Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #439
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 12/9/2003 10:47 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 439
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Re: Naughty Language                  [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Re: Reused ESCAPE scripts on SUSPENS  [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
  Easter dates                          [ <welsa@[removed]; ]
  BBC Archive                           [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  Easter Sunday 1941                    [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
  Re: Geez                              [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
  Re: Easter 1941                       [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
  By the great horn spoon: was cuss wo  [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
  Re: Geez! Foul language on OTR (or t  [ "Mike Mackey" <[removed]@[removed] ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Re: An OTR Easter Question            [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Family Skeleton                       [ Jeff Weaver <jweaver@[removed]; ]
  More transcription questions          [ Rod Gowen <rgowen@[removed] ]
  those darn Radio Spirits boxes!!!!!   [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
  flocking?                             [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
  Leapin' Lizards!!!                    [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
  Easter Question answered              [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]

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

Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 21:55:57 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Naughty Language

On 12/8/03 9:13 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote

  I'm sure Elizabeth can come up with the names, but there were some
pre-1934 shows I've heard, the Rudy Vallee-type variety shows, where
part of a play, for example, would be re-enacted and there were times I
would hear distinctly "hell", "damn" "g-d", etc.  I've even backed up
the .mp3 to make sure I wasn't hearing things.  After the Hayes Code was
enforced in films these words also disappeared from the airwaves, AFAIK.

Hells and damns were quite common in dramatic programs as late as the
mid-1930s. However, the post-1934 Legion-of-Decency-era "clean language"
movement hit radio as hard as it did movies, culminating in the "Beyond
The Horizon" affair in 1937. NBC aired an adaptation of the play of that
title with unexpurgated language, and *one* letter of complaint from a
listener in Minneapolis was received by the FCC, which seems to have been
hard up for a cause that summer. A full investigation was mounted and
officials of station WTCN, the Blue network outlet in Minneapolis which
had carried the program, were summoned before the commission to show
cause why their license shouldn't be suspended.

This put the fear of you-know-who into broadcasters, and language was
bleached Rinso White for the rest of the radio era (although you might
still hear a "hell" if someone sang 'Song of the Vagabonds.')

This denatured langague continued on into television, with rare
exceptions, until the early 1970s. I remember the amazement I felt as a
child in seeing "All In The Family" for the first time -- it was the
first program I'd ever seen in which people actually talked the way my
family did.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 23:32:22 -0500
From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Reused ESCAPE scripts on SUSPENSE

    THE ISLAND is one of 30 scripts that first aired on ESCAPE that were
later used on SUSPENSE.  There were several probable reasons.

    One of the reason was economics.  As ESCAPE was for the most part a
sustained series, CBS had originally paid for the scripts to be written.
Most of the CBS contracts at the time included a clause that allowed the
script could be used again on the same or a different series and the writer
would be paid an additional, but usually reduced fee.  Most of these
recycled stories occurred from the mid-1950's onward when the budget for
Suspense was cut.

    Three well-known radio directors -  William N. Robson, Norman
Macdonnell, & Antony Ellis - directed both Escape and Suspense.  They used
some scripts that knew would work; scripts that they had previously had used
on ESCAPE.

    Finally, there was the issue script quality.  The majority of the
scripts that were shared by both series were quite good and included, as you
can from the following list, quite a few classics.

    In interesting footnote is that actor  John Dehner wrote two of the
scripts that aired on both ESCAPE and SUSPENSE.

    Parley Baer plays a very different type of role in the ESCAPE and
SUSPENSE productions CLASSIFIED SECRET.

ACTION
Escape Writer/Adapter:   C. E. Montague/Les Crutchfield
Escape Air Date(s):  04/04/1948 & 07/21/1949
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  C. E. Montague/Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  10/05/1953

AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Ambrose Bierce/William N. Robson
Escape Air Date(s):  12/10/1947
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Ambrose Bierce/William N. Robson
Suspense Air Date(s):  12/09/1956, 12/15/1957,  & 07/19/1959

THE CAVE
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
Escape Air Date(s):  12/24/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  12/20/1955

CLASSIFIED SECRET
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
Escape Air Date(s):  04/12/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  11/22/1955

COMMAND
Escape Writer/Adapter:   James Warner Bellah/William N. Robson
Escape Air Date(s):  12/06/1049 & 12/06/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  James Warner Bellah/William N. Robson
Suspense Air Date(s):  09/14/1958

THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND
Escape Writer/Adapter:   H. G. Wells/John Dunkel
Escape Air Date(s):  11/26/1947, 06/26/1948, & 03/20/1949
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  H. G. Wells/John Dunkel
Suspense Air Date(s):  10/27/1957 & 12/13/1959

CROSSING PARIS
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Marcel Ayme/John Meston
Escape Air Date(s):  08/25/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Marcel Ayme/John Meston
Suspense Air Date(s):  06/02/1957

FLOOD ON THE GOODWINS
Escape Writer/Adapter:   David Divine (aka Arthur Durham Divine) /James Poe
Escape Air Date(s):  11/01/1949 & 07/24/1954
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Arthur Durham Divine/James Poe
Suspense Air Date(s):  07/14/1957

THE GAME
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
Escape Air Date(s):  08/30/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  03/15/1955

I SAW MYSELF RUNNING
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
Escape Air Date(s):  02/22/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  05/24/1955

THE ISLAND
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Millard Kauffman
Escape Air Date(s):  07/11/1951 & 03/08/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Millard Kauffman
Suspense Air Date(s):  01/12/1958

LEININGEN VS. THE ANTS
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Carl Stephenson/Robert Ryf
Escape Air Date(s):  01/14/1948, 01/17/1948, 05/23/1948, & 08/04/1949
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Carl Stephenson/Les Crutchfield? & Carl
Stephenson/Robert Ryf?
Suspense Air Date(s):  08/25/1957 & 11/29/1959

LILY AND THE COLONEL
Escape Writer/Adapter:   John Dehner
Escape Air Date(s):  05/03/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  John Dehner
Suspense Air Date(s):  05/17/1955

THE MAN FROM TOMORROW
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Irving Reis
Escape Air Date(s):  08/23/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:
Suspense Air Date(s):  09/01/1957

THE MAN WHO STOLE THE BIBLE
Escape Writer/Adapter:   John and Gwen Bagni
Escape Air Date(s):  05/05/1950 & 08/30/1951
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  John and Gwen Bagni
Suspense Air Date(s):  11/25/1956

THE MAN WHO WON THE WAR
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Robert H. Buckner/William N. Robson
Escape Air Date(s):  02/28/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Robert Henry Buckner/William N. Robson
Suspense Air Date(s):  10/05/1958

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Rudyard Kipling/Les Crutchfield
Escape Air Date(s):  07/07/1947 & 08/01/1948
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Rudyard Kipling/Les Crutchfield
Suspense Air Date(s):  05/31/1959

THE MAN WITH THE STEEL TEETH
Escape Writer/Adapter:   John Dehner
Escape Air Date(s):  03/15/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  John Dehner
Suspense Air Date(s):  02/17/1955

THE OUTER LIMIT
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Graham Doar/Morton Fine & David Friedkin
Escape Air Date(s):  02/07/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Graham Doar/Morton Fine & David Friedkin
Suspense Air Date(s):  02/15/1954 & 03/17/1957

THE RIM OF TERROR
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Hildegarde Teilhet/William N. Robson
Escape Air Date(s):  05/12/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Hildegarde Teilhet/William N. Robson
Suspense Air Date(s):  12/02/1956

THE SECOND CLASS PASSENGER
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Percival Gibbon/William N. Robson
Escape Air Date(s):  01/07/1948, 01/10/1948, & 07/28/1949
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Percival Gibbon/William N. Robson
Suspense Air Date(s):  01/20/1957

A SHIPMENT OF MUTE FATE
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Martin Storm/Les Crutchfield
Escape Air Date(s):  10/15/1947, 03/28/1948, 03/13/1949, & 07/07/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Martin Storm/Les Crutchfield
Martin Storm/Les Crutchfield
Suspense Air Date(s):  01/06/1957
04/03/1960

A SLEEPING DRAUGHT
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Westin Martyr/Antony Ellis & Westin Martyr/S. A.
Boldt
Escape Air Date(s):  10/01/1950 & 04/05/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Westin Martyr/Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  06/19/1956

A STUDY IN WAX
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
Escape Air Date(s):  02/01/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  08/16/1955

SUNDOWN
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Joel Murcott
Escape Air Date(s):  06/23/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Joel Murcott
Suspense Air Date(s):  05/04/1958

THREE SKELETON KEY
Escape Writer/Adapter:   George Toudouez/James Poe
Escape Air Date(s):  11/15/1949, 03/17/1950, & 08/09/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  George Toudouez/James Poe
Suspense Air Date(s):  11/11/1956 & 10/18/1958

THE TRAMP
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
Escape Air Date(s):  03/01/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  07/25/1956

TWO CAME BACK
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Jules Archer/Savage Dollar
Escape Air Date(s):  08/04/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Jules Archer/Joseph Cochran & Ronald Dawson
Suspense Air Date(s):  06/05/1960

THE VANISHING LADY
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Alexander Woollcott/William N. Robson
Escape Air Date(s):  02/01/1948, 02/07/1948, & 01/10/1950
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Alexander Woollcott/William N. Robson
Suspense Air Date(s):  04/07/1957

ZERO HOUR
Escape Writer/Adapter:   Ray Bradbury/Antony Ellis
Escape Air Date(s):  10/04/1953
Suspense Writer/Adapter:  Ray Bradbury/Antony Ellis
Suspense Air Date(s):  04/05/1955, 05/18/1958,  & 01/03/1960

Signing off for now,

Stewart

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

Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 23:32:46 -0500
From: <welsa@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Easter dates

[removed]

You'll find your answer.

Ted

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:00:47 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  BBC Archive

From: "david rogers" <david_rogers@[removed];
Just a side note about Paul temple. I found an interesting log at:
 [removed]
and was broken hearted to see that so many of the shows are
"presumed lost." You would expect more from the BBC wouldn't you.

I have often said in print that there is no archive in the world which has
embarrassed itself more than the BBC when it is discovered what they have
not kept.  In 1975 I met Timothy Eckersley who was about to retire from
being the longtime head of the BBC Programme Archive.  He proudly explained
that the reason why their archive is so well indexed and manageable is that
they select to keep only nine hours of programming per week.  Both he and
the BEEB itself were rather stodgy in their tastes when it concerned what
would be the fit and proper broadcasts to preserve.  Thus there is an
amazing shortage of light entertainment programming preserved at the BBC.
It was considered too ordinary and low class, and not worthy of
preservation.  Things have gotten better in recent years, especially when
they realized how much money they could have made from the recordings they
destroyed over the years.  When I toured thru the archive a couple of years
ago they were saying that they were keeping everything, although it turns
out that there are certain categories that they keep everything--and dramas
and comedies are now part of that category.

The thing that seemed strange to me about Timothy Eckersley's statement was
that they maintained a file that listed all of the recordings that were
ever made by the BEEB.  Once they started pre-recording programs or making
a recording for rebroadcast, all of them were given file numbers.  So, for
example, although almost nothing remains of the first 3 or so years of The
Goon Show, there is a complete file of all of the recording and replay
dates complete with the file number that had been assigned to the
now-destroyed recording.  That list has even been published (in The Goon
Show Companion).  Since the file cards were already made out, didn't that
mean that the recordings could have been easily located IF THEY JUST KEPT
THEM?????

I remember Galton and Simpson saying that the BBC destroyed
several early copies of "Steptoe and Son" and yet they have kept
every episode of the Australian soap opera "Neighbours." Dear me,
if I still lived in England and paid my licence fee I would write and
complain.
Love as always, David Rogers

TV programmes were apparently handled a little differently.  The producers
of programs still in production were apparently contacted before any
programs were destroyed, and could veto said destruction.  A few years
there was a book published of the scripts and stills of the lost episodes
of Dad's Army.  In the book the producer explained that he always vetoed
the destruction, but the notice on these six or so episodes must have come
to his office while he was away on vacation.  When programs go out of
production they apparently were at peril.  In the case of programs like Dr.
Who and Steptoe and Son, some of the early episodes were probably destroyed
because they were in black and white, and in the case of Dr. Who, might
possibly had been recorded in the old 405 line system.  Thus it probably
was felt that there would be no re-run or syndication value, and only
samples of the seasons would be kept.  In the case of "Neighbours", since
this was a program which they had licensed from syndication from the
Australian production company, the recordings belonged to the production
company and not the BBC.  Therefore, the recordings were not theirs to
destroy.

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:01:19 -0500
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Easter Sunday 1941

Martin Grams,Jr. asked

Does anyone know if April 6, 1941 or April 13, 1941 was Easter Sunday?
I know it's one of those two dates but can't figure out which one.

Sounded like an interesting puzzle to me, so the first thing that I did was
look up all the radio shows that I have on those two dates, but there was no
indication from the titles that they were broadcast on Easter Sunday.
So then I went to Google. The websites listed there showed that Easter Sunday
was on "April 5th, April 12th, April 13th, April 20th, April 26th, May 4th,
and May 11th".And those were on just the first three pages! There was one
site that quoted from a Fulton J Sheen radio sermon for Easter Sunday April
6th 1941. That sounded legit but I wouldn't bet my bipee on it based on the
other info that Google brought up.

George Aust

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:02:01 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:  Geez
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

The US is never too far from its Puritan roots, is it?   I remember a
highly-circulated quote from a prominent Australian during the Clinton-Monica
days.   He said and I paraphrase, that we Australians were lucky, the US got
the Puritans and we got the prisoners.

And there is this image about Great Britain of civility, charm, manners etc.
All true, but along side that is a very free and uninhibited media
environment.     They use all words freely, including bodily parts.   I
watched 'Coupling' on BBC America and when I heard that NBC was going to do an
American version I knew it would fail.  Of course it's no accident that
they're freer then we are.   The puritans left Britain to come here.  :))

And with all this talk about words like 'hell' 'damn' and censorship I can
only wonder why.    I distinctly remember in catechism class Sister telling us
that the use of the words hell and damn on their own were not considered
cursing or blaspheming.   Only if you damned someone or expressed a wish that
someone go to hell was it unacceptable or sinful.    Sounds reasonable to me.

-Irene

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

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:02:08 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:  Easter 1941

An answer for Martin Grams Jr

In 1941 Easter was April 13.
-Irene

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:02:44 -0500
From: "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  By the great horn spoon: was cuss words

Hello, in our discussion of replacements of cuss words, this came to mind. I
keep hearing Dr. Gillespie say "by the great horn spoon," which I do not
understand at all, from the Dr. Kildare series. Is this some random phrase
the writers thought up, or an old expression?
Thanks a lot.
Matthew

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:02:31 -0500
From: "Mike Mackey" <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Geez!  Foul language on OTR (or the lack
 of it)

The lack of foul language is one of the characteristics of OTR that I
believe has helped to keep it alive. True, many of us are fascinated
by the artistry of the medium and others are interested in the
historical aspects of this medium of a by-gone time. But others of us
enjoy OTR simply because it means being entertained by a medium that
respects us by not insisting on dumping language into our home that
we wouldn't otherwise permit. If current broadcast television still
was that respectful, I probably would still watch it. Thankfully we
do have otr to not only educate us and enrich us, but to entertain us
as well.

Mike

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:02:51 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

 From Those Were The Days --

1940 - The Longines Watch Company signed for the first FM radio
advertising contract -- with experimental station W2XOR in New York
City. The ads ran for 26 weeks and promoted the Longines time signals.

Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:03:02 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:  An OTR Easter Question

   Martin Grams asked --

   > Does anyone know if April 6, 1941 or April 13, 1941 was Easter Sunday?

   According the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, it was the 13th.
   Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 10:03:52 -0500
From: Jeff Weaver <jweaver@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Family Skeleton

Does anyone have any shows from Family Skeleton? I am a huge One
Man's Family fan and this was listed as another serial. Any help
would be appreciated.

Regards, Jeff

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 10:04:09 -0500
From: Rod Gowen <rgowen@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  More transcription questions

Hello again,

It seems that I have inherited another box of 16" [removed]

This one contains a program called:

The 13th Juror

It says Vincent Price is in it.

I do not seem to have any info on this one either.

Would like to find a log of these shows, if any exist.
Otherwise, any info would be a great help.

Thanks again,

Rod Gowen

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 10:04:31 -0500
From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  those darn Radio Spirits boxes!!!!!

I've recently purchased the Radio Spirits set of 'The Shadow: Greatest Radio
Adventures' and while I've been enjoying the shows quite a bit, it's
extremely annoying to open up the case to have a bunch of tapes fall out all
over the place.  I don't know who designed these boxes, but they're really
horrible.  The tapes do not stay tightly wound, and as I said, it's nearly
impossible to open the case without at least a couple of tapes to fall out.

I hope that the reason why certain sets are deeply discounted now is to
deplete the stock so that it can be replaced with a better method of storage.

rodney.

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 10:37:17 -0500
From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  flocking?

In #438, Ted wrote:

Throughout the show they refer to it as "painting" the tree.  Of course,
we know those trees as flocked. I've often wondered if they deliberately
chose not to use the word flock, in case in did get mispronounced or
misunderstood.

Maybe it's a generation thing, but I have NEVER heard this term used this
way.  I would know (and be able to picture) a PAINTED tree, but would have
been very confused if Fibber talked about a FLOCKED tree.

-chris holm

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 10:37:42 -0500
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Leapin' Lizards!!!

We all know who said that one - Orphan Annie!

There was also "Sufferin' Sunfish! from the same show.

(whatever a sunfish is)

Joe Salerno
Video Works! Is it working for you?
PO Box 273405 - Houston TX 77277-3405 [removed]

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

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 11:08:57 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Easter Question answered

Many thanks for everyone who sent me the answer to the Easter date of
1941.
I got an overwhelming response so I'm thanking everyone at once.  The
answer definately helped.
Martin

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #439
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