WERE JIMMY DURANTE & GARRY MOORE THE CORRECT ANSWER TO #14 ?
GREAT GREETINGS
First impressions are important. That was never truer than during Network Radio’s Golden Age when a familiar, attention getting, program opening was considered important to catching and holding listeners. Below are 15 show opening signatures - some famous and familiar to all Network Radio historians and fans, some not so famous. Multple choice answers are arranged alphabetically. See how many you can correctly match with their programs or the personalities associated with them.
1/ “Hello, Americans!“
A. The Bell Telephone Hour
B. Father Coughlin
C. Paul Harvey News
2/ “It’s time for Oxydol’s own ….. “
A. Ma Perkins
B. Mary Noble, Backstage Wife
C. Stella Dallas
3/ “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of man?”
A. The Shadow
B. The Whistler
C. The Witch’s Tale
4/ (SUNG) “Howdy all you friends and neighbors, welcome to our Prince Albert show…”
A. The Grand Ol Opry
B. The National Barn Dance
C. The Renfro Valley Gang
5/ “Wherever there’s mystery, intrigue and romance in all the strange and dangerous places of the world, there you will find…”
A. The Falcon.
B. The Man Called X.
C. The Saint.
6/ “Hello from Hollywood!”
A. Hedda Hopper.
B. Jimmie Fidler.
C. Louella Parsons.
7/ (ROOSTER CROWING) “Wake up, America!”
A. Arthur Godfrey Time.
B. The Breakfast Club.
C. Information Please.
8/ “Ah, there’s good news tonight!”
A. Bill Henry.
B. Gabriel Heatter.
C. H.V. Kaltenborn.
9/ “Over the next half hour, take a trip with America‘s fabulous free-lance insurance investigator. At insurance investigations he’s just an expert … at making out his expense account he’s an absolute genius….”
A. Barrie Craig.
B. Johnny Dollar.
C. Richard Diamond.
10/ (TELEGRAPH KEY) “Good Evening, Mr. & Mrs. North America and all the ships at sea. Let’s go to press!”
A. Alex Drier.
B. Lowell Thomas.
C. Walter Winchell.
11/ (FOOTSTEPS, FOG HORN, GUNSHOT) “Out of the fog, out of the night and into his American adventures comes…”
A. Bulldog Drummond.
B. Hawthorne of The Death Squad.
C. Sherlock Holmes.
12/ (TELEPHONE RING) “Well, I believe that’s our ring. Hello, Jot Em Down Store…”
A. David Harum.
B. Just Plain Bill.
C. Lum & Abner.
13/ “All hands on deck!" (ORGAN STING) "Stand by for action! Stand by for adventure! Stand by for…..”
A. Captain Midnight.
B. Don Winslow.
C. Hop Harrigan.
14/ (GROUP SING) "Friendship, friendship, just the perfect blend-ship. When other friendships have been forgot, their’s will still be hot.”
A. Jimmy Durante & Gary Moore.
B. Martin & Lewis.
C. My Friend Irma.
15/ “Hello, there! We’ve been waiting for you. It’s time to play… “
A. Double Or Nothing.
B. Take It Or Leave It.
C. Truth Or Consequences.
How familiar were these program openings? We totaled the length of time on the air for the 15 correct answers and the result was a surprising 316 years - averaging just over 21 years each.
1/ C. Paul Harvey (Aurandt) greeted his millions of ABC Network listeners with this salutation for 56 years.
2/ A. Ma Perkins, played by Virginia Payne, was sponsored over her 27 year multi-network run by Procter & Gamble’s Oxydol.
3/ A. The Shadow knew in his sporadic multi-network run from on Mutual from 1930 to 1954. (See The Shadow Nos,)
4/ A. The Grand Ole Opry used this R. J. Reynolds Tobacco theme for its Saturday night half-hour on NBC for 18 years.
5/ B. The Man Called X was suave British actor Herbert Marshall as secret agent Ken Thurston - a reliable summer replacement program on both CBS and NBC from 1944 to 1952.
6/ C. Columnist Louella Parsons gushed this greeting to movie fans in a sporadic multi-network career that spanned 23 years.
7/ C. Information Please broke all the “rules” for panel shows in its multi-network decade that began in 1938. (See Information Please.) For our Facebook and e-mail friends, Don McNeill opened his daily Breakfast Club with, "Good morning, Breakfast Clubbers, good morning to ya. We woke up bright and early to howdy-do ya."
8/ B. Gabriel Heatter was Mutual’s most popular newscaster from 1932 to 1961.
9/ B. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was the perennial CBS utility show to fill gaps in the network’s schedule from 1949 to 1962. (See CBS Packages Unwrapped.)
10/ C. Walter Winchell was the Sunday ratings magnet for Blue/ABC for 23 years of a multi-network career that covered 27 career years. (See Walter Winchell.)
11/ A. Bulldog Drummond was in and out of the Mutual schedule from 1941 to 1948 with another brief run in 1954.
12/ C. Lum & Abner, (Chet Lauck & Norris Goff), jumped from local radio in Arkansas in 1931 and launched a multi-network career that extended to 1954
13/ A. Kids’ serial Don Winslow of The Navy jumped in and out of the Blue Network schedule from 1937 to 1942.
14/ C. My Friend Irma began its seven year run on CBS in 1947 and scored its four seasons in the Annual Top Ten. (See Monday's All Time Top Ten.)
15/ C. Ralph Edwards’ Truth Or Consequences was introduced in 1940 and never dropped out of the Top 50 over the next dozen years while it introduced massive giveaways and generated millions of dollars for charities. (See Truth Or Consequences and Saturday's All Time Top Ten.)
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com
First impressions are important. That was never truer than during Network Radio’s Golden Age when a familiar, attention getting, program opening was considered important to catching and holding listeners. Below are 15 show opening signatures - some famous and familiar to all Network Radio historians and fans, some not so famous. Multple choice answers are arranged alphabetically. See how many you can correctly match with their programs or the personalities associated with them.
1/ “Hello, Americans!“
A. The Bell Telephone Hour
B. Father Coughlin
C. Paul Harvey News
2/ “It’s time for Oxydol’s own ….. “
A. Ma Perkins
B. Mary Noble, Backstage Wife
C. Stella Dallas
3/ “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of man?”
A. The Shadow
B. The Whistler
C. The Witch’s Tale
4/ (SUNG) “Howdy all you friends and neighbors, welcome to our Prince Albert show…”
A. The Grand Ol Opry
B. The National Barn Dance
C. The Renfro Valley Gang
5/ “Wherever there’s mystery, intrigue and romance in all the strange and dangerous places of the world, there you will find…”
A. The Falcon.
B. The Man Called X.
C. The Saint.
6/ “Hello from Hollywood!”
A. Hedda Hopper.
B. Jimmie Fidler.
C. Louella Parsons.
7/ (ROOSTER CROWING) “Wake up, America!”
A. Arthur Godfrey Time.
B. The Breakfast Club.
C. Information Please.
8/ “Ah, there’s good news tonight!”
A. Bill Henry.
B. Gabriel Heatter.
C. H.V. Kaltenborn.
9/ “Over the next half hour, take a trip with America‘s fabulous free-lance insurance investigator. At insurance investigations he’s just an expert … at making out his expense account he’s an absolute genius….”
A. Barrie Craig.
B. Johnny Dollar.
C. Richard Diamond.
10/ (TELEGRAPH KEY) “Good Evening, Mr. & Mrs. North America and all the ships at sea. Let’s go to press!”
A. Alex Drier.
B. Lowell Thomas.
C. Walter Winchell.
11/ (FOOTSTEPS, FOG HORN, GUNSHOT) “Out of the fog, out of the night and into his American adventures comes…”
A. Bulldog Drummond.
B. Hawthorne of The Death Squad.
C. Sherlock Holmes.
12/ (TELEPHONE RING) “Well, I believe that’s our ring. Hello, Jot Em Down Store…”
A. David Harum.
B. Just Plain Bill.
C. Lum & Abner.
13/ “All hands on deck!" (ORGAN STING) "Stand by for action! Stand by for adventure! Stand by for…..”
A. Captain Midnight.
B. Don Winslow.
C. Hop Harrigan.
14/ (GROUP SING) "Friendship, friendship, just the perfect blend-ship. When other friendships have been forgot, their’s will still be hot.”
A. Jimmy Durante & Gary Moore.
B. Martin & Lewis.
C. My Friend Irma.
15/ “Hello, there! We’ve been waiting for you. It’s time to play… “
A. Double Or Nothing.
B. Take It Or Leave It.
C. Truth Or Consequences.
How familiar were these program openings? We totaled the length of time on the air for the 15 correct answers and the result was a surprising 316 years - averaging just over 21 years each.
1/ C. Paul Harvey (Aurandt) greeted his millions of ABC Network listeners with this salutation for 56 years.
2/ A. Ma Perkins, played by Virginia Payne, was sponsored over her 27 year multi-network run by Procter & Gamble’s Oxydol.
3/ A. The Shadow knew in his sporadic multi-network run from on Mutual from 1930 to 1954. (See The Shadow Nos,)
4/ A. The Grand Ole Opry used this R. J. Reynolds Tobacco theme for its Saturday night half-hour on NBC for 18 years.
5/ B. The Man Called X was suave British actor Herbert Marshall as secret agent Ken Thurston - a reliable summer replacement program on both CBS and NBC from 1944 to 1952.
6/ C. Columnist Louella Parsons gushed this greeting to movie fans in a sporadic multi-network career that spanned 23 years.
7/ C. Information Please broke all the “rules” for panel shows in its multi-network decade that began in 1938. (See Information Please.) For our Facebook and e-mail friends, Don McNeill opened his daily Breakfast Club with, "Good morning, Breakfast Clubbers, good morning to ya. We woke up bright and early to howdy-do ya."
8/ B. Gabriel Heatter was Mutual’s most popular newscaster from 1932 to 1961.
9/ B. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was the perennial CBS utility show to fill gaps in the network’s schedule from 1949 to 1962. (See CBS Packages Unwrapped.)
10/ C. Walter Winchell was the Sunday ratings magnet for Blue/ABC for 23 years of a multi-network career that covered 27 career years. (See Walter Winchell.)
11/ A. Bulldog Drummond was in and out of the Mutual schedule from 1941 to 1948 with another brief run in 1954.
12/ C. Lum & Abner, (Chet Lauck & Norris Goff), jumped from local radio in Arkansas in 1931 and launched a multi-network career that extended to 1954
13/ A. Kids’ serial Don Winslow of The Navy jumped in and out of the Blue Network schedule from 1937 to 1942.
14/ C. My Friend Irma began its seven year run on CBS in 1947 and scored its four seasons in the Annual Top Ten. (See Monday's All Time Top Ten.)
15/ C. Ralph Edwards’ Truth Or Consequences was introduced in 1940 and never dropped out of the Top 50 over the next dozen years while it introduced massive giveaways and generated millions of dollars for charities. (See Truth Or Consequences and Saturday's All Time Top Ten.)
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com