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

[removed] Digest				Volume 96 : Issue 311

Table Of Contents: 

	 Subject: More Train Themes
	 "Mooney"
	 TV
	 Re: tarzan tv
	 Female Dicks
	 Sticky cassettes
	 Radio Spirits And The Case Of The "Tape Worm" (ha-ha)
	 more train shows
	 Dramatic Radio - why is it dead?

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

Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 19:20:29 -0700
From: Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed]>
To: Old Time Radio Digest <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Subject: More Train Themes
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

For the Collector of train themes,  there's "The Signalman", a Suspense
program originally broadcast 3/23/53; starring the Queen of Suspense
Agnes Morehead and Joseph Kerns; based on a short story by Charles
Dickens; adapted for radio by Irving Reese.
 
I remember hearing a Mysterious Traveler about a Ghost Train on "When
Radio Was".  I checked Mysterious Traveler tapes in the Radio Spirits
catalog, and believe it was "Locomotive Ghost" broadcast 07-06-47.

Jim Kitchen

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

Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 00:15:42 -0400
From: JRayb71827@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: "Mooney"
Message-ID: <960901001541_513790740@[removed]>

   Burt Wilson asked about the character "Mooney" on the show "Point Sublime"
and wondered who it was.  I can only assume the role was that of August Moon.
 He was a railway clerk who stuttered and helped out around the store of Ben
Willett (Cliff Arquette) and thus would likely have been the one running his
hands through the rice barrel.  The part was played by none other than Mel
Blanc.  As for copies of the show, I think the libraries of both SPERDVAC &
the Radio Historical Association of Colorado have some.
  *****
   A personal note to Burt:  You spoke of a conversation with the grandson of
Ernie Hare.  Did you by any chance get an address or phone number?  I would
love to make contact in order to get information for my OTR newsletter
"Thrilling Days of Yesteryear."  A personal reply would likely be best so as
to not clutter up the Digest.

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

Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 23:18:33 -0500 (CDT)
From: barrym <barrym@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: TV
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

> I don't think its' the visual element of TV that kept it from being stale,
> but the expansion of the number of options with the addition of UHF and now
> cable.  Anyone who can not find a TV show of interest to them in the 160+
> cable channels available (including PBS), is not looking very hard!

I sure can't agree with that.  I channel surfed for a while
before I finally gave up my cable, and just quit watching tv.
That was about 5 years ago after a year of being unable to
find anything that really interested me 90% of the time.
Sure, I could find something to help me kill time.  But time
is all we really have in this life and I've never really been
much for just killing it.  I want quality and for the most
part, tv just doesnt have much.  Even the documentaries got
stale.  Lots and lots of pretty pictures but very little
real content that wasn't watered down.

Barry

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

Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 01:08:33 4
From: "edcarr" <edcarr@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: tarzan tv
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

i've been waiting,and nobody has
wrote up anything on the new tarzan
show,so i get first crack at it.
on a scale of 1 to 10 i give it a 
3,
from the opening yell, was that a
canned yell i heard? to the last
talk with the old man at the temple
the whole show ran hot and cold.
it opened fine at a casino,where
tarzan made his entrance and met
a lovely lady and her father,the lady
had an amulet that was the key to a
hidden world,then it went down,the 
fight scene was a little on the faked
side,in fact all the fights were faked
why is it everybody includeing the
next girl he met are all kickboxers.
i even tried to look at his bow,maybe
i was wrong but it looked like a string
on a piece of wood,the special effects
were nothing,the woman in the cave had
special markings ala all the sci-fi
series now on,not all but you get
the [removed] black guy was an english
speaking comic,you know the network is
going to hear it about degradeing blacks
and i'll hear about my spelling.
why does tarzan have to have a sidekick?
well to give it flavor of course,true
we are in africa [removed] show took
two hours,minus commercials to give
you the introduction of the epic adventures
of tarzan,what will they be able to do in
60 minutes.
to me this show is about as interesting
as hercules and that other [removed]
to be fair i will watch at least one
more.
and all comments are mine,i am  not a
paid employee of the co. nor the network.
all opposeing comments are not welcomed
give me the 200 episodes of the missing
radio show.  
                       edcarr@[removed]                  

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

Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 07:30:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: MAX SCHMID <mschmid@[removed]>
To: airwavesOTR <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: Female Dicks
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

In an aside to a response to Dick Lupoff's Candy Matson comments, 
someone mentioned another predecessor of Candy (I think, not sure when it 
was on) Miss Pinkerton.  I recall that it was released on cassette or record
with another female PI, maybe someone will recall.
	I also have the first 2 chapters of something called The Lady In 
Blue, your basic female Green Hornet rip-off.  Another show that comes to 
mind, CBS 1947, was another soap/serial called Wendy Warren and the News, 
which started with a real newscast by Wendy and Douglas Edwards, and then 
followed Wendy's adventures on the reporter's beat.  

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

Date: Sun, 01 Sep 1996 01:27:47 -0500
From: Lou Genco <lgenco@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Cc: jjyellen@[removed] (James J Yellen)
Subject: Sticky cassettes
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

In a recent issue of the OTR Digest, Jim Yellen (jjyellen@[removed])
mentioned having a problem with cassettes whose take-up section apparently
failed.

=These symptoms are usually caused by a problem in the player=, but can be
caused by excess friction between the tape (on the take-up side of the
capstan) and the cassette shell itself, or excess friction in the little
pully at the point where the tape changes direction.  The friction may be
caused by the pully being stuck or by a manufacturing defect where the tape
went over a non-rolling spacer rather than the pully.  A third source of
friction coould be at the take-up hub itself.

One way to "loosen up" the sticky pully or hub is to run the tape at fast
forward, then fast rewind it, before playing it.  If the tape breaks, there
was indeed a problem with the cassette shell.  If the tape doesn't break,
the friction is usually reduced by the part's rapid spinning.

Brave &/or steady-handed folks can remove the screws from the shell, and
visually check thet tape path, then apply some silicone lubricant to the
shafts of each of the two pullys, and maybe to the shell near the hub.
Caution: If you get lubricant on the tape itself, the capstan may slip,
causing wow & flutter.  Be sure to use a lubricant that will not attack /
erode the plastic.

Perhaps the most appropriate solution would be to return the tapes to the
vendor, indicating there was a mechanical failure, and requesting a replacement.


Lou
------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWW page on "Old Time Radio":                   [removed]
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 12:14:15 +0000
From: "F. Charles Simar" <FCharlesSimar@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio Spirits And The Case Of The "Tape Worm" (ha-ha)
Message-ID: <[removed]@DEFAULT>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

In a response to Jim's letter,  I am an avid buyer of Radio Spirits
products.  I have had no problems with
their tapes so far (knock on wood).  Have you cleaned your machine recently?
Usually when it has been played
for a few hours and the machine gets hungry for some tape (when it goes
munching on an OTR tape, at least it
shows that the machine has taste), it's usually time to clean.  If after a
cleaning (sometimes doing it twice
is a good idea) it still eats tapes, it could be time to take it in for some
servicing.  As with your eaten
tapes, if you haven't already, contact Radio Spirits about replacements.
I'm sure that they could exchange 
the set for you with no problems.

Hope that this helps.  Have a great day.  8'>

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

Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 07:43:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: MAX SCHMID <mschmid@[removed]>
To: airwavesOTR <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: more train shows
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Another good source of train shows is ESCAPE (sorry if this has been 
covered, I'm catching up).
The Lost Special 2/12/49, Orient Express 2/19/49 (gee, two in a row!), 
and Train From Olbefefelde 9/06/53.  These are off the top of my head, no 
doubt there are others, as there will be in other anthology shows.
A Suspense title that comes to mind is Tree of Life 1/02/47, which I remember
because it was ripped off, like so many other OTR plots, by EC comics. 
The most recognizeable example is "Ghost Hunt" with Ralph Edwards, 
which was used as an EC story, then picked up as a Morton Downey vehicle on
HBO's Tales From The Crypt.

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

Date: 01 Sep 1996 05:55:58 GMT
From: kg@[removed] (KEN GREENWALD)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dramatic Radio - why is it dead?
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

There have been a lot of thoughts expressed about the death of dramatic radio.
I'd like to express some of mine:
In reading all that has been said so far, I find that most everything
suggested is correct. Correct because we live a world of reality made up
mostly of shades of gray, not black and white. All the ideas expressed so far
have some truth about the death of dramatic radio. 

Technological advances always change things. Let's go back to the time of
Lincoln. Then, we had the printing press, but no ability to reproduce
photographs (though the photo process did exist then - witness Mathew Brady
and others). The telegraph spread the news then. Newspapers spread that news
to the people. Later, the photogravure process was invented, allowing
pictures to be printed alongside the text. This brought other changes. It
allowed magazines to be printed (anyone know of any photo magazines during
Lincolns time? No. All illustrations were done by artist at that time). With
photo reproduction taking hold, artists fell by the wayside. Magazines began
to proliferate. Mistrel shows were eventually replaced by vaudeville. The
telegraph was eventually replaced by the telephone. Electronic discoveries
brought us sound transmission through the air. Radio was born. This helped
kill vaudeville (although it was brought back for a short while in shows like
Ed Sullivan -- but it didn't last). When the silent motion picture reached
its greatest heights, electronics brought about sound on film. Silent movies
died. Telvision came along in a crude but exciting form (witness the 1939
Worlds Fair and the early tv transmissions). World War II stalled the
development of tv and allowed radio to flourish. The war ended and soon tv
got a foothold. As a dramatic medium, radio died. With the advance of
electronics, the transistor was born. Minaturization appeared. More advances
and the computer was born. Even more and the internet was created .... and
here we are talking to each other as if we were all living next door to one
another. 
Amazing miracles that took a century and a half to bring us right where we
are at now. 

And every advance was intimately involved with one thing: Economics. Money
seems to be the driving factor. Wherever the most money can be made, that's
where the advances in new inventions take us (whether we like it or not).
One day I went to the Los Angeles County Museum to see a classic film. As I
entered the auditorium, I saw Hans Conreid sitting not far away. I went over
to say hello. Hans knew who I was from the work I do. We talked and the
conversation turned towards the death of radio. He smiled and said, "Radio
died in 1953." How so, Hans?" "I'll never forget it, because everyone in
radio that year eventually got their paychecks with a pink slip enclosed.
That was the end of radio for all us actors, writers and directors." He
paused, then went on: "By 1953 it was evident to the powers that controlled
the entertainment medium that television was bringing in more money than
radio. It's money, my boy; it's always money, you see."
How right he was.

I certainly cannot go into this topic deeply here. I could end up writing a
book. But there is a better way to find out. Consult Eric Barnouw's amazing 3
book history of radio. Barnouw is a thorough researcher who, in a thousand
pages of detailed history, takes you from radios beginnings to its final
death.
I realize that many out there who read the OTR Digest haven't spent the time
studying radio, nor bothered to look up the details that comprise the driving
forces which brought about radio, but it really is worth the time. Worth the
time because it gives a truer picture of what really happened. 
Radio is still with us, stronger than ever, but in a different form. There
are more radio stations now then ever before. But it's not what WE want to
listen to. Americans seem to have this constant need to push forward, to
disregard its past. We somehow never seem able to let different mediums live
side by side. 
Recently, I picked up a Sunday issue of The London Times. I examined their tv
digest. What amazed me was the fact that, in their weekly tv digest, there is
a complete section devoted to dramatic radio. Seven pages worth, filled with
articles on some of their personalities, some of the shows still being aired,
and 4 pages of listings for the weeks radio shows. The same exists in
Australia. And in Canada. Dramatic radio is still alive in other countries.
There are many areas in England where tv isn't that important, but radio is
still important. 
Nothing is going to stop what is called "progress." At the same time, nothing
is going to stop OTR fans from enjoying radio, even if what we listen to is
long gone, old, forgotten by most of the US population, and a totally dead
medium here. 

So, we can go on analyzing and analyzing about the death of dramatic radio,
but it won't make any difference in the long run. Those small strongholds of
people who are presently recreating radio drama will remain small, because
dramatic radio is no longer viable financially. Henry Morgan put it very well
in a major interview he gave on the new defunct Tom Snyder tv show called
Tomorrow: "The Sears radio theater brought me out to Los Angeles to put on 3
broadcasts. I wrote the scripts for the show, I starred in the show, and used
some of the best radio actors from the golden age. So what? You know how much
I got paid for each script I wrote, Tom? $[removed]! That's an insult to me, and
to radio!" 
Morgan never did another radio show after that. TV is such a monster that it
has eaten up every other possible entertainment medium for the home. Even
though we now have cable tv and laser disc movies and video tapes, it's still
television, because you need your tv set to see it. Ephasis on the "SEE."
And just what is television REALLY today? It's radio with pictures. The major
tv networks knew this all along. That's why tv sitcoms are nothing more than
people talking in the living room, in the kitchen, in the bedroom, and in the
office. Talk, talk, talk. Except for some slight visual shifts such as a
dissolve to another location, a person doesn't even have to look at the tv to
understand the story or the jokes. 

I talked to a tv executive and a sitcom story editor I know and they both
agreed. TV is nothing more than radio with pictures today, and the executives
that rule the airwaves have ALWAYS known this.
One last thing: Some 10 years back, a university did a research project (I
believe it was the University of Chicago). They wanted to determine what was
the best way to teach kids. They set the following up: One group were taught
about the Civil War by reading from a book. Another group had to listen to a
teacher explain about the Civil War, using a blackboard. A third group
listened to a dramatic presentation of the Civil War in a radio drama. The
final group saw the re-inactment on tv. All information presented was the
same, just in those different ways. Then, tests were given to see how much
information was retained by the students. Are you with me on this? Guess
which group scored the highest. The ones who heard the radio drama version!
Doesn't that beat all? And no one has bothered to take the cue from those
tests. So radio drama is still dead.
Enough said. Thanks for listening.
Ken Greenwald




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End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #311
*******************************************

