Picks and Pans Review: Mr. Smith

UPDATED 09/26/1983 at 01:00 AM EDT • Originally published 09/26/1983 at 01:00 AM EDT

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23

NBC (8-9 p.m. ET)

Mr. Smith goes to Washington in this sitcom starring orangutan C.J. (Any Which Way You Can). A mere circus performer until a lab experiment gives him an IQ of 256 and the power of speech, Mr. Smith becomes a consultant to the U.S. government. Leonard Frey is Mr. Smith's fussy liaison with humans. It sounds like Mr. Ed, but the creators, Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels, are veterans of Mary Tyler Moore, so monkeying around with Mr. Smith may be fun. (Premiere)