Not Too Heavy

The kind of chitchat that used to be heard only in beauty shops and over tea tables is now increasingly available on TV. Last week Faye Emerson, one of the prettiest of the amiable gossips, moved her dazzling shoulders and her small talk about earrings, books, parties and people to a new time and a new network (Sat. 10:30 p.m., NBC-TV).

Because the Faye Emerson Show comes on the air when the audience is presumably stunned by the action-filled, clamorous, 2 1/2-hour Saturday Night Revue, Faye's slogan is "Let's just be quiet for a few minutes." About the only demand that decorative, 32-year-old Faye makes on her listeners is to ask their help in deciding such pleasantly egocentric problems as whether or not the Emerson decolletage is cut too low. Says she: "I wear on TV just what I'd ordinarily wear at that hour of the night. I don't think children can be adversely affected. They're probably not up at that hour, and, anyway, have you ever seen the clothes worn by the women in comic books?"

Faye's interviews, usually with prominent writers, actors and other professionals, are always unrehearsed, because "the best thing about the TV camera is when it watches people think, watches them searching for the right word." Mail response indicates that 75% of the listeners are married women, but Faye has also developed a surprise following among doctors and dentists. "I can't think why," she says, "unless they're just sitting there waiting for patients or something."

Faye is prepared to talk about anything on TV "as long as it's not too heavy," and she has imposed only a slight self-censorship: "The things I don't touch are people's personal lives. And I never rap people or anything, because I don't think I'm in a position to do so."

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