JAY JOSTYN & VICKI VOLA AS MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY & MISS MILLER.
MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Network Radio’s most popular crime fighter was nameless for his 13 year multi-network run. He was simply Mr. District Attorney.
He was called “boss“ or “chief” by his two loyal assistants, Miss Miller, and Detective Harrington, who like their leader, weren’t known by their first names. (1) With no family or apparent outside interests, Mr. District Attorney was kept busy week after week by being, “Champion of the people! Defender of truth! Guardian of our fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!” (2)
Mr. District Attorney began his climb to become king of Wednesday night radio on April 3, 1939, as a 13 week stopgap strip on NBC to fill the 15 minute weeknight hole left by Freeman Gosden & Charles Correll when they took Amos & Andy to CBS at mid-season. The new show, based upon the exploits of New York racket busting District Attorney Thomas Dewey, was co-created by Phillips H. Lord, who already had his Gangbusters in its fourth Top 50 season on CBS and Ed Byron, whose Famous Jury Trials was in its third season on Mutual. (3) It was expected that their collaborative effort would produce a hybrid of Gangbusters and Famous Jury Trials. However, both producers knew that brawls and gunfights were more exciting to listeners than courtroom battles.
The quarter-hour format starred versatile announcer Dwight Weist in the title role when it debuted on April 3, 1939. In this episode, Mr. District Attorney wins his first and only election and introduces Detective Harrigan, a character who would grow to become his Chief’s’ strong-armed sidekick. The show returned a respectable 5.1 rating for its sudden and unpublicized appearance to replace the legendary sitcom series. But by agreement, the new crime fighter left the air 13 weeks later to make way for Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians, who held the 7:00 p.m. slot on NBC for the next five years under the sponsorship of Liggett & Myers’ Chesterfield cigarettes.
That might have been that for Mr. District Attorney except for Ed Byron who had faith in the program as a half-hour series. Byron took control of the show by giving ownership of the name, Mr. District Attorney, to Phillips H. Lord and guaranteeing royalties for all of its future uses. It turned out to be a profitable deal for all concerned because at the time ad agency Lord & Thomas was looking at the time for a summer replacement for its sudden star of the 1938-39 season, Bob Hope and his Tuesday night Pepsodent Show. (See The 1938-39 Season.)
The fifteen-minute series of Mr. District Attorney ended on June 16, 1939. Four nights later Bob Hope devoted five minutes of his season ending show to introduce his 13-week summer replacement series, the new half-hour Mr. District Attorney, starring Raymond Edward Johnson in the title role. With that kind of a buildup from Network Radio’s most popular young comedian, Mr. District Attorney was off to a flying start. The momentum from the summer run carried over to fall when the melodrama finished its temporary run in September with a 12.5 Hooperating,
Pepsodent bought the show for another 26 weeks and moved it to Blue’s Sunday night schedule at 7:30 against NBC’s Fitch Bandwagon and The Screen Guild Theater on CBS which carried a combined Hooperating of 28.0. Given that competition, Mr. District Attorney sank to single digits and for the 26 weeks could only muster an average 7.8 rating. Pepsodent wanted out.
Meanwhile, Bristol-Myers was shopping for a replacement on NBC for its weak Thursday night variety show, For Men Only, hosted by comedian George Jessel and Ed Byron had found his perfect actor to play Mr. District Attorney, 35 year old Jay Jostyn. (4) Reliable radio actors Vicki Vola and Len Doyle rounded out the show’s trio of continuing characters.
Pepsodent cancelled Mr. District Attorney on Blue, Sunday, April 7, 1940. Bristol-Myers introduced Mr. District Attorney on NBC four days later on Thursday, April 11, 1940. The program’s ratings immediately jumped over 50% to 14.5 and Bristol-Myers had a hit for a minor investment.
With Jostyn settled into the title role supported by Vola and Doyle for the 1940-41 season, Bristol-Myers moved Mr. District Attorney into NBC’s Wednesday night schedule at 9:30 p.m. sandwiched between two of the network’s established Top 20 hits, Eddie Cantor’s Time To Smile and Kay Kyser’s College of Musical Knowledge. It became the first of Mr. District Attorney’s ten seasons in the Annual Top 20 programs, three in the Top Ten. The Ed Byron production became Bristol-Myers most successful dramatic series in selling its Vitalis Hair Tonic, Ipana Toothpaste and Sal Hepatica laxative. (See The Sponsor Sweepstakes.) Samples from the early part of the series run are heard in these episodes from February 12, 1941, August 19, 1942 and March 17, 1943.
The program's high mark came in the 1943-44 Season when, in the second of its six consecutive years as Wednesday’s most popular program, it peaked in the first of two annual rankings as eighth of all Network Radio shows.
Mr. District Attorney's weekly production cost to Bristol-Myers at this time was a mere $5,000. Meanwhile, Eddie Cantor’s Time To Smile, its Bristol-Myers stable mate in the nine o’clock hour, cost their sponsor $12,500 per week. From this period when Mr. District Attorney topped Wednesday’s Top Ten are posted episodes from August 23, 1944, December 5, 1945, May 7, 1947, and May 5, 1948. (5)
Historian John Dunning reports that Ed Byron had created a reputation of being able to foresee criminal and enemy activities before they happened. This ability carried over to the writing staff of Mr. District Attorney as well, particularly to Jerry Divine who created the popular docudrama This Is Your FBI on ABC in 1945. (See FBI vs. FBI) Music for the series was composed and conducted by Peter Van Steeden, narration was by Maurice Franklin and commercial announcing was delivered by Fred Uttal.
Mr. District Attorney was pushed out of its top position on Wednesday night by 1/10th of a rating point in the 1948-49 season by Duffy’s Tavern. (See Duffy Ain't Here.) It remained in Wednesday’s Top Three for the next two seasons but was moved by Bristol-Myers to ABC’s Friday night schedule in September, 1951, for an encore season where it won its time period at 9:30 and again finished among the night’s Top Three programs.
When Mr. District Attorney moved to ABC 1951-52, Ziv Television Productions made a quick, 13-episode series of the show for ABC-TV’s Monday night schedule. The video versions featured Jay Joystyn, Vicki Vola and Len Doyle in the roles that made them famous on radio. Following this final year of Mr District Attorney, Len Doyle returned to the stage, Vicki Vola remained in New York for radio and television roles while Jay Jostyn shifted to Hollywood where he appeared in scores of television and movie roles for the next 20 years.
But Jostyn will forever be known for his booming voice echoing at the beginning of every Mr. District Attorney broadcast: "And it shall be my duty as District Attorney not only to prosecute to the limit of the law all persons accused of crimes perpetrated within this county, but to defend with equal vigor the rights and privilidges of all its citizens."
(1) Miss Miller’s first name was the seldom heard Edith and Harrington was never referred to by his given name, Len.
(2) Never given a proper name on radio, Mr. District Attorney was named P. Cadwallader Jones in Republic Pictures’ 1941 mystery-comedy adaptation of the program starring Dennis O’Keefe which The New York Times ranked as, “The worst bad picture of the year.” Republic followed in late 1941 with the mystery-romance, Mr. District Attorney In The Carter Case with James Ellison in the Cadwallader role. Dennis O’Keefe returned to play the title role in the 1947 Columbia melodrama, Mr. District Attorney, with the name Steve Bennett. Finally, David Brian played the title role of Ziv TV’s twelve episode series, Mr. District Attorney in 1954, with the name David Garrett
(3) Ed Byron, 34, had built a solid programming reputation at powerful WLW/Cincinnati. He was also the producer of the popular Mutual game show What’s My Name? and the creator of Network Radio’s first giveaway show, Pot O Gold, in September, 1939. (See First Season Phenoms.)
(4) Byron was familiar with Milwaukee born Jay Jostyn, (fka Eugene Josten), from their days at WLW/Cincinnati, when Byron produced and Jostyn narrated the station’s popular late-night program of soft music and poetry, Moon River. When Byron hired him for Mr. District Attorney, Jostyn was working in several soap operas and played Walter Parker in Blue’s lame prime time sitcom The Parker Family.
(5) Jay Jostyn and Vicki Vola also starred in Foreign Assignment a 26 week Saturday night feature in Mutual from January to July, 1944.
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com
Network Radio’s most popular crime fighter was nameless for his 13 year multi-network run. He was simply Mr. District Attorney.
He was called “boss“ or “chief” by his two loyal assistants, Miss Miller, and Detective Harrington, who like their leader, weren’t known by their first names. (1) With no family or apparent outside interests, Mr. District Attorney was kept busy week after week by being, “Champion of the people! Defender of truth! Guardian of our fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!” (2)
Mr. District Attorney began his climb to become king of Wednesday night radio on April 3, 1939, as a 13 week stopgap strip on NBC to fill the 15 minute weeknight hole left by Freeman Gosden & Charles Correll when they took Amos & Andy to CBS at mid-season. The new show, based upon the exploits of New York racket busting District Attorney Thomas Dewey, was co-created by Phillips H. Lord, who already had his Gangbusters in its fourth Top 50 season on CBS and Ed Byron, whose Famous Jury Trials was in its third season on Mutual. (3) It was expected that their collaborative effort would produce a hybrid of Gangbusters and Famous Jury Trials. However, both producers knew that brawls and gunfights were more exciting to listeners than courtroom battles.
The quarter-hour format starred versatile announcer Dwight Weist in the title role when it debuted on April 3, 1939. In this episode, Mr. District Attorney wins his first and only election and introduces Detective Harrigan, a character who would grow to become his Chief’s’ strong-armed sidekick. The show returned a respectable 5.1 rating for its sudden and unpublicized appearance to replace the legendary sitcom series. But by agreement, the new crime fighter left the air 13 weeks later to make way for Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians, who held the 7:00 p.m. slot on NBC for the next five years under the sponsorship of Liggett & Myers’ Chesterfield cigarettes.
That might have been that for Mr. District Attorney except for Ed Byron who had faith in the program as a half-hour series. Byron took control of the show by giving ownership of the name, Mr. District Attorney, to Phillips H. Lord and guaranteeing royalties for all of its future uses. It turned out to be a profitable deal for all concerned because at the time ad agency Lord & Thomas was looking at the time for a summer replacement for its sudden star of the 1938-39 season, Bob Hope and his Tuesday night Pepsodent Show. (See The 1938-39 Season.)
The fifteen-minute series of Mr. District Attorney ended on June 16, 1939. Four nights later Bob Hope devoted five minutes of his season ending show to introduce his 13-week summer replacement series, the new half-hour Mr. District Attorney, starring Raymond Edward Johnson in the title role. With that kind of a buildup from Network Radio’s most popular young comedian, Mr. District Attorney was off to a flying start. The momentum from the summer run carried over to fall when the melodrama finished its temporary run in September with a 12.5 Hooperating,
Pepsodent bought the show for another 26 weeks and moved it to Blue’s Sunday night schedule at 7:30 against NBC’s Fitch Bandwagon and The Screen Guild Theater on CBS which carried a combined Hooperating of 28.0. Given that competition, Mr. District Attorney sank to single digits and for the 26 weeks could only muster an average 7.8 rating. Pepsodent wanted out.
Meanwhile, Bristol-Myers was shopping for a replacement on NBC for its weak Thursday night variety show, For Men Only, hosted by comedian George Jessel and Ed Byron had found his perfect actor to play Mr. District Attorney, 35 year old Jay Jostyn. (4) Reliable radio actors Vicki Vola and Len Doyle rounded out the show’s trio of continuing characters.
Pepsodent cancelled Mr. District Attorney on Blue, Sunday, April 7, 1940. Bristol-Myers introduced Mr. District Attorney on NBC four days later on Thursday, April 11, 1940. The program’s ratings immediately jumped over 50% to 14.5 and Bristol-Myers had a hit for a minor investment.
With Jostyn settled into the title role supported by Vola and Doyle for the 1940-41 season, Bristol-Myers moved Mr. District Attorney into NBC’s Wednesday night schedule at 9:30 p.m. sandwiched between two of the network’s established Top 20 hits, Eddie Cantor’s Time To Smile and Kay Kyser’s College of Musical Knowledge. It became the first of Mr. District Attorney’s ten seasons in the Annual Top 20 programs, three in the Top Ten. The Ed Byron production became Bristol-Myers most successful dramatic series in selling its Vitalis Hair Tonic, Ipana Toothpaste and Sal Hepatica laxative. (See The Sponsor Sweepstakes.) Samples from the early part of the series run are heard in these episodes from February 12, 1941, August 19, 1942 and March 17, 1943.
The program's high mark came in the 1943-44 Season when, in the second of its six consecutive years as Wednesday’s most popular program, it peaked in the first of two annual rankings as eighth of all Network Radio shows.
Mr. District Attorney's weekly production cost to Bristol-Myers at this time was a mere $5,000. Meanwhile, Eddie Cantor’s Time To Smile, its Bristol-Myers stable mate in the nine o’clock hour, cost their sponsor $12,500 per week. From this period when Mr. District Attorney topped Wednesday’s Top Ten are posted episodes from August 23, 1944, December 5, 1945, May 7, 1947, and May 5, 1948. (5)
Historian John Dunning reports that Ed Byron had created a reputation of being able to foresee criminal and enemy activities before they happened. This ability carried over to the writing staff of Mr. District Attorney as well, particularly to Jerry Divine who created the popular docudrama This Is Your FBI on ABC in 1945. (See FBI vs. FBI) Music for the series was composed and conducted by Peter Van Steeden, narration was by Maurice Franklin and commercial announcing was delivered by Fred Uttal.
Mr. District Attorney was pushed out of its top position on Wednesday night by 1/10th of a rating point in the 1948-49 season by Duffy’s Tavern. (See Duffy Ain't Here.) It remained in Wednesday’s Top Three for the next two seasons but was moved by Bristol-Myers to ABC’s Friday night schedule in September, 1951, for an encore season where it won its time period at 9:30 and again finished among the night’s Top Three programs.
When Mr. District Attorney moved to ABC 1951-52, Ziv Television Productions made a quick, 13-episode series of the show for ABC-TV’s Monday night schedule. The video versions featured Jay Joystyn, Vicki Vola and Len Doyle in the roles that made them famous on radio. Following this final year of Mr District Attorney, Len Doyle returned to the stage, Vicki Vola remained in New York for radio and television roles while Jay Jostyn shifted to Hollywood where he appeared in scores of television and movie roles for the next 20 years.
But Jostyn will forever be known for his booming voice echoing at the beginning of every Mr. District Attorney broadcast: "And it shall be my duty as District Attorney not only to prosecute to the limit of the law all persons accused of crimes perpetrated within this county, but to defend with equal vigor the rights and privilidges of all its citizens."
(1) Miss Miller’s first name was the seldom heard Edith and Harrington was never referred to by his given name, Len.
(2) Never given a proper name on radio, Mr. District Attorney was named P. Cadwallader Jones in Republic Pictures’ 1941 mystery-comedy adaptation of the program starring Dennis O’Keefe which The New York Times ranked as, “The worst bad picture of the year.” Republic followed in late 1941 with the mystery-romance, Mr. District Attorney In The Carter Case with James Ellison in the Cadwallader role. Dennis O’Keefe returned to play the title role in the 1947 Columbia melodrama, Mr. District Attorney, with the name Steve Bennett. Finally, David Brian played the title role of Ziv TV’s twelve episode series, Mr. District Attorney in 1954, with the name David Garrett
(3) Ed Byron, 34, had built a solid programming reputation at powerful WLW/Cincinnati. He was also the producer of the popular Mutual game show What’s My Name? and the creator of Network Radio’s first giveaway show, Pot O Gold, in September, 1939. (See First Season Phenoms.)
(4) Byron was familiar with Milwaukee born Jay Jostyn, (fka Eugene Josten), from their days at WLW/Cincinnati, when Byron produced and Jostyn narrated the station’s popular late-night program of soft music and poetry, Moon River. When Byron hired him for Mr. District Attorney, Jostyn was working in several soap operas and played Walter Parker in Blue’s lame prime time sitcom The Parker Family.
(5) Jay Jostyn and Vicki Vola also starred in Foreign Assignment a 26 week Saturday night feature in Mutual from January to July, 1944.
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com
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