------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 338
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
It's that time of the year again! [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
Re: Black Actors in a Comedy [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
Re: Are we certain they were black? [ "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@ya ]
DC In the Big Apple [ skallisjr@[removed] ]
Racial Designations [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
on th air with OTR [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
Re: Jack Benny comics [ "Jon B. Knutson" <waffyjon@comcast. ]
Heroes [ "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed]; ]
Anyone have Gunsmoke rehearsals? [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
Gunsmoke program "I Don't Know" [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
Jack Benny comix [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
Jack Benny Comics [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE SCHEDULE [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ charlie@[removed] ]
Re: Heroes [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:10:42 -0400
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: It's that time of the year again!
Folks;
The 29th Annual Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention begins officially
this Thursday, unofficially Wednesday evening with a little pre-convention
[removed] usual, I'll be there annoying people with my camera and
will try to get some pics posted to The Blog (at [removed]) while
the convention is going on. Although I'll try to get time to post a note or
two here, I'll post most of my commentary about the convention at the
blogsite, so keep an eye on it throughout the week. (If you use the Mozilla
FireFox browser, you can add the RSS feed directly to your bookmark bar!)
I did _not_ get the next set of fundraiser discs ready (I've been busy
with personal stuff lately, and would rather not rush them and make more
mistakes), but if you're going to be at the convention, you _still_ need to
find me (in the mornings, at least, I'll be at the coffee urn) and say hello!
If you _aren't_ going to be at the convention, I'll try to bring you a little
flavor of it through The Blog. An URL that I _think_ will work, even for
AOLers:
<A HREF="[removed]">[removed]</A>
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 19:51:27 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Black Actors in a Comedy
At 09:53 AM 10/19/2004, you wrote:
I was just wondering if there were any other predominantly white comedies
that featured a black
actor, but I guess not.
Gosh, Lillian Randolph as Birdie in The Great Gildersleeve.
Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:07:26 -0400
From: "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Are we certain they were black?
The Baby Snooks episode featuring Phoebe has a very funny segment which wouldn't have worked if
the listener didn't assume Phoebe was black. But you're right, the racial humor is not explicit,
although it is very much implied!
Snooks is supposed to attend a new school but wants to play hooky. So she convinces her (black)
friend Phoebe to show up on the first day and pretend to be Snooks.
The next day Snooks' father, Lancelot Higgins, goes to a PTA meeting and meets the teacher.
"Hello, I'm Mr. Higgins. My daughter is in your class." he says.
"Oh, no there must be some mistake" says the teacher, "the Higgins girl in my class is named
'Snooks'"
"There's no mistake. That's my daughter", he says "Snooks Higgins!"
"Oh!" says the teacher in a confused manner.
"What do you mean, 'Oh'?" demands Mr. Higgins.
"Oh, nothing, just 'Oh'" says the teacher. "She must be adopted?"
"No she's not adopted! And I've got three other daughters just like her!"
"OH!!" says the teacher again as if her sensibilities are offended.
"What do you mean 'Oh'?" demands Higgins again.
"Oh nothing just, 'Oh'"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Pretty racy humor for 1946!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:07:37 -0400
From: skallisjr@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: DC In the Big Apple
Speaking of Direct Current, BH (radiobill) notes,
By the time these sets became available there were very few sources of
110VDC current available. I understand that there were some areas in some
large cities, Chicago, LA, NYC, that still had 110VDC.
When I was in college in 1948, it was at Columbia, in New York. I was
trying to tape record a singing group in a room in one of the libraries,
and I plugged the recorder into an outlet and turned it on. Almost
immediately, smoke started to emerge from it. I pulled the plug, and
only then saw a small labeled below the plug that said "DC."
Fortunately, I had acted in time. I found an AC wall outlet and recorded
the song.
My first and last experience with DC outlets.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:07:50 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Racial Designations
On 10/19/04 6:48 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
Can any radio historian on the Digest remember where race was mentioned
on a sitcom?
Interestingly, race was mentioned fairly often in the earliest years of
"Amos 'n' Andy" -- there were frequent mentions of persons or institutions
being "colored." For example, in their first episode on NBC, on 8/19/29,
Amos and Andy arrived in New York and asked a passing policeman for
directions to where the "colored people" lived. Several days later, Amos and
Andy stood on the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street and marveled at the
racial diversity of the New York population. Such offhand references to
race were fairly common during the first six years of the program.
These references disappeared after 1934, when the national office of the
NAACP criticized an episode mentioning that Amos and Andy stayed in a
"colored tourist camp" during a cross-country road trip. The Association
felt that this implied that tourist accomodations in the North were
segregated (which, in reality, they often were), and as a result of this
complaint, Correll and Gosden became extremely careful about avoiding any
sort of racial designations.
"Colored" was the only racial term ever used by Correll and Gosden in an A&A
script -- this in an era when far less sensitive terms were commonly used on
the air. (The "N-word" wasn't banned by NBC until 1935.)
Elizabeth
"The Original Amos 'n' Andy" -- Coming in Spring 2005 from McFarland & Co.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 22:36:31 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: on th air with OTR
Hi everybody,
in the last digest a poster ask about playing OTR on the air. There are
three OTR DJ openings right now on Yesterday USA. There is a 85 minutes
spot and two 55 minutes spot on the network. These shows are played almost
daily in a two week cycle at different times through out the day. You can
read all the rules about becoming a DJ by going to [removed]
Take care,
Walden Hughes
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 22:40:25 -0400
From: "Jon B. Knutson" <waffyjon@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Jack Benny comics
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
Actually, this does look exactly like something Dell WOULD have
published; they did lots of other tv comedians (and comediennes). I
wonder why there WASN'T a Jack Benny comic.
Thanks for the compliment! Yep, it's me, Jon Knutson, who created this
cover and the story that would've gone in it. I'm a big fan of OTR, but
this is the first group I've joined dealing with it!
I've been creating a lot of apocryphal comic books for a Yahoo List,
[removed] but this is the only OTR star I've done a comic based on (all
the others I've thought of that I could find photos of seem to have been don
in real comics!).
From: "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
Any Benny fan would have liked the story, I think. It was well drawn, by
Lee Elias, I believe, and Jack's face and personality were well depicted. --
I recall seeing a lot of cameos of Hollywood stars in the Black Cat comics
I've read (in reprint form, however).
I'm glad you enjoyed the comic, Jim -- I've enjoyed your books!
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
Is it just me or were there very few superheroes
on OTR? My questions are:
1. Were there any other superheroes on OTR other than
Superman?
The Black Hood, an Archie Comics super-hero, was featured on a radio show
for some time. Come to think of it, there was also a Blue Beetle radio
show, too! Batman and Robin appeared in Superman's radio show, and a Batman
radio show was planned, but never aired.
2. Were there any female superheroes or females with
secret identities who played the role of a hero on OTR?
None that I've ever read about!
Jon
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 23:57:25 -0400
From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Heroes
A superhero was also "Straight Arrow" who was an Indian also posing as a
rancher Steve Adams. He rode a golden palomino "Fury" and set out to do the
wrongs among the Indians and the ranchers in the old west
Lois Culver
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 01:50:53 -0400
From: "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Anyone have Gunsmoke rehearsals?
Hello, aside from the New Hotel, which I already have, does anyone have any
other rehearsals which they'd be willing to send me?
Thanks a lot.
Matthew
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 02:06:14 -0400
From: "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Gunsmoke program "I Don't Know"
Hello, is this show from December 6, 1952 really supposed to be called I
Don't Know, or is it someone saying "I don't know what this show should be
called, so I'll just say I don't know?" It sure seems like a lame title to
me, even though these titles are made up by collectors anyway.
Thanks a lot.
Matthew
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 02:31:06 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny comix
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I have a copy of a 1948 "True Comics" that includes a very extensive strip
on Jack's career. Check out the scans here:
_[removed]_
([removed])
Whoever drew this was so dedicated that I looked at a frame of Jack and his
writers and was immediately saying, "Hey, there's Sam! Oh my gosh, that's
George! And that's GOT to be Milt! So I guess Tack has his back to us."
Pretty neat.
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 02:31:32 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny Comics
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 12:35:26 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
Actually, this does look exactly like something Dell WOULD have
published; they did lots of other tv comedians (and comediennes). I
wonder why there WASN'T a Jack Benny comic.
DC also did this, with Bob Hope and Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis. After Martin & Lewis split,
the comic book became just Jerry Lewis. Bob Hope comics lasted for many years and
featured Bob in various advantures similar to the type of character he played in the movies.
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210
lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 02:31:41 -0400
From:
HERITAGE4@[removed]
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE SCHEDULE
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X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
We're featuring an all LIGHTS OUT show this week including
the CAPITOL Records abbreviated "The Dark"
We're at Jerry Hqaendiges' Olde Tyme Radio Network 24/7:
[removed].
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 02:12:00 -0400
From:
charlie@[removed]
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!
A weekly [removed]
For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio. We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over six years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
real-time OTR talk!
Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
it's always a good time!
For more info, contact
charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
week and every week!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 08:31:45 -0400
From: "Brian L Bedsworth"
<az2pa@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Heroes
Is it just me or were there very few superheroes
on OTR? I know about "The Adventures of Superman",
but can't seem to think of any others. All, or most,
of the heroes were people with secret identities
(Green Hornet, Batman, the Shadow). My questions are:
1. Were there any other superheroes on OTR other than
Superman?
To begin with, it's not entirely accurate to write off the radio Shadow as
just a guy with a secret identity. He had vast hypnotic powers which he
could use to render himself invisible (as well as to perform other
astounding feats, such as reading minds or compelling truth-telling, which
tended to come and go with writers' whims over the years).
Further, there -were- other powered heroes, though not too many. Most fell
into the category of "sorcerer", like Chandu or Mandrake. One exception was
the 1940 syndicated version of Fox Magazines' Blue Beetle, who had enhanced
strength and speed, and wore a bulletproof costume.
2. Were there any female superheroes or females with
secret identities who played the role of a hero on OTR?
Unfotunately, owing largely to the era, there were very few continuing roles
of any sort for women in OTR's juvenile adventure features, and those
that -did- exist were generally either kid sidekicks
(sister-of-the-main-sidekick types) or damsel-in-distress girlfriends of the
main hero (think: "Lanes", Margot and Lois). Seemingly obvious candidates
for radio treatment, like All-American's red-white-and-blue clad Wonder
Woman or Quality's barely-clothed Phantom Lady, or even Fawcett's Mary
"Sister To Radio Reporter Billy-Captain-Marvel-Batson" Marvel, never made it
to air. If there was a costumed adventuress in juvenile adventure, she had
to be a villainess, like Terry and the Pirates' Dragon Lady.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #338
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