Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #162
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 5/11/2004 5:15 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2004 : Issue 162
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Spring Time Change                    [ dougdouglass@[removed] (doug dougla ]
  Re: The Sound Effects Man?            [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  Alan King on OTR - The Big Show       [ Tom Kleinschmidt <otr1962@[removed] ]
  Duration of Wendy Warren              [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
  5-12 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Wendy Warren & the News               [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  Jack French's New Book                [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
  Strange Names                         [ "JAMES FAULKNER" <FAULKNERIANAPPLES ]
  Goodson-Todman Productions            [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  Linkletter, Goodson-Toddman, etc.     [ Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed]; ]
  Goodson, Todman, Et Al                [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
  Eastern War Time                      [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
  More OTR in the News                  [ seandd@[removed] ]
  TiVo and OTR                          [ seandd@[removed] ]

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 13:44:55 -0400
From: dougdouglass@[removed] (doug douglass)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Spring Time Change

Moving the clock forward is officially called Daylight SAVING Time. No
"s" at the end :)

Doug Douglass

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 16:28:28 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: The Sound Effects Man?

In the last Old Time Radio Digest, Jim Stephenson reported that Rufe Davis
recorded "I'm the Sound Effects Man" for Decca but he didn't have the it at
hand to check the number.  It is Decca 3085 backed with "Mama Don't Allow
It", and Rufe Davis is described on the label as Comedy Vocal & Imitations.
I see it listed in the 1942 Decca catalog, but it is gone by the 1948
catalog as were most of those earlier blue label Deccas.  I don't see it
listed in a detailed cross-indexed Decca dealer's LP catalog, so Decca
might not have ever reissued it.  I'm going to recommend it to a Canadian
friend of mine, David Lennick, who produces numerous reissues for Naxos
Nostalgia and Pearl, and this looks right up his alley.  So perhaps this
record might have a second life after all.

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 16:29:11 -0400
From: Tom Kleinschmidt <otr1962@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Alan King on OTR - The Big Show

Alan King used to have a show on Comedy Central called
"Inside The Comedy Mind". I believe that this was in
the late 1980's or early 1990's. On one particular
show he was interviewing Tony Randall and the subject
of performing on radio came up when Tony mentioned
having worked on some project with Loretta Young. Alan
King mentioned having performed with her when they
were both guests on The Big Show in the early 1950's.
He told a story about how The Big Show hostess
Tallulah Bankhead used to swear like a truck driver
during rehearsals for the show. Meanwhile every time
Loretta Young heard someone swear she'd shove a can in
their face and say "Put a dollar in the kitty, Put a
dollar in the kitty".  After hearing this from Loretta
about a dozen times, Tallulah finally looked at her
and said "how much to I have to put in there if I tell
you to go "bleep" yourself".  I haven't watched the
video I have of this in a few years now, but I think I
am describing the story accurately as he described it.
I do not know if the episode of The Big Show with
Loretta Young and Alan King is in circulation, I have
about 20-25 episodes in my collection and I do not
have one featuring them as guests. Does anyone out
there have it?

Tom

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 16:30:21 -0400
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Duration of Wendy Warren

Dick Harrold asks about  Wendy Warren and the News

She certainly must have been an early 'working woman.'  I was just
wondering how long this program lasted?

  Wendy was on CBS (with Doug Edwards, sharing the news portion) from
June 23, 1947 to November 12, 1958 so that was over eleven years for
this soap opera heroine.  I deal with her crime-fighting adventures in
my new book, "Private Eyelashes: Radio's Lady Detectives" (www.
[removed]), but by far the best treatment of this series was
penned by Jim Cox, who devoted an entire chapter (with photographs) to
Wendy in his popular book, "The Great Radio Soap Operas" ( McFarland
1999.)

Jack French
Editor, RADIO RECALL

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 16:40:09 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  5-12 births/deaths

May 12th births

05-12-1892 - John Barclay - Blethingly, Surrey, England - d. 11-21-1978
singer, actor: "Palmolive Beauty Box Theatre"; "Richard Gaylord "Guiding Light"
05-12-1894 - Leora Thatcher - Logan, UT - d. 3-5-1984
actress: Mrs. Kramer "Right to Happiness"
05-12-1901 - Harold "Scrappy" Lambert - New Brunswick, NY - d. 11-30-1987
singer: Mark "Smith Brothers: Trade and Mark"; "Town Hall Tonight"
05-12-1901 - Whitey "Duke" Ford - De Soto, MO - d. 6-20-1986
comedian: (Duke of Paducah) "Grand Ole Opry"; "Plantation Party"
05-12-1907 - Kathrine Hepburn - Hartford, CT - d. 6-29-2003
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-12-1910 - Gordon Jenkins - Webster Groves, MO - d. 5-1-1984
conductor, composer: "Everything for the Boys"; "Bob Burns Show"
05-12-1924 - Tony Hancock - Birmingham, England - d. 6-25-1968
comedian: "Hancock's Half Hour"
05-12-1927 - Suzanne Dalbert - Paris, France - d. 12-31-1970
actress: "George Fisher Interviews the Stars"; "Command Performance"

May 12th deaths

02-16-1895 - Louie Calhern - NYC - d. 5-12-1956
actor: "Radio Reader's Digest"
05-18-1913 - Perry Como - Cannonsburg, PA - d. 5-12-2001
singer: "Perry Como Program"; "Chesterfield Supper Club"
10-11-1884 - Albert Stoessel - St. Louis, MO - d. 5-12-1943
conductor: Oratorio Society of New York, Chautauqua Symphony
10-19-1932 - Robert Reed - Highland Park, IL - d. 5-12-1992
actor: "Hollywood Radio Theatre"
12-13-1910 - Lillian Roth - Boston, MA - d. 5-12-1980
singer, speaker: "Pleasant Sunday Afternoon"
--
Ron Sayles
For a complete list:
[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 16:41:11 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Wendy Warren & the News

In regard to Wendy Warren & the News, Dick Harrold inquires:

I was just wondering how long
this program lasted?<

Eleven years.  It debuted over CBS at noon Eastern Time June 23, 1947 and
departed there November 12, 1958, becoming only one of three network daytime
serials persisting beyond a decade that aired in a single quarter-hour time
period for the duration of their ethereal lives (others were Stella Dallas
at 4:15 [removed], 1938-1956, and Our Gal Sunday at 12:45 [removed], 1937-1959).
Incidentally, actress Florence Freeman, who also played heroine Ellen Brown
for most of the radio life of Young Widder Brown, was Wendy Warren for the
full run of that serial.  CBS newsman Douglas Edwards delivered the day's
headlines at the start of each installment before Wendy left her duties in
electronic media to pursue one in print journalism.

More details on all of these shows are available in separate chapters of
"The Great Radio Soap Operas" that focuses on 31 of the drainboard dramas
(and is available from McFarland, [removed], 800-253-2187).  It's
the first volume to exclusively spotlight the daytime aural narratives since
Mary Jane Higby's memoir was released 35 years earlier.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 16:42:20 -0400
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jack French's New Book

I have just finished reading Jack French's remarkable new book, PRIVATE
EYELASHES: Radio's Lady Detectives [BearManor Media, 2004].  As much as it
is packed with scores of details and facts about lady sleuths and the
programs in which they appeared, it  is very much a fast-paced, even breezy
 "page-turner," which you'll find very hard to put down.

Little things like the critical question on page 192 of the famous book,
THE THIN MAN, which upped its sales many times, or the long-forgotten
"abysmal" detective show that featured a full orchestra playing  such pop
standards as "Who's Sorry Now," compel the reader forward to discover new,
unembellished details about well-known and/or  long forgotten programs.
It's a must for the connoisseur of rare and unusual OTR information!

The book examines radio and mystery drama from about 1932 to the genre's
final appearance in the late 1950's.  While its focus is on women
detectives, French provides minute and fascinating details about dozens of
mystery programs and includes a comprehensive listing of source material
ranging from magazine articles, to dime detective novels, to film noir.
Each lady detective appearing under one of eight cleverly conceived
categories gets handsome, multi-page treatment.  The author traces the
chronological appearance of the subject's show, examines the program's
history and origins, and details with substantial documentation the manner
of the show's presentation and production.  French interperses  the text
with actual dialogue taken directly from the program scripts.

I just loved it  and I wanted to pass my enthusiasm along to others.  Good
job, Jack French!

Dennis Crow

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 16:42:32 -0400
From: "JAMES FAULKNER" <FAULKNERIANAPPLES@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Strange Names
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Huspucana, Mississippi?   That sounds lot like the little town in North
Carolina called Pokemoke, which consisted only of one store far out in the
countryside.  JIM

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 19:00:05 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Goodson-Todman Productions

There are numerous references to Mark Goodson and Bill Todman and their
prolific creative game show ventures in my book "The Great Radio Audience
Participation Shows" (McFarland, [removed], 800-253-2187).  Both
were ingenious and formed a partnership out of which truly emerged the game
show scenario that we know today.  While Art Linkletter and Ralph Edwards
may have been the granddaddies of the genre, Goodson and Todman were able to
capture the public's appetite for "thinking" stunts and turn it into a
literal empire.

Some of the more than 30 games the pair collaborated on before Todman's
untimely death in 1979 included:

Beat the Clock
Call My Bluff
Card Sharks
Family Feud
Get the Message
Hit the Jackpot
It's News to Me
I've Got a Secret
Judge for Yourself
Match Game
Missing Links
The Name's the Same
Now You See It
Number Please
Password
Play Your Hunch
The Price Is Right
Rate Your Mate
Show-offs
Snap Judgment
Spin to Win
Split Personality
Tattletales
Time's a-Wastin'
To Tell the Truth
Treasure Salute
What's Going On?
What's My Line?

Many of those were only on radio.  Some were only on TV.  Several were aired
in both mediums.  Nobody in the industry rivaled Goodson-Todman when it came
of productivity, however.  The tale of their ascension to game show fame is
fascinating.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 19:00:26 -0400
From: Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Linkletter, Goodson-Toddman, etc.

On Monday 10 May 2004, Kenneth Clarke wrote in the thread about Art
Linkletter and "People Are Funny":

Many of the game/audience participation shows which are considered
'classic TV' began on OTR.  Some of them were "What's My Line?",
"I've Got a Secret" and "You Bet Your Life".

I do know that "What's My Line?" did air on CBS Radio in the early 1950s
while it also was airing on CBS Television as well. The TV edition on
Sunday nights was LIVE, but I don't know if the radio version was a live
simulcast or if it was a taped/transcribed "delay".

"You Bet Your Life" was on CBS Radio and ABC Radio in the 1940s before
moving over to NBC Radio and ultimately NBC Television. The radio
edition was transcribed (or taped) even before it had a run on TV. I
don't know if the early years on radio (only) were ever "live" or not
though.

The TV years of Groucho's "You Bet Your Life", on NBC-TV, were *FILMED*
in advance. And the NBC Radio version was an audio track, but there were
some differences in the same episodes, between the radio version and the
TV version. Also, I don't know if during the same broadcast week, if the
same episode aired on each medium. They also aired at different times
and possibly days.

This is the same as well with Linkletter's "People Are Funny" on
NBC Radio and NBC-TV during the 1950s era. The TV program was filmed,
and the radio program was an audio track of that pre-filmed program,
possibly with some slightly different "wrap-around" items.

I don't know if "I've Got a Secret" ever aired on CBS Radio though.
As far as I know, "To Tell the Truth" aired on CBS-TV *ONLY*.

Many of the more successful game shows from classic TV were produced
by Mark Goodson and Bill Toddman.  For many years they were the golden
boys when it came to game/audience participation shows.  Almost
everything they produced became a success.  I've often wondered if
they produced anything for OTR.  I also wonder why, when there are
shows about 'classic TV shows', why the programs rarely mention the
fact that many of them actually began on OTR.  I guess that would make
an entire program in itself.

Well, "What's My Line" was indeed a Goodson-Toddman Production (in
association with CBS). And G-T (with CBS) also produced "I've Got a
Secret" and "To Tell the Truth", but I don't know if the latter two ever
aired on CBS Radio, while I do know that "What's My Line" did have a CBS
Radio edition in the early 1950s era.

And while we're on the subject of Game Shows, Linkletter, Goodson-Toddman,
OTR, etc., many game/panel show hosts or panel-members on NBC-TV (and many
of those game/panel shows might have been Goodson-Toddman productions as
well) were also at one-time-or-another, hosts of weekend segments of
MONITOR on the NBC Radio Network, thoughout its entire twenty year run
from 1955-75.

Some MONITOR hosts who were also hosts or panel members on game shows
[removed]

GENE RAYBURN (THE Match Game, NBC-TV 1963-69), BILL CULLEN (just about
two out of every three TV game shows of the 1950s/60s/70s had him as a
host! :), Henry Morgan, Monty Hall, Art Fleming, Hugh Downs, Ed McMahon,
Joe Garagiola (who hosted game shows and did a lot of sports/news for
NBC over the decades), and so forth. And many NBC announcers (and well
known radio/TV announcers on other networks) might also have hosted
MONITOR or at least did some announcing for the program (especially Don
Pardo, who did announcing on MONITOR off and on throughout its 20 years,
and who I remember as the announcer on NBC-TV's JEOPARDY! during the
Art Fleming years of the 1960s/70s).

Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@[removed]
New Orleans LA CSA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 19:00:45 -0400
From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Goodson, Todman, Et Al

       Many of the game/audience participation shows
which are considered 'classic TV' began on OTR.  Some of
them were "What's My Line?", "I've Got a Secret" and
"You Bet Your Life".

While YBYL was a radio success for several seasons before making a similarly
auspicious debut into television, WML? ran for two full seasons on CBS
television before making a brief stopover on CBS radio in the summer of 1952.
As to IGAS, I have not been able to find any indication whatsoever that a
radio version was produced, having made its television debut the same summer
of the WML? radio experiment.

       Many of the more successful game shows from classic
TV were produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Toddman.  For
many years they were the golden boys when it came to game/
audience participation shows.  Almost everything they
produced became a success.

GTP also produced some immense flops. Remember The Don Rickles Show (1968)?
That was theirs. So too was the creatively incoherent (and dreadfully dull,
besides)1953 Fred Allen star vehicle, Judge For Yourself. Granted, their list
of triumphs reads like a list of the greatest quiz and panel programs in
American broadcast history, but not everything they touched turned to a Pot
O' Gold.

I've often wondered if they
produced anything for OTR.

Most of their work together was in local NY radio, though they did begin
stringing together some network successes near the end of the 1940s when the
two began their long working relationship with Bill Cullen on shows like
Winner Take All and Catch Me If You Can/Hit The Jackpot. On his own, Goodson
was one of the busier radio producers in NYC during and after the War; his
most notable surviving work came as director of the long-running Treasury
Salute program, but Goodson was long associated with (though not creator of)
the Stop The Music program and is even known to have performed some
announcing chores when other staffers were occupied elsewhere.

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 19:04:59 -0400
From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Eastern War Time
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Paul Urbahns asked about Eastern War Time.  If he likes old radio, I recommend
John Dunning's book, "Two O'Clock Eastern War Time".  Not only will he learn
the answer to his question, but it's a great read.

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 19:05:51 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  More OTR in the News

Poor James Aubrey gets raked over the coals again in this Washington Post
article on some show that Billy Idleson appeared in after he was Rush Gook.

In addition, Alan King's death is getting worldwide coverage, most of which
is noting his connection with Jack Benny and Milton Berle and the vaudville
style of humor.  There are too many stories to link to here but I would
recommend a Google News search for "Jack Benny" to turn them up for those
that are interested.

'DICK Van Dyke': A Pratfall Down Memory Lane
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
... CBS was wading into the country rube phase instituted by the despised
James T. Aubrey, infamous unto eternity as The Man Who Fired Jack Benny.
...
<[removed];

Finally, Carol Burnett has some nice things to say about Jack Benny and some
bad things to say about contemporary comedy in today's New York Times.

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

CAROL Burnett Says Sex Jokes Lag Far Behind the Belly Laughs
New York Times - USA
... Museum of Television and Radio, said that Ms. Burnett actually comes
from the comedy variety and before that, vaudeville tradition of Jack
Benny, Milton Berle ...
<[removed];en=
82dd8e47b7ef8462&ei=5062>

See all stories on this topic:
<[removed];oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=googl
e&newsclusterurl=[removed]
Fex%3D1084852800%26amp%3Ben%3D82dd8e47b7ef8462%26amp%3Bei%3D5062%26amp%3Bpartner
%3DGOOGLE>

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

Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 19:07:29 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  TiVo and OTR

As recent subscriber to the TiVo digital TV recording service, I'd like to
echo Derek Tague's recent post on how it helps capture appearances by radio
stars on television.  You can program the machine to record programs starring
specific actors automatically.

I've found that it is particularly helpful in tracking the work of Bob
Hastings, who must have appeared on every sitcom on television during the
1960s and 70s.  I saw him as a salesman trying to woo Barbara Eden a couple
of nights back.

He also appeared as an "X-Files" style airforce agent when a UFO was reported
over Green Acres.  I think Parley Baer was also in that episode.

Virginia Gregg showed up in an episode of Twilight Zone playing part of a
family that is made hideous by magic masks.

So far I've been disappointed that none of Arthur Anderson's appearances on
"Law and Order" have been caught.  It also missed the recent TV special on
Jack Webb, although it did give me the episode of Adam-12 that followed it
(Webb directed it).

Two Fred Allen Movies I hadn't seen were on TCM lately and caught by the
machine as well ("We're Not Married," and an O Henry compilation whose title
escapes me).

It was going to record Radioland Murders, in which George Burns appeared in a
cameo, is going to be broadcast in Spainish in the next couple of weeks but I
asked it not to.

I also had to tell it to stop recording the Waltons just because Larry Dobkin
directed it.

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

[ADMINISTRIVIA: Of course, there are other digital alternatives to TiVo that
don't come with the serious privacy [removed]  --cfs3]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #162
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