Doctor's Orders

Where do American TV shows go after the networks are through with them? One popular retirement resort is London, where the British Broadcasting Corp. is an eager client of last year's Perry Mason and Independent Television pays top prices for such rejects as The Reporter -which wasso bad, even by the indifferent standards of U.S. audiences, that CBS dropped it in mid-series. American shows are so popular in Britain that ITV has always given them the choicest hours of its prime evening time.

No longer. Lamenting the "undue bunching of American and crime material immediately preceding the news," Lord Hill of Luton, chairman of the government-appointed Independent Television Authority, last week ordered ITV channels to rearrange their schedules. The new rules: "Between 8 and 9 p.m. on weekdays, not more than two programs a week should be American." Not that he was anti-American, explained Lord Hill, a physician who won fame a generation ago by dispensing friendly medical advice over the BBC. It was just that "the authority recognizes that this is an appropriate time for popular family programs, and wishes to see it occupied by programs of high quality."

"Unfair," wailed an ITV executive, pointing out that the BBC, which is unaffected by the order, was already showing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and had just bought a police thriller called Z Cars. And, although some critics cheered the ruling, it seemed unlikely that ITV's replacements would be much of an improvement. Most British commercial TV shows are faithful adherents of the mindless U.S. format, and the audiences seem to like them that way. "At 8 p.m. I do not welcome heavy discussion programs, political investigations or information about how to have a baby," wrote Evening News Columnist Beverly Johns. "Supper is over and I want to sit with my coffee and be amused."

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