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Youngsters especially reflect the McLuhan notion that plot is less important than image. Says Klein: "Television-oriented people don't care about stories. There's no need to tell a story with a beginning, middle and end. They care about people doing things, and all at once." What makes Spy successful, adds Klein, is not plot ("They are silly or nonexistent") but an interesting and warm relationship that is projected by the two lead spies, Bill Cosby and Bob Gulp. The Monkees' story line defies logic, but the show is a hit with the kids. U.N.C.L.E. swings chiefly through gimmickry aided by action—not to mention what Keld calls the "tactile, TV hair" of Illya Kuryakin. Some of NBC's custom-shot movies (World Premiere) de-emphasize plot; yet they get remarkable ratings.
Classic Soof. For further evidence that plot progression is not essential for TV, the McLuhanites cite the classic goof on CBS in 1965. The network was running a Hollywood movie, The Notorious Landlady. Inadvertently, a technician played two of the three reels out of sequence. Twenty-one million people watched the show, but the network got only a peep of protest.
While none of the networks is ready yet to line up 100% for or against hot or cold programming, TV decision-makers are nevertheless pondering McLuhan's implications. They have already seen that some of the most adventurous and entertaining productions on the screen are the TV commercials that get their messages across through imagery rather than hot, hard sell. Eastern Airlines' Miami campaign, for example, shows a smoke-filled nightclub scene in which dancers gradually emerge through the murk. It's pure McLuhan, and it sells tickets.