------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 134
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re: "Legion of the Dead" [ "Michael Ogden" <michaelo67@hotmail ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Story Arcs [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
tonight at 9:30 [ "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed]; ]
March 31st Birthdays [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Birth Dates [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Story arc vs. running gag [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
Today in radio history 3/31 and 4/1 [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Audiences on dramatic programs [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
RE: Johnny Dollar commercials [ JIMWMQT@[removed] ]
The Book of Jughead [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
Altered States of OTR [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 13:53:55 -0500
From: "Michael Ogden" <michaelo67@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: "Legion of the Dead"
In mentioning the Gotham Players re-creation of the LIGHTS OUT drama "Legion
of the Dead," Sean wrote:
I suppose it's accurate to call Light's Out Arch Oboler's series, but >I'm
fairly certain Steve told me he didn't write the episode that is >being
performed tomorrow night.
Yes, that's correct. "The Legion of the Dead" is not an Oboler script. In
fact, it wasn't even originally written for LIGHTS OUT; it had already been
performed on the air several years earlier in conjunction with a series of
previously unpublished world war pictures that were being run in the Hearst
newspapers. Written by W. J. Parker and Ken Robinson of the Chicago
American, it was first broadcast on Chicago station KYW on Janury 12, 1934
(two weeks before LIGHTS OUT premiered on WENR) under the title "Regimented
Dead." A publicity release described it as follows:
"What do fallen heroes talk of, and do, in the hereafter?... The story is
based on the idea that the legion of the dead, recruited from fallen
fighters of all nations, must keep on marching--although dead--until there
is peace on earth. It is a touching epic of the wars that man fights--and of
their consequences."
KYW subsequently repeated the broadcast the following Thursday (January 18),
and the script was apparently made available across the country. In my files
I have an announcement from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (also a Hearst
paper)that lists no less than seven stations in Washington state doing their
own enactments of the script--all of them on Friday, January 26.
Retitled "The Legion of the Dead" (and credited only to Ken Robinson), it
was revived on November 9, 1938 for LIGHTS OUT in observance of Armistice
Day. Featured in the LIGHTS OUT cast were Willard Farnum (The Boy), Phil
Lord (The Sergeant), Bob Griffin (The Captain), Arthur Kohl (The German),
and Mercedes McCambridge (The Nurse). The Miami Herald reviewed it on
November 11:
"Even the spooky Lights Out program Wednesday night dealt with the
Armistice. The weird program, coming over the air well past midnight, was a
nightmare of the Legion of the Dead, marching on into eternity. The lost
souls described how each had died in battle, decided that they had died in
vain. Horrifying as these programs try to be, at least this one attempted to
drive home a moral."
The comment about LIGHTS OUT being Arch Oboler's series probably warrants a
posting in and of itself. But remember, Willis Cooper created the series,
and was its only writer for two-and-a-half years. My research into the
Cooper years has convinced me that a lot of the devices (such as
stream-of-consciousness) that were considered Oboler innovations had, in
fact, already been done by Cooper. And, to be fair, Oboler always gave
credit to Cooper as the originator of the show and as an unsung pioneer of
radio drama technique.
Mike
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 13:54:17 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
1936 - The serial Backstage Wife made a move across the dial from the Mutual
Broadcasting System to NBC. Once there, the program continued to air for the
next 23 years.
1945 - The Dreft Star Playhouse was heard for the final time. The show had
been
paying up to $3,000 per week to attract name talent.
1946 - Academy Award was heard for the first time. The first dramatized story
was titled, Jezebel and starred actress Bette Davis.
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 13:54:50 -0500
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Story Arcs
I don't know if you'd call it a story arc or not, but "Perry
Mason" had several ongoing episodes before the
storyline was completed. This happened on a fairly regular
basis though.
Were there any 30 minute or 1 hour "Perry Mason" episodes
on OTR? I doubt it, but thought I'd ask.
Kenneth Clarke
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 15:35:52 -0500
From: "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: tonight at 9:30
hi
in my pursuit of uncirculated shows i believe i have come up with 7 new
tonight at 9:30 shows, ea a 30min show, i contacted jay hickerson and
to date he showed only 2, i looked at some other logs or holdings and saw
only 1 listed, if anyone has has more than 2 would you be kind enough to
send me the dates and i can revise my list as i won't be putting these out
soon till i check to see what else might be new.
thanks ed
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 15:52:14 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: March 31st Birthdays
If you were born on March 31st, you share your birthday with:
1908 - Les Damon - Providence, Rhode Island - d. 7-20-1962
1915 - Henry Morgan - New York City - d. 5-19-1994
1918 - Charles Russell - New York City
1922 - Richard Kiley - Chicago, Illinois - d. 3-5-1999
1927 - William Daniels - Brooklyn, New York
1928 - Lefty Frizzell - Corsicana, Texas
1934 - Shirley Jones - Smithton, Pennsylvania
1935 - Richard Chamberlain - Beverly Hills, California
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 15:51:32 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Birth Dates
I have received several favorable comments, off-line, on my birth date list
that I have been posting daily. I want to thank all of you, I am very
gratified that it seems to have struck such a positive note. Some have asked
if I
could include the date of death and one person asked if I could include what
the person in question did, such as announcer, singer, etc. Some of you may
have noticed that where possible I have begun including the date of death. I
am still in the process of researching that data. If you don't see a date of
death, that does not necessarily mean the person didn't die, it may mean that
I just could not find a death date. After I have exhausted all possibilities
on the death date I will begin listing what they did in Olde Tyme Radio. Some
of the names are very obscure and I may never find out what they did, but with
the astuteness of the persons on this list, someone will know.
Again, that you very much for the positive response.
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 19:00:46 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Story arc vs. running gag
So, my questions are these: Were there any prime time
radio shows other than the early Amos and Andy and One
Man's Family (were they both on in prime time?) that
made use of story arcs as described above? If so, what
were they and how successful were they when they first
aired? Are they enjoying renewed popularity among OTR
ethusiasts today because the story arc is more
prevelant on TV?
This brings up an interesting (at least to me) question. What is the
difference between a story arc and a running gag?
Let's take the Jack Benny-Fred Allen feud as an example. Fred had Stuart
Canin on his program, then Jack responded a couple weeks later, Fred
responded, then there was the buildup to Jack playing "The Bee" on the air,
then the buildup to the Benny-Allen boxing match, etc. Was this a story arc
or a running gag?
How about the bit where Ronald Colman's Oscar is stolen from Jack in the
"your money or your life" bit? Jack goes week to week borrowing other
Oscars, and the story is eventually resolved (no spoilers here).
The "I Can't Stand Jack Benny Because" contest was thought up by the writers
as a publicity stunt to boost sagging ratings (alas yes, Jack was *not*
always #1 in radio, contrary to the many who maintain he was). So they have
the character of Steve Bradley introduce the idea, the shows have Jack and
the gang reading the results, and finally announcing the winner.
Or Jack's song "When You Say I Beg Your Pardon, Then I'll Come Back To You".
This was thought up by Jack and the writers during the 50s when the budget
had been cut for the radio show, guest stars went mainly to the television
shows, and two of the writers were working both shows and they needed some
running gags to sustain the radio program. Jack wrote the ridiculous song,
and over time asked many people to record, publish, or perform the song.
Sometimes it ran week to week, and other times came up occasionally based on
the guest star(s). It extended into television, with requests going to
Lawrence Welk, Dimitri Tiomkin, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Story arc or
running gag?
I have my own opinions on the answers to these questions, but I'd like to
hear other thoughts.
--
Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 19:29:11 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history 3/31 and 4/1
From Those Were The Days --
3/31
1937 - Phil Harris recorded one of his best-known songs, That's What I
Like About the South.
1953 - Cavalcade of America was heard for the final time on network
radio. It had been the
longest-running show of its kind. Cavalcade of America presented
dramatized events in American
history for 18 years.
4/1
1941 - The first contract for advertising on a commercial FM station
began on W71NY in
New York City.
1949 - The first all-black-cast variety show,Happy Pappy was presented
on WENR-TV in Chicago, IL.
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 20:02:13 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Audiences on dramatic programs
There has been a discussion of mic's placed around audiences for
comedy shows and that drama's sometimes had a glass curtain to keep out
unwanted noise from the audience.
Last evening I was listening to Big Town "In Occupied Paris" from
1942, where Steve and Lorelei wound in Paris tracking down one of
Steve's reporters. Naturally this is a drama and the only time the
audience is heard is at the commercial break where they applaud and
again at the end. However, this particular show had a problem.
There was a preview of the next show and a very dramatic scene where
Steve is chasing someone down an alley with Lorelei running after him,
going into a dark room through an alley door with something terrible
happening when apparently something happened on stage and there were
titters throughout the audience with mumbled voices from the cast.
Jimmy Wallington had a bit of trouble to keep from laughing as well as
he closed the program.
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 21:07:04 -0500
From: JIMWMQT@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: RE: Johnny Dollar commercials
In regards to why the Johnny Dollar commercials had different [removed] box
numbers for every [removed] might be tied into something that's still going
on today
TV infomercials and direct response ads these days have a system. Each TV
station that airs the spot gets a different toll-free number. That way, the
advertiser knows which stations are effective and which stations aren't. Not
only that, but many times, the stations actually get a cut of the profits
from the sale of the product; the company that runs the infomercial keeps
track of which stations made which sale through the toll-free number.
Perhaps the giant inflatable animal company ran ads on different shows, and
wanted to know which ones people actually listened to; maybe they even wanted
to know which particular evening was the most effective. That would explain
the different box numbers every night.
Having listened to the episodes, though, I hafta admit the commercials took
something away from the story. It was almost jarring to hear the spots
interupt the normally sustained show!!
Jim Koski
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 00:50:17 -0500
From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Book of Jughead
A few months ago I was sent a copy of Hal Stones's
book about his years in radio. This was during the
time that the thread of the digest was mostly devoted
to the Blacklist. The gentleman who sent me the book
and I decided to agree to disagree. Which side we were
on isn't important. What is of value is that we didn't
damage our respect for one another as lovers of OTR.
However, that isn't what this posting is about.
After I'd read Hal's book I kind of gave it short
shift when it came to writing my opinon of the tome on
the digest. I want to correct that now. Hal's book
touched on many of my interests other then OTR. New
York theatre, Lillian Gish, how a radio show was
structured and, believe it or not Hal, theatrical and
social history. I don't think any true lover of OTR
history can afford not to have this book. If you don't
own it get it, or at least borrow it. It's a good
read.
Larry Albert
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 01:41:31 -0500
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Altered States of OTR
Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; commented:
(For my money, the version of "The Dark" on Drop Dead is one of the
greatest pieces
of audio atmosphere ever created--that cackling woman just freaks me out!)
I recall that, back in the 70's, a group of my friends tripping in
the notorious Toad Hall in Knoxville found that segment especially
disturbing. We were all relaxing in that dwelling's well-appointed,
psychedelic trip room, when some wag (probably myself) inserted _Drop
Dead_ into the stack of acid rock albums on the spindle of the sound
system from which music was being piped in. The Theater of the Mind
is a marvelous thing, especially when the mind is a bit "expanded."
Which brings up a question I've not seen addressed here: how many OTR
fans, either on this list, or among your friends, have "experimented"
with OTR while in various "altered states of consciousness?"
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #134
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