------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 228
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Why wonder woman wasnt on radio, or [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
Blank CDs [ Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed]; ]
The Aldrich Family [ Jerry Bechtel <[removed]@[removed] ]
Re: DER BINGLE UNDT DER VITE XMAS [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
Radio for the blind [ Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed] ]
Beatles/White Christmas [ JayHick@[removed] ]
Censorship [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
re Lon Chaney Jr. [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
Re: More About Censorship [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Re: Liberty Network [ "Robert Angus" <rangus02@[removed]; ]
Links [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Dragnet Reference in Cartoon [ Kubelski@[removed] ]
ERWIN PISCATOR [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
Re:Radio Spirits [ Eric J Cooper <ejcooper2002@[removed] ]
CD Brands [ Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 10:42:41 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Why wonder woman wasnt on radio, or was she?
Simple, probably no demand. The big audience for the supre hero stuff was and
still is boys and men, or males. We just dont identify with a female doing
what we think should only be done by "real men". I would bet that eighty
percent of the comic book readers were males and we tended to live in a
fantasy world of make-believe action. The girls, have always been more
realistic and really more mature, especially in the early years of
development. The same was true for the radio adventure serials. Although
there were exceptions im sure, i cant imagine or remember girls talking about
jack armstrong or hop harrigan. As for myself, the movies today irk me by
depicting women as equals to men physically in realistic life. Its just not
the norm, but the movies seem to try and convince us they are physical
equals. Now there is still room for fantasy such as wonder woman, batgirl,
mary marvel, sheena, etc., but even with these characters i would guess their
biggest audience is and always has been we males. Females just dont get
caught up in such nonsense as we do.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 10:47:40 -0400
From: Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Blank CDs
Re Ron Curtis' note on Imation CDs:
Imation was spun off from 3M (my employer for 35 years) six years
ago, and was allowed to use the 3M name on some products for a
time. But I don't think any Imation products are manufactured by
3M, and certainly not CDs. Imation has its own manufacturing
operations (which it took with it when the spinoff occurred; likewise
relevant intellectual property).
Al Hubin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 12:07:12 -0400
From: Jerry Bechtel <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Aldrich Family
Back in the mid '40's, at age 7-8-9, one of my favorite radio programs
was "The Aldrich Family". I collected, for my own listening pleasure,
about 50 of these programs but can't seem to find any more anywhere. I
also can't seem to find any complete logs (one site has a one year log
on it). Does anyone know why there doesn't seem to be much out there on
this program?. Am I beating a dead horse trying to find more? Am I the
only one that liked this show? I know it was very juvenile but then so
was I! [removed]
Jerry
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 12:07:35 -0400
From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: DER BINGLE UNDT DER VITE XMAS
When we last met, I made reference to a participant in a panel discussion
program who was suspended from the show for a few weeks when he commented
about having "one show on which you do NOT hear 'Silent Night.'" At that
point, I recalled the name Irving Kaufman. May I offer an apology, and chalk
that recollection up to the lousy supply of Midnight Oil I've been using
lately; the name I actually intended, and I immediately recalled when
reading the digest in the relative clarity of 10:45 [removed], was George S.
Kaufman, not Irving.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 12:08:02 -0400
From: Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio for the blind
John Mayer wrote:
a couple of folks in recent months mentioned
something referred to as Radio for the Blind.
What they are probably referring to is the radio reading
services that are available. These programs, produced
locally to regionally, transmit on one of the sub carriers of
an fm station to radios designed to just receive that one
channel.
In Georgia, GaRRS, Georgia Radio Reading Service, reads
the daily newspapers, books and magazines for the visually
impaired.
Radios can be purchased or rented from the service.
These services depend on volunteer readers, which is a
place many new voice talents/actors get practice.
IF you like to read out loud, volunteer.
Here's a list of some of the services:
[removed]
Henry Howard - moderator of radiodrama@[removed]
770 923 7955 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:30:20 -0400
From: JayHick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Beatles/White Christmas
A Beatles tune was suggested as selling more than "White Christmas." This is
not true but the song "Yesterday" has been recorded by more people than any
other song according to most references (close to 1200 artists; over 2500
recorded versions).
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:30:55 -0400
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Censorship
Kelli Stanley asks
does anyone know of an actual list of words,
situations, people (other than poor Mae) or characters forbidden from the
air? In other words, was the censorship codified, as it was in the film
and comic book industries?
First of all, in the prewar era, the networks usually prohibited speech
that criticized the axis powers, particularly Nazi Germany. Secondly,
during the war, The Office of War Information set out rules govern what
shows should try to not include in broadcasts.
Throughout my forthcoming book, "Words at War," I discuss the matter of
censorship of radio, in some cases quoting some codified sources. See
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:32:01 -0400
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re Lon Chaney Jr.
Doug Berryhill asked:
how could he not be on the [Inner Sanctum] radio series???...
Anyone have any ideas why Chaney
shunned performing on radio?
I can offer a speculative answer, but I don't know how to put
this with complete diplomacy, and I don't really know whether
Chaney shunned [removed] whether it was the other way around.
In any [removed] fact is, Chaney Jr., after becoming a Universal
star, gained a reputation for being one of the most bibulous actors
in the movies. He even told his directors, "Get as much out of me
as you can before lunchtime, because I don't guarantee anything
after that."
Sci-Fi Channel was, for a while, running the old live-TV program
"Tales of Tomorrow" and they showed the rather notorious episode
"Frankenstein," with Chaney as the monster, during which he
forgets that they're doing the actual broadcast, not a dress rehearsal,
and instead of breaking apart all the furniture in his rampage scene,
gently picks it up and puts it back down. The story goes that
he had taken his usual sort of 'dinner break' between the rehearsal
and the broadcast. That was in the early 50s - but it seems he'd been
behaving this way for many years already.
All this suggests that he might not have been very trustworthy in
live performance. I wonder, too, if he may have had trouble with
reading dialogue off a page - and I also wonder how many Hollywood
performers shared that shortcoming.
Not to irk any Chaney fans with this; I enjoy his work for Universal
and he did give a handful of wonderful performances ("Of Mice and Men,"
"High Noon," "The Wolf Man"). But there's lots of testimony from his
various colleagues as to his drinking-and-work habits.
John Henley
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:32:34 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: More About Censorship
Kelli Berney wrote:
The whole subject is fascinating and makes me wonder: does anyone know
of an actual list of words, situations, people (other than poor Mae) or
characters forbidden from the air? In other words, was the censorship
codified, as it was in the film and comic book industries? Or was it
just ad hoc until the McCarthy era targed liberals? Any info much
appreciated, as always.
There actually is a strong paralell between the creation of the Comics
Code Authority and what happened in radio in the late thirties, although
I've always wondered whether Sen. Herring was as sincere about his
complaints as Dr. Wertham seems to have been -- for all the unnecessary
ruination he brought to the comics business, Wertham also accomplished a
lot of good running free clinics in Harlem during the 1930s and 1940s,
and despite his personal kinkiness, he seems to have at least been
motivated by a genuine concern about delinquency as a social issue.
Herring on the other hand, seems to be a political cipher -- he only had
one term in the Senate and didn't accomplish much besides complaining
about radio. One of his supporters was the Iowa-based Meredith Publishing
Company -- which no doubt felt the pinch in its revenues from the
competition of radio advertising, and if one wanted to be cynical one
might suggest that his anti-radio activities might have been a bit of
Quid Pro Quo in exchange for Meredith's political and financial support.
In any event, pressure from Herring and the "concerned citizens" in the
newspaper business led directly to the adoption in 1939 of the revised
"Code and Standards of Practice of the NAB," a detailed program of rules
and regulations governing program content that would be binding on
Association members. David Sarnoff of RCA-NBC proposed self-regulation as
the best approach to program censorship when appearing before a
Congressional hearing in late 1938, and the NAB immediately took the
hint.
There had been a rudimentary NAB "Code of Ethics" in place since 1928,
and it was revised and expanded in 1935. But the 1939 revision was the
first to really stress rules for program content. While it didn't ban
specific words and phrases, it did lay out strict rules for children's
programming:
"Such programs must not contain horror, or torture, or use of the
supernatural, or superstitions, or any other material which might
reasonably be regarded as likely to overstimulate the child listener or
be prejudicial to sound character development."
The code also prohibited the sale of time for "discussion of
controversial issues" -- all such programming had to be presented on a
sustaining basis so as to avoid commerical influence in the viewpoints
presented. The primary target of this clause was Father Coughlin, who
bought his broadcast time "at regular commercial rates." Coughlin was
also the reason for the code clause prohibiting religious broadcasts that
attacked "another's race or religion."
Otherwise, programming on stations under the NAB Code was required to
adhere to "accepted standards of good taste." Strictly prohibited were
any programs relating to or promoting astrology, fortune-telling,
crystal-gazing, palm-reading, numerology, graphology, or mind reading;
any programs advertising spiritous liquor, any programs promoting
"speculative finance" or illegitimate investment schemes, any programs
promoting matrimonial bureaus or agencies, any programs promoting
race-track "dope sheets" or tipster publications, any programs promoting
"learn while you earn" or "work at home" propositions and any program
continuity that "repellently" describes certain internal body functions
-- this last targeted at laxative, liver tonic, and weight-loss-scam
advertising.
All these forms of advertising were rampant on many of the smaller
independent urban stations in the 1930s -- and few of these types of
stations rushed to sign the NAB Code. Out of 774 stations on the air in
the US in 1939, only 425 were NAB Code signatories -- for everyone else,
it was What The Market Would Bear.
Networks had their own rules and restrictions -- and these evolved
gradually over time. By 1939, NBC strictly prohibited any use of the
Deity's name except in a religious program or "when used reverently or as
part of a standard classic work." Hell and Damn were specifically
prohibited in the wake of the "Beyond the Horizon" matter, and a few of
the most familiar racial and ethnic slurs had been specifically banned by
the Vice President in Charge of Programming in 1935. In addition to these
specific bans, any "statements or suggestions that are offensive to
religious views, racial traits, and the like, must be avoided" and
"Obscene or off-color songs or jokes, oaths, sacreligious expressions,
and all language of doubtful propriety must be elminated." These
regulations were administered by the NBC Continuity Acceptance Department
which required that all scripts be submitted at least 48 hours before
broadcast for clearance. The only exceptions to this rule during the
1930s were "Amos 'n' Andy" and Bob Burns, who usually wrote their scripts
only a few hours before broadcast, making network review impractical.
However, A&A and Burns had also proven that they could be trusted to stay
in line even without supervision -- you can bet that Fred Allen would
never have been allowed such an exemption, no matter when his script was
written.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:32:42 -0400
From: "Robert Angus" <rangus02@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Liberty Network
For a brief time in the early 1950s, there was a fifth network, called
Liberty. I believe it originated at KLIF in Dallas and was organized
initially by broadcaster Gordon McLendon to carry his play-by-play
recreations of baseball games. At some point, Liberty tried to become a
real network by creating a news department around NBC news commentator
Pauline Fredericks. Did it also produce any drama, comedy or variety shows?
Can any of our historians verify my sketchy information about it and fill in
the blank spaces? Thanx.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:33:21 -0400
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Links
Several of you who have websites have linked to my Geocities website. While
revising my site, I surfed the internet to find out who those nice people
are. Once I found some of the sites, I visited them to check on the
timeliness of the URL. Most of them are correct, but a few list my old and
defunct Tripod website. If you happen to be one of those, I would be happy
to link to your website if you will just change the URL for my site to this
one:
[removed]
Let me know when you have made this change. Also, if you are not listed as a
link on my site and want to be, just send me your URL. Most of my links are
on the opening page, but there are a few listed on my "advice" and
"biography" pages.
Ted Kneebone
1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401 / 605-226-3344
OTR: [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:33:37 -0400
From: Kubelski@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dragnet Reference in Cartoon
Today's "Over the Hedge" cartoon features an oblique reference to the 60s
Dragnet TV series.
The cartoon is online here: [removed]
And while we're on the subject, I'll be at REPS with my Mom next week and I'm
looking forward to seeing all of you Dragnet fans from last year again.
Sean Dougherty
Kubelski@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:34:00 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: ERWIN PISCATOR
In a message dated 6/20/2002 10:45:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
<< Erwin Piscator >>
The German dramatist, Erwin Piscator, and his wife, Maria Ley, arrived in New
York as political refugees in 1939. When Piscator approached New School
President Alvin Johnson in May of that year, Johnson seized the opportunity
to consolidate the various theater activities of the New School into a single
department under the distinguished European director. The decision was also a
natural extension of the New School’Äôs integration of refugee scholars which
began in 1933 with the ’ÄúUniversity in Exile.’Äù
Piscator hoped to make the New School a creative center of American theater
and to bring to the New York stage a ’Äútheater of commitment’Äù with
political
and communal purpose. His tenure at the school, which lasted over ten years,
became a period of reexamination and modification and he had to tone down
specifically Marxist rhetoric. Moreover, the New School’Äôs economic
constraints limited Piscator’Äôs theatrical possibilities. Nonetheless,
measured by the number and range of productions, it was an extremely fertile
period for him with 450 works mounted between 1939 and 1951.
Students were required to take a two-year prescribed academic program as well
as participate in writing, producing, directing, and performing. The Dramatic
Workshop became an experimental theater as well as a school. Piscator also
organized the Studio Theater.
Piscator himself oversaw the directing seminar. Stella Adler, and later Lee
Strasberg, handled the acting program; Maria Ley headed dance and gymnastics.
Hans Eisler directed stage music and composition. Sidney Kaufman managed
radio and film and Theresa Helpern coordinated playwriting. Other noted
faculty included Harold Clurman, John Gassner, Mordecai Gorlik, Erich
Leinsdorf, Paul Zucker and Carl Zuckmayer.
The Dramatic Workshop was temporarily economically invigorated by an influx
of [removed] Bill students in 1946. The curriculum was enlarged, new staff hired,
and the New School offered a bachelor of drama degree for students with the
required combined DW/NS credit. It was in this period that the President and
Rooftop Theaters were leased. The repertory included works by Aristophanes,
Shakespeare, Moliere, Goethe, Ibsen, Chekhov, Pirandello, Brecht and other
classic and modern masters.
Among the more noted students of the workshop were playwrights Tennessee
Willliams and Philip Yordan, and actors Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando,
Walter Matthau, Rod Steiger, and Elaine Stritch.
A decline in the number of students eligible for education benefits
financially drained the expanded operation at the same time that the
political climate spurred anticommunist inquiries and hearings. The New
School’Äôs Hans Eisler was called before the House Un-American Activities
Committee and his brother Gerhard was arrested on spy charges. Piscator’Äôs
communism became a liability. The Board decided to sever the Dramatic
Workshop from the New School, effective June 1948, but subsequently
compromised on June 1949.
Piscator reorganized the Dramatic Workshop as an independent institution and
carried on for three years. However, the workshop failed to attract adequate
financial support and the NY Board of Regents rejected its application for
certification. Immigration refused Piscator’Äôs application for citizenship
and
in October 1951, he left New York for West Germany. Maria Ley Piscator
remained to keep the Dramatic Workshop alive for another two years.
>From 1939 to 1951, Piscator presented to New York audiences a panorama of
exciting drama. He kept alive the idea of an experimental and politically
committed theater during the 1940s and demonstrated the feasibility of vital
off-Broadway productions. For a decade the Dramatic Workshop was the most
important source of contemporary European drama in the United States.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:34:19 -0400
From: Eric J Cooper <ejcooper2002@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Radio Spirits
IMHO, the "downgrades" of Radio Spirits catalog offerings as of late is
more symtomatic of the sluggish economy as a whole, rather than anything
to do with OTR. Media Bay is a big company---RSI is just a part of it and
a possibly not very profitable part. It's ironic in a way that Mr Amari
spent all the time and money that he did securing and "protecting" his
rights to shows, when many of those shows (or many episodes thereof) are
either no longer offered or offered in reduced quntities by the RSI of
today. I have noticed also a BIG increase in RSI product appearing at my
local Borders Books [removed]'t know if this is indicative of anything
or not.
Eric Cooper
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 16:36:56 -0400
From: Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: CD Brands
Concerning various brands of blank CDs, we use TDK blanks almost
exclusively and have never encountered a single problem or glitch with any
of them. Warehouse stores like Costco regularly offer them with discounts
and rebates that result in a final price of .10 to .12 cents per 80-minute
blank - a great price for this level of quality.
Conversely, in my personal experience, I have never been pleased with
Memorex blanks of any sort - tape or CD. They're unreliable, glitch-ridden,
and often seem to self-destruct on their own. Avoid them at any price.
As to CD-DA blanks (aka "Music CD's"), I always buy mine from
[removed]. They offer generics for about .50 each. This is not
always the lowest price for CD-DAs depending upon whatever sale a retail
outlet may be having at the moment, but it is an affordable and consistant
price for great quality generics. I've never found one with a glitch or
problem *ever* - and I've burned easily 500 of them in the past couple of
years. (BTW, these folks often offer these blanks via eBay auction, meaning
you can sometimes buy them for about .25 each. Search blankcdmedia as the
seller to see what they're offering at the moment.)
I have, of course, no financial connection with any of the above companies
or manufacturers. These are just personal observations for what they're worth.
Harlan
Harlan Zinck
First Generation Radio Archives
[removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #228
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