Chasing Rainbows

Do you Remember???

The Adventures of Superman!

Background:
The plethora of inventions and technical advances of the early 1900's - such as powered flight and electricity - fuelled the imaginations of the American people, especially the younger generation. Authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and H.G. Wells added to this movement.

Schoolboys were particularly engrossed with anything to do with modern science. By mixing science with adventure, the result was a perfect blend, especially for kids like Jerry Siegel from Cleveland, Ohio. His enthusiasm led him to publish the fanzine Science Fiction with drawings by school buddy Joe Shuster. In January 1933 Siegel and Schuster produced a story called The Reign of the Superman and included it in Science Fiction. In this very first appearance of (the) superman, he was actually a baddie! His superhuman powers were due to the work of a demented professor and superman was mainly concerned with making some fast dollars!

Siegel never forgot the superman character and was determined to find him a bigger stage. After being turned down by various publishers, DC Comics took on the strip for the new Action Comics in 1939. Superman's re-launch was accompanied by a re-write of his origins. It was decided that he was now from alien stock. As a baby, he was sent by his father in a rocket from Krypton - a distant planet that was in the process of destruction. The rocket was pointed to Earth. When it landed he was found and placed in an orphanage where his carers marveled at his superhuman strength. He was then adopted by a kindly old couple, the Kents, who said he should keep his powers a secret for fear of frightening people. As he matured he decided he would dedicate his powers to the benefit of mankind and he became the champion of the oppressed.

The comic strip proved a tremendous success and there soon followed a Superman comic with the Superman strip as the title feature and lucrative newspaper spots. The Man of Steel, as he was also known, was set for a meteoric rise to stardom.

In 1940 DC Comics knew they were on to a winner. They asked freelancer Robert Maxwell and Frank Chase to get to work setting up licensing for merchandising rights. They were also charged with bringing Superman to a wider audience. Maxwell and Chase produced sample radio segments in order to attract sponsorship for a radio show. Once the sponsorship had been secured, the national radio show hit the airwaves in 1940 with Clayton Collyer playing the title role (and Clark Kent's role). This show became the birthplace of the famous opening lines:

"Faster than an airplane, more powerful than a locomotive, impervious to bullets!"
"Up in the sky—look!"
"It's a giant bird!"
"It's a plane!"
"It's SUPERMAN!"

It was the radio show - broadcast three times a week - that bedded down the superman character and his background. New characters such as arch genius criminal Lex Luthor were introduced as well as innovations such as Kryptonite and the Daily Planet newspaper. These developments were taken up by the comic strips which would find themselves in the wake of the radio show. As well as the famous opening lines, the character would often signal his transformation from Clark Kent to superman by stating: "This looks like a job for" [pause] "Superman!!", with the emphasis on the word "Superman".

Clayton Collyer (also known as Bud) also provided the voice for Superman in the cartoons that were released in 1941. Movie theater audiences marveled at the lavish productions by the Fleischer Studios using this relatively new medium and one of the cartoons was even nominated for an Oscar. In 1948 the first live action movie was produced starring Kirk Alien. This movie and the subsequent release of 1950 consisted of 15 segments (or chapters), forming a serial.

Bob Maxwell decided the time was right to bring Superman to the television, just as he and Frank Chase had done on the radio. He and Bernard Lubber, a film producer, started putting together the ingredients for a pilot show. Plans were made to release the pilot as a movie as a way of funding the tv project. If the tv series took off, the movie would be used as 2 (2 -part) episodes.

Maxwell asked long established DC Comics editor, script-writer and illustrator Whitney Ellsworth to produce the script. RKO Pathé's Culver City Studios and their production staff were booked and the actors cast. Maxwell decided to rely on experienced actors and booked George Reeves, a movie veteran who came to prominence as Stuart Tarleton in Gone with the Wind, in the title role as both Superman and Clark Kent. Phyllis Coates was cast as reporter Lois Lane. Coates was better known as a comedy actress, having featured in several "So You're..." movie shorts.

The idea for the movie was conceived entirely by Whitney Ellsworth and the script was fine-tuned between Ellsworth and Maxwell (jointly credited under pen-name Richard Fielding). Superman and the Mole Men was released as a movie in 1951. The following year, the first tv episode, Superman on Earth, was aired. 

The Format:
Superman's self-appointed role is to protect the human race from all manner of threats, usually from criminal masterminds, but occasionally from alien forces or from natural disasters using his superhuman powers.

The first episode Superman on Earth, recounts the story of how Superman came to exist on earth. He becomes a newspaper hack -under the guise of mild, almost timid Clark Kent - so that he can hear about impending disasters or criminal acts as early as possible. When the time comes for Superman to act, Clark secretly switches to the Man of Steel and saves the day. He is careful to avoid letting out the secret of his dual identity, even to his close friend and work mate Lois Lane.

Postscript:
George Reeves died of apparent suicide in 1959. Phyllis Coates left the show after the first show and was replaced as Lois Lane by Noel Neill.

Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had sold the rights to Superman to DC Comics in 1939. Once they realized how big Superman would become, they tried unsuccessfully to sue DC Comics for a cut of the millions of dollars of income. It was only in 1975 that DC Comics made a settlement with the creators, allowing both to receive a generous pension. Joe Shuster died in 1992 and Jerry Siegel died in 1996.

Resource:  bygone tv.com

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Do You Remember?

•                               Death Valley Days  (1952-1975)

Background:
In 1872, Francis Marion Smith combined his work as a woodcutter with prospecting for valuable minerals in the desert of Nevada's Death Valley. At Teel's Marsh he discovered a seam of ulexite. Borax is always found with ulexite and it was this rarely found Borax - at the time an important ingredient in soap and detergents and many other applications - that Francis Marion Smith, along with his brother Julius, were keen to extract. They soon set up a borax processing plant and by1890 Francis, by now known as "Borax" Smith, established the Pacific Coast Borax Company having bought up his brother's share of the business and purchased another borax mine near Furnace Creek from the Harmony Borax Mining Company. This mine had previously been owned by William Coleman, another Borax pioneer who, after taking up a suggestion from Ed Stiles, a young muleskinner, employed 20 mule teams (2 of which were actually horses) to haul borax to the railroad.

Smith's business continued to grow to the point where he could open offices around the country and promote sales of Borax. For his New York office he hired J. W. Mather who, in 1893, hired his own son Steven. Their job was to promote Borax sales in the area. Steven, who had been a journalist for the New York Sun newspaper, could see marketing potential in promoting the business using the "20 mule teams" image of the Harmony mine, despite the fact that they had been replaced by a railroad in 1889. Steven asked his friend, John Randolph Spears to write a book commemorating borax mining and extraction. Although this may at first have seemed a daunting task to the young author, he would soon discover that the mining operation, with its pioneers and heroes, its battle with the heat and arid desert, its tents and shacks and ramshackle bars, not to mention the mule teams, would make excellent material for the book that was to be titled Illustrated Sketches of Death Valley. This book was a starting point where the experiences of Death Valley became the stuff of adventure in the public's mind.

Steven Mather, who was soon running the Chicago office, persuaded Francis Marion Smith to use the "20 mule team" phrase and image as the company's logo (overcoming some initial resistance) and the Pacific Coast Borax Company and its products became inextricably and masterfully linked to this adventure.

In the early days of radio, individual shows were usually produced by sponsors. The creative work involved was usually delegated to their advertising agencies. Either large corporations would commission their agencies to produce a show, or agencies would come up with ideas for show and find a willing client.

So it was in1930, after the success of western stories by Max Brand (aka Frederick Schiller Faust) and similar stories in so-called pulp magazines, that newly merged McCann-Erickson agency were looking to get in on the western bandwagon (or, perhaps, mule train!). At the same time, the western theme link had not been lost on the Pacific Coast Borax Company - by now a very large corporation called Borax Consolidated - who wanted to further promote its products by using the real life stories of Death Valley frontiersmen like Francis Marion Smith and his  contemporaries. Thus the concept of the Death Valley Days radio show was born, one of the earliest westerns to be broadcast.

Borax Consolidated stipulated to McCann-Erickson that the scripts should come from a person with first-hand knowledge of the area and should be based on real-life events. Ruth Woodman, a copy writer and radio scriptwriter for McCann-Erickson was given the job of writing the pilot episode. Despite the fact that she did not meet the client's criteria, the first show was such a success, she was commissioned to write a full series. As a result, she made frequent visits to Death Valley in order to gather material for future scripts. The continuing success of Death Valley Days - and her high quality scripts - gave Woodman a job for life, as the show progressed, via some name changes to Death Valley Sheriff and then to The Sheriff, through to television, back as Death Valley Days.

The Format:
The show's format hardly changed from its original radio pilot to its last show on tv and many of the tv scripts were rehashed from the radio shows. Death Valley Days was one of tv's earliest drama anthologies. It would begin with an introduction by the Old Ranger, followed by a self-contained story.

The scripts were usually morality tales about the frontier folk living and prospecting in Death Valley. Rivalry, romance, crime (with limited violence considering this was a western), and, of course, their struggle to discover a fortune in minerals were the staple ingredients of the show. Occasionally historic personalities from history who visited the area were covered, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill.

This show wasn't the Lone Ranger nor was it anything like the Spaghetti westerns of later years. Although there was crime and some limited violence, the stories covered the whole human experience from romance to business, from gun slinging to mudslinging. The stories were often homely and took in a more human side of the wild west. Some shows were even comedies - quite an antidote to the simple shoot 'em up stories of other westerns.

The fact that the stories were based on real events resulted in a wide variety of storylines and complemented the more domestic nature of the show. Where other westerns often contained fantasy, legend and wildly inaccurate historical settings, Ruth Woodman's scripts were meticulously researched. This didn't prevent her from changing history occasionally or exaggerating this or that aspect, but generally her scripts were rooted in real life. Another reason for the more homely scripts was that the period being covered was at the tail end of the frontier activity in the west when federal and state law was rapidly catching up with these remote outposts: basically the wild west was nearly tame by this time. Yet another reason was the obvious one - although some may argue otherwise - and this was the fact that the scripts were originally written by a woman. Although many other writers were employed during the lifetime of the show, Woodman's stamp was very much on imprinted on it. In many ways, Death Valley Days was pioneering, not least because it was probably the first western that a woman could enjoy as much as a man or boy.

Who was Who?
Because Death Valley Days was an anthology and because of its long run, a tremendous number of actors took a part in the show. Some were at the twilight of their career, others just at the beginning. Inevitably, some future stars appeared, such as Angie Dickinson, Clint Eastwood, James Caan and James Coburn.

Death Valley Days reruns would often be rehashed under other show titles, namely: Western Star Theater, The Pioneers and Trails West. The "Old Ranger", who always introduced the show, was the only regular character on the show. The actors who portrayed the Old Ranger were: Stanley Andrews, Will Rogers Jr, Ray Milland, Rory Calhoun, Ronald Reagan, Robert Taylor, Dale Robertson, John Payne and Merle Haggard.

Resource:  BygoneTV.com

Nostalgic TV

Do you remember this one???

Andy's Gang

Children's Variety Show 1955 - 1960

Background

This show has connections that go back to the Buster Brown comic strips that first appeared in The New York Herald in 1902. In 1904, the Brown Shoe Company purchased the licensing rights  to the Buster Brown character along with his sidekick dog Tige. Buster Brown was also featured in silent movies and then on radio with the Buster Brown Radio Club. In 1943 the West Coast NBC radio network launched the Buster Brown Gang starring Smilin' Ed McConnell, sponsored by the Brown Shoe Company. This children's variety show transferred to television in 1951. After Ed McConnell's death in 1954, the TV network showed re-runs before deciding to hand the lead role to Andy Devine who launched with the re-named Andy's Gang in 1955.

The Format

This weekly show would feature regular characters that showed up throughout the program, each with its own catch phrase and personality. There would be occasional talks by guest presenters - often interrupted by the Froggy the Gremlin. There were also stories or verses by Andy Devine and a regular episodes of "Rhama of the Jungle".

Froggy the Gremlin

Andy would say the magic words: "Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!" and Froggy would appear in a puff of smoke usually on top of a grandfather clock!

The gravel-voiced character's main role was to interrupt Andy or whoever was talking and mess up or confuse them. He specialized in puncturing egos of the very pompous guests that appeared.

Catchphrase: "Hiya kids, hiya hiya. Ha ha ha ha ha!"". Repeated phrases like: "He does, does".

Midnight The Cat And Squeaky The Mouse

A curious combination of a scruffy looking cat and mouse (a real cat and a hamster in close-up). Midnight and Squeaky played violin and Midnight the Cat tried to look nice!

Catchphrase: "Nice".

Gunga Ram

An Indian boy who was an elephant trainer. He starred in filmed segments called "Rhama of the Jungle". He would be involved in various Eastern adventures involving his elephant, Teela. (Much of this segment was filmed in color).

Grandee the Talking Piano

A piano that ...talked.

After Ed McConnell

Andy Devine took over the lead after Ed McConnell's death. The renamed Andy's Gang included all the characters from Smilin' Ed McConnell and his Buster Brown Gang. With the exception of Buster Brown and his dog Tige, all the characters had been created by Ed McConnell. The only new element, apart from the new front man, was an increasing tendency to have special effects using slowed down footage, talking animals and plenty of disappearing and re-appearing tricks.

Although Andy's Gang was popular to new audiences, some of the older hands may have hankered after the old days when the program was performed to a live audience of children (as was the original radio show). The decision to ditch the live audience (and dub in a recorded audience) was made towards the end of Ed McConnell's tenure. Andy's Gang was the same, but this time perhaps there were more gimmicks and less laughs.

Probably the most remembered character was the almost wicked Froggy the Gremlin who seemed to dislike any show of pomposity. Many characters - often representing respected fields such as high arts or perhaps authority such as professors - would be constantly interrupted by Froggy who would often talk the guest into saying and doing all the wrong things.

Resource:  Bygone TV

Good Bye Mr. Barker

In an article entitled Bob Barker Retiring, by Natalie Finn, found at E!online.com an american standard and legacy is being remembered and honored.  Barker gave the world of show business 50 years and he gave 35 years of that to CBS.  His career spans more than one generation and for this reason I feel that a tribute from me is fitting.  Many of us have known who Bob Barker is since our early childhood days.  The following is a tribute from all of us who will miss Bob greatly. 

The price isn't going to be quite as right come next June.  Bob Barker announced Tuesday he will retire in 2007 after 50 years in television, 35 of which he spent as the host of The Price Is Right.

"I will be 83 years old on Dec. 12, and I've decided to retire while I'm still young," the famed daytime personality told the Associated Press. "I've gone on and on to this ancient age because I've enjoyed it. I've thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'm going to miss it." 

While Barker has considered hanging it up for the past 10 years, he said he's been having too much fun to walk away for good, but he figured reaching his golden anniversary was an "appropriate" time. 

"I'm just reaching the age where the constant effort to be there and do the show physically is a lot for me," he said, sounding a bit like another TV icon who announced his intention to slow down after half a century on the air, 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace. 

Barker had a mild stroke in May 2002 and had prostate surgery six weeks later—none of which caused him to miss a show, mind you.   

Since The Price Is Right premiered Sept. 4, 1972, with Barker enticing people for the first time to "come on down," he has only missed three episodes (back in 1974). The longest running game show on the air is currently on in two half-hour installments every weekday, with the later one averaging 5.5 million viewers a day, per Nielsen Media Research. 

"We knew this day would come, but that doesn't make it any easier," CBS Corp. president Leslie Moonves said in a statement. "Bob Barker is a daytime legend, an entertainment icon and one of the most beloved television personalities of our time." 

The former Miss Universe and Miss USA Pageant host got his start in radio before being discovered by eventual This Is Your Life host Ralph Edwards, who said he liked the sound of Barker's voice. Barker went on to host the TV game show Truth or Consequences from 1956 until 1975, overlapping with Price for a few years. 

A CBS spokesperson told Reuters that Price will go on after Barker's departure, but "it's premature to discuss any transition plans right now. Our focus now will be giving Bob a proper sendoff." A CBS prime-time special celebrating the man is also in the works, he said. 

Barker's advice for whomever signs on to replace him is this: Memorize everything. 

"The games have to be just like riding a bicycle," he said, referring to the show's numerous pricing games (80 at last count) in which contestants make bids to win larger prizes, like cars and trips. 

"Then he will be relaxed enough to have fun with the audience—to get the laughs with his contestants and make the show more than just straight games—to make it a lot of fun." 

When asked what he's going to do once retirement kicks in next year, Barker, an avid golfer (just ask Happy Gilmore) and martial artist said he's going to "sit down for maybe a couple of weeks and find out what it feels like to be bored." 

"From the bottom of my heart, I thank the television viewers," he said, "because they have made it possible for me to earn a living for 50 years doing something that I thoroughly enjoy. They have invited me into their homes daily for a half a century."