Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #107
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 3/22/2004 4:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

    ------------------------------

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 107
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Cassette Repair Kits                  [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      The Great Radio Heroes                [ "Gary Yoggy" <yoggy@[removed]; ]
      Re: Wertheim and Berle                [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      3-22 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      radio legends                         [ "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@charter. ]
      Bishop Sheen                          [ donskuce@[removed] ]
      2 + 2 = ?                             [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      GUNSMOKE and "Hi John"                [ "avpro" <avpro@[removed]; ]
      HG Wells on Radio                     [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      OTR mistakes                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      re: Gunsmoke's John                   [ Mr Dan <teac35@[removed]; ]
      John on Gunsmoke                      [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Re: TV From the Air                   [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
      By Special Recording                  [ "James Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
      Milton Berle                          [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 01:53:08 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Cassette Repair Kits

    Thanks to everyone who answered my question about where to get cassette repair kits.
    Sounds like the best thing is to get some junk cassettes and canibalize them.  Several people
    sent me info on where to get them.  Thanks.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:07:58 -0500
    From: "Gary Yoggy" <yoggy@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Great Radio Heroes

    Dear Readers (and fellow listeners):

       I too was introduced to the magic of old time radio by Jim Harmon's
    wonderful book THE GREAT RADIO HEROES, perhaps the most readable book ever
    written on old time radio.  Whatever errors it might have contained, they
    were minor and  it brought back a flood of delightful memories of my
    childhood.  To this day I recommend it as the FIRST book anyone should read
    about old time radio.
       A personal note: Jim is editing the second volume of IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN
    featuring short stories based on the great old shows.  I think it will be
    coming out soon and I'm proud to say a story on Nightbeat that I have
    written will be included.  Keep up the good work [removed] Gary Yoggy

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:08:55 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Wertheim and Berle

    On 3/22/04 1:53 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     I am sure Digesters can cite others.  But the  commonly held belief that
>     Milton Berle was "Mr. Television"  is not among the myths. It is
>     substantiated by none other than  Arthur Frank Wertheim, whose book RADIO
>     COMEDY was cited by Elizabeth McCloud as an authoritative source in her
>     recent post about the "alleged"  exaggeration concerning Berle's influence.
>     Wertheim states otherwise.

    Please don't put words in my mouth. I don't think anyone in this thread
    has ever disputed Berle's "influence," or his importance to his audience
    in the 1948-51 era. What we have challenged is the *scope* of that
    audience, and the common notion that all America came to a halt to view
    his program, which it most certainly did not. As Wertheim himself
    demonstrated in "The Rise and Fall of Milton Berle," that audience was
    confined primarily to urban centers, with the largest concentration of
    viewers in the Northeast, and that astronomically-high rating evaporated
    fairly rapidly as television found its way into more rural markets. I
    think that these facts have been well supported, and that they
    demonstrate that commonly-held notions of the overall scope of Berle's
    weekly audience *are* publicity-driven exaggerations. That's been my
    argument from the start of this thread, and I stand by it.

    Wertheim himself clearly refined his views on Berle between the
    publication of "Radio Comedy" in 1979 and "The Rise and Fall of Milton
    Berle" in 1983 -- the latter article offers a much more comprehensive
    analysis of the regional nature of Berle's popularity, and a much more
    measured assessment of his long-term influence on the medium.

    Elizabeth

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:09:15 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  3-22 births/deaths

    March 22nd births

    03-22-1891 - Chico Marx - NYC - d. 10-11-1961
    comedian: Emmanuel Revelli "Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel"
    03-22-1893 - Tito Vuolo - Italy - d. 9-14-1962
    actor: Uncle Carlo "The Goldbergs"
    03-22-1895 - Joseph Schildkraut - Vienna, Austria - d. 1-21-1964
    actor: "Intrigue"; "Best Plays"; "Columbia Workshop"; "Hollywood Hotel"
    03-22-1913 - Karl Malden - Chicago, IL
    actor: "Theatre Guild on the Air"; "Our Gal Sunday"; "Aldrich Family"
    03-22-1917 - Virginia Grey - Los Angeles, CA
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    03-22-1920 - Ross Martin - Grodek, Poland (R; NYC) - d. 7-3-1981
    actor: Soap Opera "Janice Grey"
    03-22-1924 - Bill Wendell - NYC - d. 4-14-1999
    announcer: "Ten Troubled Years"; "Biography In Sound"
    03-22-1931 - William Shatner - Montreal, Canada
    actor: "The Curse"; "No Love Lost"; "The Secretariat"

    March 22nd deaths

    07-13-1906 - Harry Sosnick - Chicago, IL - d. 3-22-1996
    conductor: "Pennzoil Parade"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Beat the Band"
    07-17-1915 - Cass Daley - Philadelphia, PA - d. 3-22-1975
    comedienne: "New Fitch Bandwagon"; "Cass Daley Show"; "Maxwell House Coffee
    Time"
    09-05-1908 - Gloria Holden - London, England - d. 3-22-1991
    actress: Janet Archer "Meet Corliss Archer"
    10-07-1870 - "Uncle Dave" Macon - Smart Station, TN - d. 3-22-1952
    banjo player: "Grand Ole Opry"
    10-11-1918 - Olive Deering - NYC - d. 3-22-1986
    actress: Nita Bennett "Lone Journey"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:10:17 -0500
    From: "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  radio legends
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    Hello Again --

    I have to agree with Dennis Crow about most of the erroneous legends of radio.
    The story that the Lone Ranger's first name was "John" continues to irritate
    me.   The first name was never given to add to the air of mystery.   An
    earlier book on old radio decided to give him that first name, and as often
    happens, the misinformation was copied by other books and even the terrible
    movie,
    "The Legend of the Lone Ranger".  Although that movie was a masterpiece
    compared to the recent TV abomination which just should be burned.
        Another piece of misinformation I see repeated in books and articles is
    that for one year the Tom Mix show was not sponsored by Ralston but by
    Kellogg's.   That is just absurd.  Ralston owned the property through contract
    with the real Tom Mix.   They would not let a rival cereal sponsor the show.
    "Tom Mix and his Kellogg's Straight Shooters"?   I think not.  That one goes
    back to a book compiling data on old radio in the form of graphs, and a
    computer glitch put "Kellogg's" on a form for one year.  But it never
    happened.   Although Curley Bradley told me, as I mentioned in another letter,
    when Ralston definitely decided to end the show and go to TV with something
    else (Space Patrol), General Mills wanted to take it over and continue it for
    several more years, no doubt with Tom now eating Wheaties or Cheerios.   It
    never happened.  I think Ralston should have taken them up on it, because
    regardless of Wheaties commercials, many people would continue to think of
    Ralston when they heard Tom Mix.   Now of course a half century later General
    Mills has bought
    Wheat Chex (the former Shredded Ralston) and other Ralston cereals.  Hot
    Ralston can only be ordered by mail in crates of six for die-hard fans.  For
    years, the back of the box had a color picture of Tom Mix on it; I'm not sure
    if that is still going.
        However, I have to disagree on a couple of matters.
        I have worked with many old time radio actors on re-creations -- Curley,
    Les Tremayne, Virginia Gregg,
    Jack Lester, Art Hern, Fred Foy, Forrest Lewis. Hal Peary  -- and SOME of them
    did drop their pages to the floor, while others tucked them behind the other
    pages.  But I can't remember who did which at this point.
        Also I heard Arthur Godfrey dismiss Julius LaRosa on the air live, and of
    course tapes exist of it.  It may not have ended LaRosa's career but it was
    never as big again.  I have also heard an interview with LaRosa telling how
    surprised and shocked he was.   The reason, according to some sources, was
    LaRosa was dating one of the Maquire sisters, a singing act, and Godfrey
    considered her one of his private harem.  Arthur had some good points, but
    some bad ones too.
        -- Jim Harmon

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    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:10:29 -0500
    From: donskuce@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bishop Sheen

    Bishop Sheen can still be seen weekly on EWTN as carried on COX Cable in Kent
    County, Rhode Island.  I still watch him periodically and his personal gifts
    and his eternal message still resonate with me.

    Don Skuce
    donskuce@[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:11:15 -0500
    From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  2 + 2 = ?

    We've had a few conversation arcs here lately that I'm surprised no one here
    has put together.

    First, there has been a lot of discussion about what brought people over to
    new mediums.  Those of us in the geek set use the term killer-ap (killer
    application) for some revolutionary new product that causes everyone to
    either buy computers for the first time or to upgrade (like spreadsheets,
    Doom, and internet applications).  In radio and TV, what were the
    killer-acts?  Did Amos & Andy really bring about a significant increase in
    radio ownership?  I believe that it's true.  Was Milton Berle the killer-act
    that brought everyone over to TV?  There's been a lot of discussion here, but
    I believe that he was at least a significant factor.

    Second, the popularity of satellite radio.  Many of us here love satellite
    radio because: 1. It has great music (and great variety of music), 2. It has
    constant OTR feeds, and 3. Unlike internet streaming audio, we can take it
    with us in cars.  However, unlike the regular radio listening population, we
    as a group tend to be at the extreme end of the audio-obsessed distribution.
    Satellite radio has been growing steadily, but slowly.  I don't think either
    service has managed to make a profit yet.  And we haven't seen the large
    general population audience shift yet.

    So what is going to be the killer act that pulls people over to satellite?  I
    think I have an idea.  If you've been listening to the news lately, you'll
    know that because people were so angry over a television broadcast, the FCC,
    in its infinite wisdom, has decided to crack down on radio "indecency" and
    has been going after Howard Stern.  I don't want to get into a debate over
    the merits of Stern as a broadcaster, that's not my point.  Love him or hate
    him, you must admit he has a large and very loyal audience.

    There have been rumors about Stern moving to satellite, where he would be
    safer from the regulation (or persecution, depending on your point of view)
    of the FCC.  If he were to do that, I bet we'd see a large jump in the number
    of satellite subscriptions.  Additionally, I bet he'd put whichever service
    (XM or Sirius) he signed with over the breakeven point.

    This is all guesswork, but it's kind of exciting to think that we may be
    spotting one of points ahead of time, instead of after the fact.  Or, I could
    just full of it.  I haven't decided yet.

    -chris holm

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:12:00 -0500
    From: "avpro" <avpro@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  GUNSMOKE and "Hi John"

    Bob and Carol Taylor asked "Who is John?

    The "Hi Mr. Dillon - Hi John routine was related to me by Parley Baer many
    years ago when I asked him the same question "Who is John?"  The remark was
    never in any script and I was puzzled as to why it appeared in inappropriate
    places in a story.  It just did not fit.

    John was John Dehner.  He would try to break William Conrad's concentration
    during the show by saying  "Hi Mr. Dillon" to which Conrad always replied
    "Hi John."  Conrad never lost his place or dropped a line but continued his
    performance as if nothing out of place had happened.  John Dehner would say
    "Hi Mr. Dillon" when ever he felt it possible to breakup Conrad's
    concentration.  Dehner's "Hi John" occurred in the most unlikey places in
    the story:  out on the Kansas Plains when Dillon was riding alone or with
    Chester. Out would come "Hi John".  It might occurr when Dillon was facing a
    bad or serious situation or it just might occurr anywhere Dehner felt he
    might catch Conrad off guard.  Conrad simply replied "Hi John" and continued
    doing his part.  Most of the time Conrad  never even looked in Dehner's
    direction when replying "Hi John."

    Don Aston
    avpro@[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:14:14 -0500
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  HG Wells on Radio

    Allen Wilcox <aawjca@[removed]; asked about the
    prevalence of HG Wells (not Welles) on radio, apart
    from the famous version of War of the Worlds by Orson
    Welles (not Wells). Here's a listing of the shows I
    know of:

    Escape 10/29/47 Pollock And Porrah Man (Barton
    Yarborough)
    Escape 11/26/47 Country Of The Blind (Paul Frees,
    William Conrad)
    Escape 03/07/48 Jimmy Goggles, The God
    Escape 05/09/48 The Time Machine (Erik Rolf, Jeff
    Corey)
    Escape 06/20/48 Country Of The Blind  (Paul Frees,
    William Conrad)
    Escape 09/05/48 Dream Of Armageddon (Stacy Harris)
    Escape 09/19/48 Man Who Could Work Miracles (Ben
    Wright, William Conrad)
    NBC University Theater 10/17/48 The History of Mr.
    Polly (Boris Karloff)
    Escape 03/20/49 Country Of The Blind  (Edmund O'Brien,
    Barry Kroeger)
    Escape 10/22/50 The Time Machine (John Dehner, Larry
    Dobkin)
    Escape 01/05/51 The Man Who Could Work Miracles (Ben
    Wright, Lou Krugman)
    Lux Radio Theater 02/08/55 War Of The Worlds (Dana
    Andrews, Pat Crowley)
    Suspense 10/27/57 Country Of The Blind (Raymond Burr)
    Suspense 12/13/59 Country Of The Blind (Bernard Grant)
    Classic Storylines xx/xx/xx The Time Machine
    CBS Radio Mystery Theater 08/26/76 The Man Who Could
    Work Miracles  (William Redfield)

    There's also a brief (about 7 1/2 minutes) interview
    with both of them (does anybody know where this came
    from?):
    [removed] Wells meets Orson Welles 10/28/40

    Lastly, the BBC has adapted several Wells novels to
    radio. This includes the War of the Worlds (from
    1967), and First Men on the Moon (from 1996).

    I'm sure there are others I've missed. Especially for
    Escape--you can see that the producers of that program
    liked Wells quite a bit!

    Hope this helps,
    Kermyt

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:18:01 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR mistakes

    Jim Harmon commented:

>     You live long enough you learn something new.  I never knew radio fans were
>     complaining about "many" errors in "The Great Radio Heroes".

    Don't knock it, Jim.  I have yet to read a single book that doesn't have an
    error somewhere.  Remember that for brevity, a magazine article will suffice
    but a book is merely a compilation of information.  Whether it's a
    gramatical error, the wrong word (Calvary instead of Cavalry), or even
    mistakes that crop up due to new information about OTR dug up every year.
    Even the "best" books on the subject of OTR will become outdated.  Heck,
    four encyclopedias can list the broadcast date of the premiere episode to a
    radio program, and someone can find a short-run, four-episode summer series
    broadcast months before, therefore proving all the encyclopedias are wrong
    (and this has happened).

    Books written about OTR shows (and other subjects besides OTR) are usually
    as accurate as can be under the circumstances and at the present time the
    book was written.  Revised editions decades later supply corrections and
    additional information.  One such exampled was Francis M. Nevins, who
    co-wrote a book THE SOUND OF DETECTION: ELLERY QUEEN'S ADVENTURES IN RADIO
    with Ray Stanich in 1981 and about a year and a half ago a revised edition
    was printed.  The book was twice as thick.  The episode guide for the radio
    series had TONS of blanks and wrong titles and wrong dates, and ran about 8
    or 9 pages long.  The revised log has corrected titles and dates, the
    majority fo the blanks filled in, plot descriptions for the majority of the
    broadcasts, guests, author credits, and much more now running about 60 or 70
    pages.  (The Ellery Queen logs on the internet are from the 1981 edition,
    but no doubt some people will eventually take the material from the revised
    edition and reprint it word-for-word on their site soon - this has become a
    small problem recently.)

    Heck, Marc Scott Zicree's TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION was written back in the
    late 1970s and revised in the mid-1990s and one mistake, the broadcast date
    for "Long Distance Call" is still wrong (and the incorrect date has been
    listed on commercial video releases so it's going to be difficult to correct
    that error - perhaps someone will do something about that one one of these
    days).

    THE GREAT RADIO HEROES is a great book.  I recommend it and Jim should be
    patted on the back (as I'm sure he's received over the years) for a great
    nostalgic look back at the past.  Mistakes happen, but they shouldn't be the
    reason why people should dismiss a book.  The positive always outweights the
    negative.
    Martin Grams, Jr.

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:00:46 -0500
    From: Mr Dan <teac35@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re: Gunsmoke's John
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    funny you should mention John. A month or so back I listened to the rehearsal
    of (at least what is written on the label) "The New Hotel" - cussing and all.
    On the same tape was the Broadcast version - without the cussing.
    Dan

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    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:00:59 -0500
    From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  John on Gunsmoke

    There was the John Bumbee (sp?) character that turns up from time to time.
    I'm pretty sure I've heard the hello Marshall-hello john exchange as Matt is
    walking down front street in at least one episode.  Although I may be
    confusing the rehearsals with the actual broadcast show, I'm almost positive
    I've heard it, because I remember being so surprised when I did so.

    Regardless, there is at least one confirmed scene with John Bumbee.  It's in
    one of the Christmas episodes.  I don't remember the title, but it's the one
    where Dillon's horse breaks a leg, and he bums a ride into town with an old
    sailor trying to escape the horrors of his past.  It's a sweet episode told
    in a series of flashbacks, one of which has John telling the Marshall about
    his plans to ask a woman to marry him.  It's later revealed that she said
    yes.

    -chris holm

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:35:17 -0500
    From: Shenbarger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: TV From the Air
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    In a message dated 3/22/2004 Art Chimes told us:

>     The Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction (MPATI) provided
>     instructional programming in the early 1960s broadcast from circling DC-6
>     aircraft, using technology patented by Westinghouse under the trade name,
>     Stratovision.

    That must have been a refreshing change after years of seeing MUNTZ TV
    painted in the sky by sky writers.

    Don Shenbarger

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    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:35:42 -0500
    From: "James Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  By Special Recording

    "Andrewman" posted a question about the introduction to the Lone Ranger
    rebroadcasts that began following the end of the live broadcast of the
    series.  The series were produced by Fred Flowerday, former producer of the
    series, with George Trendle's permission.  Fred Foy did the announcing.
    They ran for about two years, and are in wide circulation today among
    collectors.  Cuts were made in the transcriptions of the original shows to
    permit additional commercials, so even if the phrase "By Special Recording"
    were omitted, you'd know it because the show would run only 25 minutes, not
    29:30 as did the original transcription discs.

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:36:05 -0500
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Milton Berle

    Much has been written lately about Milton Berle and his television career
    but let's go back a few years. In the fall of 1936 I was hired as an
    engineer at WHN in New York and assigned to their field department.
    Several nights a week they broadcast prize fights from several locations,
    and I had the assignment. Sam Taub was the blow-by-blow announcer.
    Charlie Vacner (from the Brooklyn Eagle) did the color, and staff
    announcer Brook Temple did the commercials for Adam  Hats. One of the
    fans was a young Milton Berle who worked the "Borscht Circuit", the
    resort hotels in the Catskills who catered to the people of the Jewish
    faith. Usually he would sit with me at ringside, yelling insulting
    remarks at Dave Rubinoff from the Eddy Cantor show (Rubinof and his
    violin). Then one night he sat behind Sam Taub and was needling him
    during the prelimary  bouts, so Sam gave him a flowery introduction and
    turned the mike over to Milton to describe the next round. Needless to
    say Milton made an "ass" of himself, during which Sam leaned around and
    gave me a big "wink". As I recall, Milton sat elsewhere from then on. A
    "memorable moment".

    Bill Murtough

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #107
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