"On the Mat” had a strong hold

Press, 12 October 1976, Page 19

"On the Mat” had a strong hold

by

KEVIN McMENAMIN.

It is not altogether surprising that TV2 has found a market overseas for its action-aplenty wrestling show. "On The Mat.” It is certainly much better than the Australianmade “Big Time Wrestling” which screened a few years ago.

Of course, it is debatable how much of the action is faked, contrived or rehearsed to the point of acceptance. And the same goes for the alleged bad feelings that exist between factions that might fairly be called the "goodies” and the "baddies.” But the show is entitled to be judged purely on its entertainment value and it appears to be not only youngsters who get a kick out of seeing grown men tossing each other all over a square ring. And sometimes there is good wrestling. For the most part “On The Mat” is good clean, if highly suspicious, fun; and, despite hints to the contrary, the physical damage done is light. In the varied world of

entertainment, professional wrestling has an undeniable place and “On The Mat” must have helped restore to the sport some of the popularity it enjoyed years ago.

After ail, there are not many programmes that can grab so completely a five-year-old and a '65-year-old, as we witnessed on Sunday. Nor was it lost on the generation in between.

After the excitment of “On The Mat” the rest of Sunday night seemed pale by comparison. "The Slightly Terrific Show” was barely true to its title, being no more than a fairly average local musical and one not helped by feeble jokes. "Fall of Eagies,” sound and all as it is, is dragging its feet as little as it builds towards the Russian revolution. There was a distinct impression this time that the royal family was just being given a final outing before the boom falls.

Neither of the late-night dramas made a big impact, although “Oil Strike North” has developed into

a better series than we gave it credit for some weeks ago. There was the joyous announcement that the strike was a big one, but this was surpassed by scenes of a more personal nature — the best of them featuring Callum Mill as the newspaper editor, Angus Gallacher, concerned for his future. Mill and the public relations officer, Barbara Shelley, are the undoubted stars of the show. The remainder of the cast, particularly the males, trail well behind. As was common to the series, the final episode of “Wessex Tales” provided an interesting character study. However, in this episode more than any of the others it seemed that corners were cut to meet a need. The hapless Barbara did not quite ring true, possibly because of the rapid advances in time. W’as she the authoress of her own misfortune? Was her second husband to be more pitied than blamed? The adaptation was too incomplete to answer either of these questions.