The New Shows

Author! Author! (Mon. 8 p.m., ABC-TV) is a variation on an old theme: the amateur talent show. This time the chance for limited fame and limited fortune ($100) goes to would-be playwrights. On the opening show, after a performance of Robert Latta's Love Story, Moderator Marc Connelly and a panel of experts told the aspiring dramatist what was right and what was wrong with his play. Their criticism ranged from the vague ("I think it's a pretty good job") to the picayune ("No character should be made to say, 'Get out or I'll have you thrown out,' unless there's someone around big enough to do it"). But, at $100 a script, it is a cheap way of meeting TV's ravenous demand for new material.

The Frances Longford-Don Ameche Show (weekdays, noon, ABC-TV) goes on for 60 minutes, haphazardly packed with songs, dance teams, dramatic skits, interviews that range from cover girls to Korean war veterans, and the commercials of three sponsors. Like Bert Parks, his daytime TV rival, Don Ameche alternately pouts and twinkles roguishly at the viewers. By treating him as just a great big silly boy, Frances Langford makes an appropriately maternal teammate.

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