Radio v. Television: The Way It Was, 2 April

FEATURED BROADCAST
TEXACO STAR THEATER WITH FRED ALLEN:
RADIO V. TELEVISION
(CBS, 1944)

The man who would say in due course that he knew why television was called a new medium ("because nothing is well done") engages a debate on the matter, aided and abetted by Jack Haley---whom he spots in a television studio after slipping aboard a radio studio tour in search of a guest for the show in the first place.

First, however, he is compelled to glean thoughts on an egg surplus from the scrambled Allen's Alley demimonde.

With Portland Hoffa. Senator Bloat: Jack Smart. Mrs. Florence: Minerva Pious. Mr. Rappaport: John Brown. Falstaff: Alan Reed. Announcer: Jimmy Wallington. Music: Al Goodman Orchestra, Hi-Lo Jack and the Dame. Writers: Fred Allen, Bob Weiskopf.

CHANNEL SURFING . . .

TEXACO STAR THEATER WITH FRED ALLEN: ONE LONG PAN SOLVES CHARLIE CHAN'S MURDER (CBS, 1941)---Who says there's such a thing as too much of a good Fred Allen show---especially when disaster sleuth One Long Pan (Allen) is dispatched to solve the murder of no less than the Oriental flatfoot he usually satirises . . . who's been shot outside a Hollywood gathering, no less. First, however, the Texaco News analyses a judge's theory as to the cause of divorce---namely, working wives, nonworking husbands, tin-can meals, and interfering in-laws; and, the Texaco Roundtable discusses the impact of digest reading in an age of speed. With Portland Hoffa; guest: Lionel Stander. The Texaco Workshop Players: Charlie Cantor, Minerva Pious, Alan Reed, Jack Smart. Music: Al Goodman Orchestra, Kenny Baker, Wynn Murray. Writers: Fred Allen, Arnold Auerbach, Herman Wouk.

THE PHIL HARRIS-ALICE FAYE SHOW: REMLEY'S FLYING SAUCER SAGA; OR, LEAN OVER HERE AND BREATHE OUT, CLYDE (NBC, 1950)---In a show done from Palm Springs, it takes a little convincing for vacationing Phil (Harris) to buy it when Remley (Elliott Lewis) swears to have seen flying saucers and their extraterrestrial occupants out on the desert . . . until Remley reveals just whom he said saw the saucers landing, alarming Alice (Faye). Little Alice: Jeanine Roos. Phyllis: Ann Whitfield. Willie: Robert North. Julius: Walter Tetley. Writers: Ray Singer, Dick Chevillat.

PREMIERING 1 AND 2 APRIL . . .

1 APRIL

1886---Wallace Beery (actor: Shell Chateau, Lux Radio Theater), Kansas City.
1904---Sidney Field (writer/comedian, The Abbott & Costello Show, others), Birmingham, U.K.
1909---Eddy Duchin (pianist/bandleader, numerous radio broadcasts), Cambridge, Massachussetts.
1912---Lou Merrill (actor: Crime Classics, Point Sublime), Canada.
1917---Leon Janney (actor: The Life of Mary Sothern, The Parker Family, mr. ace and JANE), Ogden, Utah; Mel Shavelson (writer: The Bob Hope Show), New York City.
1923---Bobby Jordan (actor: Texaco Star Playhouse, Wheatenaville Sketches), New York City.
1926---Jack Grimes (actor: Archie Andrews, The Aldrich Family), New York City.
1929---Jane Powell (actress/singer: A Date with Judy, The Chase & Sanborn Hour), Portland, Oregon.
1934---Don Hastings (actor: Theater Guild on the Air, Radio City Playhouse), Brooklyn.

2 APRIL

1878---Leon Curley (actor: Mary Noble, Backstage Wife, Tom Mix, Ralston Sheriff), New York City.
1908---Buddy Ebsen (actor: Hollywood Hotel), Belleville, Illinois.
1911---Bill Days (singer, with the Sportsmen Quartet: The Jack Benny Program, My Friend Irma), St. Louis.
1913---Fran Carlon (actress: Big Town, The Story of Mary Marlin), Indianapolis.
1914---Sir Alec Guinness (actor: Kaleidoscope), London.
1917---Gertrude Warner (actress: The Shadow, Against the Storm), Hartford, Connecticut.
1920---Jack Webb (actor/producer/director: Dragnet, Pete Kelly's Blues), Santa Monica, California.