Comedy

Broadcast History: 3 July 1940 to 26 March 1949

This comedy team was first heard over radio when they appeared February 3, 1938 on The Kate Smith Hour.  They appeared as regulars for two seasons as well as numerous appearances on The Chase And Sanborn Hour with Edgar Bergan. Most of their fans remember them from their 36 motion pictures, they also made personal appearances around the country and later were popular on early television.  On radio they finally had their only series, first heard on NBC from July 3,1940  to June 27,1947 and then over ABC from October 1, 1947 until March 26, 1949.

 

The Adventures of Maisie (aka Maisie) This radio comedy program, started out as series of 10 motion pictures that were released from 1939 to 1947.  The radio series was first heard over CBS from July 5, 1945 to March 28, 1947 starring Ann Sothern, just as in the films.  From 1949 to 1953 this radio program was syndicated by the same studio that produced the movie series, M-G-M.  Besides Ann Sothern as Maisie Revere, also heard were Hans Conried, Lurene Tuttle, Ben Wright, Sheldon Leonard, Marvin Miller, Joan Banks, Frank Nelson & Bea Benaderet. 

Broadcast History: 8 October 1944 to 18 June 1954

When Red Skelton was drafted in March 1944, Ozzie Nelson was prompted to create his own family situation comedy. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet launched October 8, 1944, on CBS, it moved to NBC in October 1948, then made a late-season switch back to CBS in April 1949. The final years of the radio series were on ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) from October 14, 1949, to June 18, 1954. In total 402 radio episodes were produced. In an arrangement that exemplified the growing pains of American broadcasting, as radio "grew up" into television, the Nelsons' deal with ABC gave the network the option to move their program to television. The struggling network needed proven talent that was not about to defect to the more established and wealthier networks like CBS or NBC.

The Nelsons' sons, David and Ricky, did not join the cast until the radio show's fifth year (initially appearing on the February 20, 1949, episode, at ages 12 and 8, respectively). The two boys were played by professional actors prior to their joining because both were too young to perform. The role of David was played by Joel Davis from 1944 until 1945 when he was replaced by Tommy Bernard. Henry Blair appeared as Ricky. Other cast members included John Brown as Syd "Thorny" Thornberry, Lurene Tuttle as Harriet's mother, Bea Benaderet as Gloria, Janet Waldo as Emmy Lou, and Francis "Dink" Trout as Roger. Vocalists included Harriet Nelson, The King Sisters, and Ozzie Nelson. The announcers were Jack Bailey and Verne Smith. The music was by Billy May and Ozzie Nelson. The producers were Dave Elton and Ozzie Nelson. The show's sponsors included International Silver Company (1944–49), H.J. Heinz Company (1949–52) and Lambert Pharmacal's Listerine (1952–54).

Source: Wikipedia

 

Broadcast History: 28 June 1944 to 20 September 1944, 3 October 1944 to 28 June 1946, 20 September 1946 to 30 May 1947, and 11 January 1949 to 5 July 1949

The series began on NBC Radio as a summer replacement situation comedy in 1944, featuring vocalist Bea Wain. It then moved to ABC Radio with Jean Gillespie portraying Young's girlfriend Betty. The program was next broadcast by NBC for a 1946-47 run and was off in 1948. When it returned to NBC in 1949, Louise Erickson played Betty and Jim Backus was heard as snobbish playboy Hubert Updike III.

Broadcast History: 2nd July 1939 to 19th April 1953

In this situation comedy The Aldrich Family consists of teenager Henry, his father, Sam, his mother Alice and his sister Mary. Each show would open with Henry’s mother calling for him in her shrill voice, “Hen-reeeee! Henry Aldrich!” To which Henry replies, “coming mother”. The concept for the show depicting the mayhem and humor of family life was created and written by Clifford Goldsmith who had two teenage sons of his own and anyone with children of their own could then and most likely now identify with the Aldrich’s.

Broadcast History:
Theme Tune: The Perfect Song from Birth of a Nation

This 15 minute daily situation comedy was probably the most popular radio show of all time. The listening audience was estimated at 40 million, almost one-third of Americans living at that time. The story was of Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll playing Amos and Andy as black men from Harlem who owned the Fresh Air Taxi Company, so called because its only cab had no windshield. Amos and Andy were the commonest of common men: they symbolised the poor Joe with no money, no job and no future. It was the first significant serial utilising the elements of sympathetic characters, comedy and suspense.

Broadcast History: 31 May 1943 to 24 December 1943, 17 January 1944 to 2 June 1944, and 2 June 1945 to 5 September 1953

Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, as well as the long-running Archie Andrews radio series, a syndicated comic strip, The Archie Show, and Archie's Weird Mysteries.

Broadcast History: 29 February 1936 to 6 June 1936, 23 December 1937 to 25 July 1940, 5 September 1940 to 15 June 1944, 17 September 1944 to 28 May 1948, and 8 November 1949 to 22 May 1951
Theme Tune: Rockabye Baby

Fanny Brice, as Baby Snooks was  first heard during the 1936 broadcasts of THE ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF THE AIR.  Soon, the character became part of the MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE TIME, and eventually her own THE BABY SNOOKS SHOW.  

 

Broadcast History: 8 September 1946 to 1 June 1947, 24 September 1947 to 25 June 1948 and 5 June 1951 to 28 August 1951

This was a thirty-minute comedy series featuring the quarrelsome husband and wife, John and Blanche Bickerson, played by Don Ameche and Frances Langford. The bickering usually began when Blanche could not sleep because of her husband’s incessant snoring. She woke him constantly to tell him off, turning domestic bliss into all-out warfare! There were actually only around 18 episodes broadcast named the Bickersons although that is the name by which most people remember all three shows, previously called Drene Time and The Old Gold Show

Broadcast History: 3 July 1939 to 26 June 1944, 21 July 1944 to 1 September 1944, 13 August 1944 to 26 September 1948, 6 October 1948 to 29 June 1949 and 6 October 1949 to 6 July 1950

In 1939, Chic Young’s popular comic strip, Blondie, was transformed into a thirty-minute situation-comedy program, which aired once a week. Advertised as a “typical couple” in the Radio Mirror, Blondie and her husband are anything but ordinary. The opening of the show does much to reinforce this fact: “Uh…Uh…Uh…UH! Don’t touch that dial! It’s time for… BLONNNNNNDIE!” The shows focus around the misfortunes of Dagwood, Blondie’s self-important husband. It seems he can do little right, both at work and at home, and is often in trouble with his boss and his wife! Events on the radio closely follow those in the comic and the film, as we see the Bumstead family complying with, what Young called, “the laws of natural life”

Broadcast History: 4 January 1935 to 5 April 1935, 14 September 1935 to 3 September 1936, 9 May 1937 to 26 September 1937, 8 December 1937 to 23 March 1938, 27 September 1938 to 8 June 1948, 14 September 1948 to 13 June 1950, and 3 October 1950 to 21 April 1955
Theme Tune: Thanks for the Memory

Bob Hope was born in the county of Kent in South East England in 1903. When he was a child his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. After finishing school he took a variety of jobs including shoe salesman, telephone lineman, and a stint as a boxer, but he dreamt of being a performer. After a great deal of persistance he ended up taking the juvenile lead in a Broadway musical comedy called The Ramblers (1926).

The audiences took to his boyish goodlucks and cheeky personality and by the 1930s he was headlining in vaudeville and had several starring roles on Broadway including Roberta (1931) and Red, Hot, and Blue (1936). He also made several appearances on radio shows such as Rudy Vallee's Fleischmann Hour Show, which lead to him being given his very own radio show in 1934.

His humour was often topical and some columnists such as Dorothy Kilgallen often critized his risque style, but his many voluntary performances to military units both at home and abroad made him one of the most popular and best-loved performers of the twentieth century.

Broadcast History: 15 February 1932 to 13 June 1934, 19 September 1934 to 24 March 1937, 12 April 1937 to 1 August 1938, 30 September 1938 to 23 June 1939, 4 October to 1939 to 26 June 1940, 1 July 1940 to 24 March 1941, 7 October 1941 to 30 June 1942, 6 October 1942 to 25 June 1945, 20 September 1945 to 23 June 1949 and 21 September 1949 to 17 May 1950

George Burns and Gracie Allen were performers who successfully moved their stand-up comedy act to radio. There were, in total, over 120 episodes of the situation comedies featuring George and Gracie as a married couple, which they were in real life. The audiences loved Gracie, she was too dainty and ladylike for anyone to even conceive disliking her. As George soon learnt! He was quoted as saying “I learned that if I blew a puff of cigar smoke in Gracie’s direction the audience would hate me!”

Broadcast History: 24 June 1941 to 16 September 1941, 23 June 1942 to 15 September 1942, 18 January 1944 to 4 January 1949 and 13 October 1949 to 25 May 1950

Teenage Situation Comedy.

Broadcast History: 3 October 1946 to 30 June 1951

The popular singer from The Jack Benny Show was given his own show on NBC in the fall of 1946 beginning on October 3, 1946. The sponsor was Colgate and the series was last heard on June 30,1951.  He played the same type of character as on the Jack Benny, this time as a soda-jerk at the Willoughby store.  His girlfriend, Mildred Anderson was first played by Sharon Douglas and later by Barbara Eiler.  Playing Mr. Willoughby was John Brown.  Bea Benaderet and Dink Trout played Midlred's parents Mr. And Mrs. Anderson. 

Broadcast History: 29 July 1940 to 30 June 1942, 6 October 1942 to 27 June 1944, and 15 September 1944 to 18 January 1952
Theme Tune: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Duffy's Tavern is a radio situation comedy that ran for a decade on several networks (CBS, 1941–42; NBC-Blue Network, 1942–44; and NBC, 1944–51), concluding with the December 28, 1951, broadcast.

The program often featured celebrity guest stars but always hooked them around the misadventures of Archie, the tavern's manager, portrayed by Ed Gardner. Archie was prone to involvement in get-rich-quick schemes and romantic missteps, and constantly communicated with malaprops and mixed metaphors. Gardner had performed the character of Archie, talking about Duffy's Tavern, as early as November 9, 1939, when he appeared on NBC's Good News of 1940.

Broadcast History: October 1931 to December 1948
Theme Tune: Manhattan Serenade

This popular series started life in 1931 as a 15-minute comedy drama written by Goodman Ace and produced by Frank and Anne Hummert.

Ace Goodman was a movie and play reviewer on KMBC when in August 1930 a subsequent act failed to show up and he was asked to keep talking. Upon seeing his wife waiting for him he motioned her in and together they improvised a skit take about the bridge game they had played the night before. It was such a success that it led to the beginning of Easy Aces.

The program portrayed the lives of Goodman Ace and his wife, Jane. Jane was a dizzy woman along the lines of Gracie Allen. She was responsible for some of the most famous malapropisms in radio history such as when she’d had a hard day she’d tell Goodman that she’d been "working my head to the bone." She kept her house "spic and spat"; She hated to "monotonize the conversation".

Broadcast History: 25 August 1949 to 19 November 1953

The series began on August 25, 1949 on NBC Radio. Set in the Midwest, it starred Robert Young as the General Insurance agent Jim Anderson. His wife Margaret was first portrayed by June Whitley and later by Jean Vander Pyl. The Anderson children were Betty (Rhoda Williams), Bud (Ted Donaldson) and Kathy (Norma Jean Nilsson). Others in the cast were Eleanor Audley, Herb Vigran, and Sam Edwards. Sponsored through most of its run by General Foods, the series was heard Thursday evenings on NBC until March 25, 1954.

 

.[Source: Wikipedia]

Broadcast History: 16 April 1935 to 2 June 1935, 8 July 1935 to 7 March 1938, 15 March 1938 to 30 June 1953, 5 October 1953 to 23 March 1956, and 1 June 1957 to 6 September 1959
Theme Tune: 'Save your Sorrow for Tomorrow', 'Ridin' Around in the Rain' and 'Wing to Wing'

Jim and Marian Jordan played Fibber McGee and his wife Molly in this hilarious domestic comedy. It was written and created by Don Quinn who had also written Smackout. It was a very popular show with over 700 episodes being broadcast. The prop best remembered from the show was probably McGee’s junk-filled closet, which always crashed down on anyone that happened to open the door. It was a very patriotic show with a whole run of shows with homefront themes.

Broadcast History: 23 October 1932 to 16 April 1933, 4 August 1933 to 1 December 1933, 3 January 1934 to 26 June 1940, 2 October 1940 to 25 June 1944, 7 October 1945 to 28 December 1947, and 4 January 1948 to 26 June 1949
Theme Tune: 'Smiles' and 'Smile, Darn Ya, Smile'

Fred Allen was the star of the long-running The Fred Allen Show that aired from 1932-1949, although it went by many names. He was a well-known and beloved comedian who entertained listeners every Sunday as they eagerly tuned in.

Allen worked hard to produce a show that incorporated the events of the day. He was an avid reader of nine different newspapers and used clippings to help build a script. Often he used lesser-known news items to create a comic centerpiece for his show.

The Fred Allen Show ran until June 26, 1949. Over the years his wife Portland appeared as his sidekick adding to the comedy. But perhaps what Allen is known best for is his feud with real-life friend Jack Benny.

Together Benny and Allen launched a public “feud”. It began by accident, but listeners were so enthralled by it that the writers for both comedians were called together to stretch it out. It became a legendary feud though the two entertainers were very amicable. In fact, the two appeared in two films together – Love Thy Neighbor and It’s In the Bag!

 

Broadcast History: 31 August 1941 to 21 March 1957

In 1941 Throckmorton P Gildersleeve spun off into his own radio program, becoming the first radio character to do so. He had originally appeared on Fibber McGee and Molly in 1937 and left to become the Water Commissioner of Summerfield and to raise his niece and nephew. The series had the same appeal as today’s soaps because each episode was connected. Gildersleeve’s romances were often at the centre of it all. The best of the romances is the one with Leila Ransom.

Broadcast History: 6 June 1950 to 6 January 1952
Theme Tune: The Halls of Ivy

A situation comedy show, which follows the daily trials and tribulations of a college president in a small American College. It ran for two seasons from 1950 to 1952 and was aired at 8pm initially on Fridays and then on a Wednesday evening for the second season.

Broadcast History: 17 September 1950 to 13 June 1951

Honest Harold, aka The Harold Peary Show is a  situation comedy broadcast in the United States September 17, 1950-June 13, 1951 on CBS.

Broadcast History: 2 May 1932 to 22 May 1955
Theme Tune: Yankee Doodle Boy, blending into Love in Bloom (Benny's personal theme); Hooray for Hollywood (closing theme).

One of the longest running and most successful comedies in the history of radio, The Jack Benny Show was loosely organised as a situation comedy. Often beginning with an opening period of repartee among cast members, it continued with a comic skit featuring many of the supporting characters who became household names. The humour is as fresh as the day it was written, the timing of the crew a marvel of the medium. Jack Benny was a total delight and his legacy will always be remembered.

Broadcast History: 12 April 1941 to 6 September 1941, 16 January 1944 to 8 July 1945, and 8 September 1945 to 29 June 1951

The Life Of Riley was a hilarious comedy about Chester A Riley. He lived with his wife Peg and his two children Junior and Babs. Riley had a heart of gold but he had no brain and always seemed to make a mess of everything.

Broadcast History: 21 September 1948 to 3 March 1953
Theme Tune: Chicago by the full orchestra, blending into an Italian sounding Oh, Marie on accordion

At 9pm on Tuesday 21st September 1948 the first episode of Life of Luigi was broadcast. A week earlier the Bob Hope Show had returned to the air at exactly the same time on Tuesday nights. This meant that the creator and producer Cy Howard was going head-to-head with one of the most popular radio shows of all time. How could it possibly compete?

Before becoming one of radio’s success stories with My Friend Irma and Life of Luigi Cy Howard had been a chronic introvert who had made a pact with himself to turn his life around. He left his job as a salesman and took on various positions at local radio stations such as KTHR in Houston and WBBM in Chicago. In 1946 he arrived at CBS with the idea for My Friend Irma at the front of his mind. The show was a huge success on radio and quickly moved to TV.

Feeling confident Cy started work on Life with Luigi. The show was originally called The Little Imiigrant, but the name was changed before the first broadcast. The lead character was a recent Italian immigrant called Luigi Basco played wonderfully by J. Carrol Naish, an Irishman in real life. Luigi had moved from Rome to run an antique shop next to Pasquale’s Spaghetti Palace in the Little Italy section of Chicago and the stories revolved around his efforts to discover and integrate into his new environment.

There are very few characters and only three major locations (the antique shop, the Spaghetti Palace, and the night school which Luigi attends). The plots are far from complex, but they provide an excellent vehicle for mirth and merriment.

All in all Life of Luigi is a classic and much underrated radio comedy. It has stood the test of time far better than many of its contemporaries and in my opinion is as funny today as it ever was.

If you need some light-hearted relief then you won’t go far wrong with Life of Luigi. It certainly gave Bob Hope a run for his money back in the late 1940s.

Broadcast History: 26 April 1931 to 7 May 1954
Theme Tune: Eleanor, by Jessie L Deppen. Evalena, by Sybil Chism Bock. Down on the Old Part Line, by Ralph and Elsie Mae Emerson

This comedy, that spanned over 23 years on the air, was centered around Lum Edwards and Abner Peabody, played by Chester Lauck and Norris "Tuffy" Goff, co-owners of the Jot'em Down Store in Pine Ridge, Arkansas. It was a "hillbilly" show and Pine Ridge was was based on the real life little town Waters, Arkansas. The Jot'em Down Store was based on a typical general store that was actually owned by a real life Dick Huddleston in Waters, Arkansas and Goff's father actually owned a wholesale grocery business in the larger town of Mena, which supplied products to the Huddleston store.

Broadcast History: 1948 - 1951

Ten years ago the town’s most eligible bachelor George Cougat (later to be renamed Cooper) married socially prominent Elizabeth Elliott. The lavish wedding kept the society columns of newspapers all over the country in copy for weeks. After their Honeymoon George bought a stylish suburban house and took the first job that came along – fifth vice president of a bank. And now the Cougat’s are just George and Liz, two people who live together and like it. George says, “When I married Liz, she didn’t know a thing about keeping house, she couldn’t cook, she couldn’t sew, she couldn’t clean. But later she overcame the lack of domesticity in a most ingenious manner.” Liz says, “I got a maid”!

 

Broadcast History: 1947 to 1954

My Friend Irma was a radio situation comedy that began broadcasting in April of 1947 on CBS. Marie Wilson was cast as the dumb blonde, Irma Peterson, and Cathy Lewis played her best friend and roommate. John Brown was cast as Irma’s boyfriend, Al, and Jane Morgan was originally cast as Mrs O’Reilly, proprietor of the rooming house where Irma and Jane resided. 

 

Broadcast History: 19 July 1948 to 7 July 1957

Connie Brooks, played by Eve Arden, was an English teacher at Madison High School in this thirty-minute comedy series. She was taken into the hearts of teachers everywhere from the beginning of its highly popular run. At last, a teacher was seen as something other than a boring, sexless, freak of nature. She complained about her low pay, got her boss, Osgood Conklin played by Gale Gordon, into no end of trouble and insistently pursued the bashful and unmarried biology teacher, Philip Boynton, played by Jeff Chandler, who was more interested in his frog, McDougall.

Broadcast History: 29 September 1946 to 18 June 1954
Theme Tune: Sunday, Rose Room, It’s a Big Wide Wonderful World

Phil Harris was the egotistical bandleader on the Jack Benny Show and also the husband of Alice Faye, a movie queen who had given up a fabulous Hollywood career to be a wife and mother. At home with Alice, Phil was terrible. He hated Alice’s brother, Willie, who lived with them and heckled Phil all the time. The stories generally centred on Phil’s stormy relationships with his cast, and his hard drinking, sarcastic Benny bandleader image. He was impressed only with his own good looks and was loud and insulting but, above all, hilarious.

Broadcast History: 7 January 1939 to 26 May 1953

Comedian Red Skelton takes the lead in this comedy show full of musical numbers. Skelton often plays one of many crazy characters, including Clem Kadiddlehopper, the idiotic cab-driver, Junior, the “mean widdle kid” and Deadeye, the fastest gun in the West. As one of the most well-loved comedians in radio history, Red remained at the top of his profession for many, many years, pulling in record numbers of listeners.

Vic and Sade are considered “radio’s home folks” and in each twelve minute program we are given an insight into American life and its characters through the conversations of Vic and Sade, their adopted son, Rush and Uncle Fletcher who regularly drops in and relates tales of people he knows or knew, now long gone. Vic and Sade live in “the small house halfway up in the next block” in a rural town somewhere in Illinois with their adopted son Rush and it is here where most of the conversations occur. The conversations mostly have no dramatic continuation but the characters will quickly become your friends and leave you wanting to hear more.