Johnny Dollar jumps from one disaster to another in Out of the Fire and Into the Frying Pan, dodging double-crosses and danger. In The Search for Michelle Marsh, he hunts for a missing woman tangled in lies and deception. Expense accounts rise, bullets fly—just another day for America’s favourite insurance investigator!

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*****
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*****
Copyright Information:
All Radio episodes, or public domain content are in the Public Domain and freely used unless notified otherwise.

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All stories are either Creative Commons, or the author has provided direct approval to narrate their story.

PATREON 💜

Yours Truly Frying Pan Michelle Marsh 192

This episode was originally released on 5/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

___________

In Breaking Walls Episode 79, we present a detailed look at Orson Welles’ radio career through the end of 1941. 


Highlights:
• Beginnings in Illinois and China — How they helped shape Orson
• The Todd Seminary School — His first exposure to theater and Radio
• Connections and Early Breaks — How his mentor Roger Hill, Thornton Wilder, Alexander Woollcott, and Katharine Cornell helped Orson get to Broadway
• Orson meets John Houseman and Archibald MacLeish, and first appears on the March of Time
• 1935-1937 — From the March of Time to the Columbia Workshop, and how Irvin Reis taught Orson how to create for radio 
• How the US Government shaped the opportunity for Orson to write, direct, and star in Les Misérables on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1937  
• The Shadow Knows! — Agnes Moorehead and Orson Welles’ one season on The Shadow
• The birth of the Mercury Theater on the Air as First Person singular. 
• How it’s success led to the most infamous night in radio in October of 1938
• Mainstream success with Campbell’s Soups
• Orson goes to Hollywood, and signs the greatest autonomous film contract in history at 24
• Citizen Kane — How William Randolph Hearst and RKO shaped the film
• Lady Esther Presents — Orson comes back to radio in the autumn of 1941
• Pearl Harbor Day and collaborating with Norman Corwin
• Joseph Cotton introduces Orson to Rita Hayworth

The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was: 
• Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles by Frank Brady
• This is Orson Welles by Welles and Peter Bogdanovich
• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning
• Discovering Orson Welles by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Other materials included:
• http://www.wellesnet.com - an incredibly comprehensive website on Orson’s career
• Orson Welles on the Air, 1938-1946 at https://orsonwelles.indiana.edu
• The Radio Preservation Task Force also has a great Facebook group headed by Josh Shepperd


Selected Interviews in this episode were:
• Orson Welles with Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, and Huw Wheldon, 

• Agnes Moorehead and Alan Reed were with radio Hall of Fame Member Chuck Schaden, who interviewed over 200 members of the radio community during his 39 year career. Chuck’s interviews can be streamed for free at SpeakingofRadio.com.

• William Robson was with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio in January of 1976 and Kenny Delmare was with John Dunning in 1983. Those interviews can be found at the Old Time Radio Researcher’s Group at Otrrlibrary.org 

• William Herz was with Walden Hughes and John and Larry Gassman in 2013 for their program on the Yesterday USA Radio Network, which you can visit at http://www.yesterdayusa.com.

BW - EP79: The Boy Wonder—Orson Welles' Early Career (1931 - 1941) [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 6/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

___________

Question? What do starlets Marlene Dietrich, Kay Thompson, Margaret Sullivan, and Loretta Young have in common? How about writers and directors Norman Corwin, Helen Deutsch, and Bill Spier. How about Danny Kaye, Mel Allen, Gerald Mohr, Elliot Lewis, Byron Kane, Lurene Tuttle, Paula Winslowe, Joseph Kearns, and Arthur Q. Bryan?

Answer: They guest-starred, grew, or launched their careers on CBS’s Forecast! 

Forecast was a summer replacement series for the Lux Radio Theatre which ran for two seasons in 1940 and 1941. It ushered in an era of show pilots for public viewing and helped give rise to countless actors, writers, and directors, as well as two huge shows: Suspense & Duffy’s Tavern. On Breaking Walls Episode 80, we present an in-depth look at Forecast featuring interviews, insights, and episode moments.


Highlights:
• Why would Forecast have come to the airwaves in the first place?
• Hear CBS head William S. Paley’s insights on programming
• How Alfred Hitchcock helped launch the famed mystery show, Suspense
• Bill Spier: Music critic, turned producer and director of mystery
• How Elliott Lewis got his start on Forecast
• Mel Allen & Duffy’s Tavern: Where the Elite Meet To Eat
• Norman Corwin’s Two pieces for Forecast that helped catapult his career
• How radio actor Byron Kane got his first role on Forecast
• Jim Backus & the Class of 1941
* Hopalong Cassidy
• The Country Lawyer: One of the most experimental radio broadcasts of its time
• An all african-american jubilee to close Forecast



The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

Featured in today’s episode were interviews with:
• Bill Spier and Mel Allen for Dick Bertel & Ed Corcoran’s WTIC Golden Age of Radio program, who’s episodes can be found at GoldenAge-Wtic.org 

• Elliott Lewis and Byron Kane, for the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety, and Comedy, which can be found at SPERDVAC.com

• and Jim Backus and Norman Corwin with Chuck Schaden, who’s interviews can be streamed for free at SpeakingofRadio.com. Norman Corwin was also interviewed by Michael James Kacey for his DVD The Poet Laureate of Radio: An Interview with Norman Corwin, which you can pick up on Amazon. 


Selected Music featured in today’s Episode was:
• My Blue Heaven by Glenn Miller
• Begin the Beguine & Stardust by Artie Shaw
• Alcolba Azul, by Elliot Goldenthal
The Battle Cry for Freedom by Jaqueline Schwab for the Civil War, by Ken Burns
Falling played by Michael Silvermann
• Catch a Falling Star, by Perry Como

BW - EP80: Forecast—The Most Important Forgotten Series in Radio History (1940 - 1941) [Rewind]

A fully improvised old time radio broadcast in front of a live studio audience. Recording at the Bughouse on 4/6/25 in Chicago.

Pig Promenade 04_06 Bughouse

This episode was originally released on 7/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

___________


In Breaking Walls episode 81, we spotlight the life and career of one of the twentieth century’s most famous comedians, Fred Allen. Amongst other comedians and entertainers, almost no one was beloved as much as him. His comedic feud with Jack Benny was legendary, as were his battles with network executives and sponsors. 


Highlights:

• John Sullivan is Born in Boston
• What growing up in Boston with his aunt was like
• How his job at the Boston Public library began his career in show business 
• Learning to Juggle and Early Amateur Performances
• Harry LaToy and how Johnny Sullivan became Fred St. James
• Freddie James: The World’s Worst Juggler
• Becoming Fred Allen and going on Broadway
• Allen’s Radio Birth—Bath Towels, Laxatives, and Mayonnaise
• Town Hall Tonight is Born
• Jack Benny—The Feud of the Century
• Mr. Ramshaw— an Eagle on the loose
• Changing networks
• Texaco and Problems with NBC
• King for a Day
• Bowing out gracefully
• Fred Allen: Memoirist 
• What’s my Line?
• Final Days


The reading material used in today’s episode was: 
• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning
• Treadmill to Oblivion & Much Ado About Me … both by Fred Allen


Selected Music featured in today’s Episode was:
• Swingin’ on a Star by Bing Crosby 
• Over There recorded live by George M. Cohan
• Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo

BW - EP81: The Fred Allen Show—His Life On The Air (1932 - 1956) [Rewind]

Love and Coffee

This episode was originally released on 8/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

___________

In Breaking Walls episode 82 we focus on the state of the radio broadcasting industry in the late 1930s and early 1940s, as Broadcasting booms while the world goes to War. 


Highlights:
• Early days at NBC’s Radio City in New York
• How Press Associations caused NBC and CBS to launch a news service
• The Birth of the Mutual Broadcasting System and their Struggles
• NBC Red and NBC Blue
• The FCC and US Justice Department Get Involved with Radio
• The Murrow Boys and Encroaching War in Europe
• The War Comes Home
• NBC sells The Blue Network
• Norman Corwin and His World War II Work
• Bing Crosby, Philco Radios, and Network Transcription
• The Talent Raids of 1949

The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was: 
• The General: David Sarnoff & The Rise of the Communications Industry - by Kenneth Bilby
• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning
• Beating The Odds: The Untold Story Behind the Rise of ABC - by Leonard H. Goldenson with Marvin J. Wolf
• Empire: William S. Paley & The Making of CBS - by Lewis J. Paper
• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

As well as four articles from the archives of TIME Magazine:
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY MBS - September 15, 1941
• Old Law v. New Thing - January 12, 1942
• Black & Blue - January 11, 1943
• Network Without Ulcers - April 21, 1947


Norman Corwin was with Chuck Schaden on August 8th, 1976. You can stream this interview and many others for free on Chuck’s site, Speakingofradio.com 


Selected Music featured in today’s Episode was:
• Rudy Vallee - Brother Can You Spare A Dime
• Jaqueline Schwab - The Minstrel Boy & The Battle Cry for Freedom
• Bing Crosby - Blues in the Night & Don’t Fence Me in with The Andrews Sisters

BW - EP82: Depression, War, And The Birth of ABC (1932 - 1946) [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 11/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls episode 85, we spotlight the radio career of Frank Sinatra. We’ll find out how a brash, skinny kid from Hoboken, New Jersey became one of the most popular and influential music artists of the 20th century, selling more than 150 million records worldwide, winning an academy award for Best Supporting Actor, and using radio to launch it all.

Highlights:

• How Sinatra’s Difficult Birth Affected The Rest of His Life
• Growing Up In Hoboken
• Not Interested in School, Interested in Singing
• WAAT, WNEW, WOR and the Rustic Cabin
• The Hoboken Four
• Early Hustling
• Harry James and Tommy Dorsey
• Sinatra’s Popularity Explodes
• Going Solo
• Success on CBS during World War II
• Marriage, Infidelity… and more infidelity
• The Havana Conference
• Problems with Sponsorship
• The Decline Begins
• Ava
• Losing His Voice
• Bottoming Out
• The Slow Rise
• Maggio and an Oscar
• Rocky Fortune
• A Reborn Sinatra

The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers
 


The reading material used in tonight’s episode was:
• The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio by John Dunning
• Why Sinatra Matters by Pete Hamill
• Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan
• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling



Lots and Lots of interviews in today’s episode:

• Frank Sinatra was with: Walter Cronkite in 1965; Johnny Carson in 1976; Arlene Francis in the early 1980s; and Larry King in 1988

• Nancy Sinatra was with: Walter Cronkite in 1965 and Larry King in 1995

• Chuck Schaden interviewed Ken Carpenter And Carroll Carroll. Both of these conversations were recorded on February 17th, 1975. To listen to many complete interviews Chuck conducted throughout his career, please go to SpeakingofRadio.com

• Bob Eberly was with Arnold Dean. Hear that full interview and many others at Goldenage-WTIC.org

• Jo Stafford was with Matthew Feinstein for Jo Stafford’s “Ballad of the Blues”

• Gary Moore and Andre Baruch spoke to Westinghouse in 1970.

• Les Tremayne and Jack Brown were featured from their 1986 history of radio called “Please Stand By” 



BW - EP85: From Hoboken to Eternity—Frank Sinatra's Radio Career (1935 - 1955) [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 12/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls episode 86, we spotlight what was on the air over the US’ major radio networks during December of 1945.

Highlights:
• The First Peacetime Holiday Season in Five Years Begins
• Radio’s Three Main Production Hubs
• Macabees
• Frank Nelson, Lurene Tuttle, and Mandel Kramer
• I Can’t Stand Jack Benny
• Soap Operas and Kid’s Shows
• NBC Dominates Sunday and Tuesday Nights
• Falling Mid-Week Ratings Open the Door for CBS
• Victory Bonds and Bing’s Strike
• Christmas Draws Closer
• Fibber, Molly, Red and Christmas Day
• Dinah Shore and Groucho return Christmas Gifts
• I Still Can’t Stand Jack Benny
• New Year’s Eve
• What Comes Next


The WallBreakers:
thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning
• Christmas 1945: The Greatest Celebration in American History - by Matthew Litt
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 - by Jim Ramsburg
• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

And several articles from: 
• The New York Times
• Broadcasting Magazine
• Radio Daily


The Interviews
Chuck Schaden was with:
Mel Blanc
Himan Brown
Phil Harris
Danny Kaye
Barbara Luddy
Mercedes McCambridge
Shirley Mitchell
Frank Nelson
Olan Soule
Larry Stevens
Lurene Tuttle
Don Wilson

All of Chuck’s Interviews can be found at SpeakingofRadio.com


Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran were with:
Jackson Beck
Edgar Bergen
Mel Blanc
Staats Cotsworth
Howard Duff
Jim Jordan
Mandel Kramer
Jan Miner

All of their interviews for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio can be found at GoldenAge-WTIC.org


SPERDVAC was with
Harry Bartel
Jack Johnstone

For more information please go to SPERDVAC.com

• Jo Stafford was with Matthew Feinstein for Jo Stafford’s “Ballad of the Blues”
• Fran Carlon was with Westinghouse for their 1970 50th Anniversary Production
• Bing Crosby was interviewed for Same Time, Same Station in 1972.


Selected music featured in today’s episode was

• Kay Starr’s The Man With The Bag
• Nancy Wilson’s What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
• Bing Crosby’s White Christmas and I’ll Be Home For Christmas

The clip of CBS’ Cimarron Tavern came courtesy of Jerry Haendiges. Visit his site at OTRsite.com. I’ve been visiting since 2002. Thank you Jerry.

I’d also like to thank Walden Hughes and John and Larry Gassman. Listen to their shows on the Yesterday USA radio network.

BW - EP86: Home For the Holidays—December 1945 On the Air [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 2/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls episode 88, we spotlight the 1945-46 season of The Jack Benny Program. This season introduced characters like telephone operators Gertrude and Mabel, press agent Steve Bradley, hot dog vendor Mr. Kitzel, and Ronald and Benita Colman. This season featured guest appearances from Ingrid Bergman, Isaac Stern, Van Johnson, Ray Milland, Peter Lorre, Louella Parsons, Fred Allen, Ed Sullivan and others. It also was the season in which Dennis Day returned from the Navy and one of the most ingenious marketing campaigns in entertainment history took place: The “I Can’t Stand Jack Benny” Contest. 


Highlights:
• Jack’s slipping ratings
• Problems with General Foods
• Jack changes sponsors
• The War ends and a new season begins
• Mabel Flapsaddle & Gertrude Gearshift 
• Steve Bradley and his big ideas
• $10,000 and $646,000
• Jack gets robbed
• The Contest
• Mail pours in
• The Colmans can’t stand Jack Benny
• Jack’s ratings soar
• Christmas of 1945 & The Rose Bowl
• Fred Allen and the end of the Contest
• Isaac Stern
• Palm Springs
• Van Jackson
• Ed Sullivan and the end of the season
• King for a Day


The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• Sunday Nights at Seven - by Jack and Joan Benny
• On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 - by Jim Ramsburg
• As well as articles from Radio Life on January 27th and February 3rd, 1946


On the interview front:
•Jack Benny, Ezra Stone, Kate Smith, Don Wilson, Eliott Lewis, Phil Harris, Frank Nelson and Dennis Day were with Chuck Schaden. Chuck’s interviews from an over 39-year career can be listened to for free at SpeakingofRadio.com

• Vincent Price and Mel Blanc were with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. The full interviews can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org 

• Dennis Day was also with John Dunning for his 1980s 71KNUS Radio program from Denver. Some of his interviews can be found at OTRRLibrary.org

• And Finally Jack Benny, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Frank Nelson, Don Wilson and Mel Blanc were also with Jack Carney for his early 1980s Comedy Program. Much of this audio was originally taken from a 1972 PBS Documentary on Great Radio Comedians. Thank you Goodmond Danielson for supplying me with the audio.



Selected music featured in today’s episode was:
• Love in Bloom by Bing Crosby
• It’s Been a Long, Long, Time by the Harry James Orchestra
• Chickery Chick by Sammy Kaye with Billy Williams &  Nancy Norman
• Manhattan Serenade by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra with Jo Stafford 
• It Might as Well Be Spring by Larry Stephens
• Danny Boy by Dennis Day
• Along the Navajo Trail by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters



WallBreakers Links:
Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers
Social Media - @TheWallBreakers
URL - thewallbreakers.com
Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

BW - EP88: I Can't Stand Jack Benny—The Story Behind His 1945-46 Season [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 3/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls episode 89, we explore the birth of the dramatic radio western show, specifically targeted to adult audiences. This is the first of a three-part mini-series on adult western radio shows.


Highlights:
• Back to the Very Beginning
• What is a Western Show?
• The Birth of Western Dramatic Radio Shows
• Empire Builders
• Death Valley Days
• The Western show on local stations 
• ...And in syndication
• Lux Presents Hollywood
• The Triumph and Tragedy of Buck Jones
• Americana and the Cavalcade of America
• Howard McNear and Romance of the Ranchos
• The First Western Soap Opera
• The War Ends and the Western show grows up
• What’s Next?


The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning
• Radio Rides The Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929 - 1967 by Jack French and David S. Siegel
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 - by Jim Ramsburg
• Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio by Anthony Rudel &
• The Network by Scott Woolley


On the interview front:
• Don Ameche, Joan Fontaine, Hans Conried, Rudy Vallée were with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. The full interviews can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org 

• Agnes Moorehead and Anne Seymour were with Chuck Schaden. Chuck’s interviews from an over 39-year career can be listened to for free at SpeakingofRadio.com

• John Dunkel and William N. Robson were with John Hickman for his WAMU program “Recollections.” A modern version of this program is heard each Sunday evening as “The Big Broadcast.” For more information, please go to WAMU.org

• Ruth Woodman was with Ida Blackburn in 1961 for KOCO. The full video clip can be seen on the Oklahoma Historical Society's Youtube page - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOnsye8K4SEsY9Ssi8EzzHg

• and journalist Robert Bendiner was with Westinghouse for their 1970 50th Anniversary program.  


Selected music featured in today’s episode was:
• The Colorado Trail Opus 28 by Elizabeth Hainen - http://www.elizabethhainen.com
• The Last Rose of Summer by Tom Waits
• Morning Prayer by Kenneth Little Hawk
• All Mortal Flesh Be Silent by Deirdre Fay
• Across the Wide Missouri, by Mathias Gohl, Molly Mason, Jay Unger, and Andy Stein
• Jefferson and Liberty by John Owen Lardinois
• Amazing Grace by Leta Rector
• Across the Alley from the Alamo by the Mills Brothers


I’d also like to thank Walden Hughes and John and Larry Gassman. Listen to their shows on the Yesterday USA radio network.


WallBreakers Links:
Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers
Social Media - @TheWallBreakers
URL - thewallbreakers.com
Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

BW - EP89: The Birth of The Adult Radio Western (1929 - 1945) [Rewind]

Hey everyone, James Scully here, producer and host of Breaking Walls, the docu-podcast on the history of US Network Radio Broadcasting. I wanted to let you know about a new webinar I’m doing on Monday June 30th, 2025 at 7PM. It’s Part 2 of the CBS Talent Raids on the early Television era.

This webinar focuses on the rise of TV throughout the 1940s and early 1950s as the CBS Talent Raids took hold. 

If you missed Part 1, don’t worry, when you register for Part 2 I’ll email you a video of the webinar for Part 1. And if you’re interested in this Part 2 webinar and can’t make it live on Monday, June 30th at 7PM, don’t worry I’ll be emailing every person who registers a video of Part 2’s webinar as soon as it’s done. Here's a link to register — https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-cbs-talent-raids-part-2-the-early-television-era-webinar-tickets-1419361692029?aff=oddtdtcreator

Here's an overview of the webinar below:
When David Sarnoff officially launched network television at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City, he intended to have TV sets in everyone's homes by the early 1940s. World War II interrupted his plans. Meanwhile network radio soared in popularity throughout the 1940s. By the fall of 1948, three of the four major radio networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — were funneling their soaring radio profits into the burgeoning television side of their businesses. And because all individual U.S. citizens were taxed 77% on all income over $70k (roughly $907k today), big stars of the day like Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, and Freeman Gosden had the idea to incorporate their popular shows as businesses in order to qualify for significant breaks under capital gains tax laws. What happened when David Sarnoff and RCA, the parent company of NBC, the nation's #1 network at the time, refused to make this deal with its stars? It's time to uncover how a smart bet by CBS helped it overtake its main rival during the golden age of radio and exactly how this affected the early years of television.

Join James Scully — Radio historian and producer/host of Breaking Walls, the docu-podcast on the history of U.S. network radio broadcasting for the second part of this two-part series that explores the events surrounding the CBS Talent Raids of 1948, and the many men and women who benefited from this monumental period in entertainment.

In Part Two: Early Network Television, we'll focus on the rise of TV throughout the 1940s and early 1950s as the CBS Talent Raids took hold, including:

• From Farnsworth to the 1939 World’s Fair — Early TV History and How World War II slowed TV’s oncoming growth

• How NBC, CBS, and ABC Launched into TV while siphoning radio profits into their TV networks

• The Dumont Network and Pro Rasslin’ — Could the network have lasted longer?

• Berle, Godfrey, Sullivan and The TV ratings landscape as we enter the 1950

• I Love Lucy Launches, forever altering Television viewing

• How Television’s explosive growth in the early 1950s changed America’s way of life

• TV’s profits are radio’s losses

Afterward, I’ll do a Q&A — any and all questions are welcomed and encouraged!Can't attend live? Not to worry! I'll be recording the event and sending the video out to all guests who register so you can watch it later. See you (virtually) there!

Monday 6.30.2025 — A New Webinar: The CBS Talent Raids, Part 2 — The Early TV Era

This episode was originally released on 4/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls episode 90 and on the second part of our western trilogy, dramatic radio goes from boom to bust in a nine year period after World War II, as a group of actors become radio legends, while the radio western grows up.


Highlights:
• William S. Paley’s Plan to Overtake NBC
• The West-Coast Hollywood Actors 
• Robson, Yarborough, Lewis, and Hawk Larabee
• Escape Moves the Western Forward
• The Life and Death of Jeff Chandler
• CBS Becomes Number 1
• NBC Fires Back with New Western Shows
• Elliott Lewis, Suspense, On Stage, and Crime Classics
• The Birth of Gunsmoke
• Jack Johnstone, Jimmy Stewart, and The Six Shooter
• The Networks Pull the Plug in 1954
• What’s Next


The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning
• Radio Rides The Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929 - 1967 by Jack French and David S. Siegel
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 - by Jim Ramsburg

As well as passages from
• Broadcast Magazine — 12/22/1947, 2/16/1948, 3/1/1948
• Sponsor Magazine — 10/1/1951


On the Interview Front:
• Parley Baer, Harry Bartell, Lillian Buyeff, Mary Jane Croft, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Sam Edwards, Herb Ellis, Virginia Gregg, Jack Johnstone, Byron Kane, Elliott Lewis, Jeanette Nolan, and Herb Vigran were with SPERDVAC, the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety, and Comedy. For more information, please go to SPERDVAC.com

• Hans Conried, Howard Duff, and Elliott Lewis with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. The full interviews can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org 

• Jack Benny, Hans Conried, Betty Lou Gerson, Elliott Lewis, and Lurene Tuttle were with Chuck Schaden. Chuck’s interviews from an over 39-year career can be listened to for free at SpeakingofRadio.com

• Eve Arden, Elliott Lewis, and E. Jack Neuman were with John Dunning for his 1980s 71KNUS Radio program from Denver. Some of his interviews can be found at OTRRLibrary.org

• William Conrad, John Dehner, Rex Koury, Norman Macdonnell, John Meston, William N. Robson, and George Walsh were John Hickman of WAMU for his Gunsmoke documentary. 

• Mr. Hickman was the longtime host of “Recollections.” A modern version of this program is heard each Sunday evening as “The Big Broadcast.” For more information, please go to WAMU.org

• William Conrad was also with collector Chris Lambesis for a December 15th, 1969 interview

• Jimmy Stewart was with Larry King in 1986

• And William S. Paley and Frank Stanton were interviewed for CBS’s 50th Anniversary program in 1977. 


Selected Music Featured in Today’s Episode Was:
• I’ve Got the World on a String - by Frank Sinatra
• Pyramid of the Sun & Voodoo Dreams - by Les Baxter
• I’ll Be Seeing You - by The Harry James Orchestra
• Route 66 - by Nat King Cole

BW - EP90: The Hollywood People Behind Radio’s Baby Boomer Boom (1945 - 1954) [Rewind]

Hey everyone, James Scully here, producer and host of Breaking Walls, the docu-podcast on the history of US Network Radio Broadcasting. I wanted to let you know about a new webinar I’m doing this Thursday July 17th, at 7PM on Orson Welles' early career of Orson Welles through the end of 1941.

If you can't make it live this Thursday July 17th at 7PM, don't worry,  I’ll be emailing every person who registers a video of the webinar once it's over. Here's a link to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/orson-welles-career-part-1-from-boy-wonder-to-trouble-maker-webinar-tickets-1445315741289?aff=oddtdtcreator

Some more information:
Throughout the last one-hundred years of American entertainment, few people have gotten as strong a reaction as Orson Welles. A rare quadruple threat: writer, director, actor, producer, Welles found immense success on stage, in films, on television, and in radio. In fact, he took center stage in the United States on more than one occasion… and not always to a positive reaction, but always with pushing the creative envelope in mind.

Welles managed to alienate the newspaper industry, the Hollywood studio system, and occasionally even the broadcasting networks, but he rarely had a door closed in his face.

Welles was known to work himself to the bone, and party even harder. He had romances with some of the most famous and attractive women in the country, including Virginia Nicholson, Dolores del Rio, and Rita Hayworth.

He was hailed as a genius, a charlatan, a magician, an incredible friend, an a***hole, a hard-driver, a steady worker, and a man who drank too much. Welles liked to joke that he began his career on top and spent the rest of his life working his way down. Such a strong-willed, creative person deserves an in-depth look.

In Part 1: From Boy Wonder To Trouble Maker (1931-1941) we’ll explore Welles’ early life, through his explosion of success in the 1930s all the way to the end of 1941, complete with audio clips and highlights including:

• Beginnings in Illinois and China — How they helped shape Orson

• The Todd Seminary School — His first exposure to theater and Radio

• Connections and Early Breaks — How his mentor Roger Hill, Thornton Wilder, Alexander Woollcott, and Katharine Cornell helped Orson get to Broadway

• Orson meets John Houseman and Archibald MacLeish, and first appears on the March of Time

• 1935-1937 — From the March of Time to the Columbia Workshop, and how Irvin Reis taught Orson how to create for radio

• How the US Government shaped the opportunity for Orson to write, direct, and star in Les Misérables on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1937

• The Shadow Knows! — Agnes Moorehead and Orson Welles’ one season on The Shadow

• The birth of the Mercury Theater on the Air as First Person singular. How its success led to the most infamous night in radio in October of 1938

• Mainstream success with Campbell’s Soups

• Orson goes to Hollywood, and signs the greatest autonomous film contract in history at 24

• Citizen Kane — How William Randolph Hearst and RKO shaped the film

• Lady Esther Presents — Orson comes back to radio in the autumn of 1941

• Pearl Harbor Day and collaborating with Norman Corwin

• How Joseph Cotton introduced Orson to Rita Hayworth

Afterward, I’ll do a Q&A — any and all questions are welcomed and encouraged! Can't attend live? Not to worry! I'll be recording the event and sending the video out to all guests who register so you can watch it later. See you (virtually) there!

Thursday 7.17.2025 — A New Webinar: Orson Welles' Career, From Boy Wonder To Trouble Maker

The Falcon hit the airwaves back in the early 1940s, sliding right into the shoes of slick, sharp-tongued detectives like The Shadow and Sam Spade. But where those blokes leaned hard into the tough-as-nails, gritty vibe, The Falcon mixed it up — charm, cheek, and a dash of danger. He was your classic gentleman sleuth, smooth as, but always keen to jump headfirst into the next messy crime.

Support the Podcast and help it grow! 😁
www.patreon.com/SFGT

Help me with an iTunes Review ❤
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stor…st/id1219424878

*****
📧Send me your stories, feedback and more📧
StoriesFablesGhostlyTales@gmail.com

Show Links:
🏠 www.storiesfablesghostlytales.com/
📘Contact me: www.facebook.com/StoriesFablesGhostlyTales
🐤 Twitter: www.twitter.com/StoriesFablesGT
*****
Copyright Information:
All Radio episodes, or public domain content are in the Public Domain and freely used unless notified otherwise.

CC BY-SA 4.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
All stories are either Creative Commons, or the author has provided direct approval to narrate their story.

PATREON LINK

The Falcon - Worried Wife and The Miss (Old Time Radio Remastering)

Support the Podcast and help it grow! 😁
www.patreon.com/SFGT

Help me with an iTunes Review ❤
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stor…st/id1219424878

*****
📧Send me your stories, feedback and more📧
StoriesFablesGhostlyTales@gmail.com

Show Links:
🏠 www.storiesfablesghostlytales.com/
📘Contact me: www.facebook.com/StoriesFablesGhostlyTales
🐤 Twitter: www.twitter.com/StoriesFablesGT
*****
Copyright Information:
All Radio episodes, or public domain content are in the Public Domain and freely used unless notified otherwise.

CC BY-SA 4.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
All stories are either Creative Commons, or the author has provided direct approval to narrate their story.

DRAGNET (Repaired and Remastered) Vintage Radio

This episode was originally released on 7/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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In Breaking Walls episode 93 we ride the rails with some of the most famous stars in radio history.

During radio’s golden age, there were three main production hubs: New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. With so much daily content to produce, radio’s greatest minds developed programs and episodes centered around every recognizable theme, like the New York city subway.

While this episode will take place in or around New York’s public transportation system, we’ll focus just as much on the relationships forged by radio’s legends on both coasts.



Highlights:
• Mercedes McCambridge, Himan Brown, and Grand Central Station
• How Bill Spier influenced the careers of his wife June Havoc and his protégé Elliott Lewis
• From Suspense to Broadway is My Beat, Elliott Lewis shines
• Jack Benny stars on Suspense
• Cathy Lewis: Mrs Radio
• Mandel Kramer, Jan Miner, and Subway Soaps from New York
• Byron Kane and Subways Are For Sleeping
• William N. Robson, Shirley Mitchell, Virginia Gregg and Jack Kruschen on radio in the 1950s
• Bob and Ray head down into the Subway
• Himan Brown brings dramatic radio back to life in the 1970s
• Next Stop: The Soda Shop


The WallBreakers:
thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• On The Air - By John Dunning
• The CBS Radio Mystery Theater Handbook - by Gordon Payton & Martin Grams Jr.
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-53 - by Jim Ramsburg
• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

as well as articles from:
• Broadcasting Magazine - November 3rd, 1947
• And Billboard Magazine - May 1st, 1948


On the interview front:
• Himan Brown, June Havoc, Mandel Kramer, Elliott Lewis, E.G. Marshall, Jan Miner, William Spier and William N. Robson were with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. These interview can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org.

• Ralph Bell, Himan Brown, Lawrence Dobkin, Betty Lou Gerson and Byron Kane, were with SPERDVAC. For more information, please go to S-P-E-R-D-V-A-C.com.

• Himan Brown, Virginia Gregg, Elliott Lewis, Mercedees McCambridge, Shirley Mitchell and Alan Reed were interviewed by Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats and many others from Chuck’s over thirty-nine year career and SpeakingofRadio.com.

• Ellott Lewis was with John Dunning on May 23rd, 1982.

• Jack Kruschen, Shirley Mitchell, and George Walsh were with Jim Bohannon on September 12, 1987.

• And Morton Fine was with Dan Haefele on August 9th, 1988.



Selected music featured in today’s episode was:
• It’s been a Long, Long Time - by Keely Smith
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - by the Mallet Men
• The Big Heist and Salute to Charlie Christian - by Barney Kessel
• Atlantis and Roller Coaster - by Les Baxter
• I’ll Take Manhattan - by Blossom Dearie
• And Fly Me To the Moon - by Julie London

BW - EP93: Radio And The New York City Subway (1941 - 1975) [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 8/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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In Breaking Walls episode 94 we visit the malt shops, drug stores, and soda counters in America’s heartland and spend time with radio’s best dramatic actors and actresses.


Highlights
• Norman Corwin, Margaret Sullavan, and Byron Kane’s Big Break
• The Pharmacist Goes to War—and Saves a Life
• Inner Sanctum and Santos Ortega
• Dennis Day: Soda Jerk
• The Rise of Jack Webb
• Dragnet Is Born and Radio Changes Forever
• Tales of the Texas Rangers and the Wheaties Big Parade
• The End of Fibber McGee and Molly
• Back to School



The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers




The reading material used in today’s episode was:
On The Air - By John Dunning
Network Radio Ratings, 1932-53 - by Jim Ramsburg
Forecast: Is there a Sponsor in the House - by Martin Grams Jr. 
Just the Facts, Ma'am : The Authorized Biography of Jack Webb - by Eugene Alvarez & Daniel Moyer

And articles from Radio Life, January 1949. 



On the interview front:

• SPERDVAC was with Harry Bartel, Ralph Bell, Himan Brown, Lilian Buyeff, Lawrence Dobkin, Herb Ellis, Virginia Gregg, Byron Kane, Jeanette Nolan, Herb Vigran, and Peggy Webber—For more info, please go to SPERDVAC..com

• Chuck Schaden interviewed Eve Arden, Himan Brown, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Jim Jordan, Lurene Tuttle, and Herb Vigran. Hear their full chats at SpeakingofRadio.com.

• Joel McCrea was with educator Al Greenberg. For more information please go to OrcoDevelopment— That’s O R C O Development (dot) org.

• Jim Jordan was with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. This interview can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org. 

• While Dennis Day and E. Jack Neuman were with John Dunning for 71KNUS and Vic Perrin was with Neil Ross for KMPC.



Selected music featured in today’s episode was:
• Sleep Walk — By Santo & Johnny
• Go Slow — By Julie London
• The Klezmer's Wedding — By André Moisan 
• Living Without You — By George Winston
• See you in September — By The Happenings

BW - EP94: Radio And The Drugstore/Malt Shop (1940 - 1955) [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 9/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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In Breaking Walls Episode 95, we go back to school with radio’s teacher’s pets, class clowns, and perhaps the most iconic “Miss” in radio history. 

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Highlights:
• How William Paley used The Columbia Workshop to launch shows and careers.
• Suspense Moves to Hollywood and Gets Sponsorship
• The Radio Rise of Eve Arden and the Launch of Our Miss Brooks
• The NBC University Theater dramatizes a Washington Irving Classic
• The New Mr. and Mrs. Ronald and Benita Colman Show
• Johnny Dollar Investigates a Suspicious Schoolhouse Fire
• Theater Five saves a Nursery
• All Hallow’s Eve

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The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

——————————

The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• The Who Is Johnny Dollar Matter — by John C. Abbott
• On The Air — By John Dunning
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-53 — by Jim Ramsburg

As well as articles from:
• Broadcasting Magazine -  April 27th, September 14th, and November 30th 1964, as well as January 4th, January 11th, and June 28th, 1965.
• Radio Daily - September 30th, 1949
• Sponsor Magazine -  September 2nd, 1952

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On the interview front:

• SPERDVAC was with Jack Johnstone, Al Lewis, Jeanette Nolan and Elliott Reid—For more information, please go to SPERDVAC.com.

• Chuck Schaden interviewed Eve Arden, Parley Baer, Ken Carpenter, Norman Corwin, Gale Gordon, Jack Haley, Agnes Moorehead, Russell Thorson, and Willard Waterman. Hear their full chats at SpeakingofRadio.com.

• Hans Conried, William N. Robson, and William Spier were with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. These interviews can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org. 

• Eve Arden, Roberta Goodwin Bailey, and E. Jack Neuman were with John Dunning for 71KNUS.

• Elliott Reid was with Frank Bresee and Walden Hughes on October 14th, 2002 and Don Quinn was interviewed by Owen Cunningham in 1951. 

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Selected Music featured in today’s episode was:
•I Wonder Why - by Dion and the Belmonts
• Pyramid of the Sun - by Les Baxter
• Moon - by George Winston
• The Look of Love - by Billy May and his Orchestra
• Young at Heart - by Frank Sinatra
• I’ll be Seeing You - by the Harry James Band
• Spooky - by Dusty Springfield

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BW - EP95: Radio And The Classroom (1939 - 1965) [Rewind]

900+ Episodes of Advert free storytelling, three times a week! Supported by lovely listeners the Tale Teller brings you a mixed bag of horror, fantasy, sci-fi,  custom remastered old time radio stories, folk tales and more.  The Stories Fables Ghostly Tales Podcast has something for everyone. 

With the Aussie Tale Teller here to bring you unique tales from various cultures around the world and research tales to share with you something new. Take a listen and you won't be disappointed. 

Feel free to reach out, ask questions, and submit stories and research ideas to the Podcast at storiesfablesghostlytales@gmail.com

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