Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 16, 1995 TAG: 9503180007
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BARRY GARRON KANSAS CITY STAR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Maybe 1949, the year the first Emmys were awarded to honor and encourage good programs.
Or maybe 1952, in TV's so-called Golden Age, when prime-time shows included ``Colgate Comedy Hour,'' ``Philco TV Playhouse,'' ``Studio One,'' ``Texaco Star Theater,'' ``Kraft Television Theater'' and ``Your Show of Shows.''
How about 1962, when TV sets were in 90 percent of all homes. Or 1963, when NBC became the first network with a full color schedule? Or 1977, when ``Roots'' set ratings records and a standard for mini-series?
The answer, at least according to TV critic R.D. Heldenfels, is none of the above. Television, he says, hit its peak in 1954.
In his recently published book, ``Television's Greatest Year: 1954'' (Continuum, $24.95), Heldenfels argues that TV's most ambitious and glorious year occurred more than four decades ago, when he was only 3.
Heldenfels, a critic for the Akron Beacon-Journal, is not a nostalgia-drenched dreamer caught in a time warp. He knows TV equipment was clunky then and only half of all homes had sets, virtually all of them black-and-white with screens about the size of a Life magazine cover.
He also knows that people who lived in the biggest cities could choose from four or five channels. Those in smaller cities or rural areas could get only one or two.
But what they saw, Heldenfels says, compares favorably to anything that television has served up since.
Two of TV's finest dramas, ``12 Angry Men'' and ``Thunder on Sycamore Street,'' were broadcast in 1954.
That also was the year newsman Edward R. Murrow showed that the hearings conducted by Sen. Joseph McCarthy to unveil communists in government were little more than witch hunts.
Programs on four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and DuMont) included hours devoted to public affairs, theater, opera, drama and comedy, much of it live.
And, because there were so few TV sets, viewing was a shared family experience with each member giving each program full attention.
What's more, Heldenfels points out, much of the criticism of TV shows in 1954 simply is not justified.
Looking back, social critics observe that television in the 1950s was largely the domain of the white male, that women were relegated to unimportant roles. Also, minorities, if they appeared, were portrayed as domestic help (``Beulah'' and Rochester on ``The Jack Benny Show'') or buffoons (``Amos and Andy'').
``There's a tendency to overstate the problem,'' Heldenfels said recently. ``Our collective memory has forgotten some things.''
After spending hundreds of hours reviewing 1954 programs, Heldenfels discovered African-American images on TV that year included Congressman Adam Clayton Powell and baseball star Willie Mays. He saw black GIs in reports on the Korean War.
One segment on ``Omnibus'' was an interview with a black football player at Oberlin College.
``Even if you go back to `Amos and Andy,' you have your farcical central characters dealing with black doctors and black lawyers and, in one episode, a black U.N. translator,'' Heldenfels said by phone from Akron.
TV today is often criticized for underrepresenting other minorities, particularly Hispanics. In 1954, there were the positive role models of Desi Arnaz on ``I Love Lucy'' and the Cisco Kid, played by Duncan Reynaldo. ``Not only were they stars but they had production power on their shows,'' Heldenfels said.
Similarly, TV's portrayal of women in 1954 was more enlightened than in later years, he said.
``People take Harriet Nelson, they take June Cleaver, they take Donna Reed and they assume they were all functioning at the same time,'' Heldenfels said. ``Harriet Nelson was on in 1954 but June Cleaver and Donna Reed came later. You also have other shows, such as `Our Miss Brooks,' where you had an unmarried, working teacher.''
Reviewing programs of 1954, Heldenfels found women lawyers, a woman sports writer and even a Western star.
``Annie Oakley was a strong Western hero. From the perspective of the 1990s, she's not an ideal role model. She wears skirts all the time and defers somewhat to men. But she is also a crack shot and she chases down the bad guys.''
Similarly, the title character on ``Mama,'' played by Peggy Wood, was a strong, affirming woman, Heldenfels said.
A new generation of television viewers might look with horror at a broadcast system that provides so few viewing alternatives. Heldenfels argues that the existing networks of 1954 offered such diverse programs that dozens of channels were unneeded. And you didn't have to pay a monthly cable bill.
by CNB