Children’s programme will have wide appeal

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32703, 4 September 1971, Page 4

Children’s programme will have wide appeal

The winds of change blew from the right quarter on CHTV3 this week when “Hat, Stick and Cloak,” a new series for children, provided welcome relief from the raucous cartoons which have become standard children’s television fare. The story was delightful, with a moral plain enough to be understood by preschoolers, yet woven into a tale enchanting enough to hold the attention of older children. The acting-, by a small group of professionals, was

of a high-quality. The actors did not resort to the obvious masquerade of romping around on all fours in animal costumes. Instead, they wore ordinary clothes, apart from their distinguishing hats —which provided an early point of the tale. The fox, full of sly logic, was portrayed splendidly, and again made the absence of an animal costume irrelevant. Children of our acquaintance were enthusiastic about the adventures of the twin bears, Roly and Poly, and the viewing time, 4.24 p.m., gives them time to deal with their homework first. The camera angles and techniques were of the sophisticated kind usually reserved for adult programmes. “Hat, Stick and Cloak” was reminiscent of the Paper Bag Players, without that show’s drawbacks. The new series seems to be one of those rare productions which is a favourite with young viewers and wins the approval of their parents. # « Hr David Exel, of the N.Z.B.C.’s “Gallery” team, is growing in stature as a television interviewer. He is good looking; he has an eneaeine smile: he has a dicni-

fled approach; and. his knowledge and understanding of complex matters are hard to fault. His questioning of the Minister of Transport (Mr Gordon) on the takeover of I the Union Steam Ship Company provided a good example of his skill. He pressed home his points well, and this made for some lively verbal cut and thrust. Exel obviously does his homework thoroughly and, all the while, he is developing as a forceful yet polished interviewer. What a refreshing change it is to have a man following up a point raised by the previous answer, rather than watching someone doggedly working his way through a list of Unrelated questions on the dip board in front of him. * * » Widely differing views on the Andy Williams Show appear frequently in the correspondence columns of newspapers’ television pages. It is easy to see why—the charming host pours petrol on the flames with one hand while his other wields the sandbag. On Thursday evening he called up all his craft as a vocalist to produce an admirable version of “I Who Have Nothing,” and gave his supporters lumps in their throats with the soft lights-sweet music touch he brought to “Joanne” and "September.” Then, to give the antiWilliams brigade a bullet to bite on, he had not one but two sessions of shouting at the persistent bear which darkens his doorway, week

SATURDAY

NATIONAL LINK [lncluding 3YA Christchurch (690 kilohertz); 2YA Wellington (570 kilohertz); 4YA Dunedin (750 kilohertz); and 3YZ Greymouth (920 ■' kilohertz)] 7 p.m.: Sports Review. 7.30: Folkways. Music from American history. (12) Happy Hoe-Down (final). 8.0: The War of the Worlds. The Bacillus (final). 8.30: Weather and News. 8.40: Looking at Ourselves. Neil Birss, a Christchurch journalist. 8.50: Local Sports Results. 9.0: Those Were the ’ Days (N.Z.8.C.). 9.30: Stop Messing About (8.8. C 10.0: Sounds Great: A half-hour with the accent on swing. 10.30: N.Z.B.C. News, Weather. 10.45: Cabaret Time. Neva Eder (N.Z.8.C.). 11.0: 8.8. C. News and Commentary. 11.15: Table Tennis: N.Z. Championships at Wanganui —Report. 11.18: Badminton: North Island open at Wellington. 11.31: YAs, 4YW only (continuous). 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz) 7.5 p.m.: David Galbraith (piano). 8.0: N.Z.B.C. Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Choir (Music Director Malcolm Rickard), George Metcalfe (tenor), Emily Mair (soprano), Valda McCracken

after week. This routine wore thin ages ago. , His choice'of guests must also add to the division bf opinion. This week there was, on the one hand, Ella Fitzgerald, • exhibiting her virtuosity and her ease of improvisation while, on the other, Chubby Checker, doing the Limbo with the stick at waist height and getting the dancers to yell with him until the scene resembled a wool auction gone mad. However, regardless of whether one loves or hates Andy Williams and his weird camp followers, this week’s programme raised an interesting question; what contribution can a straight actor make to a musically-orien-tated show? We have seen Orson Welles turn the Dean Martin Show upside down with a stirring soliloquy, but Mr Williams was not so generous with Lome Greene, of the “Bonanza” series. He limited his guest to six fleeting appearances, none of which did anything for his reputation. He must have been itching to pull a gun. Ss S #

To the laconic McCloud (Dennis Weaver) goes the award for the quip of the week. When he reflected that the stage was all the world for actors, his cynical police lieutenant remarked, “oh—so you read Shakespeare in the bunkhouse.” To which McCloud replied, with an air of astonishment, “I thought that was Zane Grey.” McCloud, in spite of seeming infallibility as a crimebreaker, has very human characteristics, and these were shown in bold relief through the inevitable comparison with the self-centred Ted Callender (Richard Dawson), the man in the middle of this week’s bizarre plot. Christina Sinatra was also present but her low key performance was so low that she was really only good for decorative purposes. The episode was enhanced by the effective use of treetop and ground level camera angles, and by the director’s (Russ Mayberry) dovetailing of contrasting action sequences. “McCloud” is obviously in good hands.—PANDORA’S GUEST.

CHTV3 Today ' 2.00 p.m.: Headline news. 2.03: Green Acres. Comedy. 2.30: German Mirror. 2.45:- Soccer—Christchurch United v. Mt Wellington. 4,40: Daniel Boone. Adventure. 5.35: Headline news, weather. 5.38: The Bugs Bunny Show. 6.02: Sports Magazine (repeat). 6.14: Happen Inn. Popular music. 7.00: Network news. 7.20: Weather. Local news. 't |' 4«l IM| 7.30: Personality Squares. Panel game, v ! ,f ' 8.00: Z Cars—“ The Shooters.” Detective. 8.52: Newsbrief. 8.54: A Clear and Present Danger. Drama. 10.37: Tomorrow Today. , 10.57: Late news, weather. i 11.03: ,The Dean Martin Show (Gale Gordon, Barbara Anderson). Variety. Tomorrow 2.00 p.m.: Headline news. 2.03: Film (1955): “So This is Paris?” (Tony Curtis, Gloria de Haven). Musical. 3.36: Golf—looth British Open. 4.29: Jack Benny’s 20th Anniversary Special (Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Dinah Shore). Variety. 5.19: Storyline. Children (new series). 5.24: The Lancelot Link Secret Chimp Show. 5.50: The Pursuit of Excellence—The Vienna Choir Boys. 6.40: T Only Want to Know. Religious music. 7.00: Network news. 7.15: Local news. 7.18: Weather. 7.23: Country Calendar. 7.38: The Philpott File—“ The Snow Business.” Documentary. 8.27: AU Gas and Gaiters—“ The Bishop Loves His Neighbour.” Comedy. 8.56: Newsbrief.

8.58: The Main Chance—“ With All My Worldly Goods.” Drama. , 9.48: A Bad Case of Shakespeare—Dramatised documentary. 10.40: The Night Sky. 11.05: Late news, weather.

(contralto), Charles Naylor (bass). Conducted by Jacques Singer. Clarke-Wood: Trumpet Voluntary; Kodaly: Psalmus Hungaricus (Interval); Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (Choral). ■ 10.0: Britain’s Changing Politics. (1) The End of the Old Concensus. Dr Ruth Butterworth, Senior Lecturer in Political. Studies at the University of Auckland. 10.16: Elizabethan Lute Songs. 1Q.32: Malipiero: Rispetti e Strambotti Stuyvesant String Quartet. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz) 7.2 p.m.: Trotting—New Brighton T.C. 7.4: From the New Zealand Industries Fair. Rock Explosion Winners. 7.31: Beat the Bell (final). 8.4: Miss Industry (final). 8.31: Snakes and Ladders (final). 9.10: Guess the Guest Game (final). 10.2: Party Night. 3ZM. CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilohertz) 7.30 p.m.: Things are Swinging. 10.0: From the Top Pops. SUNDAY NATIONAL LINK 7 pun.: From the Grace Street Open Brethren Chapel, Invercargill. 8.0: Musical Miniatures, featuring Christchurch artists. 8.30:

Weather and News. 8.40: Point of View. 9.5: The Elegance of the Waltz. John Pritchard conducting the Lon- ’ don Philharmonic Orchestra. 9.30: Books of the Week. 10.0: A History of Operetta. A series supplied by the Voice of Germany. (2) Karl Milloecker and Franz von Suppe. 10.30: N.Z.B.C. News, Weather. 10.49: The Epilogue for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11.15: (continuous). 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz) 7 p.m.: Debussy, orch. Paillard: Six Old Epigraphs. 7.18: Strauss: Hom Concerto No. 2 in E flat (1942). 7.38: Turina: Poems in song-form. 7.50: Walton: Sonata, in two movements. 8.15: Busoni: Concertino for clarinet and small orchestra; Field: Nocturnes: No. 1 in E flat; No. 2 in C minor, No. 3 in A flat. No. 4 in A. 8.42: 8.8. C. Musk Showcase: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Tallis, Malcolm Williamson. '10.0: The Venetian Glass Candlestick, short story by Paul Feakes read by Roy Leywood. 10.12: Bach: Sonata in G minor (BWV 1020); Veracini: Sonata Prima James Pelierite (flute), Wallace Hornibrodk. 10.30: Haydn Symphonies Nos 65-72 Philharmonia Hungarica under Antal Dorati. (7) Symphony No. 72 in D. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz) 7.30 pun.: Doctor at Large (final). 8.2: A Star is a Star is . . Streisand. 9.2: Answer Man, Ltd. 9.45: The Greenstones with the Calder Prescott Septet. 10.3: Late JNight Listening. 11.45: The Epilogue. The Rev. H. Hicks, t 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilohertz) 5 p.m.: Top of the Pops from London. 6.0: Top in Pop.