Quayle Comment Made for ‘Fruitful’ Week

TV or not TV. . . .

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT: TV has rarely equaled the event-style entertainment of last week--Johnny Carson’s retirement from “The Tonight Show” and the controversial birth on “Murphy Brown.”

With Vice President Dan Quayle objecting to Murphy Brown’s out-of-wedlock motherhood, there was genuine national involvement in both the sitcom and Carson’s final show, which predictably drew his biggest audience ever--55 million viewers.

And Quayle’s remarks inevitably linked both events, providing material for Carson on his farewell outing, not to mention fueling gags during the week for “Tonight” guest Robin Williams, as well as David Letterman on his follow-up show.

Carson thanked Quayle on his last program “for making my final week so fruitful.”

The comedian also said: “I have not really made any plans (for retirement). But the events of this last week have helped me make a decision. I am going to join the cast of ‘Murphy Brown’ and become a surrogate father.”

Programs such as Ted Koppel’s “Nightline” tried seriously to come to grips with the issues raised by Quayle in his comments about values.

And the Los Angeles station that carries “Murphy Brown,” KCBS Channel 2, reported that of the more than 10,000 viewers who paid 50 cents to cast a vote in a 900-number call-in poll about Quayle and the “Murphy Brown” birth, 62% agreed with the vice president that the show set a bad example.

But the comedians had a free-swinging field day. On the Thursday outing of “Tonight,” Williams zeroed in on the vice president: “He’s one taco short of a combination plate.”

Letterman, meanwhile, was relentless. On Wednesday night, his list of “Dan Quayle’s Top 10 Other Complaints About TV” included: “Too much liberal news coverage, too little golf and cartoons.” On Thursday night, he said that one of the Top 10 things Quayle likes about TV is “Matlock” because it proves the judicial system is working.

With all the fuss, some observers noted that CBS will rerun the “Murphy Brown” birth on Sept. 7, Labor Day, and wondered whether the topical series might incorporate the controversy as it moves into the new fall season of an election year.

Williams, by the way, also had a “Tonight Show” observation about billionaire Ross Perot, a potential presidential candidate: “Well, you know he’s not going to write a bad check.”

The comedian also had some thoughts about Carson’s future: “You could run with Gorbachev. He doesn’t have a green card, but what the hell.”

In any case, it’s doubtful that Carson ever had better back-to-back shows than his two final broadcasts. The raucous, brilliant Thursday program with Williams and Bette Midler was a perfect prelude to the quiet, classy exit of the comedian on Friday.

And not only did Carson’s farewell attract 62% of the audience in 25 major cities, his lead-in also gave the Letterman show its highest ratings ever for those markets--with an amazing 43% share of the viewers.

In addition, while Carson’s share of the Los Angeles audience was likewise amazing at 72%, he also attracted a mind-boggling 77% of the television viewers in Portland, Ore.

Exit laughing--except for a touching monologue by Letterman on his show following Carson’s finale. Abandoning his wise-guy persona--well, for a few moments anyway--Letterman delivered a straight tribute, crediting the success of his show to the fact that it followed Carson.

In great part, true, especially at first. Letterman, however, has been a giant talent and an influential shaper of the television medium himself. But his salute was a fine gesture, acknowledging that somebody has to open the door for you.

SECOND BANANAS: Former TV sidekicks such as Ed McMahon, who was with Carson from the beginning on “Tonight,” have done quite well for themselves.

McMahon, of course, has “Star Search.” Regis Philbin, who used to play second fiddle to Joey Bishop on his late-night series, has a successful talk show. And Hugh Downs, who was Jack Paar’s sidekick on “Tonight” in the pre-Carson days, is co-host of “20/20” with Barbara Walters.

ACTOR: All the obits of Robert Reed naturally focused on his role as the father in “The Brady Bunch.” But that’s not how I remember him, because “The Brady Bunch” was not part of my life. For me, he will always be the young, dedicated attorney who co-starred with E. G. Marshall in the fine CBS series “The Defenders.” Reed was an earnest, convincing performer.

RETURN ENGAGEMENT: Fans of Hal Linden, who played the title role in the cop comedy “Barney Miller,” may want to take a look at his new one-hour series, “Jack’s Place,” which debuts tonight on ABC and finds him as the host and owner of “an intimate neighborhood cabaret.” Comedy writers, by the way, would do well to study the refinement, wit and elegance of “Barney Miller” to learn what the craft is really all about.

BASES LOADED: Well, of course Fox’s Los Angeles station, KTTV Channel 11, unloaded the Dodgers. Fox is building a national network, and you can’t have baseball games repeatedly preempting your regular series in the country’s second-biggest TV market, thus killing your ratings.

PADDED CELL: NBC is boasting about winning the May sweeps. Yeah, well, great. It won in large part because of the big finales of series that are leaving the network: “The Cosby Show,” “Night Court,” “Matlock” and “The Golden Girls.” Sweeps help to set ad rates for local stations, so the lunacy of fixing prices based on shows that won’t be there anymore is straight out of Kafka.

BULLETIN BOARD: If you haven’t yet caught “Swimming to Cambodia,” with Spalding Gray, it’s on KCET Channel 28’s “Movie City Showcase” Saturday night at 9.

BEING THERE: “On Ork, if someone wants to be president, we just say, ‘Sure, go ahead. It’s cool.’ “--Mork (Robin Williams) in “Mork and Mindy.”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .