Back There

Will our next contestant enter and sign in, please? This post has been a while in the making. Panel shows was and remain to be one of my favorite facets of television, mainly because they were almost created specifically for it. Panel shows never gained much fame or notoriety through radio, but the idea of seeing these popular figures in your home without going to a theater was interesting, and novel. So, the panel show thrived, and though it's waned in America, the panel show genre goes strong surprisingly in the UK. With that, let's take a look at one of the founding fathers of this genre. The gang's all here, with frequent fourth panelist Joey Bishop What's My Line? Created in February 2nd 1950. On that day, the panelists consisted of  Richard Hoffman, Louis Untermyer, Dorothy Kilgallen and Harold Hoffman (No relation), hosted by John Charles Daly. Later on, the panelists would change to the mainstays of Kilgallen, Arlene Francis and Bennett Cerf, with the fourth pan...

 Jazz is possibly one of the longest surviving musical genres, rivaling the nursery rhyme. Jazz and its many variants have been around since vaudeville, and to this day still remain a hit. I'm here to talk about a few pioneers in this long-lasting genre, as well as many others. Introducing the band leader, who commanded orchestras and were as well known by themselves as they were as part of a group. They were conductors, songwriters, singers, musicians, they were jacks of all trades and excelled in their field. I liken them to the rockstar of their day, though the genre and the time period may be different, they were just as big. Here's just a sample of three of these stars. Cab Calloway seen here on stage in his trademark "Zoot Suit" Cab Calloway. Cabell Calloway is a man of many firsts. He was the first African American to have a nationally syndicated radio show, which he did alongside Bing Crosby, and his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher," Was the fi...

 Here we are again, folks! After missing two posts, I wouldn't dare miss my favorite segment in this blog. The spotlight posts not only gives me the chance to write about my idols, it also lives me the remote chance to inform the general public of these people who walked the walk back there. This post is on Fred Allen, known to many as, "Who?" The other two comedians I've mentioned here have shows and specials and regular appearances on television that have kept them in the social limelight for longer. Fred, however, died a bit too early to really make a name for himself in television. Fred Allen was born in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1894. His career started off in vaudeville as a juggler with a penchant for one-liners and dry humor. He would join every entertainment branch of the era. From broadway, to movies, to short subjects, finally landing a spot in radio in 1932. 1932 appeared to be a magic year for radio, as George and Gracie, Jack Benny and Fred Allen all dr...

 I love The Twilight Zone. Many people who write get their inspiration from accomplished authors: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, etc. I, however, got inspiration from two people: Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling. Rod Serling was a connoisseur of the written word. From his unique manner of articulation, his way of speaking (Which he despised, but became part of his character), and especially his way of writing science fiction, Rod Serling was, and should continue to be, a legend. His most popular effort, The Twilight Zone was, at first glance, like many other horror/sci-fi anthology shows of the time. It was only after its first season that the show truly took off. The five seasons of the show has since spawned movies, references and parodies that are still easily recognizable today. But that's not what I'm here to talk about; I'm here to talk about the radio equivalent of shows like these, of which there are many, so here are the ones I know. CBS' A Tale of Suspense. Peo...

"It's good to be here...Hell, at my age, it's good to be anywhere!" When you think of long-lived actors and actresses, who do you think of? Dick Van Dyke, Joanne Woodward? My mind goes to George Burns, who has three stars on the walk of fame, an Emmy, an Oscar and a Grammy, and was the first recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement award. He went from working with a seal to playing full concert halls and receiving standing ovations just for standing (or sitting) there, smoking a cigar and singing ragtime songs and never finishing them. There's alot to learn from this man, and I can't cover it all here, but I shall try. 100 years is a long time to live. This is coming from somebody who hasn't lived 20. George Burns was born January 20th, 1896 on the Lower East Side of New York City, New York. He'd worked small time since the age of 7, doing whatever he could and changing his name and starting again when it didn't work out. All this ...

 Normally, when I want to watch a old movie, I look it up on YouTube. This is because as time goes by, many movies become public domain, and are available in good quality for free. If I don't get that, I only get the trailers. This brings me to the topic at hand today. Wednesday I did commercials, so today I think I'll cover the movie equivalent, known as the movie trailer. Trailers came into existence around the same time as the motion picture itself. Early trailers for silent movies were, as you can surmise, completely silent, and they also showed stills of the movie rather than full clips of it. Beginning with the advent of talkies, as well as the evolution of the motion picture, trailers were being made by the National Screen Service and were made with a very similar style. Watching old movie trailers, I've noticed a definite parallel to sitcom openings, what with the characters always seeming to look at the camera  when their name pops up. The text on the screen being ...

 Commercials have come a long way since 1941. While the concept of plugging or promoting a product during a broadcast has been around since the days of radio, the first ever televised commercial came about in 1941 during the Dodgers vs Phillies baseball game. Since then, televised commercials have been a staple of television, and has undergone many, many changes over it's more than 80 year run. The commercial lasted ten seconds and was for the Bulova Watch Company. When I speak of TV on this blog, I normally talk about TV post 1950, as that more closely resembles TV we see today. In that way, by 1950, there were two types of commercials. They were either live, done on an adjacent set to the television show  in front of the studio audience, or they were pre-recorded, done away from the sets used to produce the shows. For situation comedies, or playhouse style shows with usually small, enclosed sets, the former was usually done. The pre-recorded commercials, which were often mor...

 So, after going on and on about radio programs recently, I think I'll present you with a bit of a hybrid. Naturally, back there, you didn't just hear programs on the radio, you heard music. I present to you a man who did both. He was a comedian, a singer, a conductor, and an all-around wonderful man to be around. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Phil Harris. Phil Harris seen here with two very good friends of his: Bing Crosby and Dean Martin. This isn't a spotlight post, so I'm not gonna go too in depth, but Phil Harris was a recording star in the 30s and 40s who made the bulk of his fame on the Jack Benny program (See previous blog post for more info), portraying a ladies man conductor who wasn't too bright. For 16 years, he'd bedazzle listening audiences with the orchestra, but very rarely did he himself sing on the show. In reality, Phil Harris was an accomplished musical star, and many of his songs rose to the top of the charts.  If you'll permit me to specula...

Jello again! See my post on radio comedies for an introduction to this stellar cast. Little more can be said here that I didn't say there.  Here he is. After talking about this man in almost every post, it's time for him to finally receive his own spotlight post. This is a man who has taught me so much about living life and not letting it pass you. Back there existed a man with a wonderful family and a long-lasting circle of great friends. To him, life began at 40, and he walked along a golden path for 40 wonderful years. A very Film Noir-esque still of Jack, circa mid-late 1940s if I had to hazard a guess. Now, I don't want to spend too much time recounting Jack's history, as it's my firm belief history doesn't define and shouldn't define someone, so let me put it as briefly as I could. He was born in Chicago on February 14th 1894, but according to him, he was carried in Waukegan and lived there, so that's where he was born. He started as a violinist in...

 Well, considering the fact that I've been talking about comedies all week, I think on today's post I'll talk about one of the most influential comedic trios of all time. That's right, the Marx brothers! No, wait, the three stooges! I wanted to cover movies exclusively on Fridays, but most three stooges shorts had a theatrical release, so it counts.  Top left to bottom right: Larry, Moe, Curly, Bonny and Healy Healy: "When you're good, your fairy godmother watches over you," Larry: "My what?" Bonny: "Well, I got an uncle I'm not sure of!" Anyway, here's what you ought to know. The three stooges was originally a vaudeville act conceptualized by Moe Howard, Shemp Howard and a man by the name of Ted Healy. If you know the three stooges, you know Moe, and Shemp probably, too, but Healy always gets left out of popular sources. Originally, it was "Healy and his stooges,". Before, it was only Moe and Shemp, interrupting his s...