The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 29

Thursday Sept 15 1977 THE MIAMI HERALD 3-B Redd Foxx Variety Show Sometimes Plods The New Season By JACK ANDERSON Mtrald TV-IUdl editor One of those elongated VIP limousines diplomatic pennants fluttering on its front fenders and flanked by jogging Secret Service men moves through the streets of Los Angeles after dark Television news cameras scan it flash bulbs go off Bystanders on the sidewalks gawk For all intents and purposes what watching is news coverage of the arrival of somebody big The limousine comes to a halt at the red carpeted entrance to a TV studio A bevy of official greeters moves forward The door is opened and out step Queen Elizabeth II of England and President Jimmy Carter THE QUEEN in blue frock and blue turban hat accepts a bundle of roses and sweeps regally through the door followed by Carter with his customary fixed smile In an instant we know been hoodwinked These dignitaries are neither the real Carter nor the real queen but damned good look-alikes the little charade which opens the premiere of Redd new variety show venture for ABC (Chs 10 and 12) at 10 Well ABC tonight has certainly made up for callous behavior however illusory the red carpet treatment is Now whether the network may or may not find the black prima new weekly show worth all that trouble is the question THE NEW show is strung out as a kind of hour of vaudeville with Redd up front of course in every act and if an ardent Foxx fan he can do no wrong If only a moderate fan or not one at all then the show will seem spotty and uneven In trying to avoid the usual continuity of the typical TV variety show he has sacrificed much of the connective tissue that welds such a show together and that make for the proper zip and zing The show has a plodding pace But monologue is raffish-ly funny The sketches are touch-and-go in quality The best is a sight gag piece in which he and Sammy Thompson a dour-faced regular on the show play two inventors who have both invented highly versatile electric blenders ANOTHER sketch about a massage parlor serves to ring in La Wanda Page his old nemesis on Holliday) and a collection of other wacko patrolmen The dialogue is fairly funny but racially overtoned and bound to bring outcries from viewers alert to stereotyping Tonight's opener has the chief and the boys and everybody else in town quivering with excitement because President you-know-who is coming for a visit returns for its sixth season at 8 on CBS (Ch 4) now 1939 and World War II is in the offing and John-Boy (Richard Thomas) has left the series left is a new pastor (Peter Fox) who tonight is lifting local eyebrows trying to cope with an infatuated local belle (Mary Elizabeth McDonough) BACK TOO in business at 8 is "Welcome Back for its third season The latest plot twist here is that Gabe and Julie (Gabriel Kaplan and Marcia Strass-man) are expecting twins no less Jack Lord and his pineapple police unit are back at 9 on CBS (Ch 4) for their 10th season Its guest star for the opener is Stephen Boyd whose appearance here was his last before he died last spring He plays an Irish terrorist posing as a priest starts anew at 9 on ABC (Chs 10 and 12) with sadly Fish (Abe Vigoda) about to retire from the police force (he has his own series now on Saturday night) but Barney and the boys are too busy tonight contending with a and as a surprise masseuse just laying for him another surprise cameo guest too but I give that away here The company of the stage musical is on hand to sing and dance the number Down the Road" Unfortunately Redd also tries his hand at singing a ballad Be So Easy to The proper audience reaction to Redd's singing ought to be to observe a moment of silence Please no knee-jerk reaction in advance from critics of its violence when the new cop show that premieres on Chs 7 and 5 at 8 This berthed in that family viewing time for nothing Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada are cast as a couple of rollicking California Highway Patrolmen (known out there when on motorcycles as CHiPs apparently) The kids may enjoy the chase sequences forever chasing something) but the show is otherwise as routine as one of those sup-port-your-man-in-uniform series Jack Webb used to turn out ABC BRINGS in a new comedy also dealing with cops at 9:30 on Chs 10 and 12 but these are of the variety in a redneck setting (the title is the geographical tip-off) Victor French is Roy Mobey the town police chief saddled with a black deputy Curtis Baker (Kene show and an NBC motorcycle cop series as well as a new comedy are being introduced tonight as new tide continues to roll in Five shows are also returning anew and a rock music awards special THE FAKE VIP opening of show may be a kind of double-entendre gag the idea being not only to provide a surprise curtain-raiser but little way of showing NBC from whose and he defected this year how a superstar ought to be treated Readers will remember that constant complaint over at NBC was that he never got star treatment They give him a window in his dressing room and the president of the network had the nerve to send him only a couple bottles of booze as a wedding present Redd Foxx superstar treatment citizens vigilante group to do much lamenting their loss The final returning series of the evening is at 9 on ABC (Chs 10 and 12) for its sixth season Buddy Ebsen as Barnaby comes to the rescue of an innocent citizen victimized by the sensational reporting of a TV reporter NBC has a Music special at 9 on Chs 7 and 5 This is an awards show manufactured by that network and of questionable prestige but rock fans may enjoy watching their gods and goddesses collecting the hardware Peter Frampton and Olivia Newton-John co-host the two-hour prize fest WPBT-PBS WTVJ-CBS 0 WPTV-NBC 0 WCIX-TV WCKT-NBC 0 WPLG-ABC 0 WPEC-ABC 0 WLRN-TV ETV WLTV 0 WCIX UHF 0 WHFT 0 WKID MMTOEfiTElTT 45-1147 4 444-2UI 414111 iromcis HIGHLIGHTS SHILDON ROSE SPIED READING CENTER 45334? 441-2334 4310131 FREE READING EVALUATION WE GUARANTEE TO TRIFLE YOUR EFFECTIVE READING RATE 0 Bible Prophecy 0 More Disco 9:00 "Including Me" hosted by Patricia Neal tells about education for the handicapped Including Me 9 pm 0 This excellent PBS special focuses on six handicapped children who are able to lead fruitful constructive lives because of passionate families and proper schooling Actress Patricia Neal is host Following the hour-long special is a local program which examines problems of the handicapped in this area Rock Music Awards 9 pm O0 Peter Frampton and Olivia Newton-John (who replaces the previously-announced host Cher) share the MC chores on the Third Annual Rock Music Awards from 0 Including Me Patricia Neal is host for a documentary about six handicapped children who had the chance to live up to their potential 1 hr Hawaii Five-0 Season Premiere The late Stephen Boyd stars as Irish terrorist who brings bloody strife to tropical Hawaii 1 hr O0 Rock Music Awards 00 Barney Miller Season Premiere Det Phil is mysteriously missing on the day of his retirement 0 Business of Writing 0 Gran Especial 0 Happy Hunters 9:30 wmm mi mm mi nbihc is mm TCI HEYJ KBS DC mmi IBS mi Because of a new law many handicapped children ate coming to public schools for the first time this year Parents teachers and children are bound to have a lot of questions about this new experience "Including is a PBS TV special hosted by Patricia Neal that can help you understand how it will affect you and your children So plan to watch it tonight with your family SEE "INCLUDING ME" TONIGHT CHANNEL 2 AT 9:00 HP? Marie poibe 1 qrar I hom the jM Company Produced bv Capital Cities Television Production 'jbp 1 wwt '4 0 PREMIERE! Small TownBig Comedy CARTER COUNTRY 00 Carter Country Premiere Sparks fly when young black policeman from New York goes to work with an old-fashioned police chief in a southern town 0 Volunteer Insight 0 Lester Sumroll 0 La Loba 10:00 0 Local Followup Community leaders discuss problems of the handicapped Barnoby Jones Season Premiere Barnaby looks behind scenes of TV news when newscaster stages event that results in death of priest 1 hr 00 News 0 La Ursurpadora 0 Dennis the Menace 0 Daily Market Close With Henry Murfey 5:30 Electric Company 0 Local News 0 The Odd Couple Know Show 0 Leave It to Beaver 0 Greyhound Racing Report Evening 0 Zoom OO000 Local News 00 My Three Sons 0 Villa Alegre 0 Dick Van Dyke 0 Actualidad 6:30 0 Carrascolendas CBS News 0 NBC News O0 Family Affair 0 ABC News 0 Getting Over 0 Gamer Pyle 0 La Otra 7:00 0 MacNeilLehrer Report Lawrence Welk Adam 12 00 Hogan's Heroes 0 NBC News 0 ABC News 0 Liar's Club 0 Something on 17 0 Mi Hermana la Nena 0 Petticoat Junction 7:30 Jeanne Wolf Hollywood Squares 0 Name That Tune 00 Hogan's Heroes 0 The Gong Show 0 Special Edition 0 Green Acres 0 Novela 8:00 0 Upstairs Downstairs REPEAT Virginia is taken out by a rich politically influential man 1 hr Morning UF Open College 6:00 Summer Semester OQD Community Close-up 0 Learning to Do 6:30 a Batman The Archies 0 Noticiero Observador 6:45 0 Job Line 0 What's On Your Mind? 6:50 Community Report 7:00 Skipper Chuck OS) Flintstones 00 Today Author Judith Rossner (Attachments) 0 Arthur and Company 0 Good Morning America 7:30 OS) Howdy Doody 0 AM Miami Changes in bail bonds 0 Hopalong Cassidy 8:00 Captain Kangaroo OS) Duck Duck Goose 0 Good Morning America Eileen and Jerry Ford from the Ford Modeling Agency 0 Father Knows Best 8:30 OS) Fran Carlton 0 Cartoon Time 9:00 0 Sesame Street Mike Douglas Cohosts: Bruce and Chrystie Jenner Tom Brokaw Jane Pauley Nancy Wilson 90 mins 0 Phil Donahue Dr Raymond Pellicore on bionics 1 hr OS) Love Americn Style Bonanza 0 Dick Van Dyke 0 Abbott Costello 9:30 OS) McHale's Navy 0 Bewitched 0 Mayberry RFD 10:00 0 Electric Company Andy Griffith OO Sanford and Son 00 ABC News Special Coverage of Bert appearance before the Senate Governmen- tal Affairs Committee 2 hrs 0 700 Club 0 Market Report 10:30 New Price Is Right OS) Beverly Hillbillies OO Hollywood Squares 11:00 OS) Perry Mason OO Wheel of Fortune 0 Market Report 11:30 Love of Life OO It's Anybody's Guess 0 Manna 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PREMIERE! FUNNY! OUTRAGEOUS! REDD FOXX 0 Market Report 12:15 0 News 12:30 Search for Tomorrow 0 Chico and the Man News 0 All My Children 0 Ryan's Hope 0 Show Del Medio Dia 1:00 Young and Restless Chico and the Man 0 The Gong Show 0 All My Children 0 Market Report 1:30 As the World Turns QB Days of Our Lives 0 Phil Donahue William Hardy executive director of Chicago NAACP 1 hr 0 Pequences 0 Bozo 2:00 00 I Love Lucy 0 $20000 Pyramid 0 Jacinto Pichimauida 0 UnderdogBullwinkle 0 Market Report 2:30 Guiding Light OS) Three Stooges O0 The Doctors 00 One Life to Live 0 Cartoon Circus 3:00 All in the Family OS) Mickey Mouse Club Q0 Another World 0 Cambia Cambia 0 Popeye Pats 0 Market Report 3:15 01)0 General Hospital 3:30 Match Game '77 O0 The Banana Splits 4:00 Sesame Street Tattletales My Three Sons OS) Heckle and Jeckle Movie Me ('53) Ethel Merman Don- aid Snappy musical about a freewheeling Washington hostess 2 hrs Good Brady Bunch The Flintstones El Chofer Little Rascals Market Report 4:30 Merv Griffin Wayne Rogers Strauss Bonnie lin 90 mins 0 Emergency One 00 Gilligon's Island 0 Dinah! Jack Albertson Della Reese Scatman Croth ers 90 mins 0 The Brady Bunch 0 La Criada Bien Criada 0 BuchsbaumRosenvold 5:00 0 Mister Rogers 00 Emergency One 0 Hogan's Heroes 0 Studio See 8PM Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada as California Highway Patrolmen who dig motorcycles and girls! 00 Redd Foxx Premiere Veteran Redd Foxx is star of his own comedy-variety show 1 hr 0 Around the World 0 Manana Sera Otro Dia 10:30 Forsyte Saga O0 The Honeymooners -0 Su Future 0 News 0 Hi-Life 11:00 OQ000 News 00 Fernwood 2Night 0 El Bien Amado 0 Abbott Costello 0 Single Scene 11:30 ABC Captioned News Movie Charles Bronson Liv Ullmann Man and woman are terrorized by henchman from the past Fair 00 Movie Richard Wid-mark Veronica Lake While bucking his plane through hurricane pilot reflects upon his life 2 hrs Fair OO Tonight Show 0 Ironside 0 Police Story 0 Western TheoterNews 12:00 0 Monty Python 0 All Nite Show 12:30 0 Police Story 0 Thursday Special 1:00 Q0 Tomorrow 0 NEW MINISTER COMES TO THE WALTONSNEW The Waltons Season Premiere Olivia is one of the committee members chosen to select new minister for Mountain 1 hr O0 CHIPS Premiere California highway patrol officers attempt to block sophisticated car-theft ring 1 hr 00 Movie to Glenn Ford Van Heflin Witness to holdup succeeds against all odds in holding outlaw leader prisoner for train to Yuma 2 hrs Very good 00 Welcome Back Kotter Season Premiere a big surprise twins for Gabe and Julie 1 hr 0 Consumer Survival Kit 0 Super Show Goya 0 Lester Sumroll 8:30 0 Learn to Paint Afternoon 12:00 O000 News OS) Movie Gold Diggers of Dick Powell Adolphe Men-jou Big-scale musical with laughs and precision production numbers 2 hrs Good Shoot for the Stars 0 Lester Sumralf.