------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 105
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
more Berle [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
Hey, Milton Berle was Mr. Television [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
Jim Harmon [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
Bishop Sheen [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
Cassette repair [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
Gunsmoke's John [ "Robert Curtis" <malibob@earthlink. ]
Jimmy Jewell [ "Robert Curtis" <malibob@earthlink. ]
PAUL FREES [ ME <voxpop@[removed]; ]
1960s/70s era network radio [ Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed]; ]
OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK [ "Jerry Haendiges" <Jerry@[removed] ]
A Small Confession [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 00:43:22 -0500
From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: more Berle
Well dang [removed] was hoping to be the first here to
utter the words "Jackpot Bowling", but looks like I
wasn't fast enough.
Irene H [removed]
Why we should want to rain on the parade of one of
the first members of the TV Hall of Fame I don't
know. Numbers aren't everything and I say
this as a retired finance officer/senior accountant.
Well Lord knows I probably shouldn't argue numbers
with an accountant, but here goes. :)
Numbers certainly aren't everything--though I think
this statement actually proves the reverse of the
point Irene is trying to make.
She didn't like my "Sex and the City" comparison, so
try this one. :) How many people watch "JAG" every
week, compared to how many have ever seen five minutes
of "Trading Spaces"? And yet which of the two gets
every single drop of press ink, and why?
There are many different elements which go into making
the "officially approved" storyline when it comes to
broadcasting history. Conventional-wisdom cliches, PR
hype, news media self-absorption and the pack
mentality often combine to produce a skewed version of
history, one which nevertheless then seeps into the
national concsciousness as "fact". That "Mr.
Television"/"lifetime contract"/"sold more TV's" stuff
had as much to do with NBC's publicity department, and
later with incurious 'historians', as with any version
of reality. Can you imagine in a million years Jack
Benny being reduced to something as humiliating as
hosting televised bowling? No, but "Mr. Television"
was.
That's not to say Uncle Milty wasn't popular on TV,
far beyond anything he'd ever achieved in radio;
wherever his television audience was coming from, it
remained loyal for several years even after there
*was* more competition, more choice, and much slicker
entertainment being offered elsewhere. (His ratings
seemed to have completely collapsed, and rather
suddenly, in the 1955-56 [removed] know why?)
But in the early going, at the time when he had
astronomical ratings numbers and the undivided
attention of the New York media, it's simply a fact
that his audience was quite small, by any reasonable
standard, and certainly by radio standards: there
weren't that many TV sets; there weren't that many TV
stations, and there was very, very little competition
(CBS had surprising trouble getting clearances for
some of its early TV stuff, and the ABC-TV network was
almost literally non-existent). It was April, 1952
before ANY television program had an audience of ten
million people (the "I Love Lucy" episode in which
Liz, er, Lucy decides she and Ricky aren't legally
married)--whereas the top radio programs, as recently
as two or three years earlier--were routinely pulling
down audiences three times that large.
I can't imagine why Berle's influence is in dispute.
The arguments run against the professional and
popular perceptions of the time, never challenged,
except here.
Well, "here" is a place where the Conventional Wisdom
is often challenged, on everything from Captain
Midnight Decoder Rings to Amos & Andy to Edward R.
Murrow, and I think quite refreshingly. The ideas
that get bandied about here often end up in much
larger and more far-reaching arenas, which speaks alot
for the people who populate this list. I didn't read
any of the earlier posts, including mine, as
"Berle-bashing". It doesn't diminish Berle's very
important legacy to view that legacy a little more
objectively.
chris
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 00:43:49 -0500
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hey, Milton Berle was Mr. Television
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not fulton sheen, not frank sinatra, not the host of death valley days,
hopalong cassidy or the lone ranger. To keep putting doubts as to who was the
king
at the time really seems foolish, its all history, it was uncle miltie, like
him or not. He was simply the right guy at the right time. Now that doesnt
mean that everyone liked him or that he was tops in EVERY region, but in
general,
he was the man,. Can you imagine many people visiting others to watch fulton
sheene or death valley days. It may have happened, but come on, in milties
case its a historical fact mentioned in any history of television. Some may
contradict it, but NBC does not.
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 00:44:15 -0500
From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jim Harmon
I too want to welcome Jim Harmon to the list. He is
directly resposible for my initial interest in OTR.
Back in 1968 I was stationed in Germany attached with
the 123rd signal Battalion. In the day room I found a
copy of a fairly new book called "The Great radio
Heroes". I found myself devouring it. It's through
this book that I first discovered I Love a Mystery,
The Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters and many more of
yesterdays adventure programs. I never forgot that
book and when I got the chance, many years later to
buy a copy along with the companion piece "The Great
Radio Comdieans" I jumped at the chance. Thanks Jim
for opening the door. Of all the books I own on OTR
yours are among the ones I take the most pleasure in.
Larry Albert
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 01:48:03 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bishop Sheen
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 12:32:50 -0500
From: "Robert Yellen" <ryellen@[removed];
In its second year, "Life Is Worth Living" moved to the ABC Network
and had a sponsor, the Admiral Corporation.
And I've read that at that time, ABC was still in the RCA building, and Bishop Sheen
occasionally used to drop in on the Howdy Doody rehearsals. Normally, the Howdy Doody
cast did a lot of raunchy clowning around during rehearsals. I suppose, doing a daily children's
show, they needed some way to remind themselves that they were adults. Anyway, they
always were on their best behavior when Bishop Sheen was around. They did kid him, though,
calling him "Howdy Diety" and "Holy Doody."
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210
lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 02:04:26 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross"
<lawyer@[removed];
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: Cassette repair
Does anyone out there know where I can get "cassette repair kits"? These are replacement
housings and hubs for audiocassettes. Radio Shack used to carry them, but they don't any
more.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 02:29:45 -0500
From: "Robert Curtis"
<malibob@[removed];
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: Gunsmoke's John
While I was working at CBS in the late 1960s with the legendary Sound
Patternists, Ray Kemper and Tom Hanley, I was told about "John." As I
recall their stories, "John" only appeared in rehearsals. He was an inside
joke between the actors and the rest of the production staff. His voice
was taken up by whoever was close to a mic at the time. Usually just
acknowledging his presence by muttering "Hello, Marshall" or something
equally insignificant. If "John" appears in your collection, you're lucky
enough to have a rehearsal recording. If Ray is watching these posts, I'm
sure he'll have more to offer.
Bob Curtis
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 10:16:31 -0500
From: "Robert Curtis"
<malibob@[removed];
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jimmy Jewell
In the mid 1960's I began writing a book about Detroit radio and the George
W. Trendle regime. I visited Chicago and met with Jimmy Jewell, who
directed many of the programs that have become famous and who was then
running a telephone service for Chicago voice talent where agencies could
phone up and hear audition tapes. Jimmy was also famous for his directing
bravado. The late George Seaton, a great director and also one of the
voices of The Lone Ranger (prior to Brace) shared some wonderful stories
about Jimmy. Like the day he broke his index finger against the glass
while throwing a spirited cue at an actor. Does anyone have more stories
about Jimmy?
Bob Curtis
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 10:17:07 -0500
From: ME
<voxpop@[removed];
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: PAUL FREES
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CONRAD BINYON WROTE
Paul also did a marvelous Orson Welles impression.
i wonder if it's well known that during a contract dispute (i believe it
was) that paul took over for orson welles on the EASTERN AIRLINES tv voice
[removed]"eastern [removed] wings of man." i doubt anyone could tell the
difference.
chet norris
--
"!Yo soy El Espantapajaros!"
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 10:21:04 -0500
From: Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 1960s/70s era network radio
Andy B wrote:
Theater Five was another show that began (and ended) in the 1960's on
ABC and as far as I know was sustained. It aired in the mid 1960's I
believe. Then of course there's Zero Hour later in the 1970's. General
Mills Radio Theater (Was there also a Sears Radio Theater about
1970-1980?)
ABC's Theater Five ran one season (calendar year), from mid-1964 thru
mid-1965, something like 260 episodes, M-F only, each episode aired (on
the network) once only. Theater Five was a New York production and had
most of the regular New York based radio cast/crews.
Zero Hour ran on Mutual circa 1973. It was rather short lived, probably
something like 26 or 39 weeks (weeks that is, not episodes). It had
two differnt phases during its total short run. I don't know if it was
a network feed or if Mutual mailed vinyl or tapes to desiring affiliates.
Maybe there were two versions available? Zero Hour was a Hollywood
produced program with the usual Hollywood radio/TV/movie crowd for crew
and casts.
CBS Radio Mystery Theater ran *on the network line, as a feed* from
January 1974 thru December 1982, nine seasons total. Of course, there were
many reruns, but they were still producing and taping new episodes into
1982 as well. There have been several re-incarnations of new episodes and
reruns by CBS/Viacom/Westwood/Infinity over the years since 1982. The CBS
Radio Mystery Theater was a CBS-produced/owned program with NY-based radio
veteran Himan Brown, and used music score heard in years past on other
CBS-owned radio dramas (Suspense, Johnny Dollar, [removed], Luke
Slaughter, Frontier Gentleman, Gumsmoke, Have Gun, etc) and CBS-TV owned
draamas such as Perry Mason, Twilight Zone, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Have Gun,
etc.
General Mills Radio Adventure Theater ran on weekends only for 26 weeks on
the CBS Radio Network (as a feed down the lines), from Feb thru July 1977
(something like 50 ro 52 episodes), of course sponsored by General Mills
cereals. CBS/Himan Brown were owners/producers of this radio drama just
like CBS Mystery Theater. The cast/crew was the same as that who did
Mystery Theater, and listening to Adventure Theater was like listening to
Mystery Theater in many ways, as well as the later years of Suspense,
Johnny Dollar, etc. or listening/watching CBS-TV dramas of the 1950s/60s
listed above, as they all used the same music score and overall "CBS"
production values. Starting in August 1977 thru January 1978, Adventure
Theater was rerun, probably in the same order as the weekends of Feb-July
1977, under the title "CBS Radio Adventure Theater", and had "regular"
network commercials/sponsors, as General Mills' contract was over and they
probably chose not to renew.
Sears Radio Theater was produced in Hollywood with their "regulars". It
ran on the CBS Radio Network from Jan thru Aug or Sept. 1979, M-F nights.
This was a separate radio drama that aired on CBS Radio, as the CBS-owned
CBS Mystery Theater (out of New York) was also in production and airing at
the time time interval. I don't know who was the "owner" of Sears Theater,
but it was *NOT* CBS, even though it ran on CBS Radio (and as a feed down
the lines). It went into a hiatus in Fall 1979.
Beginning in 1980 (and for only one calendar year or so), Mutual picked it
up and it was renamed Mutual Radio Theater. Sears still had sponsorship,
but the title was changed to Mutual Radio Theater "broght to you by Sears;
Sears, where America Shops for Values". After a few months, Sears dropped
sponsorship, and it was strictly the Mutual Radio Theater, until it left
radio completely around the end of 1980. When branded Mutual, it did *NOT*
feed down the lines, but was rather "syndicated" on vinyl or reels by
Mutual out of Arlington. The network-feed lineup of Mutual didn't have
time for a full 50 minute or so feed down the lines in the evenings, as
Mutual had three or four different newscats fed down the lines each hour
(very much like ABC Radio) -- Mutual had two "Comprehensive" newscasts
(:00 to :05 and :30 to :35), one "Progressive" newscast (:55 to :58:50),
and there was the Mutual Black Network newscast (:50 to :54:50). And there
was also the Larry King Show feeding down the lines for most of an hour
later on in the evenings (only two Mutual newscasts during the hours of
Larry King, the bottom of the hour newscast was only two minutes of
headlines). Thus, Mutual "syndicated" Mutual Radio Theater of 1980 on
vinyl or reels, IN STEREO and full 15-Khz acoustic quality bandwidth
rather than mono 5-Kc (or in the case of "poor Mutual", only 3-Kc lines in
many parts of the country)...
Imagine ABC Radio deciding to do a long-form radio drama in the 1970s era!
They wouldn't be able to feed it down the lines with Information,
Entertainment, Contemporary or FM newscasts each and every hour!
And let's not forget the CBS Radio weekday/daytime long-form variety and
personality programs of the 1960s, some of them originating since the
1940s or [removed] "Gawdfwee", Linkletter, Garry Moore, etc., with "Awthah"
lasting until April 1972 on the CBS Radio Network!
And NBC Radio still had MONITOR on weekends thru the end of January 1975.
ABC had Don McNeill's Breakfast Club thru the end of [removed] weekdays.
In 1968, it was packaged as "American Entertainment Network" with ABC
Radio's new four-way "identity crisis". The 1968 line-up for feeding it
was as follows on weekdays, after ABC started the four packages:
10:00:00-10:05:00am ET Information Network News (five mins ONLY)
10:05:30-10:29:30am ET Breakfast Club - Part One (ABC/Entertainment)
10:30:00-10:35:00am ET Entertainment Network News
10:35:39-10:59:30am ET Breakfast Club - Part Two (ABC/Entertainment)
11:00:00-11:10:00am ET Information Network News (back to ten-mins)
There was probably a Pacific-regional repeat which didn't feed on the
Eastern/Central segments of the network, later on in the morning.
In 1968 (the first year of the four ABC packages), Information Network's
"News of the hour, ont the hour, from American Information Radio" was
frequently TEN minutes long, when the clock could allow it. When it wasn't
possible to feed TEN minutes of news, it was only five minutes, as can
be seen above. I don't know when most ABC/Information newscasts were cut
down to five minutes (1969? 1970?), but remember too that MANY/MOST CBS
Radio Network newscasts (at least on weekdays) expanded to ten-minutes
from [removed] thru around 1970 or 71. I don't think that
ABC/Entertainment's "Here's the latest worldwide news from the American
Entertianment Network" was ever anything longer than five mintues.
ABC did have "Entertainment Network News in Brief" from :26 to :27:30
in those hours when the clock would allow it to be "squeezed in", and
Contemporary Network Newsbrief from :50:00 to :52:30. Note that during the
hour of "Breakfast Club", neither of those two headline-only short
newscasts could be inserted. Also note the complete absence of American FM
Network News from :15 to :19 as well as American Contemporary Network News
from :54:30 to :59:30!
NOW try to imagine ABC Radio attempting to run any other long form
drama/entertainment programs from 1968 until the 1980s when multiple
simultaneous satellite channels were finally possible! The 1968 Breakfast
Club line-up as listed above was also used in the 1970s era on weekends
during those hours when ABC had public affairs long-form programs and
religious programming (Issues and Answers, Perspective parts One/Two,
Voices in the Headlines, Billy Graham's Hour of Decision, Cossell's
Speaking of Everything, FM Network's weekly documentary "Listen Closely",
etc). During those weekend hours of public affiars long-form programming,
they did have five-mins of Information News at the top of the hour, and
five-mins of Entertainment Network News at the bottom of the hour. But
all Contemporary and FM newscasts as well as the Entertianment and
Contemporary Network headline newsbriefs had to be pre-empted to make room
for 24-min public affairs/religious programming.
Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@[removed]
New Orleans LA CSA (in the LAND of DIXIE!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 10:22:20 -0500
From: "Jerry Haendiges" <Jerry@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK
Hi friends,
Here is this week's line-up for the week of 3-21-04 on my Olde Tyme Radio
[removed] Featuring Tom Heathwood's "Heritage Radio Theatre," Big John
Matthews and Steve Urbaniak's "The Glowing Dial" and my own "Same Time, Same
Station" broadcasts, being broadcast on demand 24/7 in high quality
streaming RealAudio at [removed]
Past archived broadcasts are also available there.
We look forward to having you join us!
Jerry
Here's this week's lineup:
SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges
LEAVE IT TO MIKE
Episode 30 1-1-46 "Broad as a Barn Door"
MUTUAL SUSTAINING
STARS: Walter Kinsella, Joan Alexander, Jerry Macy and Hope Emerson
ANNOUNCER: Jack Berry
DIRECTOR: Roger Bower
WRITERS: Howard Merrill, Alan Sherman
MOLLE MYSTERY THEATER
Episode 6 11-9-45 "Not Quite Perfect"
HOST: Bernard Lenrow as "GEOFFREY BARNES; Connoisseur of Mysteries"
LEAVE IT TO THE GIRLS
12-8-45 Male Guest: George Fraser, Life Magazine Associate Editor
Hostess: Paula Stone.
Panelists: Dorothy Kilgallen, Florence Pritchert, Robin Chandler, Eloise
McElhone
ANNOUNCER: Andre Baruch
PRODUCER: Martha Roundtree
LATITUDE ZERO
Episode 1 2-11-41 "Premiere Broadcast"
Lou Merrill as Captain Craig Mckenzie
Stars: Bruce Payne, Charlie Lung, Jack Zoller, Ed Max and Anne Stone
=======================================
HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood
ARCHIE ANDREWS
NBC 3-15-47 "The Red Cross Party"
Stars: Bob Hastings and Harlan Stone, Jr.
MOVIE PREMIER
MBS 12-17-40 "Love Thy Neighbor"
Stars: Jack Benny and Fred Allen
PARAMOUNT STUDIO RADIO PROMO
1940 With Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Mary Martin. Hear Rochester sing!!
THE GRAPE NUTS PROGRAM
NBC 12-27-42 "The New Tenant"
Stars Jack Benny and Fred Allen in a New Years tribute
========================================
THE GLOWING DIAL with Big John Matthews and Steve Urbaniak
Escape
CBS 6/30/50 "Blood Bath"
Gangbusters
CBS "Case Of The Red Hot Readers"
Mr. President
ABC 1/23/49 "Woodrow Wilson"
The Fat Man
ABC 10/3/47 "A Window For Murder"
Vic And Sade
NBC 1/24/44 "Vic Is Sleeping On The Couch"
Little Orphan Annie
Blue Network 6/16/1936 # 1164 "Wright Brothers 33rd Anniversary of
First Flight"
====================================
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or requests for upcoming
shows.
Jerry Haendiges <Jerry@[removed]; 562-696-4387
[removed] The Vintage Radio Place
Largest source of OTR Logs, Articles and programs on the Net
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 10:23:43 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: A Small Confession
Jim Harmon, speaking about his opinion of half-hour converted serial
radio shows, noted,
On the subject of the half-hour kid shows around 1950 -- Steve Kallis has
convinced me Captain Midnight was a disaster; I never exactly cheered for
it.
In the first book, It's That Time Again, my Captain Midnight story was
titled , "The Stolen Ruby." I was inspired to write it to put a "real"
Captain Midnight answer to that inane half-hour show, "The Flying Ruby."
To do that, I set the action in 1961, when stealing a "ruby" would have
some national defense aspect that would likely involve the Secret
Squadron. As with the 15-minute serial shows, everything in the story
was made as accurate as the technology of the time, and the aviation
aspects of the story were exact. (I've never been inside, much less
checked out in, an F-86 fighter, but I was able to derive the flight
aspects of it from a pilot's manual. A friend of mine, who used to fly
F-86s, said I did a decent job in recreating the cockpit environment.)
My thought in writing it was to remove the stain of that inane "Flying
Ruby" [removed]
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #105
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