The Charlotte Greenwood Show
{{Short description|1944-1946 radio situation comedy}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name = The Charlotte Greenwood Show
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| other_names = The Hallmark Charlotte Greenwood Show
| format = Situation Comedy
| runtime = 30 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| syndicates = NBC
ABC
radio networks
| starring = Charlotte Greenwood
(1890-1977)
| announcer = Wendell Niles
| writer = Ray Singer
Phil Leslie
Jack Hasty
Don Johnson
| producer = John Guedel
Thomas Freebairn Smith
Arnold McGuire
| first_aired = June 13, 1944
| last_aired = January 6, 1946
| sponsor = Pepsodent (1944)
Hallmark Cards (1945–46)}}
The Charlotte Greenwood Show was a old-time radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States, on the longtime National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio network, aired for three months from June 13 to September 5, 1944, and then later on the newly established in 1945 of the now independent third American broadcasting media network of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC radio and later also television network, formerly the old NBC Blue Network, divested / sold from NBC in 1942), airing from October 15, 1944 to January 6, 1946.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22The+Charlotte+Greenwood+Show,+situation+comedy%22&pg=PA150 |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=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=150 |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-08-29}}
Background
The program began as a summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show (1948-1955) on the NBC radio network.{{cite news|title=Photo caption|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/44-OCR/1944-07-10-BC-OCR-Page-0049.pdf#search=Greenwood |accessdate=April 17, 2015|agency=Broadcasting|date=July 10, 1944|page=49}} Newspaper syndicated gossip and entertainment / celebrity news columnist Hedda Hopper (1885-1966) reported, "The interesting thing is that she (Charlotte Greenwood, 1890-1977) got the job on a couple of scripts written by her husband, Martin Broones, who's never before written for radio."{{cite news|last1=Hopper|first1=Hedda|title=Looking at Hollywood|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1944/04/03/page/18/article/looking-at-hollywood|accessdate=April 16, 2015|agency=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=April 3, 1944|page=18}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NQkeAAAAIBAJ&pg=2387%2C6442214&q=Hollywood+Hedda+Hopper |author=Hedda Hopper |title=Hollywood |page=19 |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |date=1944-04-06 |access-date=2023-06-11 }}
Format
The 1944 short summer version of the show on the NBC Blue Network (1927-1945), had comedienne Greenwood, playing herself, working as a cub reporter in a small newspaper as research in preparation for a future film role. When the program resurfaced in 1945 on the newly established ABC independent radio network, Greenwood's character had now the responsibility of raising three children, teenagers Jack and Barbara and little Robert after her good friend died, making her executor of the estate. The setting was the fictional town of "Lakeview".{{cite news|last1=Boyd|first1=Malcolm|title=The Winnah!|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Life/40s/45/Radio-Life-1945-04-22.pdf#page=27 |access-date=April 17, 2015|agency=Radio Life|date=April 22, 1945|pages=26–27}}
An old time radio reference commented that Greenwood's character "managed to be single, moral, and peppy."{{cite web|title=Stereotypes on Radio|url=http://cw.routledge.com/ref/radio/stereotypes.pdf|website=Routledge|accessdate=April 17, 2015}}
Characters, cast and personnel
The main characters of the latter program and the actors portraying them are shown in the table below.
| class="wikitable" | |
| Character | Actor/actress |
|---|---|
| Jack Barton | Cliff Carpenter,Terrace, Vincent (2003). [https://books.google.com/books?id=GoneCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931-1972]. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 49. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-4925-5}}. Edward Ryan |
| Barbara Barton | Janet Waldo, Betty Moran |
| Robert Barton | Dix Davis, Bobby Larson |
| Judge Cronin | Charles Cantor |
| William Anderson | John Brown |
| Mr. Reynolds | Edward Arnold |
Others in the cast were Shirley Mitchell, Arthur Q. Bryan, Harry Bartell and Will Wright. Wendell Niles was the announcer.{{cite news|last1=West|first1=Virginia|title=KECA mike memos|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Life/40s/45/Radio-Life-1945-11-04.pdf#page=8&search=Wendell|accessdate=April 17, 2015|agency=Radio Life|date=November 4, 1945}} The writers included Jack Hasty, Don Johnson, Ray Singer, and Phil Leslie. The producers included Arnold McGuire.{{cite news|title=On All Accounts|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/49-OCR/1949-02-21-BC-OCR-Page-0084.pdf#search=Greenwood|accessdate=April 17, 2015|agency=Broadcasting|date=February 21, 1949|pages=84, continued from 10}}
References
{{Portal|Radio}}
{{Reflist}}
External links
=Episodic log=
- [https://www.myclassicradio.net/comedy/the-charlotte-greenwood-show/ Partial episodic log of The Charlotte Greenwood Show along with other radio appearances of Greenwood], myclassicradio.net
=Streaming audio=
- [https://archive.org/details/CharlotteGreenwood64Eps Episodes of The Charlotte Greenwood Show], archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte Greenwood Show, The}}
Category:1940s American radio programs
Category:American comedy radio programs