture and Entertainment) that would virtually displace PBS. The networks wont be going out of business tomorMakes A Difference air on free TV. row, but it is evident that Bob: Is it bad luck to have a Some network executives their fear of cable, which has threatens stifled its growth in the past, cat follow you? claim pay-cabRob: That all depends on free TV, especially in the can no longer stop the d whether you're a man or a area of sports. The notion pre- wiring of America. mouse. round-the-cloc- thanks-but-no-than- le long-awaite- ACROSS 1 New angel Tanya 8 Propose 13 What-no- t 21 Sleeping ish) places 59 Equal (comb, 24 Business form) agreements 26 Actor Tom 60 Tony 14 Unit of gem weight 15 Greek letter 16 Comic actor Knotts 17 Animated 18 Blockhead 20 Actor appears in Taxi 61 Actor Sam 63 Pro golfer Lee 64 Senior citizen, e.g. DOWN Hunter 1 Actor Robert 22 Sweetsop 23 Ego 2 Producer 25 Number suffix 27 Singer Mel Preminger 3 Ancient profane god 30 Actor Vince 4 For example 34 Gold (Span- (abbr.) ish) Bu5 Actor ttons 6 Jog 7 Part of Con- 35 News synd. 37 Compass pt. 38 Commotion 39 Singer Barry 42 Jerry Lee 44 Bones 45 Miss Redgrave's monogram gress 8 Edible root 9 Dancer Lola 10 Partly fused 46 Mend 49 Shade tree 51 Actress Barbara 55 Profit ions 57 Aunt (Span- glass 1 1 Roof edge Routes (abbr.) 19 Conway 12 27 Actor Laughlin 41 Jessica 43 Before 46 Florida coun- ty 47 Grandparen-ta- l 48 Fan dancer 28 Danish money Sally 50 Measure of 29 Actor distance Howard 31 Uncooked 52 Fashion 32 Defense Data maker Inst. 53 Italian family 33 Distress 54 Short letter 56 Malayan ape signal 36 Posture 58 High, in music 40 Convert into 62 Roman two |
