‘Riot Act’ Doesn’t Deliver One : Advertising: Universal Studios’ commercial for a stunt show is misleading. There are no police cars or riots, just the same old cowboys in a new show.

The action-packed television commercial for Universal Studios Tour’s new stunt show, “The Riot Act,” might be giving people the wrong idea.

The spot--directed by John Landis--begins with police cars racing through Los Angeles streets in response to a disturbance call. Subsequent scenes show burly men fighting karate-style and breaking chairs over one another’s backs.

At the end of the ad, five patrol cars pull up to the show’s stage, which is alight with fires and explosions. The words “The Riot Act” appear across the screen in scrawled, graffiti-like letters.

So, visitors to the amusement park might be surprised to discover that there are no policemen or karate fighters in “The Riot Act.” The show is actually an old-time Western act with cowboys and a horse.

When a guest recently asked about the discrepancy, a tour employee at the information desk said simply: “The television ad is misleading.”

In fact, “The Riot Act” is a revised version of “The Western Stunt Show” that Universal Studios Tour has been doing for 26 years. Though new stunts have been added, the show’s historical setting remains unchanged.

The television spot was taped before the show’s revamping was completed. MCA Recreation Services--which operates the tour--denied that it ever considered staging a show based on a riot. David Weitzner, president of marketing, said the name “The Riot Act” was chosen for its “action reference” and modern image.

“If we were to advertise the same theme as existed before, then what we would have ended up with was a duplicate of what we already had,” Weitzner said, in spite of the fact that the new show’s theme is the same as the old show’s. He said MCA wanted a commercial with “some degree of flair” and “that little extra edge.”

Weitzner compared the ad to a recent Honda commercial in which a compact car appears to be mounted on the wall of an art museum, then drives off.

“I don’t think people thought that Hondas can drive on walls,” he said.

The stunt show features 15 minutes of gun slinging and horse riding. One of the bad guys gets shot in a spray of blood at the finale. He falls off the roof, and a building explodes to end the show.

Weitzner said “The Riot Act” commercials will soon be redone to include interviews with audience members. Those shots will replace the patrol car scenes.

“What’s important is that, at the end of the day, people are impressed with the show,” Weitzner said.