The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 131

Pull out this section for seven days of television information TV this week Memphis, Memphis, Sunday Morning, July 16, 1978 CBS joins the 'jiggle' By Jerry Krupnick Newhouse News Service HOLLYWOOD The "jiggle show" came into its own on television this past year, and from the looks of things in preparation here for the fall we can expect bigger but not necessarily better jiggling on the new network schedules. What is a "jiggle Paul Klein, NBC programmer and phrasemaker, coined the term in describing shows on rival ABC programmed by the man who now is his boss, Fred Silverman. "He gets these girls in wet T-shirts and what they mainly do is jump around and jiggle" is the way Klein described it. He was talking about Charlie's Angels and Three's Company, but the term also could apply to some of those celebrity athletic contests and to Sugar Time and Roller Girls. Well, not Roller Girls.

That was Klein's personal contribution to the "jiggle show" wave, and it fell flat. "That was the trouble," Klein alibis. "Those girls didn't jiggle. Instead of wearing wet T-shirts, they must have been wearing All of which brings up one of the new entries of this kind for the fall. It's called The American Girls, it stars Priscilla Barnes and Debra Clinger as a lush blond and a lush brunet, respectively, and CBS is scheduling it on Saturdays opposite The Love Boat.

"We feel this show has a reason for existing beyond a jiggle show," producer Harris Katleman says. "I look at it as drama, comedy, high adventure." Aw, c'mon, is the press response. Do you think CBS bought this show because of its plot potential, because of its character development, or because you are exposing a lot of skin? "I think CBS bought this show," Katleman fires back, "because they thought the concept was good and they felt my partner (Harve Bennett) and I would give it the type of integrity and believability that would make it a successful show." He goes on to explain that the pilot, which has the girls involved in a teenage prostitution ring that climaxes in a huge international auction of several dozen young lovelies "was just something to get us on the air." He promises that The American Girls wouldn't dream of leading off with that particular segment in the fall. Katleman notes that the pilot wasn't written very well, that the girls sounded stupid, that the plot was thinner than some of their nighties. Will it matter, Katleman is asked.

"We are hiring the best writers around," he said. "Our shows in the future will be sensitive, with some underlying He was reminded of Bob Hope's 75thbirthday statement that he knew he was getting older because he was watching Charlie's Angels and following the plots. "You have no worries with this show," a questioner says, "as long as you keep it on the same level as the pilot. Obviously, it will appeal to that same 40 per cent of the audience who watch Charlie's Angels. But you're just kidding us when you talk of motivations and objectives and social significance.

What you have is entertainment that is eye-appealing, appetizing that is titillating. Why put us on?" Katleman looks at the assembled writers, and he just smiles all the way to the General manager John Serrao (left), Henry 24, soon to become Memphis' fourth By Richard Gardner Boyce and Pat Walsh check out the equipment at Channel commercial television station (see Dixie Dialing below). Dixie Dialing Channel 24 turns on the speed, hopes to turn on viewers By John Knott John A. Serrao, Henry Boyce, Pat Walsh and a handful of others are putting together a huge, intricate jigsaw puzzle in Memphis. Their task is made tougher by the fact that one part of the puzzle is at 2225 Union and the other part is near Shelby County Penal Farm.

But all pieces must fit before the puzzle is completed. Serrao is vice president and general manager, Walsh is chief engineer and Boyce is director of operations and programming for WPTY-TV, Memphis' newest television station. It will be the only independent and the first and only Ultra High Frequency (UHF) station, on Channel 24, starting Sept. 3, they hope. "We may be a week later than that, maybe two weeks, but we want it to be ready to operate perfectly," said Serrao last week amid the building clutter and hubbub in the studio, which is half of the Kodak Building on Union.

The tower will rise in "Tower Town" near the penal farm. "What we will offer is alternative television," Serrao said. "When the network stations have cartoons on, we will offer entertainment for adults in the way of movies. When they have heavier stuff on, in the morning particularly, we will offer items the 35,000 younger viewers of the county will like. When they have sports, we'll have entertainment." Debra Clinger Priscilla Barnes BOYCE, WHO HAS years of television experience at the age of 24, shed some light on the struggle to get on the air at a certain time.

"Everything has to be planned and executed perfectly from installation of expensive, sophisticated equipment down to the laying of the doormat. And we've had delays that are easily explained: We have some 200 suppliers, and each one of those may have 20 or more suppliers. So if some old gentleman in New Jersey has the flu and can't go to work one day and can't furnish his supplier, then it goes down the line, ending with us not getting something we need." Walsh, also 24, has been working with television since high school, starting with a school closed-circuit television center in Maryland at 15. When Channel 24 goes on the air, you probably won't just stroll to your TV set, flip the dial to Channel 24 and get a picture. You'll need a different aerial, which Serrao says can range from a simple, inexpensive ring that can fit on the back of your set to more elaborate equipment.

"If your regular (Very High Frequency or VHF) reception needs an attic or roof antenna, then you'll need the same type antenna for UHF. Some antennas are combined for both frequencies." WPTY's parent firm is Delta TV which in turn is owned by Petry TV, of New York, an employe-owned concern. Serrao, who is building his third UHF station, is proud that "from the time we announced we were coming here, in January, 1977, through filing with the Federal Communications Commission to startup time, it will be the fastest action in the history of the commission." STARTING A TELEVISION station isn't just something you scuff a couple of dollars together and set out to do. By the time the station begins broadcasting, $2.5 million will have been pumped into the operation, "and it will take another $1 million before we start making a profit in a year or so," said Serrao. Serrao and his executives are putting together an advertising sales staff right now to go after the admittedly high air-time profits.

Serrao expects to have 35 to 40 when the station is operating full force. The station will have several brief regional news programs during the day, but will not attempt any full news coverage, at least at first. "That doesn't mean we won't be aware of what's happening, but again we're offering an alternative to what the other stations have." WPTY will rely heavily on movies of all sorts running "theme" weeks, for instance. One week it will be Robert Mitchum Week, with five of the sleepy -eyed actor's films appearing daily or nightly through the week. The next it might be Humphrey Bogart Week.

Or maybe Private Eye Week, featuring such films as "Banyon," "Harper," "Shamus," "Kiss Me Deadly" and "Incident in San Francisco." This could be followed by Gary Cooper Week. Another week would feature Hollywood classics. Then there would follow "We Are Not Alone Week," full of supernatural and "encounter" movies. Both talkies and silent films featuring such worthies as Laurel and Hardy will be offered, but it won't be all movies. There will be new programs on the weekend.

One that Serrao is rather excited about is Hee Haw Honeys at 7 on Saturday nights. This is a spinoff of Hee Haw, starring some of its characters and in a canny bit of scheduling following the 6 p.m. Hee Haw show on Channel 3. The Sha Na Na group also will be seen on Saturday night, as will be Marty Robbins Spotlight (also new), Porter Wagoner and the Wilburn Brothers. The station will close its Saturday-night programming with an offering called "Creature Feature," which will have such creatures and features as "Teenaged Frankenstein" and "Castle of the Living Dead." THERE WILL BE religion programs early on Sunday, followed by cartoons, Black Viewpoint and silent film classics and talkies.

(Dixie Dialing columnist Larry Williams is on vacation.).