The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 94

Morita speaks for himself By Dan Lewis Pat Morita spent the first 11 years of his life in a hospital bed, encased in a cast from neck to toes-He suffered from spinal tuberculosis. But when he finally came out of the hospital, it was not for freedom. There was further confinement in an internment camp for Japanesc- nmvncuns, auring world War II. His father was an itinerant fruit picker, who visited him at best twice a year during the many years he was hospitalized. Did Pat (born Noryuki Morita) suffer an eternal bitternesa because of his horrible youth? has become a successful businessman and has transferred his activities from Tokyo to Chicago (not many Japanese there, according to Morita, which makes the comedy more gross).

He's a widower who has two young kids, a mother, father and sister and a governess for the kids, played by Susan Blanchard. Air. and Tina is slotted for Saturday nights, following another new fall entry. Holmes and Yo Yo To be candid, Mr. and Tina has had a stormy past.

The pilot went through eight revisions beforo it got to taping. When it was shown last spring at the ABC affili-ates convention, the reaction was far from enthusiastic. It got even less of a reception from the television press, which gathered in L.A. last June, to a point where one columnist inquired of Fred Silverman, president of ABC Entertainment, during a press conference, "Can you tell me what went through your mind when you selected Mr. and Tina for the new schedule?" Silverman, the golden boy of ABC's rise to prominence in the three-network ratings battle, was un-nuatered.

"You will be surprised," he responded. We feel we have a good hour of comedy to open Saturday now. Since that pilot was made, we feel we have better scripts." As Mr. Morita p)nyS a modem success who lives by the old moral standards and customs of his native land, and tho governess is a flaky gal who is the counter-point and springboard for the comedy. Morita revealed that the Asian community in this country already has.

indicated some displeasure with the series virtually sight unseen. It doesn't bother him, Morita declares. The series, he adds, is not meant to be a message for any group. "Not at all," he said. KI was only confused, for a while." Pat is a performer.

He's enjoyed moderate success in nightclubs, where he built a reputation as a second-level comic. Good enough to headline the likes of the Playboy circuit and support bigger stars at major engagements. In recent summers he worked on the road with Redd Foxx. For the last three television seasons, Pat has become familiar to TV audiences as Arnold, the proprietor of the hang-out drive-in for the Happy Days gang, Now Pat has his own scries. It's an ABC half-hour situation comedy called Mr.

and Tina, created by Jimmy Komack, whose recent track record has been very fruitful Chico and the Man and WeU come Back, Hotter. Pat plays a Japanese World War II veteran who i 4.