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CAROL CHANNING PRESENTS THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS (ABC, 9-10 p.m.). Pastimes like sloth, avarice and lust provide Carol Channing, Carol Burnett and Danny Thomas with material for songs and humor.
415T ANNUAL AWARDS OF THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES (ABC, 10 p.m. to conclusion). Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Ingrid Bergman, Walter Matthau and Warren Beatty will be on hand when the Oscars are given out at the Los Angeles Music Center.
Tuesday, April 15
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY SPECIAL (CBS, 7:30-8:30 p.m.). A family of five from New Jersey spends a year living on Tahiti, Bora-Bora, Raiatea and Tahaa islands in "Polynesian Adventure."
NET FESTIVAL (NET, 9-10:30 p.m.). The Boston Symphony Orchestra performs "Bartok at Tanglewood: Concerto for Orchestra."
THEATER
On Broadway 1776. There is a degradation of intellect, taste and dignity in this musical, which presents history as if painted by a sidewalk sketch artist; it relies on calcified profiles of the principal signers of the Declaration of Independence rather than on searching character penetration. The score might have led Van Gogh to dispose of his remaining ear, and a brigade of crippled pigeons could perform better dance numbers.
HAMLET. The question has often been asked: "What is Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark?" One answer is given in Ellis Rabb's APA revival. Rabb is the definitive zombie Hamlet, a puppet rather than a mettlesome prince. The production, like the star, is passionless and bloodless.
IN THE MATTER OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER is a dramatization of the 1954 Atomic Energy Commission hearings on the security clearance of the renowned physicist. The testimony unfolds like an interminable dream; the play, rather than tingling with the anguish of a man torn between his country and his conscience, is merely misted over with sadness.
CELEBRATION is a beguiling musical fairy tale by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, co-creators of The Fantasticks.
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM. Woody Allen is the hero of his own play about a neurotic young man, rejected by girls even in his dreams, who is finally coached into bed with his best friend's wife by his fantasy hero, Humphrey Bogart.
FORTY CARATS is precisely the sort of show that people say helps them forget the trials and tribulations of the day. The story of Julie Harris as a middle-aged lady wooed and won by a lad just about half her age is never less than civilized fun.
HADRIAN VII. Alec McCowen gives an elegant performance as Frederick William Rolfe, the English eccentric who imagined himself named Pope.
Off Broadway
INVITATION TO A BEHEADING, as adapted by Russell McGrath from the Vladimir Nabokov novel, is not much of a play—the characters are unreal, the tension is nonexistent, and the humor is heavy. However, Joseph Papp's Public Theater production is an elegant example of inventive staging, costuming and ensemble playing that all but makes up for the script.