Roses, Watches & Telephones

When NBC lost Jack Benny and six other top shows to CBS, the network promised "to use its money, its experience and its every effort ... to develop new ideas and talent." Last week, after spending $75,000 in dry runs and tune-ups, NBC unveiled Hollywood Catting (Sun. 6:30 p.m., E.D.T.), a movie-flavored quiz show that seemed more intent on revenge than entertainment.

Produced by 39-year-old Louis G. Cowan, whose Stop the Music once plunged Fred Allen from second place in the Hooperatings to 38th, Hollywood Calling might do the same thing to CBS's Jack Benny, when he returns to the air opposite it this fall. With a jackpot worth $31,000 in merchandise, emceed by Cinemactor George Murphy, using 21 microphones and employing twelve singers, six arrangers, ten telephone operators, six researchers, 15 actors, six writers and a 35-piece orchestra, Hollywood Calling is built for business. It will flood the country with hundreds of prizes ranging from $1,250 worth of rose plants to a handbag stuffed with 300,000 francs.*

NBC has anticipated the likelihood that some contestants can't answer anything more complicated than their telephones. Each loser wins at least a 17-jewel Gruen watch. If he gets by the first simple question, the contestant wins a home freezer or a sterling silver table service for eight, and becomes eligible for the "Film of Fortune" jackpot.

Explains Producer Lou Cowan: "I wanted opulence, richness, entertainment, excitement, color--and I hope I've found it." But now that Hollywood Calling has joined 33 other giveaways showering the U.S. with nearly $250,000 worth of prizes each week, Cowan wouldn't mind if everyone else called a halt. "I think we've got enough giveaways now," he says. "After all, there are other things you can do in the radio business."

*The French influence is due to a tie-in with MGM's forthcoming movie, Madame Bovary.

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