Television: Year of the Unspecial

THE new TV season will not be new —TV seasons never are—but it will be different. The western, for example, is expiring like a perforated cowpoke, shot down to a mere five by critics of TV violence. Situation comedies—"sitch-coms," in the jargon of the trade—are up to 25, three more than last year. Adventure shows, in which journalists, lawyers or spies match wits and gimmicks, will shrink to 16, v. 18 last year.

But mostly, the '69-'70 season will be the full-blown season of the special —the one-shot show featuring a single entertainer or theme....