The New Shows

Douglas Fairbanks Presents (Wed. 10:30 p.m., NBCTV) is a filmed drama series made in Britain with a high professional polish. But the competence of the first show, a playlet dealing with an insurance agent falsely accused of murder and attempted rape, was overshadowed by the glossy commercials delivered in pear-shaped tones by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. himself, and including asides on the Magna Carta and the American Revolution, and the suggestion that the international set is rapidly abandoning pink champagne in favor of the more dizzying delights of Rheingold beer.

One Man's Experience (weekdays, 11:45 a.m., Du Mont) puts Shakespeare to work writing soap opera. The idea is terrible, but the execution is impressive. Actor Jack Manning, in modern dress and using few props, pretends to be Hamlet's ghost come back to earth to tell about the dark doings at Elsinore. He opens each show with a summary of the action that has gone on before and, using conversational bridges to explain the action, has a fine time getting his histrionic teeth into Hamlet's big speeches.

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