From Those Were the Days:

1939 - The Aldrich Family debuted on NBC Radio. Mother Aldrich was heard to call, “Hen-ree! Henry Aldrich!” Mrs. Aldrich was named Alice; Mr. Aldrich was Sam; Henry’s sister was Mary; Henry’s mischief-making friend was Homer Brown; and Henry’s girlfriend was Kathleen. Henry, of course was, well, Henry.

1946 - CBS signed the Old Redhead, Arthur Godfrey to do a weekly nighttime radio show. Godfrey was soon hosting one of radio’s top shows, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.

1951 - NBC radio presented Bob and Ray (Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding) on a network radio show. The comedians had previously been heard on WHDH Radio in Boston, MA.
12:30:03 PM    comment []  trackback []  

“COOOOORRRR-LAISS!”

During the 1940s, faithful NBC listeners often tuned in weekly to keep A Date With Judy—“Judy” being Judy Foster, a wacky teenager who was essentially the distaff version of the wacky adolescent to end all wacky adolescents, Henry Aldrich. But on January 7, 1943, Ms. Foster discovered that she had a little competition in the field of zany teenage antics with the introduction of Meet Corliss Archer, a popular radio sitcom heard mostly throughout its thirteen-year run over CBS, "the stars' address."

Writer F. Hugh Herbert—whose screenplays include Margie (1946) and Sitting Pretty (1948)—first introduced Corliss and company in a magazine story entitled “Private Affair.” It proved quite popular, inspiring Herbert to write several more—and these led to a hit stage play, Kiss and Tell. (The play was later adapted to the silver screen in a 1945 film starring Shirley Temple, and a sequel followed four years later, A Kiss For Corliss.) The radio series soon followed, heard in a series of several runs over the Tiffany Network until September 30, 1956; however, the show also turned up on NBC (as a 1948 summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show) and ABC (1952-53) as well.

Corliss was cut from the same bolt of cloth as her radio rival Judy Foster; like Judy, she experienced the pains of adolescence but for the most part, maintained a breathless innocence and charm. The part was originated by Priscilla Lyon, but soon after actress Janet Waldo was cast in the role, and she proved a perfect fit. Waldo was a real radio veteran, with frequent parts on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (she played teenage Emmy Lou), Burns and Allen and Young Love (in which she starred with the silver screen’s Henry Aldrich, Jimmy Lydon)—but her modern-day legacy no doubt lies in her contributions to animated cartoons, supplying the voices of Judy Jetson (The Jetsons), Penelope Pitstop (Wacky Races) and Josie (of Josie and the Pussycats fame). Lugene Sanders also played Corliss briefly on radio; Sanders would later play the part on the television version (as well as daughter “Babs” on TV’s The Life of Riley).

Dexter Franklin was Corliss’ Oogie Pringle—a teenage dweeb who made Henry Aldrich look the picture of sophistication. He was a well-meaning sort, but he stands out in Radio's Golden Age as one of the most-memorable of bunglers; he had a knack for creating absolute chaos everywhere he went. His trademark bellow of “COOOOORRRR-LAISS!” (conducted usually at 8:00am across the hedge that separated the Archer and Franklin residences) and catchphrase “Holy cow!” (later appropriated by Father Knows Best’s “Bud” Anderson) were voiced by Sam Edwards (though the part was originated by the likes of Irvin Lee, Bill Christy, David Hughes and Burt Boyar at one time as well), an actor not only adept at comedy but able to shine in dramatic roles as well, particularly on Dragnet and Gunsmoke.

Dexter and Corliss were true sweethearts, a notion that didn’t always sit well with Harry Archer, Corliss’ lawyer father. Harry tolerated Dexter to a certain degree, mainly because he would use the hapless Franklin as his pawn in a series of plots that he would often devise to prove that the male was superior when it came to the eternal war between the sexes. Janet Archer was Corliss’ mother, who demonstrated the same patience and understanding that Peg Riley had to rely on when dealing with her idiot husband Chester. Mr. and Mrs. Archer were played on the show mostly by Fred Shields (also Frank Martin) and Irene Tedrow (and Gloria Holden) throughout Meet Corliss Archer’s run. Other regular characters included Corliss’ best gal pal Mildred Ames (Bebe Young, Barbara Whiting), Mildred’s bratty little brother Raymond (Tommy Bernard, Kenny Godkin) and Betty Cameron (Delores Crane), Corliss’ “rival in all things vital.”

I sampled a pair of Meet Corliss Archer episodes while toiling at the ol’ salt lick last night; the first was originally broadcast August 11, 1946, in which Corliss and Dexter babysit for a couple who’ve just moved in across the street. (Now if only Corliss can keep Ma and Pa Archer from finding out…) The second show is from April 6, 1947, and features a slightly under-the-weather Pa Archer:

MRS. ARCHER: Corliss…your father came home from the office with a terrible headache…

CORLISS: Oh! Oh really, Mom? Thanks for the warning…

MRS. ARCHER: Well, darling—I didn’t mean it as a warning…is that all the sympathy you can show for your poor father?

CORLISS: Oh golly, Mom—of course I sympathize…aw, Daddy…I’m sorry…is there anything in the world I can do?

MR. ARCHER: You could tone yourself down to a mere uproar for a few hours…

CORLISS: I’ll be quiet, angel…I promise I won’t make a single, solitary, unnecessary sound…

MR. ARCHER: Thank you, baby…and go a little easy on the sounds that are necessary, will you?

CORLISS: I’ll be as quiet as a clam…

(SFX: rustle of newspaper)

MR. ARCHER: Hmm…

CORLISS (suddenly): Oh, Mom! Do you know what’s been happening right under my very nose and I ignored it on account of I had several other things on my mind?

MRS. ARCHER: I can’t imagine, Corliss…

CORLISS: Well, it seems Benson’s Department Store is again having the most utterly super contest…

MR. ARCHER (putting down and his paper and groaning) Ohhhh…

MRS. ARCHER (to Corliss): Oh, not now, dear…you’re disturbing your father again…

CORLISS: Oh, I’m sorry… (pause) Oh, Mom—I’ll simply die unless I tell you because Benson’s is actually having its annual photo contest to pick the Sweetheart of the Year, and I just gotta…

MRS. ARCHER (quietly pleading): Corliss…Corliss, your father…how many times must I tell you…

MR. ARCHER: Oh, what’s the use, Janet—you can’t dam up an ocean with your bare hands…spill it, Corliss…

CORLISS: Well, Daddy…you remember last year how Benson’s had its contest where every boy submitted a picture of his girlfriend and they posted the pictures and everyone voted and the girl who got the most votes was crowned Benson’s Sweetheart of the Year, remember?

MR. ARCHER: I might have remembered before you started that sentence—but I was a young man then…

Corliss wants desperately to be crowned this year’s “Sweetheart,” as she lost last year to her hated rival Betty, remarking: “That frizzed-out blonde immersed triumphant.” (Mr. Archer: “Emerged, Corliss…immersal means all wet.” Corliss: “Daddy, that’s an utterly perfect description of her!”) But our teenaged heroine can’t find a suitable photograph in which to enter—the only one available is one with both her and Dexter. The two of them enlist Raymond’s help in editing Dexter out—but the little monster edits Corliss out instead. (As I say here frequently at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear: “Let the wacky complications ensue!”)

Meet Corliss Archer—following in the footsteps of so many of its radio brethren and sistern—eventually made the leap into television, with two live versions of the sitcom in 1951 and 1952, and a syndicated series (produced by Ziv Productions and starring Ann Baker as the titular teen) in 1954. I like the show, though I’ll admit that I prefer A Date With Judy more—this is due in large part to the talents of Louise Erickson, John Brown and Richard Crenna (Oogie Pringle’s not nearly as annoying as Dexter—and besides, he had a band, man). But the show remains a relative rarity in OTR circles; less than two dozen episodes of what was once one of radio’s popular sitcoms are extant for collectors today.
12:20:16 PM    comment []  trackback []