Ask Molly McGee, part I

girlfriday poses the question:
did TV kill the Radio star?

For most, yes. For others, no.

Some never tried to transition into television, some tried and failed. A lucky few found success on the small screen.


George Burns and Gracie Allen are probably two of the most likable people to ever have careers in Hollywood. It would only make sense that the television version of their radio show would be so successful it would last for eight years.



The Jack Benny Program ran for an impressive 15 years on television.



Impressive, until you consider that his radio show ran for 23 years. To put in perspective, when he started the show, America was in the first years of the Depression; when he ended it, Eisenhower was president. He was still kickin' it on the radio when I Love Lucy and Ozzie & Harriet were airing on television. When his TV show ended in 1965, Beatlemania was still sweeping the nation. From Prohibition to LBJ. He was a part of American pop culture for that long.

Suspense? Dragnet? The Lone Ranger? All great contributions to the world of television that were birthed on radio.

Fibber McGee & Molly and The Great Gildersleeve, both hugely popular on the airwaves, only lasted a season on the telly. These are only two examples of what was typically the trend when shows tried to make the jump.

Of course TV was the ultimate cause for the demise of radio, which makes sense, and is just what happens in a world of advancing technology. Certain stars transcended radio. Their popularity couldn't be confined to the radio. America accepted them into their hearts, and weren't ready to let them go just because the medium they had met them on was fading into the past. Some stars were not so lucky. Faces made for radio, I guess they would say.

If you were pleased by this answer, and wish to have your own question answered, post them in the comments section. Molly McGee will do her best to answer your queries, that she will.

Screen Director's Assignment. Production: this blog. Star: me. Director: me.

I have kind of an obsessive personality. Not about all things. There are just certain ideas that I get into my head that I can't let go of. This blog, for instance. When I decided to create it, I had a concept. Posts about specific episodes, each with a headline that referenced Old-Time Radio in some creative way.

Then the unthinkable happened.

I had been using the same cassette and record player contraption for more than a decade. It also has an 8 track attached, but I've never used that. I use the record player from time to time, mostly for Christmas music and a Best of Mamas and Papas album. The cassette player I used on a nightly basis. I would choose a tape one night before bed, probably a favorite that I've listened to for years, and then I would listen to the tape for usually a month, maybe two. Like I said, obsessive.

One night in December, I went to push play on The Screen Director's Assignment of Miracle on 34th Street, and no noise emerged from my two-feet tall speakers, est. circa 1985. I took out the tape, assuming it was on the wrong side. It wasn't. I put a new tape in, pushed play and examined. Nothing moved. It just sat there, silently. I checked the tape, I hit the tape player a few times, because that usually fixes things. Nothing.

She lived a good life. She lived in seven houses, two cities and two states. She was kind of like a security blanket for me, or at least the device that delivered the blanket to me each night. She will probably be replaced by some lame-ass boombox from Goodwill, whenever I get around to going there. Maybe today. I wanted to show you a picture of her, but I haven't taken the picture yet, so that's why I couldn't download it. So that's Edmund Gwenn. He played Santa Claus in the 1947 film version and in the radio one that I haven't been able to listen to in over a month.

During Christmas I wanted to post about my favorite Christmas shows, I wanted to provide exact quotes but I couldn't. Instead of writing perfectly good posts quoting my shows with near perfect precision, I just didn't write at all. I didn't write anything. I can quote those shows backwards to front, but I wanted more. Because I have an idea and I want that idea to be executed perfectly. I need to get over that. It's really annoying.

Someday I'll provide you with a rundown of my all time favorite Christmas shows, but I'll surprise you with it. Who doesn't need a little Christmas spirit in, say, April?