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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