The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 44

THE 7S How the Western was won 4 4- 4' 1 BY CHARLES WITBECK Gannett News Service HOLLYWOOD When Tim Mathe-son beard his Western pilot, "The Quest," had been sofd to NBC, he went out and bought himself a 1957 Chevy pickup. The truck could carry saddles to and from work, and equipment the young actor needed to build his house out in the coastal mountain range. "The Quest," starring Tim Matheson and Kurt Russell, becomes the only Western to make the fall network schedule. The pilot was written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, who carefully researches a subject, does the script and then moves on to new fields. His pilot was a charmer, complete with gunfights, barroom brawls, bounty hunters and Indian massacres.

WYNN turned the usual cliches inside out while he followed a pair of brothers who reunite after being separated for years following an Indian raid. Tim Matheson is the gangly tenderfoot, training to be a San Francisco doctor, happy to find his stoic blond brother (Kurt Russell), who has been raised by Indians, and who looks upon the white man's ways with skepticism. In the pilot the brothers hooked up with Brian Keith's crippled old cattleman, a cattle rustler, one-time bounty hunter, con man, a charming lawless type. The pilot brought a welcome breath of fresh air to the TV Western format. The only trouble is that Brian Keith is not a show regular, and writer Wynn departs after blocking out a "Quest" bible suggested ideas for future episodes.

Tim Matheson is tall, blue-eyed and boyish, has a good sense of fun in him, and he becomes an engaging tenderfoot without seeming to make an effort. Fans may remember Tim, the little boy in Robert Young's "Window on Main Street," growing taller on shows like "Leave It to Beaver," "My Three Sons," "Lassie." The kid took up riding on "The Virginian." and outraged Michael Landon on Bonanza" when he declared, in its penultimate year, that the old oater wouldn't last another season. He was right. A HOLLYWOOD child actor from the age of 12, Tim learned at work. "I just did it," he explains.

"Nothing carried over. At 19, 1 was panicky trying to find the right approach to a part, so I went to acting school, and discovered what I basically already knew. I really learned to trust my own instincts, that's all." Being a Hollywood actor, Matheson naturally looked up to stage performers. He went down to San Diego to play Romeo, and accepted the put-downs for being a Hollywood performer. Then Tim' discovered that actors were human in the theater.

Directors could be poor, actors could be mediocre. Matheson could hold his own. It was a revelation. "I remember going to England to watch all those great actors," lie said. "Oh, I saw some good ones.

Then I went to see 'Macbeth' with Diana Rigg. I had played a character in the classic that presented a major problem and I was anxious to see now it was solved. But this guy had no clues either. And the show was awful." The Hollywood child actor has matured, no longer feeling inferior to his peers on stage. A kid who likes the outdoor life and can make his own things, Tim fits a Western like a glove.

He can hardly wait to get cracking in the saddle again. "THERE'S only one way to learn," he says. "You get on a horse and ride for three days. It's a trip he's looking forward to. 0 Lv.

Tim Matheson stars in the upcoming season's only Western SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK Sunday 1:00 p.m. The Champions The International Freedom Games from Atlanta; the National AAU Women's 10 Meter Diving Championships from Cleveland; the Wyoming Rodeo Bull Riding Championships from Wyoming, Michigan. 2:00 p.m. World Invitational Tennis Classic Today's show features women's doubles with Evonne Goolagong and Virginia Wade vs. Chris Evert and Rosie Casals.

Baseball N.Y. Mets from Belmont Park, El-mont, L.I. 5:00 p.m. The Western Open $200,000 PGA Tour golf tournament, from Butler National Golf Club, Oak Brook, 111. 5:00 p.m.

Wimbledon Open Tennis Championships Coverage of tennis' most prestigious competition colorcast via satellite from the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club ia Wimbledon, England. Wide World of Sports 6:00 p.m. Racing from Belmont Park play the San Francisco Giants. 2:15 p.m. 0D Baseball N.Y.

Yankees vs. the Chicago White Sox 3:30 p.m. U.S. Open Live coverage of the final round of play in this golf tournament from the Atlanta Athletic Club in Atlanta, Georgia. 4:30 p.m.

Professional Bowlers Association National Championship Live from Seattle, Wash. 9:30 p.m. U.S. Men's and Women's Friday 8:00 p.m. ID Baseball N.Y.

Yankees vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. Saturday 2:00 p.m. Grandstand Baseball N.Y. Mets play the Chicago Cubs ID Baseball N.Y.

Yankees vs. Milwaukee Brewers 2:15 p.m. Major League Baseball 4:00 p.m. Sports Spectacular "Coaching Club American race for three-year old fillies, at a mile and half, for a $100,000 purse, Olympic Swimming Trials Live coverage of this event from Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, Calif. Monday 8:30 p.m.

Monday Night Baseball Tuesday 8:00 p.m. ID Baseball N.Y. Yankees vs. the Cleveland Indians 8:30 p.m. Baseball N.Y.

Mets play the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday 8:30 p.m. Baseball N.Y. Mets play St. Louis Cardinals.

11:30 p.m. Harness Racing From Roosevelt 11:40 p.m. Tenth Annual Victor Sports Awards The program honors those outstanding athletes who have excelled in their various categories during the previous year. Sports Illustrated will again select the various categories and respective nominees for the official ballot which is mailed to the legions of sports writers participating in the vote. Midnight Championship Wrestling SPECIALS THIS WEEK tor and street reporter, Peter Tufo, chairman of the NYC Board of Correction.

Monday 7:30 p.m. Orphan Animals This special centers on a group of people who take care of injured wild animals understanding and treating them before they return to the wild. (R) Tuesday 10:00 p.m. CBS Reports "The mine whether or not you get cancer in twenty years. The increased chemical contamination of our air, water and food is contributing to soaring cancer rates, birth defects and other chronic and deadly diseases.

The National Cancer Institute has estimated that cancer is costing the nation $19 billion a year, and that does not include the price of human suffering. The Search For Something Else An NBC News special on the pervasive quest for new Sunday 7:00 p.m. Jane Goodall and the World of Animal Behavior "Lions of the Ser-engeti," Jane Goodall and her photographer, Hugo Van Lawick, study a small pride of lions in the Serengeti plain of East Africa, and record their seldom seen struggle for survival. 9:00 p.m. Cost of Crime Exploration of New York City's criminal justice dollar how it is spent on police, prosecution and defense, courts, and correction; With modera systems designed to help people achieve peace of mind or a heightened state of "self-awareness." Yoga, TM, est and zen are among the movements that will be examined.

NBC News correspondent Jack Perkins is the reporter. A Second Time Around A documentary that asks the question, "Now that you're 40, what are you going to do when you grow up?" This special looks at adults getting themselves together, launching new careers, learning about new strides in medicine and memorable evening with one of the greatest romantic singers of our time, as he performs his most popular love songs, including "Le Temps," "No I Could Never Forget," "Take Me Away," "Old Fashioned Way" and "You've Got to Learn" with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Saturday 8:30 p.m. The Making of a President Theodore White's honest, objective look at both sides of the 1972 precedent-shattering presidential campaign. (R) the care, comfort and cure of middle age.

Thursday 8:00 p.m. Search For The Shino-hara A filmed documentary on the Japanese submarine, Shinohara, which was sunk during an American air attack in 1944 and discovered, 29 years later, with everything, including the remains of the crew, intact. Richard Widmark narrates. 10:00 p.m. Best Foods Celebrity Concert "Charles Az-navour" Charles Aznav-our fans spend a truly Politics of Cancer," Decisions being made or not made in Washing- Wtf fight how tnay deter- therapies'' and" spiritual.