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The most promising variety hour —and in fact the liveliest premiere of any description all week—was the Flip Wilson Show (NBC). Flip is black and cool, and the first night played as easily off David Frost as James Brown. He does not do quotable one-liners but routines, of which the standards include a sassy drag bit and his "Church of What's Happening Now" sermon.
Judging by the returning shows and the eleven new ones, viewers can safely dismiss the pseudo-hip, summer-long promotion pushes—NBC's "Don't let it happen without you" and CBS's "We've put it all together." The two networks might, if they truly wanted to be relevant, begin by taking it all apart.
-Richard Burg helm