Subject: [removed] Digest V2010 #198
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/17/2010 7:12 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2010 : Issue 198
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  11-15 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Going another route for once          [ "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  11-16 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Radio Guide collection                [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  11-17 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  X Minus One mysteries                 [ Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed] ]
  Old Time Radio Christmas Show         [ Jerry Williams <mrj1313@[removed] ]
  Black Friday                          [ "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:58:25 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-15 births/deaths

November 15th births

11-15-1879 - Lewis Stone - Worcester, MA - d. 9-12-1953
actor: Judge James Hardy "Hardy Family"
11-15-1881 - Franklin Pierce Adams - Chicago, IL - d. 3-24-1960
panelist: "Information, Please"
11-15-1885 - Herbert Rawlinson - Brighton, England - d. 7-12-1953
actor: Edgar, the courthouse guard "The Amazing Mr. Tutt"; "Escape";
"Twelve Players'
11-15-1890 - Samuel Ornitz - NYC - d. 3-11-1957
hollywood ten screen writer: "House Unamerican Activities Committee"
11-15-1891 - Averell Harriman - NYC - d. 7-26-1986
[removed] ambassador to the soviet union: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy
Show"
11-15-1893 - Grover Jones - Rosedale, IN - d. 9-24-1940
writer: "Silver Theatre"
11-15-1902 - Clyde Kittell - Sayre, PA - d. 4-25-1962
announcer: "Hello Peggy"; "Name Three"
11-15-1907 - Bill Anson - Chicago, IL - d. 6-18-1983
quizmaster: "The Hirsch Telephone Quiz"
11-15-1909 - Sydney Smith - d. 3-4-1978
actor: Abie Levy "Abie's Irish Rose"; Ellery Queen "Advs. of Ellery
Queen"
11-15-1910 - Willard Belote - d. 5-xx-1985
newscaster, sportscaster: WGAF Faldosta, Georgia
11-15-1919 - Carol Bruce - Great Neck, NY - d. 10-9-2007
singer: "Ben Bernie Orchestra"; "Carton of Cheer"
11-15-1920 - Earl Becktel - d. 8-xx-1983
disk jockey: WSNJ Bridgeton, New Jersey
11-15-1923 - Robert Barron - NYC - d. 5-28-2002
actor: Flint Blackbeard "Jack Armstrong"
11-15-1924 - Mike Raven - London, England - d. 4-24-1997
actor: "Raven Around Show"
11-15-1925 - Gordon Hinkley - Port Edwards, WI
announcer, host: "Ask Your Neighbor"; "Invitation to Beauty"; "HotShots"
11-15-1929 - Ed Asner - Kansas City, MO
actor: "Odyssey of Homer"; "We Hold These Truths"
11-15-1930 - [removed] Ballard - Shanghai, China - d. 4-19-2009
science fiction writer: "Venus Smiles"
11-15-1932 - Petula Clark - Ewell, Surrey, England
singer: "Vanity Bandbox"; "Guard Session"; "It's All Yours"
11-15-1946 - Janet Lennon - Culver City, CA
singer: (The Lennon Sisters) "Music on Deck"; "Voices of Vista";
"Guest Star"
11-15-1947 - Mark Eugene Blumberg - Detroit, MI
writer of numerous radio commercials

November 15th deaths

01-02-1920 - Corny Peeples - Oak Park, IL - d. 11-15-1954
actor: William Snood "Tom Mix"; Bud Fairchild "Stepmother"
01-07-1896 - Marjorie Crossland - d. 11-15-1954
actor: "Myrt and Marge"
01-16-1890 - Lloyd Bacon - San Jose, CA - d. 11-15-1955
film director: "Screen Guild Theatre"; " Screen Director's Pla
01-25-1924 - Speedy West - Springfield, MO - d. 11-15-2003
steel guitarist: "Grand Ole Opry"; "Tennessee Ernie FordShow"
02-19-1912 - Saul Chaplin - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-15-1997
composer
02-22-1890 - Enid Markey - Dillon, CO - d. 11-15-1981
actor: Lillian Burke "Woman of Courage"
04-05-1912 - John Le Mesurier - Bedford, England - d. 11-15-1983
actor: Sergeant Arthur Wilson "Dad's Army"
04-28-1878 - Lionel Barrymore - Philadelphia, PA - d. 11-15-1954
actor: Leonard Gillispie "Dr. Kildare"; Ebenezzer Scrooge "A Christmas
Carol"
05-05-1914 - Tyrone Power - Cincinnati, OH - d. 11-15-1958
actor: Dean Edwards "Freedom [removed]"
05-28-1920 - Gene Levitt - NYC - d. 11-15-1999
writer: "Advs. of Philip Marlowe"
05-30-1911 - Louise Campbell - Chicago, IL - d. 11-15-1997
actress: "The Star Maker"
06-10-1897 - Boris Kroyt - d. 11-15-1969
violinist: (Member of the Budapest String Quaratet) "Library of
Congress Concert"
06-12-1915 - Robert Forster - NYC - d. 11-15-2003
announcer: "CBS Radio Workshop"; Gangbusters"; Twenty-First Precinct"
06-16-1914 - Edward Gruskin - d. 11-15-2005
writer: "Nick Carter, Master Detective"; "Rendezvous in Paris"
07-19-1940 - Dennis Cole - Detroit, MI - d. 11-15-2009
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
07-30-1928 - Joe Nuxhall - Hamilton, OH - d. 11-15-2007
baseball annoucer for the Cincinnati Reds
08-18-1878 - Harry C. Browne - North Adams, MA - d. 11-15-1954
actor: Hank Simmons, Henry Clinton "Hank Simmon's Showboat"
08-29-1898 - Charlie Grimm - St. Louis, MO - d. 11-15-1983
Sportscaster:(Jolly Cholly) WBBM Chicago
09-02-1925 - Russ Conway - Trever Stanford in Bristol, England - d.
11-15-2000
pianist: "Billy Cotton Band Show"
09-28-1904 - [removed] Bathe - d. 11-15-1997
announcer: WNAD Norman, Oklahoma
10-18-1913 - Evelyn Venable - Cincinnati, OH - d. 11-15-1993
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Stars of Tomorrow 1934"s
11-17-1899 - Toscha Seidel - Odessa, Ukraine - d. 11-15-1962
violin virtuoso: Staff musician for CBS
11-19-1924 - J. D. Sumner - Lakeland, FL - d. 11-15-1998
singer: (Blackwood Brothers Quartet) "Songs of the Gospel"
12-19-1888 - Fritz Reiner - Budapest, Hungary - d. 11-15-1963
conductor: "Curtis Institute Musicale"; "Ford Sunday Evening Hour"
12-19-1911 - Clark Dennis - Roscommon, MI - d. 11-15-1992
singer: "Breakfast Club"; "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "Chesterfield
Presents"

Ron

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

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:58:33 -0500
From: "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Going another route for once

This almost invariably radio books author announces the release of his
newest title from McFarland & Company:  "Rails Across Dixie:  A History of
Passenger Trains in the American South."  The 466-page hardback with 10
appendices and 161 illustrations sells for $55.  It's at mcfarlandpub on the
Web.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:58:38 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-16 births/deaths

November 16th births

11-16-1873 - W. C. Handy - Florence, AL - d. 3-28-1958
jazz trumpeter, composer: "Cavalcade of Music";"Freedom's People"
11-16-1887 - Arthur Krock - Glasgow, KY - d. 4-12-1974
journalist: "Information Please"
11-16-1889 - George S. Kaufman - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 6-2-1961
panelist: "Information, Please"; "This Is Broadway"; "Who Said That?"
11-16-1890 - George Seldes - Alliance, NJ - d. 7-2-1995
journalist: His book "A Disease Called Fascism" adapted for "Words at
War"
11-16-1894 - Ruth Cornell Woodman - d. 4-22-1970
creator, writer: "Death Valley Days"; "Cavalcade of America"
11-16-1895 - Michael Arlen - Rustchuk, Bulgaria - d. 6-23-1956
creator: "The Falcon"
11-16-1896 - Jim Jordan - Peoria, IL - d. 4-1-1988
comedian: Mickey Donavan, "Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten"; "Fibber McGee
"Fibber McGee and Molly"
11-16-1896 - Lawrence Tibbett - Bakersfield, CA - d. 7-15-1960
singer: "Voice of Firestone"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Golden Voices"
11-16-1899 - Mary Margaret McBride - Paris, MO - d. 4-7-1976
commentator: "Mary Margaret McBride"; "Martha Deane"
11-16-1905 - Eddie Condon - Goodland, IN - d. 8-4-1973
guitarist, host: "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts"
11-16-1907 - Burgess Meredith - Cleveland, OH - d. 9-9-1997
actor: "Red Adams/Red Davis "Red Adams/Red Davis" (the precursor to
"Pepper Young's Family")
11-16-1911 - Sonny Dunham - Brockton, MA - d. 7-9-1990
trumpeter, bandleader: "One Night Stand"; "Spotlight Bands"
11-16-1912 - George O. Petrie - New Haven, CT - d. 11-16-1997
actor: Michael Waring "The Falcon"; John J. Malone "Amazing Mr. Malone"
11-16-1912 - Paul Dudley - Massachusetts - d. 5-18-1959
writer: "Pot o' Gold"; "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"
11-16-1913 - Jack "Smilin' Jack" Smith - Bainbridge Island, WA - d.
7-3-2006
singer: "Breezing Along"; "Prudential Family Hour"; "Jack Smith Show"
11-16-1916 - Daws Butler - Toledo, OH - d. 5-19-1988
actor: "Sears Radio Theatre"; "Stan Freberg Show"; "That's Rich"
11-16-1919 - Marion Bell - St. Louis, MO - d. 12-14-1997
actor, singer: "The Railroad Hour"
11-16-1919 - Ronald (Harold) Hardy - d. 10-xx-1991
wrote plays for radio and television
11-16-1920 - Colin Thiele - Eudunda, Australia - d. 9-4-2006
writer: "Burke and Wills"
11-16-1921 - Evelyn Goodkin - d. 9-5-2005
actor: Marge Minter "Myrt and Marge"; Penny Latham "Dan Harding's Wife"
11-16-1927 - Barbara Payton - Cloquet, MN - d. 5-8-1967
actor: "Pepsodent Show starring Bob Hope"
11-16-1938 - Walter J. Learning - Quidi Vidim, New Foundland, Canada
wrote scripts for the CBC

November 16th deaths

02-01-1901 - Clark Gable - Cadiz, OH - d. 11-16-1960
actor: "So Proudly We Hail"; "Silver Theatre"
02-03-1899 - Doris Speed - Manchester, England - d. 11-16-1994
actor: "Remember It All"
02-28-1919 - David Marshall Cox - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 11-16-1998
producer for WNAC Boston Massachusetts
03-04-1904 - Joseph Schmidt - Davideny, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary - d.
11-16-1942
singer: "General Motors Concerts"
04-17-1918 - William Holden - O'Fallon, IL - d. 11-16-1981
actor: "Hour of Mystery"; "Smiths of Hollywood"; "So Proudly We Hail"
04-21-1930 - Kirby Ayres - d. 11-16-2005
disk jockey: "Bob and Ray Present the CBS Radio Network"
05-07-1906 - Jack Johnstone - NYC - d. 11-16-1991
writer, producer, director: "Buck Rogers"; "CBS Radio Workshop"; "Six
Shooter"
05-24-1916 - Tony Barrett - NYC - d. 11-16-1974
actor: Charlie Dyer "This Life is Mine"; Biff Bradley "Pepper Young's
Family"
06-01-1930 - Edward Woodward - Croydon, Surrey, England - d. 11-16-2009
actor: "Price of Fear"
06-06-1900 - Arthur Askey - Liverpool, England - d. 11-16-1982
comedian: "Band Waggon"; "Music Hall"; "Does the Team Think"
06-13-1913 - Ralph Edwards - Merino, CO - d. 11-16-2005
host, announcer: "Truth or Consequences"; "This Is Your Life";
"Original Amateur Hour"
07-31-1912 - Milton Friedman - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-16-2006
economist: Radio Australia
08-04-1905 - Frank Luther - Lakin, KS - d. 11-16-1980
singer: "Luther-Layman Singer"; "Frank Luther Show"; "Happy Wonder
Bakers Trio"
08-15-1914 - Eve Alwyn - Christ Church, New Zealand - d. 11-16-2005
actor: WEAT West Palm Beacg, Florida
09-06-1881 - Charlie Dale - NYC - d. 11-16-1971
comedian: (Smith and Dale) "Al Jolson"; "Kate Smith"
09-21-1915 - Mac Benoff - NYC - d. 11-16-1972
writer: "The Mel Blanc Show"
09-27-1885 - Harry Blackstone, Sr. - Chicago, IL - d. 11-16-1965
magician: "Harry Blackstone, the Magic Detective" based on him.
09-28-1903 - Boake Carter - Baku, Russia - d. 11-16-1944
news commentator: "Night newscast for CBS"
10-24-1916 - Ray Singer - NYC - d. 11-16-1992
writer: "Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show"; "Rudy Vallee Show"; "Charlotte
Greenwood Show"
12-04-1910 - Mary Hunter - Bakersfield, CA - d. 11-16-2000
actor: Marge "Easy Aces"; "Against the Storm"
12-20-1914 - Patti Pickens - Macon, GA - d. 11-16-1995
singer: (Pickens Sisters) "The Pickens Sisters"; "The Magic Key"

Ron

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

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:00:08 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Radio Guide collection

I'm seeking someone who has a collection of RADIO GUIDE, preferrably the
entire calendar year of 1932. I have a photocopy of an article I need to cite
the exact month and year (and I'm fairly certain I know which month but I'd
like to be certain) and a quote that an unreliable someone has yet to scan
and send me for verification and I need a reliable collector who can flip
through the pages and verify for me. If you have RADIO GUIDE from 1932,
please let me know. I'll be glad to acknowledge their efforts in an up-coming
magazine article.
Martin
mmargrajr@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:02:52 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-17 births/deaths

November 17th births

11-17-1878 - Grace Abbott - d. 7-19-1939
talks for mothers: "Your Child"
11-17-1897 - Frank Fay - San Francisco, CA - d. 9-25-1961
actor: "Jack Oakie's College"; "Rudy Vallee Show"
11-17-1898 - "Quin" Ryan - d. 10-7-1978
announcer, actor: "Quin Ryan Reports"; "Uncle Quin"; "Uncle Quin's
Scalawags"
11-17-1899 - Toscha Seidel - Odessa, Ukraine - d. 11-15-1962
violin virtuoso: Staff musician for CBS
11-17-1902 - Ricky Craig, Jr. - NYC - d. 11-28-1933
monologist: "Blue Ribbon Malt Jester"
11-17-1905 - Josef Marais - Sir Lowey's Pass, South Africa - d.
4-26-1978
singer: "African Trek/Sundown on the Veld"; "Meredith Willson Show"
11-17-1905 - Mischa Auer - St. Petersburg, Russia - d. 3-5-1967
actor: "Mischa the Magnificent"
11-17-1907 - L. Sprague de Camp - NYC - d. 11-6-2000
science fiction writer: "X-Minus One"; "Future Tense"
11-17-1911 - Jack Lescoulie - Sacramento, CA - d. 7-22-1987
announcer, emcee: "Grouch Club"; "Meet the Champions"
11-17-1916 - Bill Rogers - Thompsonville, MI - 5-28-1993
commentator, announcer: "Bill Rogers and the News"; "Hoot'nanny"
11-17-1916 - Frank Maxwell - The Bronx, NY - d. 8-5-2004
actor: Uthas P. Garvey "Colonel Humphrey Slack"
11-17-1917 - Byron Keith - Illinois - d. 1-19-1996
Started his career in radio in Boise, Idaho in the 1930s
11-17-1917 - Harry Worth - Tankersley, Yorkshire, England - d. 7-20-1989
actor: "New to You"
11-17-1918 - Paul Crabtree - Pulaski, VA - d. 3-9-1979
actor: David Naughton "Claudia and David"
11-17-1922 - Jack Farren - NYC - d. 6-25-1997
announcer: "Under Arrest"
11-17-1925 - Rock Hudson - Winnetka, IL - d. 10-2-1985
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
11-17-1931 - Wayne J. Andre - d. 8-26-2003
trombonist: Benny Goodman Orchestra; Woody Herman Orchestra
11-17-1935 - Audrey (Grace) Thomas - Binghamton, NY
writer: "Once Your Submarine Cable is Gone"
11-17-1936 - John Wells - Ashford, Kent, England - d. 1-11-1998
actor, writer: "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
11-17-1937 - Peter Cook - Devonshire, England - d. 1-9-1995
satirist, writer, comedian: "Why Bother"

November 17th deaths

01-17-1914 - Irving Brecher - NYC - d. 11-17-2008
writer, producer: "Community Sing"; "The Life of Riley"
01-30-1928 - Ruth Brown - Portsmouth, VA - d. 11-17-2006
singer: "Newport Jazz Festival"
02-01-1894 - James P. Johnson - New Brunswick, NJ - d. 11-17-1955
pianist: "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts"; "This is Jazz"
02-06-1902 - George Brunis - New Orleans, LA - d. 11-17-1984
trombonist: "This Is Jazz"; "Tennessee Ernie Show"
04-14-1916 - Emerson Buckley - NYC - d. 11-17-1989
conductor: "Two Thousand Plus"; "Murder By Experts"
05-17-1896 - Ruth Donnelly - Trenton, NJ - d. 11-17-1982
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
06-01-1887 - Clive Brook - London, England - d. 11-17-1974
actor: Sherlock Holmes "Sherlock Holmes"
06-15-1861 - Ernestine Schumann-Heink - Prague, Czechoslovkia - d.
11-17-1936
singer: "Enna Jettick Melodies"; "Hoover Sentinels Serenade"
06-19-1909 - Maurice Zimm - Waterloo, IA - d. 11-17-2005
writer: "The Man Who Sang"
06-19-1912 - Jerry Jerome - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-17-2001
musician: "Eileen Barton Show"; "Mirth and Madness"
07-14-1919 - Claude Trenier - Mobile, AL - d. 11-17-2003
singer: "Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra"
07-24-1916 - Bob Eberly - Mechanicville, NY - d. 11-17-1981
singer: (Jimmy Dorsey Band)
08-19-1903 - Claude Dauphin - Corbeil, France - d. 11-17-1978
actor: "As Easy as [removed]"
09-15-1904 - Sheilah Graham - Leeds, England - d. 11-17-1988
gossip commentator: "Heinz Magazine of the Air"; "Sheilah Graham"
10-05-1903 - Jimmy Ritz - Newark, NJ - d. 11-17-1985
comedian: (The Ritz Brothers) "Hollywood Hotel"
11-22-1895 - Alexander Laszlo - Budapest, Hungary - d. 11-17-1970
orchestra leader: "This Is Your Life"
11-24-1900 - Ireene Wicker - Quincy, IL - d. 11-17-1987
actor: (The Singing Lady) Sylvia Bertram "Road of Life"; Eileen Moran
"Today's Children"
11-26-1913 - Bill Baldwin - Pueblo, CO - d. 11-17-1982
announcer: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"; "Mario Lanza Show"
12-18-1888 - Gladys Cooper - Lewisham, England - d. 11-17-1971
actor: "Fleischmann's Yeast Hour"

Ron

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

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:03:02 -0500
From: Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  X Minus One mysteries

On the always well researched Digital Deli site, they posit that the X Minus
One show circulating as the 55-04-22 Audition (And the Moon Be Still as
Bright) is a mislabeled episode #19 55-09-22. It is an exact copy of episode
19 and does not appear in any newspaper listing on the date of April 22 1955.
I believe they are correct and would add that it is interesting that the
dates given for the two broadcasts are only 1 digit apart leading to the idea
that the audition date is a typo.

If the idea is it was a broadcast audition, then why did it not appear in any
newspaper listing? If it was an audition for sponsors to listen to, then why
does it have a broadcast date? Also, usually auditions are in a  different
form than the way the show ends up.

Question 1) Other than traditional logs giving the date of April 22  or
circulating shows with that date, does anyone have any reason to believe
there was an audition show on that date?

Also, the website above notes the show of 55-11-23 Zero Hour is problematic.
I have seen for that date 2 different shows. The first a complete 30 minute
program is a mis-dated 56-12-05 There Will Come Soft Rains - Zero Hour with 2
15 minute stories. It includes a mention of Galaxy magazine which would not
have been on a Nov. 1955 episode. The second show with that date is a 15
minute program containing only Zero Hour. The 15 minute episode seems
complete and has different cast credits than the 56-12-05 Zero Hour 15 minute
segment. The 15 minute show has an end announcement that the next week's
story will be The Vital Factor (which was indeed broadcast the next week.)

Question 2) Was this 15 minute show broadcast on 55-11-23? Why would a 30
minute show have a single 15 minute version in the middle of its run?

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

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:10:35 -0500
From: Jerry Williams <mrj1313@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Old Time Radio Christmas Show

    Greetings all,
Any one in the Los Angeles area will have an opportunity to
see three old time
radio Christmas shows, produced by Patricia Rye, wife of
Michael Rye. (aka Rye
Billsbury)

The shows that we will be doing are: Fibber
McGee & Molly "White Christmas
Tree",  Suspense "Twas The Night Before
Christmas"  and Broadway Is My Beat
"Nick Norman, Santa Clause"

Fri, Dec 3 &
Sat, Dec 4 at 8pm
The Ebell Performing Arts Stage
741 South Lucern Blvd.
SW
corner of Wilshire Blvd. & Lucerne Blvd.
Doors open at 6pm for our Christmas
Boutique & Holiday Refreshments

Tickets:  $20 preferred, $15 general seating
+ handling fee.
CALL: 323-960-5563 or [removed]

Hope to
see you there.
Jerry Williams

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

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:11:54 -0500
From: "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Black Friday

The current consternation in regard to the future of televised soap opera is
coincidental, yet timely, in the pilgrimage of that form of matinee
absorption.  Indeed, a momentous moment in the history of the breed (and the
annals of broadcasting) is about to occur next week.  Oddly on Thanksgiving
Day we mark the 50th anniversary of the last of those dramas playing out on
radio.  On that fateful day, CBS -- the last hold-out against a swelling
tide of mutinous, powerful and prestigious affiliates that had handed down
an ultimatum:  "Give us more time to sell locally or we'll bolt the network
and go independent or join a rival chain" -- finally caved in to the demands
of its most determined members.  Leaving the air that day were seven daytime
dramas:  The Couple Next Door, The Right to Happiness, Whispering Streets,
Ma Perkins, Young Doctor Malone, The Second Mrs. Burton and Best Seller.
Departing that night was The Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall.  Reduced were Arthur
Godfrey Time and Art Linkletter's House Party.  And those were just the
weekday series that felt the ax.  There were still more weekend adventures
canned as well (on November 26-27).

I tried to describe what took place Friday, November 25, 1960 in my book
"The Great Radio Soap Operas" (McFarland, 1999, 2008), both from the
perspective of what was broadcast over the air and how -- even though the
announcement was publicly made back on August 15, 1960, that the end was in
sight -- millions of listeners had missed it.  (No CNN, no email, no talk
radio, no Twitter, and no Facebook then.)  CBS's switchboards lit up like
Christmas trees with scathing callers, some of whom in vitriolic exuberance
vowed never to turn on a CBS station again as long as they lived.  They, of
course, would not have known that had it not been for CBS chairman William
Paley (still "the radio man") the overpowering tide that was finally
sweeping the washboard weepers aside could have pushed them off the network
a whole lot sooner.  After all MBS, ABC and NBC had washed their hands of
the soapy sagas much sooner.  Daytime drama would have likely disappeared
altogether on the networks had Paley given the signal to pull the plug at
CBS in 1955, 1956, 1957 or 1958.  He could have done it but he fought
steadfastly for his first love, radio, even though he fully understood TV's
omnipresence long before then.

I penned these lines in my tome:

"When the Thanksgiving feast was over at Ma Perkins' house in 1960, millions
of faithful listeners felt utterly dispossessed.  Soap opera had extended
the promise of immortality and eternal return -- on the same station, at the
same time, tomorrow.  Now it was reneging on its covenant pledge.  Rushville
Center and Three Oaks and Simpsonville and Fairbrooke and dozens of other
mythical hamlets disappeared as if they had never existed.  Worse, their
inhabitants -- who for many listeners seemed more like friends, neighbors
and relatives than mere acquaintances -- also evaporated into thin air.  In
fact, their existence wouldn't be acknowledged ever again on the very
stations that had aired them for so long!

"How could any justification be made to those legions of fans who had
composed the audiences of their local stations for all those years?  And how
could anyone responsible for this debacle be trusted again with any real
sense of credibility?  Such lingering questions must have filtered through
the agony and anger that the disenfranchised felt on that awful day when
radio drama died."

Yes, I know that a couple of weekend dramas ran on nearly two more years
over CBS.  But to that very loyal audience glued to their sets for decades
every afternoon welcoming familiar friends into their homes, it was the
bitter end and, for them, there wouldn't be much reason to tune in any more.
For millions it was "Black Friday" long before such an idiom came into
vogue.

Jim Cox

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