The Daily Reporter from Dover, Ohio • Page 29

Today' show to undergo changes with new co host Thp TIMES-REPORTER 1 1 I I DOVER-NEW PHlLAdttfolA. OHIO NEW YORK (AP) In late August, Jim Hartz will turn over the studio end of hosting NBC's "Today" show to Tom Brokaw and go on the road as what NBC calls the "traveling co- host" of the two-hour program. In some circles, this is called a massive shakeup, as the show, suffering ratings sag and the much-publicized adios of Barbara Walters, tries to refurbish its appearance and get those ratings up and viewers back. For Hartz, co-host of "Today" almost two years, it's one of the hazards of the job. But he says it's also the chance to do something he's wanted to do knock around the United States doing for "Today" the kind of human interest stories the late Ernie Pyle did for newspapers in the 1930s.

Hartz, 36, is no stranger to the road, having done a series of Bicentennial segments from various states for the show this year. In fact, he says his travels for those segments led to his new on-the-road job: "A lot of people liked them, sponsors liked them and they got higher ratings for the show than during the rest of the week," he said of his Bicentennial segments, all aired on Fridays. "I guess it turned out that a lot of people liked that better than they liked me sitting behind a studio desk. "And it's also no secret that we're down a (ratings) point or two from the record highs we had a year ago. With Barbara leaving, I guess there was concern they'd (NBC officials) have more ratings problems.

"So I guess they just seized this opportunity to make a structural overhaul in the show." During consideration of that overhaul, did Hartz seek the traveling co-host job or did NBC News chief Richard C. Wald say changes had to be made and would he like the job? "Well," chuckles the soft-spoken Oklahoman, let put it this way: It was presented as an offer I couldn't refuse." He said when he got the offer, his main consideration was his family a wife-and three kids. He said after his Bicentennial-story travels, they looked forward to seeing him home more often "and frankly, so did Still, he said, he had no gripes, that on occasion he was able to take his family with him during those assignments and that he plans to keep doing it wherever possible in his new "Today" job. Hartz, who'll be contributing stories to NBC's nightly news show as well as "Today," plus anchoring occasional NBC News specials, was asked if he'd rather stay in the "Today" studio or travel for the program. "I'd take the road," he said without hesitation 'It something I'd talked about with Dick Wald about a month ago.

"We were talking jokingly about what I want to do when I got old and retired. And I said, 'I want to become host emeritus of the 'Today show and just knock about America doing film 6 He didn't have to wait for old age and retirement. He said Wald offered him the traveling co- host job right then and there. "So it was a bit of a surprise coming along like that," Hartz said. "But it was a relief somewhat to be able to do some of the things I want to do." Valerie sparkles more than 'One Day at a Time' HOLLYWOOD Are Hollywood TV writers coming a bit closer to the mark when depicting teenagers these days? "Happy Days' is real," says 16-year-old Valerie Bertinelli, the snub-nosed younger sister on "One Day at a Time." "And my friends at school watch my character Barbara on the show and say, But when Valerie looks at herself on Tuesday nights after catching "Happy Days," "Laverne and Shirley" and "MASH," she has the strangest feeling.

"Barbara is not me," she states with authority. Barbara isn't supposed to be the mirror image of Valerie, though she does bear similarities. "My character is close to what I was earlier. Barbara started out as a tomboy, a sports nut, and now she's growing up, thinking more about boys. At 16,1 still like playing football, touch or tackle, with my brothers and kids in the The best thing about the runt of "One Day at a Time" is her normality, Norman Lear had the good sense to hunt for a youngster who looked like an average 15-year-old kid, avoiding the overly-cute Hollywood specimen with freckles and a beaming smile, Five minutes after Miss Bertinelli walked in the room, Lear had his mind made'up.

Valerie was short on experience, with only a few commercials and a guest spot on "Apple's Way," but her face and manner carried the day. Listening to Valerie, you can see why producer Robert Huffman An Established Agency A New Image PARK-MILLER Insurance Agency Inc. 5lntbM(j878-S3i; Lear was charmed. She had returned from a network affiliate function in San Francisco where she snowed the grownups. But that part hardly mattered.

"We had the best time," she said. "We stayed in a Nob Hill hotel. I lived on room service and spent an hour and a half on the phone talking to my boyfriend." Who cares about Sausalito or Fisherman's Wharf? Raised in Delaware, Valerie and her three brothers jumped around the country with her parents due to job transfers for her father, a General Motors executive. The Bertinellis left Delaware for Michigan, then shifted California, to Oklahoma and back to California again. "You can't beat California," she said.

"We're a half-hour from the beach, and an hour from the mountains. And in the summer we sit by the pool and barbecue." The California kid is living just the way chamber of commerce ad-men picture things. A junior in high school, she dates the handsome senior, an athlete, and shoots to work in a brand new white gas saver which says "I like Elton John" on the rear window, Elton John is her idol, coming ahead of The Eagles, Chicago, Fleelwoqd Mac; and Surrey, England, is the place Valerie wants to visit because Mr. John happens to live there, As is the case with other working Hollywood youngsters, Valerie's pay check goes into a trust fund which she can tap at age 18. Since she's a working girl, Valerie is 'inclined to splurge oh clothes mother says I never wear something over and over''), but then the youngster has her eye on bigger things, acquiring beach frontage, for instance, Of course, Valerie never dreamed of being in a TV series, Living cjose to Hollywood she might luck into a few jobs in commercials, but boys, school, getting decent grades, baby-sitting, spending the proceeds on clothes encompassed Valerie's world.

Thanks to Norman it's cloud-riding time. Show re-runs are building audiences. Next season with lawyer David Kane (Richard Masur) bowing out, the show will concentrate on Mother Ann and daughters with Valerie, as Barbara, thriving under the spotlight, ANN (L) AND NANCY WILSON Backed up by Heart Crowd poured out heart for Heart ByRANDYPAYTON Local folks who caught Heart's performances at either Canton's Wine Barrel Cabaret or Cleveland's Allen Theatre this week surely experienced a pleasant treat. I went expecting to see just another new rock group but left with the impression that I had been on hand for a rare event: one of the initial U.S. launchings of a musical unit that will become a major influence in the recording industry over the next year.

From the moment Heart opened with Crazy On You, the cabaret was filled with magic. The band captivated everyone with its finely-executed brew of hard stomping rockers and insightful ballads. By the time the group had finished with its first number, the audience was reacting as if it had been comprised of life-long fans. Magic, pure magic. HEART ORIGINATES from Vancouver, Canada, where it already is quite popular.

The group currently is touring the U.S., with a recently released album, "Dreamboat Annie," receiving wide radio play here, on both AM and FM stations. The prime movers of the group are, of course, Ann and Nancy Wilson. Ann shares vocals with Nancy who also plays guitar (both acoustic and electric) for the group, The two sisters also are responsible" for all of the group's material, with Nancy putting music to Ann's lyrics. In a telephone interview on Thursday, Ann Wilson spoke of the autobiographical nature of most of their songs, "Our songs are pretty much taken from our lives," she said. "Some, however, are projections.

Just because a song is called Dreamboat Annie doesn't necessarily mean it's about me, for example. It's about ONE NICE RELIEF is that Heart isn't coming on with some new gimmick contrived only for the purpose of setting itself apart from others in the field. Heart is simply different because it is such a totally together musical collective. Ann and Nancy and Co. make for a combination that defies the commonly held belief that "get-down music" is somehow a male performer's domain.

Heart destroys this myth with a powerful, self-determined style that would put many long-established male rockers to shame. If the reception given Heart at the Wine Barrel Cabaret was any indication (Ann Wilson said she and the band were "knocked over" by the rousing foot-stomping, hand clapping and screaming of the audience) then Heart will become one of the hottest groups of 1976. Heart's U.S. tour, coupled with the growing popularity of its current (first) album, will boost this group to superstar status in the upcoming months. If you've been growing tired of the standard bearers of the rock world's present stale fare, try a little Heart.

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