When Paramount Pictures brought the hit Broadway musical Grease to the big screen in 1978, some of the film’s casting decisions tickled the fancies of both old-time radio devotees and classic TV f ...
Happy Birthday, Chester Lauck!(Post)On April 26, 1936, the small Arkansas town of Waters officially changed its name to Pine Ridge. It wasn’t because they were on the lam from the law or ducking creditors, however—the inspiration c ...
The Never-Ending Battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way(Post)The Man of Steel made his comic book debut in Action Comics on April 18, 1938, and less than a year later (in January of 1939), the costumed superhero creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster wou ...
Happy Birthday, Norman Macdonnell!(Post)One of old-time radio’s most important—and inarguably, most creative—director-producers was born on this date in 1916. A native of Pasadena, CA, Norman Macdonnell would use his experiences during ...
Happy Birthday, Robert Readick!(Post)Actor Frank Readick’s voice is a familiar one to those fans who remember old-time radio--he was one of the busiest thesps in the aural medium, starring on such programs as Smilin’ Jack and Meet Mr ...
Happy Birthday, Eve Arden!(Post)At the height of her fame as the tart-tongued schoolmarm of radio and TV’s Our Miss Brooks, Eve Arden—born in Mill Valley, CA on this date in 1908—got more than a few offers from school boards acr ...
Happy Birthday, George Fenneman!(Post)Despite his incredible career as a radio/TV announcer and emcee, George Watt Fenneman—born in Peking (now Beijing), China on this date in 1919—was never hesitant about crediting the job that secur ...
Happy Birthday, Clayton “Bud” Collyer!(Post)“I never try to force people into impossible situations on the shows,” observed Clayton “Bud” Collyer to Radio Mirror in June of 1953. One of those “shows” Bud was referencing was TV’s Break the ...
Happy Anniversary, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz!(Post)“Whatta hunk of woman!” That was Desi Arnaz’s initial reaction upon spotting future wife Lucille Ball at R-K-O in 1940, where the two of them would appear in that studio’s adaptation of the Broadw ...
“...dedicated to man’s imagination…the theater of the mind…”(Post)From 1936 to 1943—and a brief revival in the 1946-47 season—The Columbia Workshop was the go-to program for experimental radio drama. The series began as an idea by one-time engineer Irving Reis, ...
“Across the rugged Indian Territory, rides a tall young man on a mission of mercy…”(Post)With the introduction of Gunsmoke to audiences in April of 1952, the “adult western” soon began to come into fashion on radio. Gunsmoke would soon be joined by The Six Shooter, a Western drama tha ...
The Honeymoon’s Not Over(Post)For a show that had a relatively short life on radio and television, The Bickersons has maintained a dominating presence in American pop culture. We use the term “Ozzie & Harriet” to describe a w ...