The New Shows

Guess Again (Thurs. 8:30 p.m., CBS-TV) is an ambitious, unsponsored, overcomplicated quiz show employing six experts (at least three too many) and an amiable moderator named Mike Wallace. Most of the opening show was devoted to explaining the game and rechecking the competitors' scores, and to a series of interminable charades acted to the hilt by Comic Joey Faye.

Wonderful Town (Sat. 9 p.m., CBS-TV) brings back to television the snowy shoulders and sunny aplomb of Faye Emerson. Feverishly sponsored by Pepsi-Cola with animated cartoons, bubbling glasses, jingles and urgent testimonials, the new show intends each week to salute a different U.S. city. The opening program was dedicated to Boston. On hand, presumably to hail their native city, were Cartoonist Al Capp, born in New Haven, Conn.; Singer Georgia Gibbs, born in Worcester, Mass.; Cinemactor Jeffrey Lynn, born in Auburn, Mass.; Comic Ezra Stone, born in New Bedford, Mass., and Composer (Syncopated Clock) Leroy Anderson, born across the Charles River in Cambridge. The talk between Faye, born in Elizabeth, La., and her guests was both literate and amusingly informative; the production slickly paced. This week: Chicago.

Midwest Hayride (Sat. 9 p.m., NBCTV) originates in Cincinnati and is billed as "an hour of songs, fun and laughter." The songs are full of hillbilly yips and cowboy yodels; the fun is provided by a backwoods M.C. with a burlesque approach; the laughter comes from mock titles like If I Can Get Through the Mattress I'll Meet You in the Spring. On the credit side: some spirited square dancing.

Mario Lanza Show (Sun. 8 p.m., CBS) gives Tenor Lanza a chance to display a repertoire ranging from such popular songs as Be My Love to Toselli's Serenade. The pause between vocals is enthusiastically filled by Sponsor Coca-Cola.

Chronoscope (Mon. 11 p.m., CBS-TV) sets out to find "the truth in the vital issues of the hour," a fairly large order for a discussion panel that sits for only 15 minutes and is repeatedly interrupted by commercials for Longines-Wittnauer watches. The resident truth-seekers are Veteran Newsman Frank Taylor (former managing editor of the late St. Louis Star-Times--see PRESS) and Newsweek Contributing Editor Henry Hazlitt. As guest performer on the opening show, Admiral William Blandy doubted that the Soviet Union would start a war, but urged "anticipatory retaliation" whenever U.S. Intelligence indicated that Russia was planning an aggressive move.

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