"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 . . . ": The Way It Was, 8 December

1941---A nation begins to round itself into shape enough to respond to the Pearl Harbour attacks and the blaring reality America going once more to war.

"YESTERDAY . . . DECEMBER 7, 1941 . . . "---CBS News covers completely President Franklin D. Roosevelt's address to a joint session of Congress, including his call for a formal declaration of war.

The President's address is preceded by reporting on the gathering from correspondent Albert Warner, who reports among other things the war resolutions expected to come after the President has finished; and, Park Simmons, on Speaker Sam Rayburn preparing to present the President formally, and with a brief synopsis on the Roosevelt Administration's activity upon the news of the attack, just before the President arrives.

Those are followed by analysis from Warner, Simmons, Eric Sevareid, and remarks on the floor of the House, including Reps. Joseph Martin (R-Massachussetts, and one of the trio of opponents Roosevelt has often mocked in the rollicking taunt of "Martin, Barton, and Fish") and Hamilton Fish* (R-New York, who sometimes signed his correspondence with the tailpiece, "of the law firm of Martin, Barton, and Fish"), former anti-interventionists who now proclaim war is inevitable and necessary, before the formal declaration.

"The Japanese," Fish thunders, "have gone stark mad."

"WE'LL STAY WITH THE ACTION . . . " NBC News's coverage of the Congressional resolution and discussions immediately following FDR's address.

"REPORTS OF IMMINENT ATTACKS . . . "---Wilfred Pickles of the BBC on likely further Japanese attacks in the Far East.

"AS SOON AS I HEARD . . . MY FIRST FEELING WAS . . . "---British Prime Minister Winston Churchill mulls the immediate cost of the Pearl Harbour attack, a fast-called session of Parliament in response, and his telephone conversation with FDR Sunday night.

"GUAM IS IN TROUBLE . . . "---From Manila (which the Japanese bombed contiguous to Pearl Harbour), CBS News's Ford Wilkins reports Japanese attacks, actual or iminent, against Guam and Shanghai.

CHANNEL SURFING: THE DAY AFTER

THE BREAKFAST CLUB---Following an NBC News bulletin, The Breakfast Club, Don McNeil's popular morning program, does its best to keep its audience spirits up as the crisis takes more complete hold, pending FDR's address and formal war declarations later in the day.

THE STORY OF MARY MARLIN (NBC)---That's NBC News's bulletin, one of the first known casualty reports to come from Pearl Harbour, delivered just before the day's episode of this popular soap opera, on which Davey's (possibly Bobby Dean Maxwell) intended destination is exposed further.

Mary: Possibly Betty Lou Gerson. David Post: Possibly Carlton Bricker. Writer: Jane Cruisinberry.

LUM & ABNER: LUM'S PRUNE BREAD (CBS)---An episode that seems to have avoided interruption for wartime updates: As the new (and presumably self-appointed) head chef of the new Pine Ridge Bakery, Lum (Chester Lauck) is busy inventing new confections, amusing Abner (Norris Goff) and Grandpappy (also Goff) until he reveals one of the new treats, on today's edition which seems also to have avoided interruption for wartime updates. Writers: Chester Lauck, Norris Goff, Jay Sommers.

VIC & SADE: THE BOTTOM BUFFET DRAWER (NBC)---In another of the day's possible few program airings uninterrupted by wartime news, Vic (Art Van Harvey), Rush (Bill Idelson), and Uncle Fletcher (Clarence Hartzell) arrive home all at once . . . just in time to handle a peculiar storage problem. Sade: Bernadine Flynn. Writer: Paul Rhymer.

PREMERING TODAY . . .

1904---George Stevens (director: Lux Radio Theater), Oakland
1907---Frank Faylen (actor: Screen Guild Theater), St. Louis.
1911---Lee J. Cobb (actor: Roosty of the AAF; Citizen of the World; Hollywood Startime), New York City.
1914---Mary Patton (actress: Arnold Grimm's Daughter; The Fat Man), Minnesota.