GERALDO’S FAULTS

“The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults” was a brilliant scam pulled on the viewing public (“A Hole in the Ground, a Hole in the Head. . . ,” by Howard Rosenberg, April 23).

The show was adroitly laid out as a Pop Archaeology event that purported the recovery of lost riches or the exhumation of some poor gangster. It was perfect television.

The sacrificial lamb was Geraldo Rivera, who summoned every skill of his craft to make a meaningless romp through the basement of an old hotel seem like the unearthing of King Tut’s Tomb in the Valley of Kings.

But all was not lost. Something of value was buried in the vault . . . Rivera’s credibility.

After it was all over and the initial embarrassment wore off, the people responsible for this charade must have had a real good laugh.

After all, they achieved the two criteria for a very successful show. They sold loads of advertising and got an unbelievably huge audience to sit through two hours that had all the significance of rummaging around Aunt Minnie’s cellar.

Never in television history had so much time and money been devoted to so little.

THOM WILSON

Los Angeles