Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #3
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 1/2/2003 8:45 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 3
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Goerge Burns                          [ Mark Reesor <mrees@[removed]; ]
  New BBC 7 station                     [ "OTR Man" <otr_man@[removed]; ]
  SEARS RADIO THEATRE                   [ William Brooks <webiii@[removed]; ]
  Re: Young talent                      [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Tony Wons's Scrapbook                 [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
  list of stations that play OTR        [ CHET <voxpop@[removed]; ]
  Hop Harrigan, Taking Off              [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Network death                         [ "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@worldnet. ]
  2003 Anniversaries                    [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
  Paul McGrath                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Long running OTR shows                [ Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed]; ]
  Re:Barrymore's Christmas Carol        [ Greg Przywara <gmprzywara@students. ]
  Burns and Willson                     [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  RS 20 Hour Whistler Set               [ lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed]; ]
  A moving/new year sale!               [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
  Dumb Sidekicks                        [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Re: "young" talent                    [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 08:35:47 -0500
From: Mark Reesor <mrees@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Goerge Burns

The recent discussion about George Burns reminded me of the one and only
time I saw him. I happened to be in Las Vegas when he made what turned
out to be his last show at Caesar's Palace. Tickets were sold out but I
did go to an arrival ceremony Caesar's held the day of the show. George
charmed the crowd; as he was speaking, I noticed security guards moving
to cordon off the main entrance. I slipped in the last open door, just
in time to see George leave the stage and get into a wheelchair. He was
wheeled right past me and I followed directly behind, so close I could
have touched him. I'll never forget watching people look up and do
double takes as they saw him approaching. Some looked incredulous,
others smiled and called out greetings - it was like being part of a
royal parade! And speaking of brushes with fame, I'm most of the way
through Hal's book - let me rephrase that, I'll be finished Hal's book
by 3 am or so this morning (I just received it today)! It's absolutely
fascinating. Hal makes you feel like you're living it with him. It's so
interesting to meet, through him, all those otr people I've heard and
admired but alas, will never get a chance to meet. His memories of
Lillian Gish, for example (she called him "my baby Harlan!") Great book
Hal - but I have to tell you - after seeing a picture of the way you
looked when in 'Life With Father,' I can't blame those little old ladies
for wondering whether you were a boy or girl!

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 08:42:15 -0500
From: "OTR Man" <otr_man@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  New BBC 7 station

I was fortunate to find this list today (a happy start to the new year),
while searching for information about the new BBC7.

The listmaster said please say hello to the list, so thought I'd pass on
some tips about the new station. It uses a Real Audio stream, and RA can be
tricky to handle. So for those who may be [removed]

To record BBC7 -

1. Install Real Player 8:
[removed],121902home
pop_1

(Real Player 7, and earlier versions, do not work - or not fully - with
BBC7)

2. Install StreamBox VCR:
[removed]

(This program requires Windows 95/98/ME, though it might work with other
versions of Windows)

3. Set StreamBox VCR to Bandwidth 28K Modem:
View > Settings > Connection > 28k Modem

4. Copy and paste the following link into the StreamBox VCR "New Item" box:
[removed]*/ev7/live24/bbc7/[removed]

(This is the address of the BBC7 data stream)

5. Also in the New Item box, set "Protocol" to the option "RTSP", then click
"OK" to start recording (requires approx 7 MB of disk space for a 30 minute
recording).

6. The BBC 7 broadcast schedule for the next 7 days is at:
[removed]

This method records the actual Real Audio file itself, without any
conversion (so avoids the distortions that conversion can cause). It can be
used to capture any Real Audio file, whether a live stream as here, or a
file that can be downloaded on demand.

For non-commercial uses only!

Ed

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 08:42:39 -0500
From: William Brooks <webiii@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  SEARS RADIO THEATRE

I have been searching the web for sometime now, looking for a show
that has particular personal interst to me. It is from THE SEARS
RADIO THEATRE---ADVENTURE hosted ny Richard Widmark and produced by
Elliott Lewis. It was titled "CATACLYSM AT CORBON RIVER" and was
schediled to air as show #95 on 6-15-77. Another show was aired that
date, and I haven" found any other air date for it. Does anyone out
there have any info regarding the fate of this episode? And if the
OTR GODS are smiling on me maybe someone might have a copy, either
broadcast or studio copy, that I can trade for or directly purchase.

I look forward to hearing from anyone that may be able to help me.

Thanks,
Bill

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 08:43:10 -0500
From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Young talent

The always wise Elizabeth McLeod opined:

As sacreligious as it might sound, I'll stand right up and declare that
amidst all the drek on television these days there are some real gems
that stand with the best that OTR ever produced -- well written, well
acted, and well-conceived. For just one example, take a good look at the
depth of the characterizations, the subtlety of the humor, and the
quality of the voice acting on "King of the Hill" -- had Mike Judge lived
in the OTR era, I think he would have been a major figure as both a
writer and performer.

I don't think this is sacreligious at all.  Arlen, the fictional town
featured on "King of the Hill," is essentially a modern-day version of
popular OTR towns like Summerfield.  The characters on the show--exaggerated
though they may be--share the warm, funny idiosyncrasies of many of the
folks from Pine Ridge.  And the show's overall tone and writing--its
wonderful depiction of life's mundane pleasures--could come straight out of
the pages of "Vic and Sade."

Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 08:43:16 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

>From Those Were The Days --

1921 - The first religious broadcast on radio was heard, as Dr. [removed] Van
Etten of Calvary Episcopal Church preached on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.

1959 - CBS dropped the curtain on four soap operas. Our Gal Sunday, This
is Nora Drake, Backstage Wife and Road of Life all hit the road for
good.

  Joe

--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 08:43:35 -0500
From: Derek Tague  <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Tony Wons's Scrapbook

Hi Gang!

   Happy New Year!
   Recently, someone here on the list requested info leading to a copy of
"Tony's Scrapbook." This past Monday (12/30/2002), I saw a copy  of either the
1932-33 or the 1933-34 (I can't remember which) edition selling for $[removed] at
the Montclair Book Center in downtown Montclair, NJ. It was right next to a
$[removed] copy of "Out of the Air" by Mary Margaret McBride. The store is located
on Glen  Ridge Avenue in the center of Montclair.  Please  note, I'm not
positive if this store accepts mail-order. Anybody desiring to chase down
these books  should tell whomever on the phone that the books are located on
the right-hand extreme of the bottom shelf of the Radio/Televison/Media
[removed] to a bunch of books about Howard Stern. Also on the same
bookcase was a hardcover copy of "Stories I Like to Tell" by Arthur Godfrey
(the dust jacket is torn).  Happy hunting!

Yours in the 2003 ether,

Derek Tague

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 10:22:28 -0500
From: CHET <voxpop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  list of stations that play OTR

   this may be way impossible to do but does anyone know of a list of radio
stations that play old time radio shows ON THE INTERNET?
thanx, chet norris

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 10:44:14 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Hop Harrigan, Taking Off

Don Frey, speaking of OTR related items, asks,

Stephen Kallis was commenting on Hop Harrigan. My son gave me for
Christmas a lobby card of Chapter 5 of a Hop Harrigan serial titled "Hop
Harrigan" and the episode is "Betrayed By a Madman" <snip>  I was
wondering if the serial is available. <snip> Anyhow, does anyone know if
one can purchase the Hop Harrigan serial anywhere?

The Hop Harrigan serial exists on VHS.  I have a copy in my library.

I'd recalled that VCI once carried it ( [removed]
) -- but a check indicates it's not currently available.  Possibly a call
to their order line might scare up a copy [(800) 331-4077].  VCI
currently stocks the Captain Midnight serial (also a Columbia Studios
product, and not a close match to the OTR show), Jack Armstrong, The
Return of Chandu (of Chandu, the Magician), and, to stretch a point,
several Cisco Kid tapes.

I also tried Sinister Cinema ( [removed] ) but it
isn't listed there, either.

However, the VHS tapes pop up from time to time on eBay.

A word of caution: the Columbia Studios serials in particular have only a
glancing resemblance to their OTR counterparts.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 11:24:13 -0500
From: "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Network death

A few days ago Mark Kinsler wrote,

And now network television has clearly
run its course, having survived a good deal longer than OTR.  While I don't
have a good prediction as to what will supplant network [removed]

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of this "death" is greatly
exaggerated.

According to the latest research by the Television Advertising Bureau, the
over-the-air networks beat the  ad supported cable nets by a combined [removed]
(Total Households) rating to [removed] (through December 15, 2002). You may think
that's close until you realize that there are currently some 55 national
ad-supported cable networks slicing up that audience and only 7 broadcast
nets. (And calling the WB and UPN "networks" is stretching [removed]) That's a
lot of fractionalization. And the real trouble with TV production is that
expenses are high no matter how many people are watching.

A few more numbers:
*The highest rated broadcast network is CBS with a rating of [removed]

*The highest rated cable network is ESPN with a rating of [removed]

*And while pay cable (especially HBO) can give the networks a run for their
money in the quality of  programming ("The Soprano's," "Band of Brothers,"
et. al.) those networks are still in fewer than one-third of US households.

All the new technology around the corner (broadband internet,
video-on-demand, etc.) will only fractionalize the audience even further. As
of now, only the four major broadcast nets can deliver the audience for
high-profile expensive programming.

Brian Johnson
(whose 20 years in television production make him
unemployable in any really useful capacity)

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 11:45:19 -0500
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  2003 Anniversaries

Bill Jaker's post about 2003 anniversaries was exceedingly timely and
comprehensive.  I appreciate the research he put into it.  He
acknowledged specific events in radio's life that occurred in most of the
decades between 1893-1943.  I'd like to add to it, focusing on 1953, a
year in which radio was still a viable alternative in most American
households.

We can celebrate radio of five decades ago for a number of programs and
stars that continued to appear every week (and some, every day) as if
very little was changing.  At the same time, networks were becoming
innovative, introducing, for instance, in 1953 another adult western, The
Six-Shooter starring Jimmy Stewart as plainsman Britt Ponset on NBC and
another new adult police drama on CBS, Twenty-First Precinct, with
Everett Sloane, James Gregory and Les Damon at varying times as captain
Frank Kennelly.  Meanwhile, MBS gave us The Crime Files of Flamond
featuring Arthur Wyatt for the first time.  And on April 13, 1953 WCBS
originated Music Till Dawn, hosted by disk jockey Bob Hall, a soothing
6-hour overnight marathon of recorded melodies which spread to other
CBS-owned outlets in Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and other cities, and
continued almost 17 years.  On Nov. 30, 1953 The Voice of Firestone
marked its 25th milestone, a thrilling weekly live performance of
classical music that was destined to continue for yet another decade by
way of video.

It was October 19, 1953 that entertainer Arthur Godfrey began his slow
descent from the pinnacle of public adulation to significantly diminished
esteem with the stunning on-air firing of singer Julius LaRosa, the first
in a long line of highly publicized dismissals over the next few years.
The #1 tune on the hit parade in 1953 was Percy Faith's "The Song from
Moulin Rouge," an instrumental recording.

And a number of our longrunning favorites bowed out of radio that year,
among them, with their years of inception in parentheses:
The Aldrich Family (1939)
Archie Andrews (1943)
The Bob Hawk Show, aka Thanks to the Yanks (1942)
The Cavalcade of America (1935)
Club Fifteen (1947)
Give and Take (1945)
Grand Slam, aka Irene Beasley Sings (1943)
The Hallmark Hall of Fame, aka Hallmark Playhouse (1948)
The Horace Heidt Show, aka The American Way, et al (1932)
The Judy Canova Show (1943)
Meet Corliss Archer (1943)
The Quiz Kids (1940)
The Red Skelton Show (1939)
Smilin' Ed's Buster Brown Gang (1944)
Tarzan (1932)
This Is Your FBI (1945)
Victor Lindlahr (1937)
Your Hit Parade (1935)

This material is excerpted from "Say Goodnight, Gracie: The Last Years of
Network Radio" (McFarland, 2002, 800-253-2187).  While not everything
that happened in 1953 is highlighted here, we can probably agree that it
was a significant epoch, this first year of the final decade of radio's
golden age.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 22:00:38 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Paul McGrath

A few weeks ago someone on this digest asked me if I had any Paul McGrath
material, and I finally found it.  If they can contact me with their mailing
address, I'll mail the old newspaper articles and clippings and such to
them.
Martin Grams, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 22:00:46 -0500
From: Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Long running OTR shows

It is my understanding that One Man's Family holds the record for the
longest continuous running drama on radio, beginning in 1932 and ending
in 1959.

Jim Kitchen

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 22:02:11 -0500
From: Greg Przywara <gmprzywara@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:Barrymore's Christmas Carol

There is a website that has this one at [removed]
but since they got some of those recently rediscovered Campbell Playhouse
shows like "The Patriot" that server has been busier than a grocery store
on Christmas Eve (I know what I'm talking about, I'm a checker.) It takes
like 12 hours or so to download a one-hour show!

Tapes of this broadcast are easy to obtain-you might want to check if your
local library can get it for you.
If you want a real one of a kind broadcast of A Christmas Carol, I have the
1938 version with ORSON WELLES playing Scrooge. Welles filled in for
Barrymore that year because Barrymore was too sick to play Scrooge in the
MGM movie or do any radio except a guest announcer gig on Good News in
which he introduced Reginald Owen reprising a role that by all rights he
should have had! (The closest thing we have to Barrymore doing Scrooge in
the movies is [removed]!) Orson Welles who was in his early twenties at the
time and less than two months removed from the WOTW controversy is more or
less credible as a character at least fifty years his senior (think
Marley's Ghost meets Citizen Kane)
But what is the most special thing about the broadcast is that SCRIPT! The
program starts out with Welles reading the Christmas Story from the
Bible(which is alone worth the price of admission) and then launches into
the most complete OTR adaptation of the Dickens classic. You get just about
every ghostly occurrence and vision mentioned in the book and all in under
an hour!
if anyone wants either the Good News broadcast or the 1938 Christmas Carol
I still have them on my hard drive and will be more than happy to e-mail
copies to Digest subscribers!

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 22:02:37 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Burns and Willson

John Mayer wrote --

one of the scientists remarking that the drug could conceivably permit
George to live to be 100

  I always find it interesting (and funny) when on their show someone
mentions George being 100 or living to be 100, with a line akin to "you
mean he isn't already?" and thinking, little did they know he _would_
live to be 100.

Irene Heinstein wrote --

As for Meredith Willson.    Immediately prior to "The Big Show" which Steve
Lewis mentioned he was associated with "Maxwell House Coffee Time".

  I always like the commercial's when he was the orchestra leader on
Burns and Allen.  When a strand of music would be played, with Bill
Goodwin going on about how this and that coffee is blended to make
Maxwell House and more music is added (melody, etc) to bring the musical
piece to its fullest.  I enjoy trying to guess the song before its all
put together and actually played.  I usually lose though.  :)
  Joe

--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 22:02:49 -0500
From: lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RS  20 Hour Whistler Set

I would like to hear from anyone who purchased Radio
Spirits Ledends of Radio-The Whistler-20 hour set.
Please contact me off line at philcolynn@[removed].

Thank You!!
Lynn

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 22:04:01 -0500
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  A moving/new year sale!

Okay, so I can't seem to find my mailing list of people that I've sent
catalogs [removed] hope this blatently commercial advertisement is
acceptable to everyone here.  I know many of my customers frequent this
list.

My job is relocating, so I'm forced to move.  As you know, moving is
expensive, so in order to hopefully raise some extra income, I'm offering
free shipping on all orders of five videos or more.  That means you save
at least $7 on your order, which is the cost of one video.  Consider it
as getting one video free, if you like.

Feel free to contact me if you'd like to get a catalog.  The free
shipping offer is good during the entire month of January.

Have a great New Year!

Rodney Bowcock
Past Tense Productions "Classic movies and TV for $7"

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 22:03:08 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Dumb Sidekicks

In OTR, there were two kind of sidekicks.  One was rather ordinary, with
average -- or even above average -- intelligence.  The other was, well,
to put it in gentle terms, rather thick between the ears.

Sidekicks, in all cases, were important to many OTR shows by having
someone to talk to.  Since there had to be some means of describing the
action.  Unless the hero did a lot of talking to himself, or the show was
narrated in some way, talking to a sidekick was the easiest way to convey
information.

Sometimes, someone of average-to-above intelligence was still in the
shadows of a hero, if that hero bordered on genius.  Thus, the perfectly
capable Dr. Watson was an *effective* dumb sidekick when contrasted to
the brilliant Sherlock Holmes.  But those were rare cases.

The usual dumb sidekick was somebody the hero or heroine had to explain
things to, sometimes over and over again.  Tank Tinker, the mechanic in
Hop Harrigan, was one such.  If Hop had determined something, he'd
mention some of it to Tank, who would often respond with, "I don't get
it, Hop."  This would lead to a detailed explanation that would help
bring the young listener up to date.  Another, in some ways better,
sidekick was Michael Axford.  Unlike Tinker, Axford seldom complained
that he didn't get whatever was going on, but just dashed off on the
basis of his own ideas.  However, Axford's actions often contrasted with
the activities embarked upon by Britt Reid.

But the best of the lot, IMHO, was Mike Clancy, the "associate" of Mr.
[Westrel] Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons.  He was an effective narrator,
"Mr. Keen, sir, that handyman out there is choppin' wood.  With a great
big axe."  He was somebody Mr. Keen could explain things, to: "Those
little drawings are doodles, Mike.  Some people sketch doodles like these
while they were doing other things, like speaking on the telephone.
Since the pad is next to the telephone, someone was probably talking to
somebody on the telephone when these doodles were made."

Dumb sidekicks were somewhat better, because the level of description was
more detail.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 22:03:34 -0500
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: "young" talent

I know it sounds sacreligious, but if Freeman Gosden,
Chas. Correll, Jack Benny, Orson Welles, and perhaps even Harry Bartell
were
starting their careers in 2003, there'd be no shortage of body
piercings and
odd tattoos in the crowd.

Would that be such a bad thing?  After all, today we remember those
people primarily for their talent, not their outward appearance.  Popular
actors and actresses were known for their "cutting edge" looks and
behavior in the golden days of radio too, just like today.  It's all
relative if you ask me.

Rodney Bowcock (who's showing his age)
Past Tense Productions "Classic movies and TV for $7"

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #3
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