Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #224
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 8/2/2007 9:15 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2007 : Issue 224
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  8-2 births/deaths                     [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Longevity on television               [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  Quaker Puffed Wheat and Rice          [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  Robert Heinlein on radio              [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  The Simpsons                          [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  Benny and TV                          [ "Laura Leff" <president@[removed] ]
  Re: About Mp3's                       [ Chargous@[removed] ]
  Pall [removed]                          [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
  Pall [removed]                          [ <SS01002@[removed]; ]
  Re: radio shows outlasting TV         [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
  'Did "Broadway is my Beat" influence  [ <SS01002@[removed]; ]
  send-ups                              [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
  Re: Chesterfield Two Way              [ Cnorth6311@[removed] ]
  RE: TWo-way cigarettes                [ david vonbogart <dvonbogart@[removed] ]
  Radio Satire                          [ Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed]; ]
  RE: Two-way Cigarettes                [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 00:11:15 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  8-2 births/deaths

August 2nd births

08-02-1886 - Cesare Sodero - Naples, Italy - d. 12-16-1947
conductor: Series of condensed operas on WEAF New York
08-02-1890 - Leila Roosevelt - d. 11-xx-1973
explorer: (cousin of FDR) "So You Want to Be"
08-02-1892 - Jack L. Warner - London, Ontario, Canada - d. 9-9-1978
film studio owner" "Jack Benny Program"; "Warner Brothers Academy
Award Theatre"
08-02-1892 - John Kieran - The Bronx, NY, New  - d. 12-10-1980
panelist: "Information, Please"
08-02-1899 - Earle Larimore - Portland, OR - d. 10-22-1947
actor: "Alias Jimmy Valentine"; "Life Can Be Beautiful"
08-02-1900 - Helen Morgan - Danville, IL - d. 10-8-1941
hostess, singer: "Helen Morgan, Songs"; "Broadway Melodies"; "Fred
Allen Show"
08-02-1902 - Guy Repp - d. 11-24-1986
actor: Dr. Abernathy "County Seat"; Benito Mussoline "Our Secret Weapon"
08-02-1903 - Victor McLeod - d. 12-12-1972
writer: "The Bing Crosby Show"; "Stop or Go"
08-02-1904 - John McClain - Ohio - d. 5-xx-1967
writer: "Hollywood Hotel"
08-02-1905 - Myrna Loy - Raidersburg, MT - d. 12-14-1993
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-02-1905 - Ruth Nelson - Saginaw, MI - d. 9-12-1992
actor: "Arch Obler's Plays"; "Columbia Workshop"
08-02-1912 - Ann Dvorak - NYC - d. 12-10-1979 - d. 12-10-1979
actor: "Movietone Radio Theatre"
08-02-1912 - Harry Bailey - Indianapolis, IN
writer: "Cavalcade for Victory"; "Father's Day Program"
08-02-1913 - Hal Block - d. 6-16-1981
writer, panelist: "Burns and Allen"; "Milton Berle Show"; "What's My
Line"
08-02-1914 - Beatrice Straight - Old Westbury, NY - d. 4-7-2001
actor: "Great Scenes from Great Plays"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
08-02-1915 - Gary Merrill - Hartford, CT - d. 3-5-1990
actor: Bruce Wayne/Batman "Adventures of Superman"
08-02-1915 - Johnny Long - Newell, NC - d. 10-31-1972
bandleader: "The Teen-Timers Show"; "Judy, Joe, and Johnny"
08-02-1916 - Johnny Coons - d. 7-6-1975
actor: Chuck Ramsey "Captain Midnight"; Clipper "Sky King"; "Vic and
Sade"
08-02-1921 - Kathryn Bankston - d. 4-xx-1987
women's programming: WRBC Athens, Georgia
08-02-1924 - Joe Harnell - The Bronx, NY - d. 7-14-2005
jazz arranger: (Joe Harnell Quartet) "The Navy Swings"
08-02-1943 - Rose Tremain - London, England
author: "The Wisest Fool"

August 2nd deaths

01-14-1911 - David Gothard - Beardstown, IL - d. 8-2-1977
actor: Gil Whitney "Romance of Helen Trent"; Nick Charles "The Thin Man"
02-27-1873 - Enrico Caruso - Naples, Italy - d. 8-2-1921
tenor: On 12-13-1910 made experimental broadcast with Lee DeForest
05-27-1921 - Redd Stewart - Ashland City, TN - d. 8-2-2003
lyricist: "Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys"
08-06-1894 - Jack Kirkwood - Scotland - d. 8-2-1964
actor: Jack Williams "Saunders of the Circle X"; Uncle Jim "Hawthorne
House"
08-22-1910 - Lesley Woods - d. 8-2-2003
actor: Mary Wesley "Boston Blackie"; Margo Lane "The Shadow"
09-06-1930 - Bernard Jaffe - d. 8-2-1993
science writer: "Information, Please"
09-13-1913 - Gretchen Davidson - Chicago, IL - d. 8-2-2002
actor: Carol Kennedy "Carol Kennedy's Romance"
11-24-1888 - Cathleen Nesbitt - Belfast, Northern Ireland - d. 8-2-1982
actor: "Philco Radio Playhouse"
11-27-1915 - Ralph Bell -NYC - d. 8-2-1998
actor: Travis Rogers "Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator";
Alfred Drake "This Is Nora Drake"
11-30-1894 - Donald Ogden Stewart - Columbus, OH - d. 8-2-1980
writer: "Information Please"
12-05-1890 - Fritz Lang - Vienna, Austria - d. 8-2-1976
film director: "Bud's Bandwagon"
12-08-1907 - Frank Faylen - St. Louis, MO - d. 8-2-1985
actor: "Screen Guild Theatre"
12-12-1919 - Seymour Korman - d. 8-2-1993
newsman for Mutual

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 00:13:31 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Longevity on television

Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:54:28 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]

I'm convinced that the fact that radio shows didn't have to depict
their characters aging was the reason they were able to stay
popular so long.  For example, you couldn't do a show about a
family with two young children like "Life of Riley" on television
for 17+ years because the children would age and it would no longer
make sense.

I think that has been the bane of many TV shows.  The original
premise has a family setup, with the kids in school, and soon they
have to go to college.  So they have the entire crowd from high
school at the same college, sometimes with the same teachers.  It's a
shark-jumping moment for sure.

The other problem is when actors/actresses leave the series.  They
have to come up with some reason why their character isn't around any
more.  On radio, they'd just get someone else to play the part.
That's been done occasionally on television, but it's less
convincing.

--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 92 State Street	                                  Fax [removed]
Boston, MA 02109           	         [removed]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 00:14:06 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Quaker Puffed Wheat and Rice

Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:53:31 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];

       Yeah,  I know what you mean.  When I first heard the ad they
had on radio (Quaker Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat, the cereal shot
from [removed]) it really didn't make it sound too appetizing to me.  ...
Cereals can't be shot from guns as we know them, can they?

Well, no, but Gabby Hayes did a pretty good job of demonstrating it
on his TV show every day.  He had this large cannon, probably spring-
loaded.  He would start by saying, "That's wheat (or rice), the
finest wheat (rice) money can buy.  I'm gonna take a big scoopful of
'er and load 'er right in there.  Then with the cannon pointing
directly out of the screen (imagine if it had been 3-D!), he would
shout, "Stand back from your televisionary sets!  Here comes Quaker
Puffed Wheat (Rice)!

And he'd shoot the stuff right out of the cannon.

I've read that this was done in the same studio as the Howdy Doody
Show, just before Howdy Doody, and if you knew that, you could
sometimes see some leftover Quaker Puffed Wheat or Rice on the Howdy
Doody set that got missed in the quick cleanup between shows.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 00:14:39 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Robert Heinlein on radio

Heinlein, as you know, had more than a few works adapted, to radio.

Actually I didn't [removed] What storeis of his were adapted, and on
what series were they done?

A number of Heinlein's stories were done on Dimension X and X Minus
One.  "Requiem" was done on Dimension X, "The Green Hills of Earth"
was done on both series (the same script, re-performed), and "The
Roads Must Roll" was done on X Minus One.  A different version of
"The Green Hills of Earth" was done on CBS Radio Workshop.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:38:20 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Simpsons

I should point out that The Simpsons, currently at (I believe) 17
seasons, with more on the way, has a good shot at beating beat that
run

Good point.  And it also provides some confirmation to the theory
that TV shows haven't lasted as long because TV characters age.  Like
radio characters, cartoon characters can be the same ages forever.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:39:53 -0400
From: "Laura Leff" <president@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Benny and TV

Bob Jennings sez:

   Jack Benny disliked and distrusted  television.  In the early years his
show appeared on an somewhat infrequent  basis, which allowed his writers to
craft stories which used the picture medium  to its fullest.  It was the
network which wanted him on every single week,  a pace that ground him and his
creative staff down and in the final years it  aired, produced shows that
weren't particularly funny and tarnished  both his image and his legacy. 
But for most of the 1950s the Jack  Benny TV show was very successful and
right up in the top rating numbers every  wekk.

I'd be curious to hear more about your sources on Jack's "dislike and 
distrust" of television.  It is my understanding that plenty of performers 
were wary of the new medium, whether it would be a flash in the proverbial 
pan, whether or not they would be "telegenic", and how to translate their 
established shows to a visual format (can you say "vault"?).  Jack said that 
he *enjoyed* radio more than television.  Of course, television is much more 
demanding on a performer (especially the early live shows) with the 
memorization of lines, blocking, physical bits of business, etc., than 
standing in front of a microphone reading a script.

Remember that Jack's work in television and radio overlapped until May of 
1955.  It was for this reason that they brought on Hal Goldman and Al Gordon 
as extra writers to handle the workload.  It would have been logistically 
impossible for Jack to be on both radio and television before the 
coast-to-coast cable was established, unless he moved his entire show to New 
York (which was equally logistically [removed] poor Phil Harris would 
have had a much longer way to run than simply through the parking lot and 
down the alley).  Furthermore, most of the show's budget had been moved to 
fund the triweekly or biweekly shows;  doing a weekly show with the same 
level of star power as the early days would have required a significant 
expansion of budget.  And even with all this, Hal and Al were doing a great 
deal of patching together bits and skits from old scripts to create new 
radio shows.  So they still weren't coming up with all new ideas for a 
weekly radio show plus a tri/biweekly television show.

The weekly pace of 1960+ wasn't really what "ground him and his creative 
staff down".  Many members of the team had been working together for 20 
years (or at least 12-13 for Hal and Al).  Jack had been on the air 
continuously (except for summer breaks) for 30 years.  It's incredibly hard 
to maintain the same level of freshness and quality for that level of time, 
even if you change writers as often as Bob Hope or "The Simpsons".  Jack was 
over 70 (insert 39 joke here) by the time the show went off the air, he was 
having a harder time remembering his lines and reading the cue cards, and 
there was no significant live audience for him to play to during the 
tapings.  Jack himself made the call to cancel the TV series in 1965 (much 
against Irving Fein's hopes), wanting to focus more on his concert dates. 
For many reasons, this seems like it was a good call on Jack's part.

--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed] 

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:40:22 -0400
From: Chargous@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: About Mp3's

I hope the thread doesn't get overly rehashed again - it's been done many,
many times, but to answer the first question; mp3 is a good convenience
listening format.  It's as good or as bad as the encoder makes it.  I can
state that my mp3s are pretty indistinguishible from the archival .wav's,
even on good equipment (no, I don't sell mp3s, but I share a lot from my
own collection.

Most mp3s circulating are badly-done, by generally well-meaning hobbyists
who have neither the equipment nor the expertise to do it right. Of course,
this applies to most of the other media; cassettes, reels, CDs,
etc.  Noticeably offspeed recordings are common even from the best sources
(which is pretty easy to fix if it's in .wav, but once it's compressed, it
can't be changed without re-encoding it.).

To put it simply; once it's compressed to mp3, it better be right the first
time because any changes will result in further loss.  With .wav, one can
fix many problems.

And to answer the other part of the question, I can't think of any mp3
dealers I'd buy from.

MP3 is a great format, but keep in mind it's best use is convenience listening.

Travis

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:40:44 -0400
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Pall [removed]

Actually, the cigs are NOT pronounced "Pell Mell"--

At least, not for decades.

(Did the old radio ads pronounce it "Pell Mell"?)

Just a few years ago, they released several NEW filtered Pall Mall
"[removed]"

And as I look down at my pack of filterless, it still says, emblazoned
on the red, "Wherever Particular People Congregate."

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:50:23 -0400
From: <SS01002@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Pall [removed]

"Now, can someone tell me just WHY "Pall Mall" is
pronounced "Pell Mell?""

Well, Michael, I can't tell you exactly why but the confusion on the
pronunciation is wide-spread.  The American Tobacco Company was
concerned enough at the time to send out publicists to instruct
announcers and staff at radio stations that the "correct" way to
pronounce the name of their product was "pal mal".

The confusion may have arrisen from the fact that the words themselves
come into the English language via a French/Italian ball and club
(Mallet) game played in an alley or narrow street.  Samuel Pepys
mentions in his diary in 1661:  "So I into St. James's Park, where I
saw the Duke of York playing at Pelemele, the first time that ever I saw
the sport."

The game's name was usually spelled pall-mall, but Pepys wrote it as he
heard it spoken.  And, yes, the name of that lovely stretch of London
roadway between Admiralty Arch and Buck House is that very spot - well
almost.  The actual roadway was moved a bit so the dust from passing
carriages wouldn't disrupt the games!

Larry Santoro
[removed]
Larry@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:51:39 -0400
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: radio shows outlasting TV
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

In a message dated 8/1/07 11:12:19 PM Central Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:

No, what I was initially looking for was how
many radio shows were still on the air AFTER their TV counterparts had bit
the dust.  I must admit, my mindset was simply on comedy or drama series.

Oh, that's different.

Never mind.

Seriously, here are a few shows that fit *that* description, including a
couple that don't fit the comedy or drama category.  "Our Miss Brooks" and
"Amos
'n' Andy" have already been mentioned.

Have Gun Will Travel
Suspense (not counting the disastrous '64 TV revival)
Arthur Godfrey's morning show
Breakfast Club
Prairie Home Companion

I'm not sure but I think "The Great Gildersleeve" might qualify?

Dixon

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:58:24 -0400
From: <SS01002@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  'Did "Broadway is my Beat" influence the
 "Dragnet" concept, or 	vice-versa?'

'Did "Broadway is my Beat" influence the "Dragnet" concept, or
vice-versa?'

Could you be thinking of the much more straighforward police procedural
show "21st Precinct"?  "21st Precinct" was a Big Apple-centric show that
aired in the mid to late 50s - after Dragnet had hit its stride -
and was based on actual police cases.

Episodes began thus:

"21st Precinct.  Just lines on a map of the city of New York.  Most of
the 173,000 people wedged into the 9 tenths of a square mile between 5th
avenue and the East River wouldn't know if you asked them that they
lived or worked in the 21st. Whether they know it or not the security of
their persons their homes and property is my job, my job and the job of
160 patrolmen, 11 sergeants, and 4 lieutenants of whom I'm the boss. My
name is Kennelly, Captain Frank Kennelly."

Larry Santoro
[removed]
Larry@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 10:34:11 -0400
From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  send-ups

There is a sendup of Straight Arrow of which I have a copy.  It's pretty
good.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 10:34:26 -0400
From: Cnorth6311@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Chesterfield Two Way

I finally found the answer to the question of the Chesterfield Two Way
cigarette question. They were available in either regular, or, king size. I
found
an advertisement that substantiates this. If anyone is interested, I will  be
happy to pass the ad along to them at my email address.

Charlie

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:12:32 -0400
From: david vonbogart <dvonbogart@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RE: TWo-way cigarettes

Micheal wrote

Larry Santoro guessed correctly that it refers to the
filterless variety.  Chesterfield called itself
"America's most popular two-way cigarette," but if you
wanted an explanation of that phrase, you'd have to
turn to a competing brand - Pall Mall - whose slogan
was "You can light either end!"

Now, can someone tell me just WHY "Pall Mall" is
pronounced "Pell Mell?"

You beat me to it, I was going to mention the "light
either end" for Pall Mall a couple days ago but didn't
get around to it. lol I've wondered about why Pall
Mall is pronounced that way also, although I have
heard it pronounced the other way by some people.
Anyone remember this part of the commercial-"Smoke
goes over, under, around and through fine tobaccos"?

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:12:12 -0400
From: Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Satire
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

"Straight Arrow" did a satire, I believe when the show was cancelled.

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

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:50:46 -0400
From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  RE: Two-way Cigarettes

	Now, can someone tell me just WHY "Pall Mall" is pronounced "Pell
Mell?"

I think it's the same reason that the Brits pronounce "clerk" as "clark."

Thanx,
[removed]

* Kiss a malamute today *

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #224
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