FROM KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, 235 E. 45TH ST., NEW YORK, N.Y.10017

FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1976

(I ILLUSTRATION)

TV KEYNOTES - BY CHARLES WITBECK

"SHOW ME A HERO…AND I'LL SHWO YOU A BUM!"

HOLLYWOOD (KFS) - Late for a reading at Universal Studios, a lanky young Irish actor from Brooklyn burst into a room, took a seat next to a tanned, wrinkled old-timer and whispered, ''What's this all about?''

The old-timer grinned, "It's a story about fear," answered Pappy Boyington, the famous World War II Marine flyer in the South Pacific, whose autobiography was about to become the basis for an NBC pilot.

Actor Robert Ginty nodded, cased the room, and soon relaxed the star of the World War II pilot was "Wild Wild West's" Bob Conrad 0 handsome, compact, but short. Little Bob Conrad certainly wouldn't want a guy Ginty's size working with him. Ginty knew he had no chance here, but stayed anyway and read for the role of goof-up T.J. Wiley. To his surprise, Ginty got the job. Conrad didn't mind the man's height after all, and Pappy Boyington, show technical advisor, and the on-the-spot source for all flying questions, liked Ginty's spirit.

All this took place last spring. When the "Baa Baa Black Sheep" pilot was only half-way through shooting, NBC bought the show, scheduling it for family hour consumption on Tuesday nights to buck ABC's "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley," and the CBS variety hour, "Tony Orlando and Dawn." A two-hour premiere airs Tuesday (Sept. 21), detailing Pappy Boyington's free-wheeling ways as he makes a phony phone call to Admiral Chester Nimitz in Washington, forms his Black Sheep squadron, and scores a slashing victory over Japanese Zeroes in the air.

"Baa Baa Black Sheep" comes under the category of a sleeper. It's not "MASH," or "Hogan's Heroes," or the famous archetype, "Mr. Roberts," but the Boyington story contains the same '40s wild-haired, anti-brass spirit of men who fought their knuckle-headed superiors and the enemy with equal disdain.

Major Boyington sets the series tone with his quote from his autobiography, "Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum." Hard-drinking, popoff Pappy was describing himself in the old days, bickering with General Claire Chennault of the Flying Tigers over salary, outsmarting higher-ups who thought he was too old to fly, and then proving they were wrong by shooting Zeroes down like ducks.

To fit the family hour, Boyington's exploits naturally have to be laundered considerably, particularly the carousing carried on by his men between missions. But NBC knows kids will glory in the air duels between American Corsairs diving out of the sun to rat-a-tat-tat the Jap Zeroes, and grownups will look in to recall their World War II days.

"Pappy is 35," says Robert Ginty, plugging the series, "and his Black Sheep pilots are so young. We're all from small towns and ready to raise hell with our leader. Pappy keeps us flying because we're about to be court-martialed for previous indiscretions. My character, T.J. Wiley, is not one of the world's greatest pilots. I cheated my way though flight training, and I hold the distinction of having shot down American planes by mistake."

Pappy makes up for such weaknesses; after all, he can't be particular. "Boyington had an amazing talent for flying," says Ginty. "His instincts were quicker and better. I understand the Japanese Zeroes were faster than our Corsairs, but the U.S. planes could turn on a dime and that made the difference."

Sandy-haired Ginty sounds like a good choice for a Black Sheep. From Brooklyn, known as The Gint at the local Ox Head Bar, the nephew of N.Y.'s Democratic politician Paul O'Dwyer, the kid left home at the age of 16 to take up a drumming career. Ginty worked in Chicago and London, then took up acting on the advice of his pal, the late Sal Mineo, and studied with Manhattan's best - Herbert Berghof, Robert Lewis, Sanford Meisner. He broke though in a New Hampshire Shakespeare Festival and performed in Hal Prince's Phoenix Repertory company. Coming West, Ginty was befriended by Will Geer who gave him a place to live.

"Thank god I never changed my name," says The Gint. "Will claims he worked on stage with an Elizabeth Ginty. That made the difference."

Now on his way with films like "Bound for Glory" and Peter Bogdanovich's forthcoming "Nickelodeon," Ginty joins Geer's Shakespeare Company on weekends.

(King cut the ending which read: He still gets about in an old Plymouth he acquired for $100, and when the "Black Sheep" pilot sold, Ginty bought himself a 3-speed bike. "That's for use in case my care give up," says The Gint. "I almost missed out on this series when the Plymouth broke down. Now I don't have to worry with the bike as back-up")

CAPTION:

Robert Ginty is part of the flying flock in "Baa Baa Black Sheep," NBC's new Tuesday night series starring Robert Conrad and based on the exploits of WWII ace, Pappy Boyington.