------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2010 : Issue 166
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Soaps on the radio again? [ rand@[removed] ]
Charles Stark/Animal, Vegetable, Min [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]
9-23 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
THEMES [ rbackus22@[removed] ]
re: Transitions to TV from radio [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
Soaps on OTR [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
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Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:34:29 -0400
From: rand@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Soaps on the radio again?
Ted in the digest asked "Why not the soaps on radio?"
It's actually something I've thought about for a few years. Television's
daytime soaps are really doomed to extinction - the primary audience,
women, aren't at home as much during the day. And there's competition
with younger viewers for other media, such as online video.
The younger viewers are really key - they're the one's that advertisers
really strive for and try to get "hooked". Honestly, I'm surprised that
someone hasn't targeted them with radio drama with the proliferation of
mp3 players and the like.
I'm probably a member of one of the last generations to get "hooked" on a
tv soap. As women started working more outside of the home, soaps started
trying to attract younger viewers with more innovative storylines. When I
was in college, "Santa Barbara" and some of the other soaps were pretty
popular with the "kids", featuring wonderfully goofy stories involving
ufos, the supernatural and the like, all done very tongue in cheek. (I
recall one where two characters - one good and one bad - were played by
the same actor and went to "soap opera heaven" to be put back together
again into one person.)
I think the thing that might save serial drama would be aiming it at
specific audiences. One rapper created a sensation a few years back by
creating a set of music videos and accompanying song that told a
soap-opera type of story, with a new song and video released each month,
each ending on a cliffhanger. It was an interesting experiment, but
showed how an audience can still get hooked on a good story told in a
novel way.
[removed]
A big monied sponsor could potentially tap into this kind of interest by
getting a set of radio actors and a musical artist to collaborate on a
musical serial, with episodes lasting about five minutes, sort of like the
ZBS series "Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe" done for public radio back in the
1980s.
[removed]
I have a good friend that's done a popular comic aimed at Gays and
Lesbians for almost two decades. I've tried to talk him into turning it
into a serialized podcast, even pulling out episodes of "Easy Aces" or
"Vic and Sade" and other classic otr serials he could look at as a model.
I don't think we'll see a serial that will run for several years like the
old time radio or television dramas, but I do see several attempts at
short web based videos done as a limited series. That's probably the next
evolution of "the soap" in video form.
rand
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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:16:17 -0400
From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Charles Stark/Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
Those who recently had questions about Charles Stark may find the following of
interest.
It's from a chapter on Robert VanDeventer in David Siegel's Remembering Radio
about Stark's
involvement in the creation of Twenty Questions. (sorry formatting was lost
due
to conversion
to plain text)
You indicated that you and your family played this game of Animal, Vegetable
or
Mineral and that was really the incentive for Twenty Questions. Why did they
change the title from Animal, Vegetable or Mineral to Twenty Questions?
(laughs) Let me explain that by just giving a brief summary of what happened
that Sunday, because it was really a major coincidence that two people in the
radio business, having Sunday afternoon dinner, were in fact having dinner in
the house of a family that had always done quizzes and played parlor games -
one
of which was what we called Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. It was in the
back-and-forth during the course of that afternoon, that this is what you have
to do to promote and produce and develop a radio program. During the course
of
this, someonementioned Animal, Vegetable and Mineral,as well as other parlor
games we had played, and Charles Stark himself was the one who said, "I can
see
it now - we'll have a panel of experts playing the game, and the master of
ceremonies will be the one who answers the questions. He will have the
subject
for you to identify, and the panel of experts will guess." And this came to
his
mind and to ours, from other panel shows such as Information Please, and the
Quiz Kids, although he was the one, certainly, who said it. So anyway, that's
how it started.
So when they took it to New York and talked to Dave Driscoll, the head of
news
at WOR, and Norm Livingston, the head of programming, and it got talked up
within the walls of 1440 Broadway, within a month or two it came back - oh
yes,
people all played this. They all knew about it, but in the East, they called
it
Twenty Questions. This was news to us. We had never, first of all, heard the
term twenty questions and secondly, we had never played with any limit on the
number of questions. So that's how the name came about. People in WOR at
least, who had heard of the game, who had played the game, always referred to
it
as Twenty Questions. It's kinda like the difference, in its way, between what
you call Coca-Cola in the Midwest and what you call it in the East. In the
East, it's soda. In the West, it's pop. (laughs) I guess that's the same
kind
of differentiation.
Once the program was accepted, did Charlie Stark actually have a piece of the
action?
He sued. What happened was, by - I'm guessing now, but I would say September
-that was in June - they started talking it up in July. The momentum started
to
build probably in August, and since Stark was Dad's announcer, when we would
go
into WOR and see him, I would always say something like, "How's the Twenty
Questions idea coming along?" He would always answer the same way. "We're
still kicking it around." Well, finally Dad got fed up and he said, "We've
kicked this around long enough. It's been weeks and months. If you don't do
something by Monday or words to that effect, I'm going to go to Bill
Fineschriber of Mutual on my own." Stark did nothing, so Dad went to
Fineschriber and from then on Stark was out of it.
Skipping ahead, on Saturday, February 2, when Dad did the 6:30 news and
Stark
of course knew that the show was going on that evening at 8:00, he said, "I'm
suing Monday." and did. We settled. We didn't want to fight it out. It
would
have been a long-drawn-out process. I don't have any idea what the settlement
was. We agreed that certainly he had suggested the idea of the panel. We
couldn't get away from that. It was absolutely true. All along, in fact, we
kinda hoped Stark would come back in, but no - he always stayed aloof - didn't
want any part of it. At least he didn't take any part of it. So anyway,
that's
what happened with Stark.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:19:43 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 9-23 births/deaths
September 23rd births
09-23-1884 - Bill Lawrence - East St. Louis, IL - d. 2-14-1973
producer, director: "Fitch Bandwagon"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
09-23-1889 - Don Bestor - Longford, SD - d. 1-13-1970
bandleader: "Nestle Program"; "Jack Benny Program"
09-23-1893 - Louis Sorin - NYC - d. 12-14-1961
actor: Pan Pancho "Cisco Kid"
09-23-1897 - Walter Pidgeon - East St. John, New Brunswick, Canada -
d. 9-25-1984
actor: "Hollywood Calling"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-23-1901 - Frederick Hazlitt Brennan - d. 6-30-1962
writer: "Shorty Bell" based on Brennan's stories
09-23-1905 - Charlie Arlington - d. 1-9-1986
announcer: "Michael Shayne, Private Detective"; "Voyage of the Scarlet
Queen"
09-23-1907 - Jarmila Novatana - Prague, Czechoslovakia - d. 2-9-1994
lyric soprano: "The Pause that Refreshes"; "The Celanese Hour"
09-23-1907 - Rudd Weatherwax - Engel, Sierra County, NM - d. 2-25-1985
dog trainer: "Lassie"
09-23-1908 - Sammy Forsmark - Georgia - d. 8-21-1961
steel guitar: "The Radio Cowboys"
09-23-1908 - Tiny Bradshaw - Youngstown, OH - d. 11-26-1958
orchestra leader: "Jubilee"; "One Night Stand"
09-23-1910 - Elliott Roosevelt - NYC - d. 10-27-1990
commentary for the Mutual Network (Son of FDR) "Information Please"
09-23-1913 - Helen Hiett - Tazewell, IL - d. 8-22-1961
correspondent, newscaster: "Helen Hiett News"; "News Roundup"
09-23-1913 - Robert Hudson Ballard - Nyack, NY - d. 5-2-1992
violinist, arranger: "Phil Harris Orchestra"
09-23-1913 - Stanley Kramer - NYC - d. 2-19-2001
film director: "Jack Benny Program"; "Stagestruck"
09-23-1914 - Aileen Burke - d. 3-xx-1992
author: "Reflex Action"
09-23-1919 - Ruth Sprague - San Francisco, CA
actor: "I Love a Mystery"; "Death Valley Days"; "Dog Dramas"
09-23-1920 - Mickey Rooney - Brooklyn, NY
actor: Andy Hardy "Hardy Family"; Ralph J. 'Shorty' Bell "Shorty Bell"
09-23-1927 - Richard Seff - NYC
actor/writer: "Aldrich Family"; "Brighter Day"; "Road of Life"
09-23-1927 - Virginia McDowall - London, England - d. 12-8-2006
actor: "Family Theatre"; "NBC University Theatre"
09-23-1934 - Chiyoko "Pat" Suzuki - Cressy, CA
singer: "Army Bandstand"; "Manhattan Melodies"
September 23rd deaths
01-24-1881 - Earl Godwin - Washington, [removed] - d. 9-23-1956
newsman: "Watch the World Go By"
02-16-1914 - Jimmy Wakely - Mineola, AR - d. 9-23-1982
country singer: "All-Star Western Theatre"; "Hollywood Barn Dance"
02-27-1909 - Carl Frank - Weehawken, NJ - d. 9-23-1972
actor: Jerry Malone "Young Dr. Malone"; Bob Drake "Betty and Bob"
03-01-1869 - Edward Bell - near Terre Haute, IN - d. 9-23-1943
commentator WMAQ during the 1920s
03-11-1909 - Phil Leslie - St. Louis, MO - d. 9-23-1988
writer: "Fibber McGee and Molly"
03-30-1858 - DeWolf Hopper - NYC - d. 9-23-1935
host-narrator: (Husband of Hedda Hopper) "Roses and Drums"
04-05-1917 - Robert Bloch - Chicago, IL - d. 9-23-1994
writer: "Stay Tuned for Terror"
04-17-1910 - Ivan Goff - Perth, Australia - d. 9-23-1999
screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
04-19-1900 - George O'Brien - San Francisco, CA - d. 9-23-1985
actor: "Anchors Aweigh"
05-07-1890 - Billy House - Mankato, MN - d. 9-23-1961
actor, comedian: "Al Pearce and His Gang"; "The Laugh Liner"
06-20-1893 - Edwin Wolfe - d. 9-23-1983
actor: Curt Bradley "Pepper Young's Family"
07-16-1887 - Floyd Gibbons - Washington, [removed] - d. 9-23-1939
commentator: "Headline Hunter"; "World Adventures"; "Nash Program"
09-12-1894 - Billy Gilbert - Louisville, KY - d. 9-23-1971
actor: "NYA Varieties"; "Rudy Vallee Rehearsal"
10-19-1930 - Wally Flaherty - The Bronx, NY - d. 9-23-1998
host: "Open Line"
10-27-1918 - Bill Ballance - Peoria, IL - d. 9-23-2004
talk show host: "Feminine Forum"; "Bill Ballance Show"
12-28-1905 - Cliff Arquette - Toledo, OH - d. 9-23-1974
comedian, actor: Thaddeus Cornfelder, "Myrt and Marge"
12-28-1910 - Murray Burnett - d. 9-23-1997
writer: "True Detectives Mysteries"
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:19:50 -0400
From: rbackus22@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: THEMES
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CAN ANYONE HELP ME FIND A COPY OF "THEMES LIKE OLD TIMES" ON CD? I HAD THE
VINYL RECORDS, BUT SEVERAL YEARS AGO I SENT THEM TO A FAIRLY FAMOUS GUY IN
THIS BUSINESS WHO PROMISED TO COPY THEM TO CD AND I NEVER HEARD BACK FROM HIM.
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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:20:27 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: Transitions to TV from radio
I was curious to see Kenneth Clarke list "What's my line" as a show that did
better on radio than TV. That surprised me. How do you judge success? The
show ran for 17 years on TV (1950-1967), and only one year on radio
(1952-53). It's best remembered as a TV show, not a radio program (and was
revived at least once, in the 70s).
Similarly, You Bet Your Life ran on radio from 1949 to 1959 on radio, and
1950 to 1960 on TV. Equally long of both media -- but it was syndicated for
many years after on TV. According to Wikipedia, it was a top 20 show for
every season from 1950 through 1957, ranking as high as #3 in the ratings.
(And like What's My Line, it was also revived, though that didn't fare well.)
Still, its TV run can hardly be termed less successful than its radio version.
Cheers,
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:20:56 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Soaps on OTR
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One of the soap operas I was told about as a child which began on OTR
was "The Guiding Light". I don't remember ever seeing it, personally, on TV
but did hear that it had quite a following. I believe it was on TV for many
years
as well. Wasn't this the case?
As always,
Kenneth
The point I was attempting to make with my last submission was that
not all of the programs which began on radio transitioned well to radio.
Some
did quite well, and even had several incarnations. Others did better on TV
than they did on radio. It's also been said that shows such as "Information
Please"
were considered the grandparents of many of the more famous game shows
most of us remember. I could see many similarities between "Information
Please"
and "Hollywood Squares" (there were just more celebrities on the panel).
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End of [removed] Digest V2010 Issue #166
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