Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #358
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 9/14/2002 3:03 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 358
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Jumping the shark                     [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  SPERDVAC meeting                      [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
  CLASS OF 2002                         [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
  McFarland Bindings                    [ Paulurbahn@[removed] ]
  Kim Hunter                            [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
  Re: Eddie Green                       [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Jumping the Shark                     [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Perfect Binding                       [ Paulurbahn@[removed] ]
  Jump the shark                        [ "Michael Psarakis" <[removed] ]
  Re: Jack Kelk                         [ "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed] ]
  Kim Hunter/ Shark-jumping             [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
  Mcfarland promotions                  [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Re:East Coast conventions             [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
  Re:The future of OTR                  [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
  John Archer                           [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:03:07 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jumping the shark

Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 09:29:52 -0400
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];

When did Jack Benny and Fibber Magee stop being so funny?  When did
Suspense stop being so suspenseful?

I don't think Jack Benny ever jumped the shark.  I haven't heard many
episodes of Suspense recently, but I heard the original broadcasts of the
later episodes in the early 1960s, and I thought they were quite well
done.

I think of "jumping the shark" as being a point where the show loses its
way and gets stupid.  Fonzie jumping the shark is a good example.
Another is when the firm on LA Law began to fight over who should be
senior partner.   It involved an election with a plurality of the votes,
and the senior partner seemed to have dictatorial powers in the firm.
That's just not how a law firm is run.  Others say the show jumped the
shark when Rosalind Shays fell down the elevator shaft, but it was
getting stupid long before.  Another example is on "Boy Meets World," in
the final season, after the wedding, when Corey went borderline psychotic
and his brother went way beyond the borderline.  Not all shows do that,
sometimes they just ossify.

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

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:03:18 -0400
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  SPERDVAC meeting

SPERDVAC (Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy)
will hold its monthly meeting on September 14 at noon at the Mid-Valley
Library, 16244 Nordhoff St., North Hills. The guest speaker will be John
Carver, KFI radio engineer. He also worked at KECA. The meeting is free and
open to the public.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:03:26 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  CLASS OF 2002

Great list! Makes you think how much things have changed in America, just
in the last 20 [removed] And reminds us how some societies haven't changed
for hundreds of years.

Herb Harrison

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:04:16 -0400
From: Paulurbahn@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  McFarland Bindings

Joy Jackson remarked about McFarland:

The reason the books are that expensive is that they are "library-bindings."
That means that the spine of each book is sewn, the top of the spine has a
cloth swatch glued on top for extra strength, and the book is cloth-covered.
This is expensive to do, and takes time, but it makes the book hold up for
hard usage in the library.

and Martin Grimes included that comment in his message.
What she says is true, but I can say from the few McFarland books I have seen
they are all some sort of pasteboard cover with a plastic lamination. That is
not a true Hardback book. It is more like what cookbooks are published in. It
allows a picture to be published on the cover and no need for a paper jacket
covering the ugly hardbinding. I like it better than hard binding, but it is
much cheaper to produce.

As to pricing, they operate on the same thought as other businesses. Charge
whatever the traffic will bear. I have no problem with that. It gives them a
higher profit margin.

Paul Urbahns
paulurbahn@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:04:34 -0400
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Kim Hunter

Kim Hunter whose death Charlie noted was one of the many actors affected
by the blacklist. She also was a witness in the lawsuit trial which radio
personality John Henry Faulk initiated against the blacklisters. With
Hunter's assistance, Faulk won the case and helped break the back of the
blacklist.

Howard Blue

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:05:56 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Eddie Green

On 9/13/02 11:12 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

Does anyone have
the skinny on why Green disappeared from two hit comedy shows all of a
sudden?)

Eddie Green died of a heart attack on 9/19/50 at the age of 54.

Green is best remembered for his work in radio, but he was also a major
star in black vaudeville and on the Broadway stage during the 1910s and
1920s. He was born in Baltimore in 1896, and went on stage with a
minstrel show as a song-and-dance man while still in his teens. In 1916,
Green wrote "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," one of the biggest song hits of
that era. The publishing rights were bought in 1918 by the noted
African-American songwriter/publisher W. C. Handy, who went on to make a
fortune off the song -- but Handy was careful to arrange the terms of the
contract to ensure that he made all the profits and Green got next to
nothing.

Green remained a stage star on the black-oriented TOBA vaudeville circuit
during the twenties, becoming a great favorite of African-American
audiences, and went on to appear in several all-black Broadway revues in
the late twenties and early thirties. He wrote the book for "Blackberries
of 1932," a stage revue featuring many of the leading black comedians of
the era (Tim Moore -- later the TV Kingfish -- was also featured in this
show, along with Mantan Moreland, Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, and Moms
Mabley.) Unfortunately, "Blackberries" was presented at a time when the
musical theatre was severely crippled by the Depression, and the show
flopped.

Green made his radio debut in 1932, forming a comedy team with Ernest
Whitman, a veteran actor who had shifted back and forth between comedy
and straight drama over the course of his career and who would go on to
play many straight roles on A&A in the mid-1940s. Green and Whitman were
featured cast members in "The Gibson Family" during 1932-33, playing a
pair of comedic circus roustabouts. (Ernest Whitman is probably best
known today as Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, the ever-jiving MC of AFRS's
"Jubilee" series.)

After "The Gibson Family" ended, Green made numerous guest appearances on
various programs during 1934-36, and in the fall of 1936 became a co-star
of Louis Armstrong's Harlem Revue, a black-oriented variety series heard
on NBC Blue for Fleischmann's Yeast. That same year, Green became
possibly the first African-American performer to appear on television in
the US -- doing a routine in a special experimental telecast put on by
NBC to inaugurate the earliest version of their all-electronic television
system.

Green continued to make guest appearances on various programs during the
late thirties, and was a semi-regular with Rudy Vallee in 1940. He was a
regular on "Duffy's Tavern" for most of its run, and joined "The Amos 'n'
Andy Show" in 1947, remaining with both programs until his death.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:06:14 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jumping the Shark

My "special show" Captain Midnight, jumped the shark when it went to
half-hour format.  The show changed actors, lowered its sights with
regards to its target audience, and simplified its plots.  Since the
beginnings of its run, Captain Midnight had a very large minority --
nearly half -- of its audience composed of adults, but the new
complete-in-one-episode stories were dumbed down, both conceptually and
with regards to vocabulary.  As a result, I put the stories outside the
Canonical, and will not be included in any sequel to my book.

Audiences apparently agreed with me.  The half-hour version premiered on
20 September 1949, and had its final broadcast on 15 December of that
year.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:07:37 -0400
From: Paulurbahn@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Perfect Binding

Joy wrote:

Most books (best sellers, etc) and all paperbacks, are "perfect
binding"--meaning that each page is glued to its brothers into a block. This
isn't perfect, really, because after being opened one or two times, the pages
start to fall out.

Hal replied:

Ooops! I hope I didn't goof. With my recently completed book, I elected to
go with the "perfect" binding method so I could hold down the cost of
production, and make it more affordable to as many OTR fans as possible.

Paul adds:
Hal I have been overseeing book publishing for our local genealogy society 
for years. OPerfect Binding works well for everyone except librarians (no bad 
feelings intended Joy!).
Librarians like books that can be placed down flat on a copy machine to xerox 
a page or two. You need the Type of sewing binding she describes for that. 
"Perfect Bound" books will break the back and pages start to fall. To the 
average reader the pages stay in fine.
Libraries can have the book rebound (at a small fee) if they wish.
Our society has over 50 titles (most all perfect binding) except two which 
were too big to be paperbound. We get no complaints execept librarians that 
admit the books were broken on repeated use on copy machines. (our books 
usually show up in reference departments where librarians generally don't 
allow material to be checked out).
Loved your performances at the Cincinnati show this year. And yes I want a 
book when will it be available. Email me direct.
Paul Urbahns
paulurbahn@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:08:26 -0400
From: "Michael Psarakis" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jump the shark
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/mixed
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Not a bad topic, so how about these:

CBS Radio Mystery Theatre - obviously when [removed] Marshall left the show in
favor of Tammy Grimes.  His voice was perfect, his inflections could be warm
then menacing.  I always thought he had one of the most distinctive voices in
radio.

Fibber McGee and Molly - going to 15 minutes didn't help, but I think their
show "jumped the shark" by never changing, if that makes sense.  Sensibilities
changed but their show didn't.  They don't really play well because they seem
to lack the sophistication of Benny and Allen.

Suspense - "jumped the shark" around 1954 when they could no longer attract
the major stars to radio thanks to television.  Still a good show, but not as
good as the golden age of radio.

One Man's Family - the passing of Barton Yarborough removed a major character
from the show in 1951.  That hurt for sure.

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:09:44 -0400
From: "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:    Jack Kelk

    About ten years ago I got Jack Kelk's phone number and phoned him,
leaving a message on his answering machine.  He responded by phoning me, a
radio-buff stranger who was interested in asking him about his role in
radio's 'Terry and the Pirates' fifty years earlier.

    He was very friendly, answered my questions, and said I could phone him
again with more questions if I liked.

    A fond memory for me of a man who was obviously a kind man as well as a
talented radio actor.

   -- Phil C.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:47:06 -0400
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Kim Hunter/ Shark-jumping

Hi Gang:

   I once had the pleasure of meeting kim Hunter back in 1999. At the time,
Himan Brown was staging before live audiences  in NYC programmes concerning
little-known facets of American history for a show entitled "They Were
Giants." Mr. Brown was stock-piling several completed episodes of this series
& was in the midst of trying to sell the idea to NPR or some other outlet [I
don't know what the outcome was]. Anyway, Mr. Brown employed many of the
actors from his "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre" "stock company," including Tony
Roberts, Sam Gray, Norman Rose, Gordon Gould, &  Russell  Horton [who has been
the voice of the Trix Rabbit in TV cartoon ads for about 25 years, & who had
his most acclaimmed on-screen moment as the obnoxious movie patron
expostulating about Marshall McLuhan in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall."].

    Anyway, I spoke w/ Miss Hunter after the performance (a story about a
retired Theodore Roosevelt awaiting the news that his son Quentin had died
overseas during the First  World War). She was very nice & gracious.  At the
time, I was staging a panel discussion about "CBSRMT" for the 1999 FOTR
convention. I asked Miss Hunter if she could participate, & even though her
schedule didn't allow her attendance, she was represented. Mr. Horton played a
brief audio-tape of her discussing  acting techniques.

    As for the posting about "jumping the shark" and OTR:

First, does anybody know the exact reason why the name of the "Frankie Remley"
character was dropped in favour of Elliott Lewis's real-name on "The Phil
Harris-Alice Faye Show"?

Secondly, I can't think of any other examples, but for me, "the Eddie Cantor
Show" JTS by the time Cantor's supporting cast was pretty much reduced to
announcer Jimmy Wallingford, & instead of having Harry "Parkyakarkas" Einstein
or Bert "The Mad Russian" Gordon as the "crazy" ethnic, Cantor himself
portrayed Prof. Whattastruedel (or whatever the character's name was). Forgive
me, Brian gari.

     Such name-dropping foregoing! I feel like Lee Munsick--oops! I did it
again!

Yours in the ether,

Derek Tague

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 18:05:21 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mcfarland promotions

Bob Fells mentioned about his George Arliss book he proposed to McFarland.

This is odd as I know an author who wrote a book about the actor Bela
Lugosi.  He made his own CD of Bela Lugosi's radio appearances and McFarland
did sell it as a companion to the book.  I believe McFarland also sold a VHS
once about a specific horror film or series of horror films and they also
sold it.

McFarland threatened to deduct furture royalties from me if I didn't
complete a certain job for them within a two-week period, that I only
managed to accomplish with the help of my mother, her friend, and our
neighbor.  Four computers and four people got the job done in two weeks,
just making their deadline.  Afterwhich, my attorney looked over the
contract and told me that I was stuck having to do the job, because their
contract says very little except basic statements that they could fight in
court if they wanted to - their clauses are so simplistic that some could
have two or three different meanings.

What is sad, and I'll admit it publicly, that my recent royalty check came
in from Mcfarland, resulting in the last six months of sales (they claim on
the royalty statement that only 36 copies of Radio Drama sold the past six
moths).  $204. and some cents.  Literally.  And that was total for having
written two books, not one!  And I know like usual, at the end of the year,
I'll receive a 1099 for being taxed on that income.  So if anyone thinks
authors make a lot of money, here's a dollar figure to make you think.

What I have to figure out mentally, is that I had a book of mine printed at
a professional book binding company, and did my own advertising and selling.
  You know in the first month I sold five times more copies of that one
book, than McFarland ever sold of the two I wrote for them, total for the
last three years they've been selling them.  And in the five years I have
ever sold my own books, I have only had one book returned - ever.  That was
because someone in California said the book was damaged in the mail and
unreadable.  I had no problem replacing it.  I have a few royalty statements
from McFarland that claim one, two, etc. books were returned and the costs
resulting were deducted from my royalties.  I have always wondered who
returns those books that are listed on my [removed]

As for Bob Fells, an old wise man would say, McFarland is not the only
publisher.  There are other publishing companies and this being America, you
have the option to submit your manuscript to any publishing company you
want, multiple companies in fact, if you wish to see what makes a better
offer.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 18:11:29 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:East Coast conventions

William Strom asked;

Will there be any conventions in or near the New England area?

Hi William. From what I understand, they hold a convention annually in
Massachusetts. (Boston, I believe). It was held a few months ago. I've never
been invited, so I can't tell you much about it. But I have acting buddies
who go there each year.

But I will make this suggestion. If you've never been to an OTR Convention,
make every effort to get to FOTR, the upcoming one held in the NY-NJ area at
the end of October. It's a BIGGIE. With lots of former OTR celebrities in
attendance. (Having once lived in the long island and Ct. area, New England
is only a hop, skip and a jump away). I could make Manchester new Hampshire
in about 4 1/2 hours.

C'mon down and say hello, William. :)

Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 18:11:49 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:The future of OTR

I found Kevin Wondrash's posting delightful.

Rest assured Kevin, the recent posting about young people not knowing about
certain things that only us "oldtimers" could know about, (or relate to)
certainly doesn't apply to you, and it certainly wasn't a put-down about
"youth" in any manner or form. I interpreted it solely as a walk down memory
lane, and a bit of nostalgia.

I was born in 1983

You are 19, but far wiser than your years. And, certainly not typical. But
this is not a question of youth vs old folks. There isn't one Digest
Subscriber who would not marvel at your experiences, and applaud your
ability to keep one foot in the past, as you take giant strides towards your
future.

The future of the OTR Hobby rests with the younger generation. (To me,
that's anyone younger than 50.) :) But when those individuals 30 years old
and younger come along and show interest, they are to be treasured, nurtured
and [removed]

Whether ot nor you feel old is your own [removed] young people'[removed]
least in my case

Believe me, if I had my way I'd love to live in the 40s.

I hope no one takes offense to this, but remember to look to the youth, they
may surprise you.

Point taken, I'm sure. But in your case. You not only pleasantly surprise
me, but delight me. The future of the Hobby is safe in hands like yours.

Regards Kevin. And join the club. You don't have to call me "Sir", or Mr.
Stone. I tell all OTR fans (regardless of age) to call me Hal. Anything else
makes me feel old. :)

Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead

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

Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 23:26:20 -0400
From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  John Archer

John Archer was, for most of us in the OTR community,
the only Shadow
I'm
sure some of the REPS members on this list can add
more about what a
wonderful human being John was, and how important he
was to the early
success
of the Seattle-based OTR club.
--ANTHONY TOLLIN***

Anthony Tollin speaks the truth about John's kindness
and warmth. At REPS meetings he was always intoduced
as member Number 1. He always sat in the back and I
always thought it was because he didn't want to
distract from the purpose of that months get together.
Like Anthony I had the pleasure of directing John in a
Shadow recreation. Unfortunately it was during the
rehersal for this program that he had his stroke. As
John was being taken away by the para medics he wanted
to make certain the show would go on, we were going to
perform it for the residents at John and Anne's
retirement home in Redmond Washington, because he knew
that people were looking forward to the production. So
I stepped into the roles that were to be played by
John and the show went on. I wish I could say I
captured John esscense in the part of the Shadow, but
at best I was a pale substitute.
John always took an interest in my acting career here
in Seattle and was always pleased to hear about my
getting work in this play or that commercial or voice
over work.
John's last work on radio was in an epsiode of
Imagination Theatre in a play called "Time Stowaway"
written by Jim French and first aired in late 1994 I
think in Seattle and later to the rest of the country.
Check the cataloge on the Transmedia web page if you
want to get a copy. Go to [removed].
I didn't know John as long as Anthony or as well but I
will always cherish the time I did have with him.
           Larry Albert

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #358
*********************************************

Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
  including republication in any form.

If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
   [removed]

For Help: [removed]@[removed]

To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
  or see [removed]

For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
  in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]