'Bixby’s smile from Monday to Friday

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34045, 8 January 1976, Page 4

'Bixby’s smile from Monday to Friday

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MARGARET CHAPMAN)

Tuesday can almost be billed as the night of repeats, at least in the early evening. Holiday fare for the children on both channels is a list of repeats, some of them (like “Superman” and “Josie and the Pussycats”) of doubtful worth. Others in the repeat list are the serial "Timeslip" and the two comedies "Bewitched” and "The Courtship of Eddie’s Father." which at least gives us another chance to see the beautiful Bill Bixby smile. We can now view it on Mondavi (twice). Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday (twice) and Friday. It’s a nice smile but is it that good? "Star Trek” has aged well because it is still set in the future and who knows what the fash-i ions will be. The crew of the “Enterprise” manage a few! odd ones, notably the hairdo; on Yeoman Rand. It looks impossible to walk around in, let alone maintain ini deep space, especially when you are being obliterated, as happened to the lady last night. At least there is no sex. discrimination on the starship as the baddie of Tuesday’s episode dealt out his) mind-bending nastiness on a

fairly equal basis. Acting is never this show’s strong point and it usually doesn't matter a great deal, but this time with the settings limited to the spaceship, the deficiencies were magnified. There was no poor acting in the movie “The Fortune Cookie.” in which Walter Matthau stole the show completely, and that is not easy when your opposite number is Jack Lemmon. As the lawyer who tried to turn his brother-in-law’s accident into a money-making proposition. Matthau was able to run the whole gamut of his comic abilities. This was a marvellous performance which made watching an old movie for two hours well worth while. One of Matthau’s best! lines was an aside. While on the telephone he rhetorically; asked his children roller-; skating down the hall why; they didn't "go play on the freeway.” Lovely stuff. Television Two which has altered news times to suit programmes, gave us the Late News at about 10.15. not the advertised 10.30. As it was it turned out to be rather a struggle to fill the allotted time. Apart from a repeat of the item in depth on the Armed Offenders Squad which had been pretty well dealt with after

the recent incident in Christchurch. we had an interview with the North Shore bikie gang b\ lan Watkins uh seemed ill-equipped to Uea with this one. The gang member- were free enough with their answers, but t seemed that both sides were working hard at being tough: for example "Why don't sou do communits work?” “If we ss anted to be Boy Scouts sse would base joined a scout pack We’re an outlaw gang.” Margaret Court and Chris Evert battled out a tennis match superbls filmed a, usual, and then it was on t<> a further series of "The FBI." It must be at least 12 sears old and its age is showing: nice short haircutand those oh-so-pure-and-up right I Bl agent- all fighting the Reds and other subversive element- In s less of the recent investigations of the department this series seems very naive.