Morons & Happy Families

The television industry hardly knew, last week, whether to wince or cheer. In a baccalaureate address. Boston University's President Dr. Daniel L. Marsh warned that "if the [television] craze continues with the present level of programs, we are destined to have a nation of morons." But from a suburb of TV-happy Baltimore came cheerier news. A survey made by School Principal Joseph Barlow of Essex, Md. seemed to show that TV has knit families more closely; reduced street accidents to children; improved adolescent behavior; sped up housework by wives eager to get to their sets; and cut down on moviegoing, radio listening and "idle conversation."

Dispatches from other sections made it clear that TV was continuing its methodical overturn of long-established U.S. manners, morals and institutions:

P: In Union, N.J., plans for a new movie theater were scrapped; a $50,000 supermarket will be built in its place. The realtor's reason: "changed conditions and, particularly, the advent of television."

P: In Washington, admitting that TV was a factor, the Council of Motion Picture Organizations reported that 580 movie theaters (out of a U.S. total of 19,311) had closed in the past six months.

P: In California, television took to the road when the Los Angeles-San Francisco Short Line bus company installed a set in one of its "de luxe" buses. Mounted in the paneling at the front of the bus, the set is screened from the driver's vision by a shield. Reporting that passengers "just love it," Bus President Rex White planned to equip his entire fleet.

P: In Manhattan, a worried Fire Department official complained that TV rooftop antennas are a hazard to firefighters. Firemen not only trip over the wires, they also have their hats knocked off by the dipoles, thus "leaving them in danger from falling debris if they have to work bareheaded."

P: In New York, NBC and its parent company, Radio Corp. of America, offered the full $200,000 backing for the forthcoming Broadway musical Call Me Madam. In addition to profits, RCA would get the record rights to the Irving Berlin music and NBC hopes to sew up telecast rights to the script.

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