The New Shows

The Amazing Mr. Malone* (Fri. 9 p.m., NBC) rings a few changes on that tired radio perennial, the evening mystery show. Based on a character created by Whodunit Writer Craig Rice, Malone deals with a Chicago criminal lawyer whose avowed hobby is "collecting cliches." Malone has other off-beat mannerisms: he avoids fights, employs a masseur, and dislikes guns because "they remind me of weddings." Currently unsponsored, Malone had some fast-paced dialogue by Scripter Eugene Wang, is packed with such novelties as an effeminate gunman, a strait-laced gambler fretting about his daughter's morals, a policeman who was on the right track from the start.

The Jerry Colonna Show (Mon. 8 p.m., ABC-TV), thus far unsponsored, originates in California but owes more to Minsky's than to Hollywood, as Colonna is propelled with quivering mustache, freewheeling eyes and hog-calling tenor through a series of burlesque skits. As a barber, he uses a chamberpot for a shaving mug; on a rocket to the moon, he nuzzles a blonde stowaway; as a TV repairman, he pulls a battered corset from a TV set, crying: "Your condenser is weak!" Best example of Colonna's Klaxon charm: his screech-voiced assault on the popular song, My Heart Cries For You.

*Not to be confused with Young Dr. Malone, no kin.

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