FRED ALLEN & PORTLAND HOFFA, EDDIE CANTOR AND BURNS & ALLEN WERE GOOD FOR LAUGHS ON WEDNESDAYS..

WEDNESDAY’S ALL TIME TOP TEN

Wednesdays during Network Radio’s Golden Age had two outstanding characteristics - Variety and Stability. One look at the list of the 15 nominees for Wednesday’s All Time Top Ten and their number of finishes in the night’s Top Ten illustrate it. 

Listeners were given radio’s full menu of offerings throughout the era on Wednesday. From the comedy of Fred Allen, (above left with his beloved Portland), Eddie Cantor and Burns & Allen, to the human dramas of Dr. Christian and One Man’s Family, to the criminal chasers of Gangbusters and Mr. District Attorney, to the songs of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra plus the comedy quizzes from Kay Kyser and Groucho Marx - it was all there, and more, on Wednesday.

Program records drawn from Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953, tell us that the 15 programs and/or personalities who qualify for Wednesday’s All Time Top Ten, (with three or more Top Ten seasons on the night), averaged seven of Top Ten seasons - the highest number recorded for any night of the week.

In a medium where turnover was common, Wednesday was uncommonly consistent. Listeners had their favorites and knew where they could find them - year after year after year.

The success of Wednesday’s weekly programs had another effect, squeezing out Multiple Run programs from success in the annual Top Ten lists. Only four Multiple Run strip shows had three or more Top Ten seasons on Wednesday night.

But this post is only concerned with the following weekly programs. So here, once again, is your challenge: Pick Wednesday’s All Time Top Ten - in order - from the following list.

                            Program/Personality &  Wednesday Top Ten Finishes
                            The Big Story - 6
                            Bing Crosby - 6
                            Burns & Allen - 7
                            Dr. Christian - 14
                            Duffy’s Tavern - 3
                            Eddie Cantor - 7
                            Frank Sinatra - 4
                            Fred Allen - 8
                            Gangbusters - 4
                            The Great Gildersleeve - 7
                            Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life - 5
                            Kay Kyser's College of Musical Knowledge - 9
                            Mr. & Mrs. North - 5
                            Mr District Attorney - 11
                            One Man’s Family - 5

Hint: The winners registered a combined total of 79 Top Ten seasons on Wednesday night. Look under the familiar book cover and you'll discover how the ratings ranked Wednesday‘s All Time Top Ten.

Wednesday’s All Time Top Ten

1/ Mr. District Attorney became the only melodrama with continuing characters to lead any night’s All Time Top Ten. During its eleven season Wednesday run on NBC at 9:30, the crime fighting series starred Jay Jostyn as the nameless DA with Vicki Vola and Len Doyle as his loyal assistants "Miss Miller" and "Harrington". Mr. District Attorney was owned, produced and directed by Ed Byron, with co-creator credit and royalties given to Phillips H. Lord.  It compiled six first place finishes plus one in second, two in third, and one each in fourth and fifth place for 98 points.

2/ Kay Kyser’s College of Musical Knowledge was Variety with a capital V. The collegiate themed hour on NBC featured music from Kyser’s popular orchestra and singers - most notably Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt and Sully Mason - comedy from Kyser’s stooge, Ish Kabibble, (trumpet player and band manager Merwyn Bogue), and a fast paced audience participation quiz emceed by Kyser dressed in cap and gown. The format paid off with three seasons each in first and second place plus one each in third, fourth and eighth place for a nine season Wednesday total of 75 points.

3/ Fred Allen was one of Wednesday’s two stars who also finished among Sunday’s All Time Top Ten.  And like Allen’s Sunday series, his Wednesday run of eight Top Ten seasons was split between networks - seven on NBC and one on CBS. The droll comedian’s Town Hall Tonight from 1934 to 1940 racked up two first place seasons and four in second place while his earlier Hour of Smiles and final Wednesday show, Texaco Star Theater, each finished sixth. Before he moved on to Sunday nights, Allen left a final count in Wednesday’s All Time Top Ten rankings of 65.  (See The Feud.)

4/ Dr. Christian was a study in longevity. The anthology of human-interest dramas starring veteran Danish actor Jean Hersholt with Rosemary DeCamp as his faithful nurse Judy Price, aired for 16 straight years on CBS, 14 of them on Wednesday at 8:30 and all sponsored by Chesebrough’s Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. Dr. Christian was unique as the only program that solicited scripts from its listeners who participated in the program’s annual writing contest offering cash prizes. Over its Wednesday run, Dr. Christian never dropped from the night’s Top Ten, but usually finished in its lower tier, accumulating a 14 year total of 65 points.  (See Dr. Christian.) 

5/ Eddie Cantor achieved Sunday’s All Time Top Ten in the earliest years of the Golden Age and then moved to Wednesday on for a season on CBS in 1937-38 where he led the night‘s Top Ten. He returned to Wednesday for six more seasons beginning in 1940 on NBC. Cantor’s Wednesday shows proved to be more popular that his legendary Sunday series, scoring two first place seasons, two in second place and three in third for a total of 62 points.

6/ Burns & Allen were, as Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 calls them, Radio’s Peripatetic Pair, jumping between CBS and NBC six times in their 18 seasons on the air. Over those years George and Gracie’s programs were heard on every night of the week but Saturday and Sunday. Yet, they landed on Wednesday long enough to join its All Time Top Ten - which they did on CBS with two first place finishes, two in second place and one in seventh from 1932 to 1937 - plus an encore season in 1939-40 that finished in fourth place  Their seven seasons resulted in 53 points. 

7/ The Great Gildersleeve was Network Radio’s most successful spinoff series, breaking away from Fibber McGee & Molly in 1941 to join NBC’s Sunday night lineup. After four seasons in Sunday’s Top Ten, the sitcom starring Hal Peary moved to Wednesday on NBC where it registered one season in second place, two each in third and fourth plus one season each in fifth and seventh place for a total of 49 points.  (See The Great Gildersleeve(s).)

8/ Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life made the network rounds quickly in its early years. The comedy/quiz produced by John Guedel opened on ABC in 1947 for two seasons then moved to CBS for one before settling in at NBC for its greatest success. It was also Groucho’s greatest success in radio.  Despite the network switches, the show stayed put on Wednesday where it scored three first place finishes in the night’s Top Ten plus one season in second and another in eighth for a total of 42 points.  See The One,The Only...Groucho! & A John Guedel Production.)

9/ The Big Story, a docudrama loosely based on sensational local newspaper stories and the reporters responsible for them, was an NBC production narrated by Bob Sloane. The program debuted in 1946 opposite Bing Crosby’s Philco Radio Time on ABC and proved to be smart counter-programming, beating the singer in two of their thee seasons of head to head competition. With two Wednesday seasons each in third and fourth place plus one each in fifth and sixth, The Big Story compiled a total of 41 points.

10/ Bing Crosby made Network Radio history when he jumped from NBC to ABC in 1946 with his Philco Radio Time, the first program recorded for prime time broadcast on a major network. The show‘s first season resulted in Wednesday‘s second place show but stumbled to eighth and sixth place over the next two seasons. Crosby moved to the CBS Wednesday schedule in 1949 and turned in the night‘s Number One program. With two more seasons in fourth and sixth place, Crosby‘s final Wednesday total is 39 points.

The remaining candidates for Wednesday’s All Time Top Ten include One Man’s Family - 36 points*, Mr. & Mrs. North - 29 points, Duffy’s Tavern - 27 points, Gangbusters - 22 points, and Frank Sinatra - 7 points.

Multiple Runs: The above was limited to the weekly programs heard on Wednesday nights. Had Multiple Run programs, heard three to five nights a week,  been included, Wednesday’s All Time Top Ten would have placed Lowell Thomas News in a strong second place with 81 points and Amos & Andy in seventh with 51.

* One Man’s Family returned to Wednesday’s Top Ten for two seasons, 1951-53, but as a Multiple Run, Monday through Friday strip.

                        Copyright © 2015 Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL    Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com