Sally Jessy Raphael: Show-And-Tell Pays Off

Trademark red eyeglasses folded in her lap, red fingernails cradling a cigarette smeared with traces of lipstick in a like hue, Sally Jessy Raphael considers the ways she has filled seven years' worth of TV talk shows.

Her face does not flush a matching shade of crimson. She offers no apologies.

``Have I done shows that I think have no redeeming social value?'' she asks, knocking off some ash. ``Yes. Today's is one of them.''

That would be Bikini Madness. It featured beautiful models padding around in the latest styles, a bit early for summer vacation but right on schedule for the May ratings ``sweeps.''

``It's my job to give the audience what they want to see,'' says Raphael, visiting Seattle yesterday, a few days after taping the bikini show in San Diego. ``I think that's called good business, not selling out. I pay the dues with shows like that for the times that I'm allowed to effect change.''

Ah, yes, paying the dues. ``Sally: Unconventional Success'' - the new as-told-to autobiography ($17.95; William Morrow & Co.) that Raphael came to town to promote - tallies some of the debits on her career's ledger.

The $2-a-day job hosting an interview show at a radio station in Puerto Rico.

The brief stint as a wire-service reporter, where in Santo Domingo she once helped a photographer drag a corpse into better light.

More low-paying radio jobs in Florida and Connecticut, then better-paying jobs as a Miami morning TV host, New York radio personality and evening TV news anchor. Then 18 months of unemployment - ``the biggest slump of my career,'' Raphael calls it.

Eventually, in 1982 she became radio's answer to ``Dear Abby,'' landing a nationally syndicated advice show (it airs locally on KING-AM). The next year, the same company that produced and syndicated Phil Donahue's talk show took a gamble and created ``In Touch With Sally Jessy Raphael'' for television. As the show became more popular, it shortened its title and moved from St. Louis to Hartford, Conn., and finally to New York City. (Locally, ``Sally Jessy Raphael'' airs on KIRO-TV.)

The secret to her success?

``You need staying power,'' says Raphael, sharing a Seattle hotel sofa with her husband, Karl Soderlund.

``The talent is more perseverance than the talent is talent. We're not dealing with ballet, opera or fine literature here. We're dealing with pop culture.''

Ah, yes, pop culture. As showcased on Raphael's show it has included bikinis, roller derby, lady professional wrestlers, lady professional boxers and nudists.

``If there's a general interest, there's no drawing the line,'' says Raphael. ``It's in how you do it, the kind of questions you ask.''

Raphael's book, co-written by

Pam Proctor, includes several tidbits that suggest potential topics for future TV shows, including:

-- Broadcasters Who Have Been Fondled by Comic Jackie Mason and Found the Experience Repellent (Raphael says it happened during a Puerto Rico radio interview).

-- People Who Throw Their Dishes Away Instead of Washing Them (though struggling financially, Raphael and her husband would entertain guests with a loopy after-dinner ritual of smashing the china, then buying more at Goodwill).

-- What You Can Learn From the Names People Give Their Pets (long before Raphael found stardom, she named her black poodle ``Fame'').

The book also addresses the meaning behind her scarlet spectacles. ``My little rebellion against tradition,'' Raphael says in her book, ``a visual message that hinted at the fiery sparks of drama in my inner personality.''

Hey, it's her book; she can get deep if she wants to. Somehow it sounds more believable when Raphael explains in person that when she realized she needed glasses, red turned out to be the only color that a local optical store was selling at the advertised deep discount.

Raphael's book, like her show, has its serious moments. Raphael insists that her TV segments on, say, eating disorders, abortion rights, child abuse or self-esteem outweigh the daffy, sensational moments that the press picks out for critique.

``In their way,'' she says, ``I know that these one-hours are probably more relevant to the people listening than a news-bite story on the evening news could be.''