Subject: [removed] Digest V2001 #247
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/31/2001 1:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2001 : Issue 247
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      The Detective and Shadow Threads      [ SAEBERBACH@[removed] ]
      Mary Livingstone                      [ "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@nfoli ]
      re frank lovejoy                      [ me <cien@[removed]; ]
      FOTR Convention                       [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      OTR & Minidisc                        [ Marty <martyd@[removed]; ]
      Andy Russell                          [ Ira Chineson <irachin@[removed] ]
      the old WCBS                          [ Donna Halper <dlh@[removed]; ]
      Re: Frank Lovejoy sound-alike         [ Gerry Wright <gdwright@[removed]; ]
      Re:Dennis Day on "Bambi" ?            [ Jack Harris <jack@[removed] ]
      affiliates defined, et. al            [ "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed] ]
      Re: 1942 Radio Listings               [ JBeck57143@[removed] ]
      Who Knows?                            [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      WKRP                                  [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Easy Aces / mr ace and JANE question  [ "W. Gary Wetstein" <wgaryw@pacbell. ]
      Johnny Dollar - A dissenting opinion  [ "Poindexter" <poindexter@[removed]; ]
      Re: OTR fun with Johhny Dollar        [ [removed]@[removed] ]
      Jack Benny meets Mary Livingstone     [ "@" <josephpostove@[removed]; ]
      Re: Radio Mentions In Other Media     [ Michael Henry <mlhenry@[removed]; ]
      Dual broadcasts                       [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      Wally Maher                           [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 21:10:15 -0400
    From: SAEBERBACH@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Detective and Shadow Threads

    Hi All!
    I have been following the detective threads and The Shadow threads for the
    past few days with a great deal of interest.  While I mostly lurk on the
    digest I thought that I would weigh in on these threads and give my thoughts.

    As for the detective shows there seem to be at least three sub-genres within
    that realm. Those of the hard-boiled school such as Philip Marlowe, Sam
    Spade, The Fat Man, et al.  The next are the puzzle solvers such as Sherlock
    Holmes, Ellery Queen, and few others.  Last the procedural detective shows
    such as Dragnet, Gangbusters, The FBI in Peace and War among others.  My
    thoughts on the difference between the Hard-boiled school and the puzzle
    solvers is the hard-boiled school seems to concentrate more on the
    relationships between the characters and the atmosphere of the setting.  The
    solving of the crime is rather a device to keep the story moving along and is
    rather secondary.  The puzzle solvers seem to be more for the arm-chair
    detectives in the audience to see if they can figure out "who-dun-it" before
    Holmes and Watson or Ellery Queen.  Relationships between the characters are
    [removed] solving of the puzzle (and identifying the clues that have
    eluded the audience) is the important thing.  The procedural detective shows
    make the procedure of catching the criminals the important part of the show
    and the relationships between characters and solving any of the puzzles
    secondary.  Of course, there is a great deal of overlap among the various
    [removed] have elements of all three styles.  Just my thoughts on the
    detective shows and my two cents worth.

    As for The Shadow.  I have a soft spot for The Shadow as it was the very
    first radio show I ever heard.  I heard the show for the first time when I
    was 13 (I'm 42 now) and spent my very early years of OTR collecting devoted
    to that show.  I see The Shadow as having 3 distict [removed] Welles
    broadcasts (1937-1938), the Johnstone broadcasts (1938-1943) and then the
    Morrison broadcasts (1943-1944, 1945-1954).  I don't really count John Archer
    as his role as The Shadow was rather brief and to me his voice was not all
    that distinct.  I have trouble distinquishing his voice from other male
    characters in the show.  I do like his opening and closing signatures for the
    show [removed] laugh was quite good.  Perhaps if more of his shows were
    available my opinion would be a little different.

    I like the Welles broadcasts for a variety of reasons.  These were in my
    opinion were among the best of the [removed] neccesarly because of Welles
    in the role but because, as Anthony pointed out, the stories were better
    thanks to Edith Meiser the script editor.  Another point in favor of these
    shows were the talent of the actors such as Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins,
    Paul Stewart, Kenny Delmar, Bill Johnstone, and others who filled out the
    cast of characters.  I agree with Anthony that Welles couldn't master the
    laugh and after a couple of listens I can detect when the laugh of Frank
    Readick was dubbed in as well as in the opening and closing signatures of the
    show. BTW do any of the shows with Frank Readick exist other than the opening
    and closing signatures?  I would sure love to hears some of those!  Welles
    does give some rather strange readings too due to the fact that he was free
    from having to attend the rehearsals.  One other reason that I like this show
    is because The Shadow had a more dominant role than his alter ego as Lamont
    Cranston, he had other powers other than being able to become invisible, and
    Margo was more an aide than the damsel-in-distress she would become later on.
     Some of my favorites from the Welles era?  The Three Ghosts, The Temple
    Bells Of Neban, and The Hypnotized [removed] others.

    I agree with both Ryan and Anthony that Bill Johnstone was the best of all to
    play The [removed] like him the best.  His voice has the level of maturity
    that Cranston/The Shadow should have.  While some of the scripts IMO are not
    as good as those during the Welles period many of the stories are quite
    enjoyable.  One thing I do notice about these shows from this period is there
    are a lot of Mad Scientist/Horror shows as those dealing with the
    supernatural that could not be explained away as in the later shows.  Some
    favorites are Murder From The Grave, The Gibbering Things, The Shadow
    Challenged, and The Mystery Of Madman's [removed] are quite a number of
    others too.  I agree with Ryan that the long moralizing monolouges at the end
    of some of the early Johnstone shows is a bit annoying.  Marjorie Anderson as
    Margo is the best of all the [removed] IMO  is the most [removed]
    there is a lot of witty dialogue between her and Lamont in the Johnstone
    [removed] is a bit more bold and sassy than the later Margos as well.
    I thougt she died of throat cancer and not in a car accident [removed] about
    it Anthony?

    The Morrison broadcasts are the least of my [removed] though he played
    the role the longest the stories become more pedestrian detective fare with
    supernatural trappings.  Lamont's character takes on a more dominant role and
    The Shadow only shows up twice (often only once in later years) to
    interrogate an uncopperative witness and then at the last minute to save the
    day.  This is not to take anything away from Morrison as he was a fine actor
    and an accomplished voice [removed] the scripts were not as good.  One
    thing I do like about these shows is they have a very polished sound to them.
     More so than the earlier broadcasts.  Grace Mathews as Margo is a bit of a
    disappointment and in some shows she speaks so softly it is hard to
    understand her.  I like Lesley Woods much better; although, both would prove
    to be more neurotic and high strung than Anderson's portrayal.  Some
    favorites?  The House That Death Built, Death And The Black Fedora, The Ghost
    Wore A Silver Slipper, and The Ghost Without A Face and there are a lot of
    others that I do like.  Anthony can you tell me about the origin of the
    character that shows up in some of the later [removed] Poindexter,
    Lamont's underworld [removed] his first appearence was and was he used
    as comic relief as Shrevie seems to be absent from most of the later stories?

    I would like to apologize for this posting being so long and thank everyone
    bearing with me.

    Scott Eberbach

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 21:12:27 -0400
    From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Mary Livingstone

    In the last Digest, Lee Munsick asked the following question

    Back to Mary Livingstone, what was her real name?  I believe it was
    Marx.  Was she related to the Marx Brothers?

    Mary's real name was Sadye Marks, born June 23, 1905 in Seattle,
    Wash. died June 30, 1983 of heart disease in Los Angeles.
    Check out all this information on this Jack Benny website.
    [removed]

    Don Dean N8IOJ

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 22:36:36 -0400
    From: me <cien@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re frank lovejoy

    in my opinion i think frank lovejoy was the best first person narrator
    in [removed] ! i'm [removed]
    cien

    --
    [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 22:36:34 -0400
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  FOTR Convention

    Information on our upcoming Friends of Old-time Radio Convention can be found
    on the web thanks to Charlie Summers.  It is Oct 25 - 28, Holiday Inn-North;
    Some guests are Russell Arms, Frank Bresee, Tom Cook, Ben Cooper, Bob
    Hastings, Kevin O'Morrison, Beverly Washburn, Peggy Webber, Peg Lynch.  There
    are many more.

    You can get information on the Friends of Old-time Radio Convention on our
    Web Site:

    FOTR Web site:  [removed]  (all lower case)

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 22:36:32 -0400
    From: Marty <martyd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR & Minidisc

    Just curious if anyone is using minidisc as their medium for listening
    to OTR.  I'm thinking of purchasing a minidisc recorder for this purpose
    and would like to discuss the "ins and outs".

    Thanks!
    Marty

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 22:36:31 -0400
    From: Ira Chineson <irachin@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Andy Russell

    I've heard this singer's name mentioned in several broadcasts from
    the mid and late 40s, usually as some sort of rival of Sinatra and Crosby.
    I also heard him on the Benny broadcast where he appears with Dick Haymes,
    Dennis Day and Bing  as potential replacements for the Sportsmen.
    However I don't know much else about him.  Did he have any hit records,
    was he a regular on any shows? etc.  Any information would be
    appreciated.

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 23:20:38 -0400
    From: Donna Halper <dlh@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  the old WCBS

>     Liz wrote--

>     There *was* a WCBS on the air during these years -- it had gone on the
>     air in the 1920s in Springfield, Illinois, and the call letters were
>     sequentially assigned and didn't stand for anything. In the summer of
>     1946, the station changed its call letters to WCVS, and CBS grabbed up
>     the old WCBS letters for itself. WABC officially became WCBS on 11/1/46,
>     still operating at 880.

    WCBS in Springfield IL has a very interesting history.  It began in
    Providence RI in the mid-20s, when Charles Messter, who owned WCBR, and his
    friend Harold Dewing, who owned WCBS-- two sequentially assigned calls--
    were operating them as "portables"-- stations in the back of a truck, which
    moved around from town to town, setting up at fairs, amusement parks,
    etc.  Portables were a great gimmick during radio's early years, but as
    technology improved and more stations went on the air, Dewing and Messter
    saw the number of successful portables in New England dramatically
    decrease, as the demand for a temporary station was replaced by the demand
    for a full-timer. In fact, the new FRC (Federal Radio Commission) would
    soon issue an order to eliminate the portables entirely, due to their
    alleged interference with stations in fixed locations.  Before this
    occurred, Dewing headed out to the midwest where portables were still
    popular (an entrepreneur and theatre impresario named Charles Carrell at
    one time owned 7 mid-western portables), and set up in various Illinois
    cities; when the FRC ruling finally eliminated the portables, Dewing
    decided to stay put in Springfield, where a local hotel was delighted to
    have the new station operate there.  Charles Messter reluctantly gave up
    WCBR and joined Dewing in Illinois, where they ran WCBS very
    successfully.  As for why the call letters were changed from WCBS to WCVS
    in  September of 1946, I have clippings from the local papers that say it
    was no accident-- the story goes that CBS in New York asked the station's
    owners to give up those call letters (and I am sure something was offered
    to inspire such a kind [removed]).

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 23:20:36 -0400
    From: Gerry Wright <gdwright@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Frank Lovejoy sound-alike

    Jer51473@[removed] queried:

>     ...Frank Lovejoys voice is identical, imo, to another actor that i
>     have
>     heard on the radio and seen in movies. I think the other guy is
>     Charles
>     Mcgraw. I cannot tell one voice from the other.

    The actor who sounds like Frank Lovejoy is Edward Binns. Binns was born
    12 September 1916, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Frank Lovejoy was
    born 28 March 1914, The Bronx, New York. Edward Binns movie and TV
    credits can be found at:

    <[removed],+Ed>

    Gerry Wright
    ZoneZebra Productions
    San Francisco

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 23:20:44 -0400
    From: Jack Harris <jack@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:Dennis Day on "Bambi"  ?

    I researched several of my Disney books.  They say no voice credits were
    given but it is known that Peter Behn did the voice of Thumper.  It lists
    credits for Orchestrations, Conductor and Coral arrangements but that is
    it.  It does and doesn't sound like Day.  Hard to [removed]

    drummer

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 00:07:38 -0400
    From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  affiliates defined, et. al

    Sean Dougherty wrote:

>     Furthermore, does anyone know why WABC was the CBS Affiliate in New York in
>     1942?  880 is currently CBS' all news station in that market - what's the
>     history behind the switch?

    An addition to Elizabeth's answer: once acquired by CBS, WABC was not an
    affiliate but an "O & O" (owned and operated). There's a significant
    difference between the two, even more so back then when there were severe
    restrictions on the number of stations that could be owned by a network.  An
    affiliate is a station owned by an entity other than the network with which
    it has contracts to accept and provide programming.  Not owning the
    affiliate, the network cannot absolutely control the content & schedule of
    the affiliate's air schedule.   Also, even now, (as then with radio) TV
    stations in very small markets can be affiliated with more than one network,
    choosing which feed to air.  Pre tape & wire, time shifting was of course,
    done by via ETs: recording them when fed by the network and playing them
    back later as necessary.  I suspect that the smaller the market, the less
    likely it was that the then costly  non-reusable media were utilized due to
    narrow profit margins in those small markets.

    Also, I don't know in what years this was done, but the NBC station in
    Hawaii regularly received ETs recorded at point of origin  or from some
    other point on the line by the network.  Assuming that they had state of the
    art playback equipment (RCA or Western [removed] former more likely for
    business reasons), the quality from the disks was substantially more clear
    than could be attained with the best quality short wave relays at that time.
    Even if taken off of "the line", whose typical best high frequency response
    was limited to 5Khz (five thousand cycles), such ETs would lack the drifting
    and static of a short wave relay.

    Clarification:  what I mean by "point of origin" is that the recordings were
    made in the studio from which the broadcast was emanating (if indeed from
    only one studio).  Under these circumstances, the frequency range was much
    wider (more accurate low and high frequencies) because the signals were not
    yet mitigated by the limited response of the long distance lines then
    provided by AT&T.  An example: a non mutilated, non deteriorated disk of a
    Town Hall Tonight being done at Radio City in NYC will have much more
    clarity if recorded in the studio than that in comparable condition that had
    been recorded off of the NBC line in Los Angeles.

    About static: line recordings can contain static ([removed] from lightning) where
    the AT&T or local phone company lines ran above ground.

    Best,
    Shiffy

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 00:07:36 -0400
    From: JBeck57143@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: 1942 Radio Listings

    Were the Vic and Sade repeats from recordings? If they were, could any of the
    recordings still be around?

    Jim Beck

    Elizabeth McLeod wrote:

>     In the case of V&S, it was simply a matter of Procter and Gamble wanting to
>     reach a larger audience -- so in addition to the NBC slot, time was also
>     purchased on CBS.

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 00:07:34 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Who Knows?

    Stephen Janmsen, speaking of the OTR version of The Shadow, observes,

>     I've listened to scores of Shadow episodes over the last 10 years, and
>     have yet to find one that impresses me.  <snip>  .  I realize that
>     occasionally the mentality of the times must be considered, but 24 years
>     is quite a slice of times.  I must just somehow be accidentally skipping
>     the suspenseful, adventurous, memorable episodes.

    Well, this might be hard to explain, but I'll try.  The _concept_ of The
    Shadow was what made the show work rather than individual episodes.  The
    idea of an avenger who could strike unseen at evildoers was -- and is --
    something we can all wish for; kinda like a guardian angel, though
    nominally human.  A little of it could be attributed, I suppose, to "the
    mentality of the times," but most of it reaches us on a more visceral
    level.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 08:59:54 -0400
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  WKRP

>     Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 10:24:07 -0400
>     From: Udmacon@[removed]

>     I was amazed that "WKRP In Cincinnati" was able to use those call letters
>     since there IS and had been for a long time in Cincinnati: WKRC.

    Not really surprising, since WKRP in Cincinnati was a fictitious station.
    A real station might have had problems if it also had a format sufficiently
    similar to WKRC to create confusion.

    There was a lawsuit in Boston a few years ago when someone started a
    country music station called "WBCS."  The owners of WBCN sued, but
    the court found that there was little chance of anyone confusing country
    music WBCS with progressive rock WBCN.

    On the other hand, the area's other country music station, WCLB ("The
    Country Club") changed its call letters to WKLB when classical music
    WCRB suddenly had a big jump in the ratings in the next book after
    WCLB started.

    As one might imagine, Boston isn't a big market for country music, and
    after a period of competition, the owners of WBCS bought WKLB and
    moved the WKLB call letters to the WBCS frequency.

     A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210          lawyer@[removed]
     Boston, MA 02108-2503           [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 08:59:51 -0400
    From: "W. Gary Wetstein" <wgaryw@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Easy Aces / mr ace and JANE question

    hi all,

    i'm new to this mailing list, but have been floating around the old radio
    newsgroups for quite a while now.  i have a question for all the serious
    collectors out there.

    i'm a *huge* fan of goodman ace, from his work on "easy aces" through "the
    big show". i even have all of his published books (most of which are
    collections of his columns for the saturday review), which i found by
    scouring the out of print book websites.

    my question is:  where are all the missing programs?  i don't mean to ask
    "how did so many shows get lost," since i know that the vast majority of OTR
    is irretrievably lost.

    however. . . the majority of the circulating "easy aces" shows are from the
    run of about 280 episodes which were syndicated in the 40s.  nonetheless,
    every now and then an episode not part of this run will pop up, either at an
    OTR convention, or posted to the newsgroups.

    likewise, i was able to get 14 episodes of "mr ace and JANE," (the 1/2 hour
    revival series from 1948-9), but i know that at *least* two more episodes
    survived, because i have small clips of them.  one is from the flimsy insert
    disc included in ace's book, "ladies and gentlemen, easy aces," and it's
    about jane going to a psychiatrist.  the other was from a "best of" comedy
    tape from the old "adventures in cassettes" company, and it's about jane
    wanting to appear in a play.  now, if excerpts exist, it would stand to
    reason that the shows exist somewhere in their entirety.

    these tantalizing tidbits leave me drooling in anticipation, but i just
    can't find any more programs than i have so far.  i'm left believing,
    however, that there must be more out there-- somewhere-- and i'd love to
    find out where.

    can anyone help?  i don't know how i would be able to repay anyone who can
    provide any information, but i'll certainly try. . .

    w. gary wetstein

    ps-- thanks to elizabeth mcleod, i now know that the library of congress has
    a pile of easy aces shows not in circulation, but these are not the tidbits
    of extraneous programs i referred to above. they also have some sort of a DJ
    show featuring ace and jane from 1952, which i never heard of before in my
    life.  maybe someday someone will actually be able to *listen* to these
    programs without getting all sorts of legal clearances and spending $86 per
    hour for the library of congress to duplicate them!

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 08:59:44 -0400
    From: "Poindexter" <poindexter@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Johnny Dollar - A dissenting opinion

    I'm beginning to think I may be a minority of one, but I don't care much for
    the 5-part Johnny Dollar programs.

    It seems to me like they've taken a 30 minute story and stretched it out to
    75 minutes, padding it with 5 openings and closings instead of one, 4 recaps
    of the previous day's events and 4 previews of what's going to happen on the
    next episode. When you take away all that, there isn't much time left in
    each day's show.

    The 5-parters I've listened to give me the feeling that I'm hearing a repeat
    after the first episode of a series.

    I apologize in advance to anyone who takes umbrage at my sacrilege, but give
    me the half hour shows any day.  That doesn't mean I'm right and you're
    wrong, just that I have a different opinion.  As the saying goes, that's why
    they have horse races.

    Poindexter

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 08:59:48 -0400
    From: [removed]@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: OTR fun with Johhny Dollar

    This morning I listened to an episode of YTJD with Edmond O'Brien.  I'm not
    sure of the year ; all I could make out from the announcer is that the next
    regular episode of the series would air on October 6th as the current  time
    slot was a summer slot.

    On this episode Bill Conrad played a police lieutentant named Parkinson who
    is killed by a hoodlum named Dillon from Kansas.  It could be coincicdental
    but I would like to think that the episode's air date occurred after
    Gunsmoke began and that someone was having some fun.

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 12:09:33 -0400
    From: "@" <josephpostove@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jack Benny meets Mary Livingstone

    Bob Noble wrote about the first meeting of Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone:

>     Benny was touring with the Marks brothers, and was especially friendly
>     with Zeppo Marx. They were out of town and Zeppo knew this family named
>     Marks (note it's spelled differently and they are not related) and had
>     been invited to a Satyr dinner there

    Bob, just a slight retort if you don't mind. It was a Passover SEDER dinner
    where they met, although with the Marx Brothers there, I suppose it could
    have been a  "Satyr" dinner as well.

    Joe Postove

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 12:09:51 -0400
    From: Michael Henry <mlhenry@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Radio Mentions In Other Media

    A good website for radio references in Warner Brothers
    cartoons is the "Warner Brothers Cartoon Companion"
    ([removed]#intro)

    According to [removed] Costello, the author of the site, the
    purpose of the site is "to put one in the place of the
    theatergoers of the day, and allow one to laugh at the same
    jokes".

    To that end, there are entries on radio personalities,
    movie stars, World War II, and other aspects of American
    culture in the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's. Each entry has a
    brief summary of the person or thing, followed a
    description of the cartoons it is referenced in.

    Enjoy!

    -Mike Henry
    Library of American Broadcasting

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 12:09:31 -0400
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dual broadcasts

    OTRChris ponders whether a type of makeshift studio was employed by ad
    agencies when a program ([removed], Ma Perkins, Road of Life, Pepper Young's
    Family, et al) appeared on more than one network, or whether the casts
    traveled en masse to the various network studios.  When the shows were
    performed live, at least, those casts did in fact assemble in the studios
    of the chains broadcasting them.

    There are many stories about the pratfalls involved in actors rushing
    from CBS to MBS to ABC to NBC and back and forth and missed rehearsals
    and near-missed performances.  During the 'live' era, second performances
    were often required to account for the three-hour time delay between
    coasts.  If that rule had been applied to daytime serials it could have
    meant four daily performances of the same show in certain cases!  "The
    Great Radio Soap Operas" (McFarland, 1999) details a lot of the coming
    and going from company headquarters to company headquarters and the
    logistics of it are, to me at least, a fascinating study.

    Frequently those repeat performances evolved into routine or humorous
    endings but sometimes they didn't.  Burgess Meredith, who originated the
    namesake roles of Red Adams and then Red Davis, at first a nighttime
    serial that was to turn into Forever Young and eventually become the
    durable daytime Pepper Young's Family, its fourth moniker, missed the
    repeat show for the West Coast one evening in 1934.  The director stepped
    in and attempted to imitate Meredith's voice.  But sponsor Beech-Nut
    chewing gum was not amused and Meredith was immediately fired from his
    Depression-defying $350-a-week job.  There was little tolerance in not
    showing up for work in that profession.

    Virginia Payne, the great actress who was Ma Perkins during that epic
    drama's 27-year-run, and who incidentally never missed a performance,
    acknowledged that she carried one recurring nightmare across all those
    years.  In her hallucination she saw herself as the only thespian on hand
    for the latter broadcast (for many years the same 1:15 [removed] episode on
    CBS was repeated live at 3:15 [removed] on NBC).  Fortunately, her worst case
    scenario never materialized.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 14:46:31 -0400
    From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wally Maher

    ARGHHH!! Of course I meant Wally Maher (with an "h"), as Conrad Binyon
    pointed out. I think typos must be contagious!

    arabraB

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2001 Issue #247
    *********************************************

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