Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #511
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 12/31/2002 2:04 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 511
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Coast-to-coast networking             [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
      Re: George Burns on stage             [ StevenL751@[removed] ]
      endorsement of Finders Keepers        [ jhcollins@[removed] ]
      Long running shows                    [ "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed] ]
      The End of Live Music on Radio        [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
      Red or Blue                           [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      "SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE"               [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
      Longest Running OTR Program           [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
      Re: Phil Harris on Film               [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      Imagination Theater                   [ Richard Fisher <w9fjl@[removed]; ]
      Re: some REAL OLD time radio          [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Re: Phil Harris on Film               [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      Musical Programs-Tennessee Ernie For  [ "timl2002" <timl2002@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 16:30:57 -0500
    From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Coast-to-coast networking

    Bryan (bryanh362@[removed]) wrote:

    "One thing that is interesting is that at times when both NBC networks had a
    competing sponsored offering the network program not heard in Denver would
    not be heard on  any west coast stations at all."

    They probably didn't want to pay for a second line from the Midwest to the
    West Coast.  I've been told that the expense of AT&T lines was a big reason
    why the networks did few West Coast originations until well into the
    1930s -- a Western origination required leasing a second line, by the hour,
    in addition to the permanent line going to the Coast.  NBC and CBS built
    their new West Coast studios after AT&T introduced new amplifiers that
    allowed the networks to reverse their permanent lines to feed programming
    back from San Francisco to Chicago when needed.

    This sort of cost-cutting continued into the TV era; when NBC started The
    Huntley-Brinkley Report in 1956 the show didn't have the budget to pay for
    the line that would be needed to bring David Brinkley's segments up from New
    York, so instead they had AT&T switch the entire network between New York
    and Washington several times during the newscast.  That's why the two
    anchors handed off to each other by saying "Chet?" and "David?;" the AT&T
    technicians could use that as their cues for the switch.  A few years later,
    when President Kennedy was shot, NBC-TV was in a local programming block,
    and since they didn't keep their network lines hot all the time they had to
    call AT&T to get the lines set up to feed from New York to the rest of the
    country, and from Washington and Fort Worth back to New York.

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 18:20:18 -0500
    From: StevenL751@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: George Burns on stage

>     there is no reason to have one man (or one woman) shows like
>     BARRYMORE or MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!  to name a couple of the >more successful
>     ones

    Well there's a big difference here.  I had the pleasure of seeing MARK TWAIN
    TONIGHT with Hal Holbrook on stage a couple of months ago.  Now I've never
    seen Mark Twain in person, and very few recordings exist of him, so I really
    have no idea how accurate Mr. Holbrook's portrayal is.  This being the case I
    was able to accept the impersonation.  On the other hand, I did have the
    great pleasure of seeing George Burns perform in person, and even after his
    death I am lucky enough to be able to pull out an audio or video tape and
    experience the real thing at any time.

    MARK TWAIN TONIGHT is also not the same kind of show.  It's supposed to
    resemble one of Twain's actual speaking tours, so there's no plot, no
    structure.  It's just a humorist telling stories.   SAY GOODNIGHT GRACIE is a
    scripted show however.  The plot, such as it is, has George telling God the
    story of his life so that he can be admitted to heaven and be reunited with
    Gracie.  There are multimedia effects and an offstage actress playing
    "Gracie". It's not meant to be a one-man stand-up show but a dramatic play
    that tells the story of the public and private George Burns.  Unfortunately
    neither the play nor the impersonation worked for me.

>     To the younger generations who were not privileged
>     to have grown up during the life of the real life Burns and >Allen, this is
>     probably as close as those youngsters will >ever get to the esteemed couple.

    Unfortunately most of the younger generation isn't going to be interested in
    seeing a show about George Burns, and if they were I would recommend they go
    to their local video store and rent some episodes of the Burns & Allen TV
    series, or perhaps one of George's movies.

>     I personally applaud any effort to pay due homage as best as > can be done
>     to any OTR figure, and to keep the memories
>     alive.

    I too applaud the effort, but was very disappointed by the result.
    Unfortunately a poorly done play isn't going to help keep anyone's memory
    alive.

    Steve Lewis

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 19:53:47 -0500
    From: jhcollins@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  endorsement of Finders Keepers

    At 05:09 PM 12/30/02 -0500, vigor16@[removed] wrote:

>     Hey, I just ordered some great vintage tv from
>     [removed]

    Oh, yes, they are great, and their prices are low. I have purchased many,
    many videos from them. -John Collins

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 19:55:07 -0500
    From: "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Long running shows
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Jim Cox listed a few long running radio shows in the USA.

    Here in England I found a few on the BBC

    The Daily Service (daily religious service) 2 Jan 1928 - still running
    (there's a documentary on 2nd January telling how one woman pestered the BBC
    in 1927 to start a daily service so much, that they eventually gave in, just
    to stop her letters !)
    The Archers (daily farm soap opera/drama) 1952(?) - [removed] (discussed recently)
    Letter From America (newletter) 1946(?) - [removed] (discussed recently)
    Just A Minute (panel game)1967 - [removed] (35th anniversary show is on New Year's
    Day)
    I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (panel game) 1972- [removed] (30th anniv. show earlier
    this year)
    Jimmy Young Show (news/discussion on world affairs/pop music) (1972 - 2002)
    (Sir Jimmy has just been sacked at 80 years old by the BBC a few weeks before
    the 30th anniversary of his show, although he has been with the BBC on air
    continually since 1967). He was a pop singer in the 50's until rock'n'roll
    killed his career in 1956. He has interviewed 14 Prime Ministers in his years,
    and members of the Royal family have appeared on his show.

    I'm sure there are many others 30 years + that have finished, but I just
    looked through this week's Radio Times !

    Incidentally if you want to feel old, it's the 50th anniversary of Hank
    Williams' death, and Little Richard was 70 years old recently , and both
    events are commemorated by the BBC on January 1st.

    Happy new year, folks !

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

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 19:55:25 -0500
    From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The End of Live Music on Radio

    Walden Hughes asked when regular broadcasts of live music ended on
    radio.  Here in the Los Angeles area there were regular remote
    broadcasts of big band music well into the '70's on station KFI.  One of
    those remotes came from The Palms, a dance and banquet hall on old route
    66 in Glendora, about 30 miles east of LA. They featured the big band of
    Johnny Catron who also owned a VW dealership in Pomona.  I can't
    remember exactly when they stopped these broadcasts but I would guess
    around 1974 or 75. There were also other remotes that KFI did on a less
    than regular schedule up to about that same time.

    George Aust

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 21:44:39 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Red or Blue

    I recently acquired an MP3 CD of Hop Harrigan adventures from World War
    II.  I've been sampling them.  Those I listened to so far were broadcast
    on the Blue Network.  The first show of every week was characterized as a
    "Blue Monday."  They explained that it was network affiliation.

    I guess that was "blue" because at the time, they didn't have a sponsor.
    :-)

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 21:45:45 -0500
    From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE"

    I haven't seen the entire production of "SAY GOODNIGHT,
    GRACIE", just a few excerpts which were shown on TV when
    Frank Gorshin was being interviewed.  I thought, based on the
    snippet I saw, that he did a nice job.  I agree with those members
    who said it was unrealistic to expect Gorshin to sound exactly
    like George Burns.  It is, after all, supposed to be an tribute about
    him and his wife, Gracie Allen.  The same could have been said
    about Barbra Streisand's portrayal of OTR performer Fanny Brice
    in the movies "FUNNY GIRL" AND "FUNNY LADY".

              Such tributes of well known people have been done many
    times over the years.  Actors have portrayed such people as George
    Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Benjamin
    Franklin and other political people.  Who can say what these people
    actually sounded like when alive? (Rich Little did one called "THE
    PRESIDENTS" recently for PBS).

              When an actor/actress does a portrayal of another performer,
    their goal is to get as close to who that person was in life.  Anyone
    who expects an EXACT replication of the person in question will be
    disappointed.

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 21:46:10 -0500
    From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Longest Running OTR Program

    I recently read a listing in the last issue of the mailing list
    which asked for some examples of OTR programs which had
    long runs.  The only two which come immediately to mind are
    "Backstage Wife" (which was on radio from 1935 - 1959) and
    "The Shadow" (which aired from 1930 - 1935, and 1937 - 1954)
    and "Burns and Allen" (1929 - 32 on BBC; 1932 - 1950).

    I double checked these dates with those listed in Dunning's
    Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio.

    I'm not sure, but  "The Jack Benny Show" might also qualify
    as well.

    There are two OTR questions I'd like to pose to the mailing list
    members:

    1. Meredith Wilson is listed as one of  the orchestra leaders for the
    "Burns and Allen" program at one time.  Is this the same Meredith Wilson
    who most people connect with the musical "The Music Man?"

    2. Since we're discussing long running OTR programs, why not cover the
    other end of the spectrum as well?  What are some of the shortest runs
    for a radio program?  (The only one I can  think of is "Meet Miss
    Sherlock", but surely there are others.)

    Happy New Year!

    Kenneth Clarke
    kclarke5@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 21:46:46 -0500
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Phil Harris on Film

    As you know, a collector has been providing me with a ton of old TV shows
    on 16mm film to transfer to DVD. Well, last week I got a film of Phil
    Harris that runs about 22 minutes. The title just jumped out of my mind
    (those of you over 60 know what I mean) but it had the name "Dream" in
    there somewhere. I'll have to go downstairs later and look it up.

    Anyway Harris sings a couple of songs. The story line is that he is
    mistaken for a male escort and a woman has him take her out for dinner and
    dancing. I was doing three things at once as it was running so, I missed
    seeing it from beginning to end. Just keep looking up to see what was
    happening.

    The date on it is 1937.

    This came with a whole bunch of movie shorts from the 30's and 40's. It
    also included a very early Rosemary Clooney Show with guest Tony Curtis.
    She looks like a teenager she is so young. The last film I transferred was
    a Lena Horn short, that also ran about 20 minutes.

    I haven't had a chance to go through the entire box yet, but it is suppose
    to contain many similar films. Hopefully, I'll find some more OTR stars.

    Fred
    [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 21:47:01 -0500
    From: Richard Fisher <w9fjl@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Imagination Theater

    Can anyone tell me anything about "Imagination Theater"?

    Dunning does not list it and Hickerson says "Syndicated; Mystery and
    suspense; written by Jim French" one show is available but no dates and
    "The Encyclopedia of American Radio" doesn't list it nor does Buxton and
    Owen's "The Big Broadcast".

    The commercials seem to be quite recent - probably in the 70's or 80's
    if I had to guess.

    Any information on or off the net would be appreciated.

    Dick

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 22:23:35 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:  some REAL OLD time radio

    From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];

>     we'll be presenting a show from [August 12,] 1927 that we've been
>     told is the only live air shot of a dance band remote before 1930.

    Not quite true, although perhaps it might be characterized as the only
    enjoyablely listenable live dance band remote from the 1920s.  There are
    recordings of the two relay broadcast from 2LO London, England, via 5XX on
    WJZ of the dance orchestra from the Savoy Hotel on March 14,1925, and from
    Ciro's Club on January 1, 1926.   Both Elizabeth and I have discussed these
    recordings here in the past.  Most of the earlier recording is hardly
    listenable--occasionally a few notes creep thru the static--but I have an
    original disc from the latter recording (from George Blacker's estate) and
    the song "When You And I Were Seventeen" can be heard clearly thru most of
    it.  The applause and the London announcer can also be heard and mostly
    understood.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 22:55:30 -0500
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Phil Harris on Film

    Okay. This time I got it right. The film is called Harris in the Spring. At
    least I was right about the date. 1937. It is an RKO release.

    The Lena Horn film was titled Boogie Woogie Dream. That is where the dream
    came from.

    Fred
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 15:46:14 -0500
    From: "timl2002" <timl2002@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Musical Programs-Tennessee Ernie Ford

    While on the subject of musical programs, I have been a huge fan of
    Tennessee Ernie Ford over the last 10 years or so.  Though I knew about his
    big hit Sixteen Tons, It was through finding His Gospel Music Recordings in
    Goodwill, Salvation Army stores, etc. that I really became [removed]  besides
    his TV work I know he had a number of Radio programs from Local Los Angeles
    Radio in the late 40's through various 15-30 Minute Network and syndicated
    shows through around 1958.
    My question is what of the shows, particularly the Syndicated ones, survive
    and would it be possible to purchase them or at least listen to them online?
    This may not be strictly OTR, but was in the OTR [removed] help would be
    appreciated.

    Tim Lones
    Canton, Ohio

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #511
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