Television: Reviewing the Commercials

While dramatic series have become drearier, commercials have developed into the sprightliest little plays on television. These days, many a viewer is tempted to leave his set during the first half of The Brady Bunch, fix a sandwich, pour a beer and then hurry back to watch these entertaining dramas in miniature. Actress Alice Playten, for example, has become nationally famous as the bride in the Alka-Seltzer ad who lies in bed breathlessly reliving the triumph of her first home-cooked meal—particularly a single, monumental dumpling. Behind her back, the uncomfortable husband surreptitiously gulps...

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