December Bride (radio program)
{{Short description|American radio situation comedy (1952–1953)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name = December Bride
| image = Spring Byington in Meet John Doe trailer.jpg
| imagesize = 250px
| caption =
| other_names =
| format =
| runtime =
| country = United States
| language = English
| home_station =
| syndicates = CBS
| television = December Bride
| presenter =
| starring = Spring Byington
Doris Singleton
Hal March
Hans Conried
Alan Reed
| announcer = Johnny Jacobs
| creator = Parke Levy
| writer = Parke Levy
| director = Parke Levy
| senior_editor =
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| producer =
| exec_producer =
| narrated =
| rec_location =
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| oth_location =
| first_aired = {{Start date|1952|06|08}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1953|09|06}}
| num_series =
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}}
December Bride is an American old-time radio situation comedy. It was broadcast on CBS from June 8, 1952, to September 6, 1953,{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22December+Bride,+situation+comedy%22&pg=PA196 |last=Dunning |first=John |authorlink=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=196|edition=Revised |accessdate=2019-09-04}} replacing Jack Benny's program.{{cite news |title='Paula Stone Show' Premieres On Mutual |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48478030/paula-stone/ |accessdate=April 11, 2020 |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=June 8, 1952 |location=Florida, St. Petersburg |page=98|via = Newspapers.com}} CBS television broadcast a version of the program 1954–1959.{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=247|edition=2nd}}
Format
In On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, John Dunning described Lily Ruskin, the program's main character, as "the precise opposite of the stereotypical mother-in-law. A widow, Lily was a dear lady in every aspect." Other main characters in the program were Ruth Henshaw, Lily's daughter; Matt Henshaw, Ruth's husband; and their next-door neighbor, Pete Porter.
Lily wrote an advice column for a newspaper, and Matt was an architect.{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows|date=1999|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7864-4513-4|page=97}}
In August 1952, December Bride was one of four sustaining CBS radio programs (along with the Steve Allen Show, Gunsmoke, and Horatio Hornblower) carried over into the fall "to test further their commercial potential."{{cite magazine|title=4 of 5 CBS AM Sustainers Get Fall Rides|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CB8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%224+of+5+CBS+AM+Sustainers+Get+Fall+Rides%22+%22December+Bride%22&pg=PA6|accessdate=14 June 2023|magazine=Billboard|date=August 30, 1952|page=6}}
Personnel
The cast of December Bride is shown in the table below.
Source: On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (except as noted)
Johnny Jacobs was the announcer, and Wilbur Hatch provided the music. The program was created and directed by Parke Levy.{{cite news|title=(untitled brief)|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/52-OCR/BC-1952-09-15-OCR-Page-0075.pdf|accessdate=25 July 2017|work=Broadcasting|date=September 15, 1952|page=75}}
Promotion
In December 1952, December Bride held a letter-writing contest with the topic "Why I like my Mother-in-law". The prize was a week's vacation for two to Palm Springs, including being the guests of Spring Byington while there.{{cite news|title=Mother-in-law contest|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/52-OCR/BC-1952-12-22-OCR-Page-0086.pdf#search=Mother-In-Law+Contest|accessdate=25 July 2017|work=wpbc|date=December 22, 1952|page=86}}
Critical response
A review in the trade publication Variety described the show's dialog as "zany" and said that Byington was "her usual delightful self as the mother-in-law".{{cite magazine |date=June 11, 1952 |page=26 |title=December Bride |magazine=Variety |url=https://archive.org/details/variety186-1952-06/page/n89/mode/1up?view=theater |accessdate=February 28, 2024 }} It summarized the premiere episode as "unpretentious hot-weather fare".
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
=Logs=
- [http://www.otrsite.com/otrsite/logs/logd1069.htm Log of December Bride episodes from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs]
- [http://www.otrr.org/FILES/Logs_txt/December%20Bride.txt Log of December Bride episodes from Old Time Radio Researchers Group]
- [http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=December+Bride Log of December Bride episodes from radioGOLDINdex]
=Streaming=
- [http://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/D%20Series/December%20Bride/ Episodes of December Bride from Old Time Radio Researchers Group Library]
Category:1952 radio programme debuts
Category:1953 radio programme endings
Category:1950s American radio programs