The New Shows

Four new TV shows last week gave the children's audience a Hobson's choice between pistols and puppets.

Dick Tracy (Fri. 7:30 p.m., Du Mont), a filmed series based on the comic strip detective, comes equipped with two-way wristwatch radios, a satanic mastermind, and a fumbling police department. Actor Ralph Byrd, as the wooden-faced hero, spends most of his time making pronouncements like: "We're up against a gang who won't stop at anything--even murder!" The commercials introduce a children's chorus screaming in unison that Amm-i-dent toothpaste tastes better than candy or cake.

Saddle Pal Club (Sat. 7 p.m., ABC) opens with guitar-playing Jim Atkins a-sittin' on a corral fence and a-playin' to beat the band. After scattering cowboy lingo like birdshot, Atkins makes way for a film episode from a western serial.

In the Park (Sun. noon, CBS) tells the story of a lovable old ne'er-do-well named Bill Sears and a passel of puppet friends with names like Geoffrey the Giraffe and Magnolia the Ostrich. Their problem, described endlessly and archly: how to raise $2 to buy Bill a winter overcoat.

The Whistling Wizard (Sat. 11 a.m., CBS) gets high marks for imaginative settings and marionettes, but only middling grades for plot and dialogue. Veteran Puppeteers Bil and Cora Baird have cast their show with a full roster of the usual eccentrics (a talking horse, a wistful urchin, a brogue-laden wizard). The current poser: How can they extricate a cargo of shipwrecked toys from Davy Jones's locker?

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