------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 74
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
[removed] Fields on Bergen & McCarthy [steve mcguffin <earl22002@[removed]]
OTR and Future Generations / Sam's ["Welsa" <welsa@[removed]; ]
Little people inside radios [Bill Harris <billhar@[removed]; ]
Re: Bob Weiskopf [GOpp@[removed] ]
Yesterday in Radio History 3/4 [Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed]]
Re: As I was saying ... [Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed]]
3 OTR B/CASTS STILL ON THE AIR ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
"Death of Radio" ["Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@worldnet.]
FRED ALLEN; HIS OPINION OF TV ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
[removed] [Jerry Lewine <radiojerry@fastpointc]
Re:DEATHS (of actors and OTR), JACK [SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
little folks in the radio dept. [chet !! <cien@[removed]; ]
Thanks for the Video Sources [Ga6string@[removed] ]
RE: re: OMF/Yarborough's death ["David Phaneuf" <dphaneuf@[removed]]
Goldbergs: clarifications ["Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed]]
Big Band Music ["jim terra" <nickcharles4@[removed]]
Dragnet as the Most Humane Show on O [Robert Kirk <kirk@[removed]]
Re: OTR vs TV [OTRChris@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 13:36:40 -0500
From: steve mcguffin <earl22002@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: [removed] Fields on Bergen & McCarthy
A couple of years ago, I heard [removed] Fields on Edgar
Bergen & Charlie McCarthy's show over WHO in Des
Moines. The sparring between [removed] and Charlie was, as
usual, hilarious. I'd like to find a tape of this
episode, I believe the date was November 8, 1942. Any
help finding it would be greatly appreciated.
Steve
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 14:46:26 -0500
From: "Welsa" <welsa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR and Future Generations / Sam's Club
I have a friend who is media librarian at the main branch of our public
library. They have a respectable collection of OTR tapes and CD's. They
are seldom in. Who checks them out? The biggest audience, she says, is
teen-aged boys--13-6 or so.
As for Sam's Club--the manager at our store tells me that:
1) All buying is done centrally--the local Sam's does not do the buying.
2) The OTR stuff they had last year came in just in time for Christmas
shopping. He suspects that is what will happen again this year. But, alas,
the stores seldom know. The trucks arrive with merchandise and many times
they are surprised by what is in them!
Ted
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 14:48:05 -0500
From: Bill Harris <billhar@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Little people inside radios
I was sure that had to be the case, how else could those voices be coming
from the
old Airline Movie Dial set we had in the
living room? Then one day my mother was doing the floors and had the set pulled
away from the wall. Now was my chance
to look in the back and see those 'little people'. Humph, nothing but a big
round
thing with some kind of paper on it (speaker of
course). I then decided they must be behind that where I could not see them. My
parents and grandparents also used to talk about a 'bank' in the west which
could
mean rain. I knew there was a bank downtown where we went for money
sometimes, but
no matter how hard I looked I never could see a bank in the sky to the west,
just
some clouds.
Bill Harris
Harry Machin, Jr. commented:
And I remember how puzzled I was
when my father showed me (around 1933) the
inside of our Philco radio, and there were no little
people there. So I join with David Phaneuf in
asking whether any other OTR fans who, when
very young, grew up in the golden age of radio
and believed in the existence of the little people.
Harry Machin Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 15:01:28 -0500
From: GOpp@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bob Weiskopf
I haven't seen any postings here regarding the recent passing of
Bob Weiskopf, longtime writer for Fred Allen, who also
wrote such TV shows as "I Love Lucy," "Maude," and "All in the
Family." Bob once told me that when he received his draft notice
in 1942, he requested a two-week extension so that he could
finish writing Fred Allen's last two shows of the season. The
Draft Board summarily rejected his request, explaining,
"Everybody knows that Fred Allen writes his own material."
I've posted an article about Bob's career at
[removed]
- Gregg Oppenheimer
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 15:50:19 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed];
To: otr-otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Yesterday in Radio History 3/4
From the AP:
- In 1925: President Calvin Coolidge's inauguration was broadcast
live on 21 radio stations coast-to-coast.
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 15:50:16 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: As I was saying ...
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2001 10:50:14 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
Subject: ... As I was saying ...
When I was about ten years old, I was playing with my electric train in my
bedroom, with Nick Carter, Master Detective playing in the background. My
father came in to tell me to do something, and after giving me
instructions on what to do, he said, "Right?" I responded, "Right."
Immediately afterward, Nick Carter said, "Right!"
Several years ago, when WRW was broadcast here from 5-6, one day they
had a episode of Little Orphan Annie with the announcer saying, "Its
[removed], time for [removed]" and I glanced at the clock and it was [removed]! It
was about 50+ years later, but the time was correct! :)
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 16:45:16 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 3 OTR B/CASTS STILL ON THE AIR
In my posting about the "death" of OTR, I forgot to mention 3 very good
programs that are still on the air since the 1930's.
Grand Ole' Opry, from Nashville airs every Saturday Night from 8-10 pm
est., and The Metropolitan Opera broadcasts every Saturday Afternoon at 1:00
pm, est. I can remember Roy Acuff and Red Foley sharing host duties on the
Opry broadcasts and Milton Cross as host of the Met broadcasts. The "Opera
Quiz" which used Opera lovers as panelists during the intermission is still
a part of the program.
The Nashville show actually started at 6 pm to midnight, but the
network only carried it fro 8 to 10 pm. est.
Another excellent show that is based in Chicago, "Unshackled" is of a
religious nature and had been airing since the 1930's. It is broadcast over
1100 radio outlets in 147 Countries. It uses both professional and amateur
performers from the Chicago area, from Stage and TV. Even though you may
not be religious, entertainment-wise it is a very well written, and acted
show. <[removed];
I know these broadcasts are for a limited audience - but - they must
have had some kind of "staying power" for the industry to even consider
keeping them on the air. What do you think?
- 30 -
Owens Pomeroy
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 16:45:20 -0500
From: "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Death of Radio"
I don't want to throw a wet blanket on a fairly spirited debate, but radio
did NOT die an early death in the US as much as it had new life breathed
into it by World War II. Television and video technology could have killed
the medium in the early 1940's had the war not shut down the network's early
attempts at television.
Remember the BBC was on the air with their TV service in 1939. Franklin
Roosevelt stood before NBC's cameras at the '39 World's Fair and the Germans
had televised the opening of the '36 Summer Olympics. Television was coming
to the Western World at a pretty good clip until the demands of war
sidetracked the technological innovators.
Some may want to characterize the vast majority Americans as unimaginative
couch potatoes or easily led sheep simply because TV is our dominant medium.
But it's the American entertainment industry that is dominant throughout the
world because it is *Americans* who create, write, produce and push
entertainment technology to its limits both on the large and the small
screen. Couple that with the recording and computer industries and you
hardly get the picture of a dull, robotic peoples.
And speaking of death, television does handle it pretty good these days.
Yes, "Coach" died on "Cheers" as well as in real life. But you handle an
actor's death through heart attack much differently than that of a wife's
drug-induced murder-suicide rampage (Phil Hartman.) As Mary Tyler Moore
proved in the infamous "Chuckles the Clown" episode, even death can be funny
if you handle it right.
And for those who wish a little honest disclosure, yes, I work in
television. I have been contributing to the ether pollution as a producer
and crew member of televised sports since 1983.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 16:45:23 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: FRED ALLEN; HIS OPINION OF TV
In the early days of Television, when a lot of radio stars were
considering making the transition to television, Fred Allen, in an interview
in Radio Mirror Magazine, when asked if the radio people will take their
shows to TV, he had this to say:. . ."we people in radio will never go into
television because we will never be small enough to fit into that little
tube!"
Of course, Fred was speaking for himself, and a few others who had
doubts about the success of radio shows to TV - but - you know, he did speak
the truth in a way, because for the exception of a few shows that did
successfully make the change, a lot of the radio series only lasted one or
two seasons on television.
Speaking of radio to TV, there were two programs that were on
Television first and went to radio, both Westerns: Have Gun, will Travel,
starring John Dehner and Fort Laramie, starring Raymond Burr in both
versions. There was also, I believe a comedy show, "My Favorite Husband,"
starring Lucille Ball in the Radio version and Joan Caulfield in the TV
version.
- 30 -
Owens Pomeroy
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 16:45:24 -0500
From: Jerry Lewine <radiojerry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: [removed]
Don Taylor mentioned going to a site that was streaming audio and listening
to a DJ and music from his past, in this instance Pat O'Day on KJR.
A phenominal site for listening to airchecks from the old days of rock and
roll and more can be found at [removed]. You can search by station
or radio personality.
Jerry Lewine, Chief Engineer
KHJ, Los Angeles
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 16:45:26 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:DEATHS (of actors and OTR), JACK BENNY's
turkey
In a message dated 3/5/01 12:42:17 PM, Dave Phaneuf writes:
<<Even in our more "enlightened?????" TV age, when CHEERS' "Coach", and also
HILL STREET BLUES' "Sarge", and more recently NEWS RADIO's Phil Hartman,
died in real life, I remember simple "In Memory Of" dedicatories tacked on
at the end of the shows, and, in NEWS RADIO's case a touching tribute show
with excerpts from past episodes, but I don't recall the "Coach" or "Sarge"
or "Bill McNeal" characters themselves "dying" or being "killed off." I may
be wrong, but I don't think my memory fails me at this [removed];>
***Your memory is faulty, at least where HILL STREET BLUES is concerned. The
character of Sarge died while making love with his girlfriend, and quite a
bit was made of it on HILL STREET BLUES. Seems to me I remember some
grieving for Coach on CHEERS, too.***
And Stephen A. Kallis, Jr. remarks:
Bottom line? OTR would NEVER have died if the sponsors didn't abandon
the medium. But, the merchants of this world were steering their sheep
away from inexpensive radios to more expensive televisions ... and ad
agencies jumped on the bandwagon, knowing the profit potential from TV
would be greater once the sheep were [removed];<
***Not just the sponsors but the networks themselves. Jackson Beck has
wondered if OTR might have survived if the FCC had extended the prohibition
against one corporation owning multiple networks to radio and television.
What might have happened if CBS or NBC had had to sell their radio networks
before getting into television, or remain in radio and go head-to-head with
Dumont rather than with themselves. For one thing, CBS and NBC wouldn't have
just shifted their biggest stars from radio to television. It wasn't just
the sponsors who gave up on radio; it was the networks themselves.***
And Liz McLeod mentions:
Indeed not -- it was A&A episode 2397, broadcast on Friday, 8/21/36. Amos
and Andy are looking to raise funds to live on while in Hollywood, and
visit "the beach home of Cary Grant and Randolph Scott at 1018 Ocean
Front, Santa Monica" after being told of a job opening there, and become
involved in a friendly chat after learning that Randy is a fellow
Southerner. Then Cary arrives, and the talk turns in another direction.
Here they are:--
***Been there, seen it. That actually was Cary Grant's real-life home, and
I'm rather surprised that A'n'A gave out the address. It was a pretty
high-powered neighborhood block with, as I recall, Mae West, Marion Davies
and a lot of other celebrities including MERCURY THEATRE veteran Richard
Wilson. Richard once gave me a guided tour of the block, but didn't mention
anything about A'n'A's visit.***
And Ivan recalls:
<<The November 30, 1947 broadcast, where Jack has the dream about being
put on trial for killing a [removed] could not believe how bad that
show [removed] guess it seemed like a good idea at the [removed];>
***The same script was later redone on TV. The video version wasn't bad,
featuring Raymond Burr as Jack Benny's attorney and Frank Nelson as the
prosecutor. Nelson wins the case even though he's never been to law school .
. . because he's watched all of Burr's PERRY MASON TV shows. At one point
during the trial, Jack asks Burr why he does so much better in court on his
PERRY MASON series and Burr remarks that he has better writers because they
actually pay HIS writers. --ANTHONY TOLLIN
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 19:21:42 -0500
From: chet !! <cien@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: little folks in the radio dept.
this is sorta in reference to little people inside the [removed]
back when i was a lad they had double features in the theatres and i
used to believe that while one film was playing the actors in the other
film were out having dinner or otherwise [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 19:21:40 -0500
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Thanks for the Video Sources
Hello all,
Recently I requested info on potential sources for videos of B-movies and
serials. I got a number of direct responses, and I'd like to say thank you to
everyone who sent info. It was *very* helpful.
I'd also like to offer this compilation of the info I received, for anyone
who's interested. Caveat emptor, as ever!
Web sites: (If no address listed, virtually any search engine will do. I use
Yahoo, personally):
BRC Productions
Critic's Choice Video ([removed])
Finders Keepers ([removed]);
e-mail: finderskeepers101@[removed]
Grapevine Video
Media Bay ([removed])
Movies Unlimited ([removed])
Sinister Cinema ([removed])
TVideo ([removed])
VCI Home Video ([removed])
Videobrary
Mail Order:
Best of The West Video
[removed] Box 2734
N. Canton, OH 44720
Catalog, $2, includes a $[removed] coupon good for first order.
Stokey's Cinema Classsics
[removed] Box 609
Monroe, NJ 08831
Again, thanks to everyone for their responses.
Sincerely,
Bryan Powell
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 20:52:23 -0500
From: "David Phaneuf" <dphaneuf@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: re: OMF/Yarborough's death
In Issue #73, in response to Elizabeth's statement that One Man's Family
was "dishonest" in not dealing with the fact of actor Yarborough's death, I
replied that in some of TV's deaths, [removed] NEWS RADIO (Phil Hartman), CHEERS
(Nick Colasanto??) and HILL STREET BLUES (Michael Conrad) -- when the actor
died, I didn't remember the character being killed off as well.
H-O-W embarrassing!!!!! It turns out that those shows DID kill off their
characters when they died in real life. I know I'm going to hear from all
of you on this one! (And already have.)
[I beg many pardons, and bow in deep contrition before this esteemed group.]
Actually, Charlie emailed me before Issue #73 came out and cleared up my
fuzzy, failing, and faulty memory.
In my reply to Charlie I thanked him for setting me straight. "Though I
watched both these shows avidly, my memory of them is obviously not as it
should be. And to be honest, I wasn't watching them then so that years later
I could recount them in OTR Digest! ;-) Still I do believe the basic
premise of what I was saying is true, that society as a whole was not as
"honest" about death several generations ago."
And so, to all my new friends at OTR Digest, I am most red-facedly yours,
Dave Phaneuf
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 20:52:21 -0500
From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Goldbergs: clarifications
Hi Gang,
I've run the first "side" of that 10" reel of tape. I'm sorry to report
that I was wrong when I thought that these tapes contain 1/2 hour shows.
They're 1/4 hour shows, with closing commercials deleted. The remnant of
one indicates that the sponsor is Duz.
Assumiing that the topical references are timely, these are likely from
1941, because mention is made of war in Europe having started two years
before. So far, there are 7 consecutive shows. The plot lines are: Molly's
giving shelter to a woman she finds in their barn in Lastonberry. It turns
out that the woman's of French descent and the widow of an American who'd
been posted to the [removed] embassy (if I recall, in Italy). Then it developes
that they have to vacate the house that they've been renting because the
owner, and ex-con named Wade has been released from jail and won't renew
their lease.
These are fine quality line recordings, so please let me know if what I've
described are in circulation. Also, if you can clarify as much as possible
the air dates, I'd appreciate it.
Best,
Shiffy
check out my website: [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 21:20:35 -0500
From: "jim terra" <nickcharles4@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Big Band Music
For those of us lucky to live in California :-), and even more fortunate to
live in the San Francisco, there is a local FM station at [removed] that plays
bigband music 24 hrs of the day. It is a VERY low power public station
broadcasting from a local high school. Worth trying to get if you live in
the Bay Area. Remember, it is [removed] FM.
Roll up the rugs and SWING!! Cheers, Jim [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 21:20:37 -0500
From: Robert Kirk <kirk@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dragnet as the Most Humane Show on OTR
Elizabeth commented:
In any case, contrast Morse's sloppy handling of Yarborough's death with
the way Jack Webb dealt with it in "Dragnet." The "Big Sorrow" episode
stands as one of the most honest expressions of genuine human grief ever
to be broadcast: Joe Friday mourns the death of his partner, even as Jack
Webb mourns the death of a colleague and friend. The scene where Friday
is told that Ben has died, and he sits there stunned, is an extraordinary
and powerful bit of radio acting.
I guess it's taken me a few years to realize that Dragnet was the most
humane show on OTR.
Now, Sgt Friday could put down the low life yeggs with the best of
them, but Elizabeth's example shows a much greater depth, too. Added to
that is what is the best Christmas show to have ever been on the radio,
where Joe investigates the killing of a little boy by a friend who got a
rifle for Christmas. Even in the usual weekly shows, the run of the mill
ordinary citizens were usually given some depth unusual for the cops &
robbers shows - even than the more pretentious Oboler/Corwin characters who
seemed to me as a kid to be stock figures: like looking at the post office
murals one used to see; symbols & cliches rather than humans.
Dragnet was fun to listen to, of course, the other appreciation comes with
time.
Bob Kirk
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 22:33:10 -0500
From: OTRChris@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: OTR vs TV
<<Stepehn A Kallis , Jr. notes,
There are schlocky books and were dumb OTR shows, too. I've learned over
the years that some of this is a matter of taste. If some of
my fellow citizens like to sit and absorb TV shows, that's not a sign
that our (or any) culture is going to Hell in a handbasket.
Sometimes it's discouraging to those of us who dig OTR that not everybody
is as enthusiastic about the programs as we are ... but it's a fact of
life.
>>
Why does it seem that TV and Radio must always be such rivals? One or the
other.
I feel they are complimentary. Radio , TV , Books all have their own way
of telling
a good story when they do so in a compelling manner.
A good book can really be in depth and bring more detail whether it is
fiction or non-fiction . Television can show us visually stimulating images .
And radio can suggest those pictures in such a way that they are very
personal to each listener.
Each media source at its best can do wonderful things . I don't want to chose
one or the other.
Radio was great. Or it appears so great by todays standards because even a
bad show can spark the imagination and the listener must participate.
I cannot envision people just sitting in front of their radios for seven
hours a day doing absolutley nothing else. Was it ever that way ?
Radio changed so much in so little time in those golden days that I wonder if
there was truly even time to grow truly stale. And looking at those schedules
there truly was something for everyone. A wide variety of different kinds of
musical programs on each network , silly comedy to high prestige drama on
commercial networks.
Early Televison was programmed in a similar manner . And being new anything
just seemed great on TV . SEEING all those shows was just addicting. But
through the 50s , 60s and 70s it seemed like everyhting had been done and
done again .
For me since 1980 or so TV for the most part has been truly bad. Oh there are
a few well written shows but you know ---I don't care. I don't care about
hospital drama , or anymore police dramas .Been there and seen it before. If
it were not for cable I may not even own a TV set anymore.
But here is my problem with the current situation . I say let TV be the mass
produced programming for those who use it to relax and not use there brains.
But with 300 million people in this country are there not enough of us souls
that a truly well -written nightly radio suspense/drama program that is
truly involved cannot be produced?
If it cannot then I agree with the poster that says we are a nation of
morons. Because a non thinking nation is not a good thing.
-Chris
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #74
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