If the young adults continue to fall in with CBS-TV's "All in the Family" and the other folks go for "Emergency" on NBC, "Alias Smith and Jones" may have found its ideal spot on early Saturday night, filling the vacuum for youngsters.
Although the show has never been a big numbers draw, it had previously been against Flip Wilson on Thursday night -- a show which pulled all elements, including the very young. The Saturday night competition of "Family " is very rough, but at least there's the opportunity to capture the kids.
The two handsome male leads, Ben Murphy and Roger Davis, would seem to have all the "adorable" qualities required to play on the heartstrings of pubescent girls, and at the same time are daring and brave pulp fiction heroes to suit adolescent boys.
This year's premiere suggested no innovations in the basic formula. The two men, both former outlaws who have been secretly been promised amnesty if they follow the straight and narrow, once more were recognized as Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry and put under arrest. Through the machinations of a somewhat crooked private detective, they manage to escape and most of the hour has to do with their privations while the posse hunts them and with the amiable acceptance of their fate.
The operative word for "Smith and Jones" is amiable. While they usually carry guns, they rarely fire them (Kid Curry is known as the fastest draw in the west). While their frontier world is largely populated by the usual assortment of toughs and macho types, the whole thing is played for laughs.
Chief attraction in the premiere show
was the location footage in Moab, Utah. J.D. Cannon as the private
dick contributed his usual slick and professional performance.
Everything else was up to the normal standards -- or down, as
the case may be.
Back
to Articles List