THE EDGAR BERGEN AND CHARLIE McCARTHY SHOW:

AN EPISODE GUIDE AND BRIEF HISTORY

by Martin Grams, Jr.

On his way home from school one day, the young lad named Edgar Bergen tested a newly-found gift by hailing another boy, who exclaimed, "Who was that calling me, anyhow?" Bergen was aware of his talent, and continued to practice his vocal tricks. He progressed so well that his mother was forever answering the door in response to pleas of old men who begged to be let in, only to discover that it was Bergen himself. When once a man stalked Bergen’s mother, it was his vocal talent through the other side of the door that scared her admirer away. Before long, Edgar’s interests had extended to slight of hand paraphernalia, and spent much of his small savings on magic tricks. One of his purchases was a twenty-five cent book on ventriloquism, with which he set about developing his talent for "voice diffusion."

Young Bergen went on to high school, attending the Lane Technical and Lakeview Schools. It was there that Charlie McCarthy was born. The inspiration for the impish dummy was a tough Irish newsboy, and the head was carved in white pine by a carpenter named Theodore Mack, who followed young Bergen’s specifications. In gratitude, Bergen added a Celtic suffix to the carpenter’s name – and Charlie McCarthy was christened. While Charlie’s head cost about thirty-five dollars, Bergen himself made the body. The newly whittled brash youth was an immediate success, delighting Bergen’s classmates and teachers. The dummy, incidentally, once helped his master pass an important history course by completely charming the teacher.

With the eclipse of vaudeville, in the early thirties Bergen polished his routine for nightclubs. He was very successful with an act he called "The Operation," in which he played the doctor. Charlie was the patient and a nurse was in attendance. (Edgar Bergen reprised this act in the beginning of RKO Studio’s 1941 movie Look Who’s Laughing.) This act was based on reality: Bergen had recently undergone an operation – he had argued with the doctors and experienced the usual qualms of a patient – all of which he transformed into a satirical comedy. But Bergen’s chance of fame came one night in 1936, on the invitation of Elsa Maxwell. He performed at a party where one of the guests, Noel Coward, congratulated Bergen on his fine dialogue. A week later, on December 16, Bergen made his first radio appearance on Rudy Vallee’s The Royal Gelatin Hour, for which he received the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars. That may not seem much by today’s standards, but in 1936 that was more than a month’s worth of wages. Five months later, in May of 1937, Chase and Sanborn began sponsoring The Chase and Sanborn Hour, starring Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

The Chase and Sanborn Hour

Broadcast from 8 to 9 p.m., EST over NBC

Master of Ceremonies: Don Ameche

Music: Werner Janseen conducts the music for the first seven broadcasts.

Music: Robert Armbruster will lead the orchestra beginning with episode eight till the early 1940s.

Regulars: Dorothy Lamour is a regular. W.C. Fields as comedian for the first eighteen broadcasts.

Throughout 1937 – 1940, Nelson Eddy was replaced by various tenors such as John Carter and Donald Dickson, in increments a few months while Eddy continuously went to Hollywood for the filming of movies at M-G-M. All of Eddy’s vacations are noted in the log.

Like Rudy Vallee’s program, The Chase and Sanborn Hour was constantly presenting new acts, comedians and singers, hoping some of the rising stars would become national celebrities soon after their appearances.

  1. (5/9/37) Ann Harding performs a scene from The Guardsman.
  2. (5/16/37) Carole Lombard is guest actress and Joseph Bentonelli is the guest singer.
  3. (5/23/37) Guests include actress Mary Boland, figure skater Sonja Henie and baritone Ray Middleton.
  4. (5/30/37) Actress Josephine Hutchinson and pianist Jose Iturbi.
  5. (6/6/37) Actress Constance Bennett and baritone Ray Middleton.
  6. (6/13/37) Joan Blondell is guest actress, along with the song writing team of Roger and Hart.
  7. (6/20/37) Ray Robson performs "The Old Lady Shows her Medals" and violinist Grisha Goluboff.
  8. (6/27/37) Sonja Henie and Ray Middleton return. Norma Drury is guest pianist.
  9. (7/4/37) Guests include Hoagy Charmichael and Zazu Pitts.
  10. (7/11/37) Gladys George is guest.
  11. (7/18/37) Actress Ann Southern performs a skit entitled "Fifty Roads to Town."
  12. (7/25/37) Tenor Attilio Baggiore sings and Mary Pickford and Don Ameche perform a short version of The Magic Cottage.
  13. (8/1/37) Bruna Castagna is guest soprano.
  14. (8/8/37) According to a press release, this is the first broadcast of the Charlie McCarthy series to feature Nelson Eddy, who had just this week signed on to become a regular on and off select weeks as the weekly baritone and singer.
  15. (8/15/37) Allan Jones is the guest tenor and Alice Brady performs a scene from Mourning Becomes Electra.
  16. (8/22/37) Glenda Farrell is guest.
  17. (8/29/37) This is the last episode to feature W.C. Fields as a regular. He will return on occasion for guest spots when called on.
  18. (9/5/37) Ida Lupino is guest actress.
  19. (9/12/37) Bette Davis is guest actress.
  20. (9/19/37) Beginning with this episode, Herbert Marshall takes over as master of ceremonies, while Don Ameche leaves for a three-week vacation.
  21. (9/26/37) Claudette Colbert is guest actress. Herbert Marshall is master of ceremonies.
  22. (10/3/37) Sally Eilers is guest. Rudy Vallee is master of ceremonies, as a form of cross-promotion since Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy would be guest on Vallee’s radio program five days later.
  23. (10/10/37) Miriam Hopkins is guest. Don Ameche returns from his vacation.
  24. (10/17/37) Clark Gable is guest. The Stroud Twins are now regular weekly comedians, filling the void W.C. Fields left a few weeks ago. The Stoud Twins would remain on the series until September 25, 1938.
  25. (10/24/37) no information is known.
  26. (10/31/37) Barbara Stanwyck is guest.
  27. (11/7/37) Barbara Stanwyck returns.
  28. (11/14/37) Anna Neagle
  29. (11/21/37) Billie Burke
  30. (11/28/37) Andrea Leeds
  31. (12/5/37) Ginger Rogers
  32. (12/12/37) Mae West is guest, something to do with a skit about "Adam and Eve."
  33. Perhaps no other broadcast of the Charlie McCarthy show is more popular than the December 12, 1937 broadcast starring Mae West. West rarely appeared on radio and when she did the sole purpose was to promote one of her films. West had appeared on such programs as The Shell Chateau with Al Jolson in 1936 and Louella Parsons’ blackmailing program Hollywood Hotel on April 26, 1935, with featured guest Paul Cavanaugh in an adaptation of the movie Goin’ to Town. (On February 21, 1934, the famed Mae West Jewel Robbery was dramatized on Calling All Cars over CBS, without West participating in the drama.) When the producers of The Chase and Sanborn Hour offered the sex goddess the opportunity to appear on the program – then currently the highest-rated program of the year – she accepted if only to promote her latest film, Everyday is a Holiday. West often wrote her own scripts and even produced her own movies, so she did have a financial interest among her radio appearances.

    NBC wanted to present something special for Miss West, so the powers that be turned to one of their most promising young writers, Arch Oboler. "That script came about this way," Oboler recalled on television’s The Merv Griffin Show on August 2, 1973. "NBC called upon me one day in Westwood . . . they were in trouble on the Edgar Bergen show. I knew they always were in trouble on that show, but they were in particular because John Erskin had written a book called Adam and Eve. Miss West didn’t like it, Charlie didn’t like it, Edgar . . . didn’t matter [jokingly laughs], and Don Ameche was playing the lead. So they asked me, would I write this ten-minute sketch? Well, I wasn’t interested in writing for Miss West. Finally, they waved enough money at me, and my good resolves went down the drain, but I made one condition: I said I would write about Adam and Eve only if I could take it out of the book – which I collaborated with years before – that is the Bible [jokingly]. The show was to be rehearsed on Saturday, going on the air on Sunday. This was Thursday, so I stayed up all night with my dear wife, who I married because she knew how to take things down, and I wrote this sketch. It was taken right out of Genesis."

    It was eleven days before Christmas. Eight o’clock Sunday night. The Chase and Sanborn Hour began broadcasting from Hollywood as usual. The master of ceremonies, Don Ameche, introduced Nelson Eddy who opened with "On the Road to Mandalay" followed by "Beneath the Southern Moon" (the latter from Naughty Marietta). Next, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy joked with Nelson Eddy for a few minutes, asking among other questions how much Eddy made as a singer. Eddy avoided a definite answer by turning the tide; he asked Charlie how much he made and Charlie replied that he won’t reveal his salary "because Bergen keeps all of my allowances." (Just as a footnote here, Time reported in 1943 that Eddy was the highest paid singer in the United States.)

    Dorothy Lamour sang a song followed by a Chase and Sanborn commercial. Announcer Wendell Niles introduced Don Ameche and Mae West in "Adam and Eve." And then the calamity began.

     

     

    "Now one thing the powers-that-be forgot," recalled Oboler, "that in those days, unlike today, there were three things that an actress could not do. One was to have a child out of wedlock. Two, she could not swear, and three, she could not wear glasses. It was thought terrible for an actress to wear glasses. Well, Miss West, having all the usual good sense of all of us, didn’t wear her glasses during the rehearsals so she, being very nearsighted never saw my script. She bluffed her way through. It wasn’t until air time that she walked on stage waving these glasses, put them on . . . and for the first time saw the script. The result was disaster. What she did to ‘Adam and Eve’ the Arabs had never done so miserably."

    Dorothy Lamour recounted in her 1981 autobiography, My Side of the Road, "One week our special guest was Mae West, who was to play Eve to Don Ameche’s Adam, in a takeoff on the Bible story. Church groups were outraged and the mail came pouring in. I can’t even remember what she said that was so terrible, but I’m sure it was mild by today’s standards."

    What Mae West said wasn’t so bad as how she said it. Telling the serpent that "I feel like doin’ a big apple" was one comment ad-libbed, but when the serpent got stuck between the picket fences in an attempt to fetch the forbidden fruit, West exclaimed with the emotion of a woman going through an orgasm, "They’re – They’re! Now you’re through!"

    Edgar Bergen was shocked. "We had to have a star each week," he recalled, "and she seemed a logical choice. She was a sex star. We were fully aware of that. ‘Adam and Eve’ as you probably know, had been performed before without any untoward incidents. Possibly our program being on Sunday and having a little fun with the Bible was dangerous. We always had two rehearsals; one on Saturday evening, after which we rewrite and tighten, and then we would do a Sunday afternoon read-through. At that read-through, Mae read her lines straight. It was obvious she knew what she was doing – how to lay out line – but she didn’t give things that Mae West twist until the broadcast. I’ve always said that we had far more permissive material on a previous show."

    When one listens to a copy of the recording of this program, one can hear Don Ameche hesitate and even try to improvise to West’s lines. (Ameche even repeated the same line twice, the second with a slight hesitation!) But even when Mae West went up against the wooden dummy later in the program, exchanges such as "So good-time Charlie’s going to play hard-to-get" and "You’re all wood and a yard long" didn’t help matters any.

    Variety reported that Mae West has attracted the largest crowd at the NBC studio than any Hollywood star ever had, and after the broadcast a complicated if not over-demanding public outcry pervaded the airwaves. NBC’s president issued a public statement the day after the broadcast, explaining that such an incident was meant to entertain, not injure or insult those who felt the skit was "profane." NBC also stated that it would take any and all responsibility for any financial damages resulting from the broadcast. From a business perspective, this was a shrewd move on the part of NBC. Since the remarks of West were not aimed toward anyone particular, it could be said for certain that no radio listener could have possibly been financially injured as a result of what they heard – and with NBC publicly taking responsibility for the program that aired over their network, the good faith extended toward the listening public would be more apt to forgive and forget.

    But apparently damages were made. "Well, we were sued for plagiarism," recalled Oboler. "I don’t mean God called down – no this was from another part of heaven called Texas. A woman had written a story about Adam and Eve and she sued the network, NBC, for plagiarism. And Arch Oboler was the culprit. Since there were only two copies in existence, one that she had in her trunk, and the other one at the Library of Congress, it would have been necessary for me in those days to have gotten on a train and break into the Library of Congress. [Since I couldn’t] I was sued. And at the time the suit came up, it was one of those ordinary nuisances where they want to be paid off by the network in order not to go to trial. But this time the network put its back up stiffly and the trial went on. The trial was set in New York, and so I had to appear before what would be easily an officer of the Federal Court. When I got there on Wall Street, and sat down in a courtroom, the man looked just like Lewis Stone – and acted like him. He was very antsy and he didn’t like any part of this newfangled thing called radio, and above all, he didn’t like the whole thing discussing Mae West."

    "His first question," continued Oboler, "was ‘Mr. Oboler, where were you on February twenty-second – blah, blah, blah.’ And as long as I live, I’ll remember my answer because I was under oath. I said, ‘In the bedroom’ because, you see, Miss West does all of her business in her bedroom. She pays her bills in her bedroom, and she rehearses in her bedroom. So the judge’s next question – he looked at me very suspiciously as if I were the Henry Kissinger of my time – and he said, "Exactly, Mr. Oboler, what were you doing – and remember you’re under oath – what were you doing with Miss West?’ And his face turned bright red and he said, ‘I withdraw the question.’ And that was the end of that."

    Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper was in attendance during the broadcast, as one of the audience members, and she wrote in her column that she had "never seen anyone as embarrassed as Don Ameche. And I understand when they first showed him the sketch he absolutely refused to do it. They assured him Mae would play it straight and not indulge in any of her Westian nuances and if he refused to go on they would keep him off the air. Me was wearing a black evening gown, a long silver-fox cape, orchids and lilies of the valley, black eyelashes, the longest I’ve ever seen. She wore a pair of lorgnettes on a diamond-studded chain around her neck, but like a man who wears both suspenders and a belt. And she had a pair of glasses which she wore while broadcasting."

    According to the January 24, 1938 issue of Time magazine: "Last month Mae West brought down a deluge of criticism from all over the U.S. by a sexy burlesque of the story of Adam and Eve. Among the 1,000-odd letters of criticism that showered on [the] National Broadcasting Company was one from [the] F.C.C. asking for a transcript of the program. Last week NBC President Lenox R. Lohr got another letter from [the] F.C.C., signed by Chairman Frank McNinch." Taking time out from such radio supervising jobs as dividing up the ether, allotting slices of it to broadcasting stations and licensing operators, Mr. McNinch sounded off on Mae West.

    "The admittedly objectionable character of these features is, in our opinion," remarked McNinch, "attributable to the lack of a proper conception of the high standards required for a broadcast program intended for reception in the homes, schools, automobiles, religious, social and economic institutions, as well as clubs, hotels, trains and other places, reaching in the aggregate a much larger number of people daily than any other means of communication and carrying its message to men, women and children of all ages."

    The president of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency apologized to Lenox R. Lohr, the President of NBC, and after citing eight year of programming as evidence of this goal, the president admitted to the mistake and ensured the public at large that the same mistake would not be made again. To this end, six days after the broadcast, the general manager of the NBC station group banned any mention of Mae West’s name and of the incident on the network. In effect, Mae West was gone, never to grace the airwaves again.

  34. (12/19/37) In a more dignified manner from last week’s incident, the cast of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs performed a recreation.
  35. (12/26/37) Mary Pickford is guest in a drama entitled "A Kiss for Cinderella."
  36. (1/2/38) Margo is the guest actress.
  37. (1/9/38) Margaret Sullivan
  38. (1/16/38) Lupe Velez
  39. (1/23/38) Alice Brady
  40. (1/30/38) Boris Karloff performs "The Evil Eye," an adaptation of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart.
  41. (2/6/38) Marlene Dietrich performs a skit entitled "I Love an Actress."
  42. (2/13/38) Barbara Stanwyck performs a skit entitled "The Straw."
  43. (2/20/38) Gladys Swarthout is guest.
  44. (2/27/38) Rosalind Russell
  45. (3/6/38) Actors Adolph Menjou and Vera Teasdale are guests. Both are real-life husband and wife. Menjou is appearing on the program for publicity purposes. Both Bergen and Menjou appeared in Universal’s latest picture, Letter of Introduction. Incidentally, Teasdale was Menjou’s real-life wife.
  46. (3/13/38) Olivia deHavilland
  47. (3/20/38) Carole Lombard
  48. (3/27/38) Olivia deHavilland returns
  49. (4/3/38) Joan Bennett
  50. (4/10/38) Madeline Carroll
  51. (4/17/38) Bette Davis
  52. (4/24/38) Tommy Kelly
  53. (5/1/38) Edward Arnold
  54. (5/8/38) Gladys George
  55. (5/15/38) May Robson is guest.
  56. (5/22/38) May Robson returns.
  57. (5/29/38) Barbara Stanwyck
  58. (6/5/38) W.C. Fields is guest.
  59. (6/12/38) William Powell
  60. (6/19/38) Claudette Colbert
  61. (6/26/38) Carole Lombard
  62. (7/3/38) Miriam Hopkins
  63. Charlie McCarthy, though made of wood, was worth a fortune by mid-1938. He had a stand-in, used for cinema work and for some publicity stills; a wardrobe that included a supply of monocles, two full dress suits, a supply of starchy linen, ten hats size 3½, including several toppers and two berets; a Sherlock Holmes outfit, jockey silks, a cowboy suit, a French Foreign Legion uniform, a gypsy costume ("It’s the Gypsy in me"). he wore baby-size shows, spent $1,000 a year for wardrobe and laundry, was insured for $10,000 against kidnapping, loss or demolition.

    In 1938, at 33rd and Broadway in New York City, Charlie McCarthy fans could visit the fifth floor of the Gimbels Department Store and for $9.98, fans could purchase their own Charlie McCarthy and a book on ventriloquism. To give you an idea of how much Edgar Bergen was making off his creation, both he and Charlie collected $100,000 a year from the sale of dolls, gadgets, silverware and other copies of cocky Charlie. The March 20, 1939 issue of Time magazine reported that Edgar Bergen had recently made his last will and testament. In it he remembered Charlie, leaving $10,000 to the National Society of Ventriloquists so that Charlie might be kept in repair and used to encourage the perpetuation of the art.

    Trivia: Ventriloquism was never a radio art. It still isn’t. But thoroughly part of radio art was Bergen’s clever deliveries with guests on his radio program, for which is alma mater, Northwestern University, in 1937 awarded Charlie the honorary degree of Master of Innuendo and Snappy comeback.

  64. (7/10/38) Basil Rathbone is the guest. Edward Arnold is the master of ceremonies. Don Ameche leaves for an eight-week vacation.
  65. (7/17/38) Ida Lupino is guest.
  66. (7/24/38) Spencer Tracy performs a drama entitled "Five Star Final."
  67. (7/31/38) Fay Bainter in a scene from Dodsworth. Margaret MacRae is guest singer.
  68. (8/7/38) John Barrymore and Loretta Lee are guests. Nelson Eddy returns as lead tenor, replacing John Carter who was singer on the last few broadcasts.
  69. (8/14/38) Ella Logan, Richard Cromwell and Kathleen Lockhart are guests. Beulah Bondi was originally scheduled as a guest but for reasons unknown, she did not appear.
  70. (8/21/38) Virginia Bruce is guest.
  71. (8/28/38) Ralph Bellamy and Edward Arnold perform A Well Remembered Voice by James Barrie.
  72. (9/4/38) Olivia deHavilland stars in a scene from When the Sun Rises. Don Ameche returns from his eight-week vacation.
  73. (9/11/38) Warner Bros. Studios loans Errol Flynn to the program for publicity purposes.
  74. (9/18/38) Cowboy singer Gene Autry is guest. Olympic Branda is also guest.
  75. (9/25/38) Actress Constance Bennett is guest. This is the final episode to feature the Stroud Twins.
  76. (10/2/38) Alice Faye is guest. Judy, Annie and Zeke are guest comedians, who replace the Stroud Twins and remain as regulars till the end of the year.
  77. (10/9/38) Actress Loretta Young is guest of the week.
  78. (10/16/38) Sonja Henie
  79. (10/23/38) no details or guests known
  80. (10/30/38) Madeline Carroll is guest. This same evening Orson Welles panicked America on CBS.
  81. (11/6/38) Jean Arthur
  82. (11/13/38) Anna May Wong pays a visit to the program.
  83. (11/20/38) Anna May Wong returns to the program.
  84. (11/27/38) Henry Fonda is guest.
  85. (12/4/38) Carole Lombard
  86. (12/11/38) William Powell
  87. (12/18/38) Mischa Auer and Madeline Carroll
  88. (12/25/38) Christmas broadcast, special events and holiday skits are performed.
  89. (1/1/39) Jackie Cooper and Maxie Rosenbloom
  90. (1/8/39) Maxie Rosenbloom made a splash last week with listeners so he returns again.
  91. (1/15/39) Rosalind Russell
  92. (1/22/39) Actress Claudette Colbert and actor Sterling Holloway are guests.
  93. (1/29/39) Maureen O’Sullivan is guest. This is the last episode to feature Nelson Eddy as a regular tenor.
  94. (2/5/39) Sterling Holloway returns and Barbara Stanwyck is guest. Donald Dickson replaces Nelson Eddy as the lead singer until August of 1939.
  95. (2/12/39) Sterling Holloway for a third time in four weeks!
  96. (2/19/39) The great Marlene Dietrich is guest.
  97. (2/26/39) Billy Gilbert and Akim Tamiroff are guests.
  98. (3/5/39) Virginia Bruce is guest.
  99. (3/12/39) Helen Hayes and Beatrice Fairfax are guests. Comedian Richard Haydn becomes a regular about this time, appearing in almost every episode for the next few months.
  100. The episode of March 12, 1939 was broadcast from Manhattan’s Radio City – the first time the program had originated from anywhere but Hollywood since the program’s premiere. When the plan to do this was announces to the press, 60,000 Charlie McCarthy fans besieged NBC and the agency producing the show for admission to Radio City’s 1,318-seat Studio 8-H. A crowd of 5,000 was at the station when the Chase and Sanborn troupe arrived, but Charlie was nowhere to be seen. Photographers grouped Master of Ceremonies Don Ameche, darkling Sarongstress Dorothy Lamour and Baritone Donald Dickson for a picture. As they were sighting the group, a press agent brought another man over, a middling, fair, baldish chap with delicate , expressive lips. For one photographer up front, this man crowded the picture, blocked the view of the lissome Lamour. "Hey," he growled, "get that lug out of there." Little did the photographer know that the lug was Edgar Bergen.

  101. (3/19/39) Maurice Evans
  102. (3/26/39) Madeline Carroll, Jean Travers and Edward Everett Horton are guests.
  103. (4/2/39) Jackie Oakie
  104. (4/9/39) Ogden Nash and Claudette Colbert
  105. (4/16/39) Ginger Rogers
  106. (4/23/39) Loretta Young
  107. (4/30/39) Edward Everett Horton
  108. (5/7/39) Virginia Bruce and Roy Atwell are guests.
  109. (5/14/39) Edward Arnold
  110. (5/21/39) Rosalind Russell
  111. (5/28/39) Billy Gilbert and George Brent
  112. (6/4/39) Guests are Annabella and Billy Gilbert.
  113. (6/11/39) Loretta Young returns again.
  114. (6/18/39) Pianist Alec Templeton performs a few renditions.
  115. (6/25/39) Ginger Rogers
  116. (7/2/39) Jackie Cooper and Alan Mowbray
  117. (7/9/39) Stuart Irwin and boxer Tony Galento
  118. (7/16/39) Andrea Leeds and Charles Irwin
  119. (7/23/39) Ida Lupino and Barbara Jo Allen
  120. (7/30/39) Kay Francis and Luis Alberni
  121. (8/6/39) Josephine Hutchinson and Mischa Auer
  122. (8/13/39) Barbara Jo Allen returns as guest. Nelson Eddy returns as lead tenor, replacing Donald Dickson.
  123. (8/20/39) Charles Irwin and Joan Bennett
  124. (8/27/39) Miriam Hopkins and Alan Mowbray
  125. (9/3/39) Wendy Barrie and Vera Vague are guests. Broadcast originates from Honolulu, Hawaii.
  126. (9/10/39) Mischa Auer and Madeline Carroll
  127. (9/17/39) Fred MacMurray and Helen Broderick
  128. (9/24/39) Anita Louise and David Niven
  129. (10/1/39) Constance Bennett and Edward Everett Horton
  130. (10/8/39) Charles Laughton and Barbara Jo Allen
  131. (10/15/39) Merle Oberon and Vera Vague
  132. (10/22/39) Olivia deHavilland
  133. (10/29/39) Clark Gable and Barbara Jo Allen
  134. (11/5/39) Cliff Nazarro and Jackie Cooper. This is the final episode to feature Dorothy Lamour as the weekly singer. She had been a regular since the program began in 1937.
  135. (11/12/39) Jean Arthur is guest. Rudy Vallee is master of ceremonies for this broadcast, and will remain emcee for the next four broadcasts while Don Ameche is on vacation.
  136. (11/19/39) George Raft and Alan Mowbray
  137. (11/26/39) Loretta Young
  138. (12/3/39) Maureen O’Hara and Arthur Treacher
  139. (12/10/39) Lansing Hatfield is guest baritone.
  140. (12/17/39) Geraldine Fitzgerald is guest. Don Ameche returns.
  141. (12/24/39) Gloria Dean
  142. (12/31/39) Mischa Auer and Madeline Carroll
  143. By December of 1939, it was estimated that The Chase and Sanborn Hour traditionally had the ear of perhaps a third of the nation, the largest radio audience in the United States. But Charlie appeared only twice (a total of about 15 minutes) during the hour: the rest was usually orchestra music, songs by Dorothy Lamour and Donald Dickson, effervescences by guest stars and a master of ceremonies. Between Charlie’s turn at the mike, the interest in his vast audience wavered. According to a poll, the sponsors shockingly discovered that many tuned in on other programs, others mixed drinks, woolgather and miss commercials until Charlie returned. So it was decided by the sponsor, Standard Brands, that something had to be done. They ordered their Chase and Sanborn show tailored more accurately to Charlie’s measure. Beginning January 7, 1940, after the contracts of Lamour and Ameche expired, the program would be cut to a half-hour, leaving mainly Charlie and guest-star stooges, leaving little or no opportunity for tuners to duck out for a drink between halves.

    Beginning with episode 140, the title of the series was changed, obviously, from The Chase and Sanborn Hour to The Chase and Sanborn Program. Now broadcast from 8 to 8:30 p.m., EST over NBC. Wendell Niles, who was the regular announcer for the series, had to take leave for a brief time in 1940. Ben Alexander took his place while Niles was away.

  144. (1/7/40) no guest known
  145. (1/14/40) Charles Laughton
  146. (1/21/40) Vera Vague and Priscilla Lane
  147. (1/28/40) Lansing Hatfield is guest baritone and Una Merkel jokes with Charlie.
  148. (2/4/40) Judge Leroy Dawson and Barbara Jo Allen
  149. (2/11/40) Gloria Jean and Walter Catlett
  150. (2/18/40) Clark Gable
  151. (2/25/40) Walter Catlett returns
  152. (3/3/40) Arthur Treacher
  153. (3/10/40) Carole Lombard
  154. (3/17/40) Singer Doc Rockwell and baseball player Lou Gehrig are guests.
  155. (3/24/40) Vera Vague
  156. (3/31/40) Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe
  157. (4/7/40) Deanna Durbin
  158. (4/14/40) Chinese actor Willie Fung is guest.
  159. (4/21/40) Charles Laughton and Donald Dickson
  160. (4/28/40) Man-Mountain Dean, professional wrestler
  161. (5/5/40) Robert Benchley and June Duprez
  162. (5/12/40) no guest known
  163. (5/19/40) Jeanette MacDonald
  164. (5/26/40) Ted Rankin, airplane pilot
  165. (6/2/40) Singer Josephine Sitzar is guest.
  166. (6/9/40) James Cagney
  167. (6/16/40) Anna Neagle
  168. (6/23/40) Robert Benchley
  169. (6/30/40) Vera Vague and Charles Laughton
  170. July and August of 1940 marked the first time since the program’s premiere that the Charlie McCarthy show would go off the air for a summer break. The series never missed a single Sunday until the summer of 1940. The summer replacement was a mystery series entitled The Bishop and the Gargoyle (see John Dunning’s On the Air encyclopedia for info about that program), an unusual crime-fighting series starring Richard Gordon.

    Broadcast Sunday evenings from 8 to 8:30 p.m., EST on NBC.

    Baritone Donald Dickson signed on as the weekly singer from September 1, 1940 to February 2, 1941.

    Richard Haydn was the weekly singer from February 9, 1941 to March 30, 1941.

    Deanna Durbin was originally scheduled to star as the weekly singer for this 1940-41 season, but a week before the premiere of September 1940, she backed down.

  171. (9/1/40) Irvin S. Cobb
  172. (9/8/40) no guest known
  173. (9/15/40) Jose Iturbi, pianist
  174. (9/22/40) no guest known
  175. (9/29/40) Virginia Bruce
  176. (10/6/40) Charles Laughton
  177. (10/13/40) Billie Burke
  178. (10/20/40) Errol Flynn
  179. (10/27/40) Frank Morgan
  180. (11/3/40) Laurence Olivier
  181. (11/10/40) no guest known
  182. (11/17/40) Mickey Rooney
  183. (11/24/40) violinist Toscha Seidel
  184. (12/1/40) Claudette Colbert
  185. (12/8/40) The Andrews Sisters
  186. (12/15/40) Madeline Carroll
  187. (12/22/40) Olivia deHavilland
  188. (12/29/40) Marlene Dietrich
  189. (1/5/41) The Andrews Sisters return
  190. (1/12/41) Judy Garland
  191. (1/19/42) Ann Southern
  192. (1/26/41) Robert Taylor
  193. (2/2/41) William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd is guest.
  194. (2/9/41) Mickey Rooney
  195. (2/16/41) no guest known
  196. (2/23/41) Robert Taylor returns
  197. (3/2/41) Lucille Ball
  198. (3/9/41) Charles Boyer
  199. (3/16/41) Carmen Miranda
  200. (3/23/41) Myrna Loy
  201. (3/30/41) Jackie Oakie
  202. (4/6/41) Lana Turner
  203. (4/13/41) Carmen Miranda
  204. (4/20/41) Cecil B. DeMille and Abbott and Costello
  205. (4/27/41) Susanna Foster and Chester Morris
  206. (5/4/41) Shirley Temple
  207. (5/11/41) Martha Raye is guest. This is the fifth anniversary program.
  208. (5/18/41) Charles Laughton
  209. (5/25/41) Edna May Oliver
  210. (6/1/41) Walt Disney
  211. (6/8/41) Mickey Rooney
  212. (6/15/41) Carmen Miranda
  213. (6/22/41) Lucille Ball and Allan Dwan
  214. (6/29/41) Jackie Oakie

After the broadcast of June 29, 1941, Chase and Sanborn continued to sponsor the same time slot, but a different program while the Charlie McCarthy show went off the air for the summer. What’s My Line? Was a radio quiz program that identified well-known people. It was last heard in September 1940 when Oxydol dropped sponsorship. Chase and Sanborn decided to revive the program as a short-run summer replacement for the Charlie McCarthy presentations. Arlene Francis and John Reed King were regulars. After nine weeks on the air, the wooden dummy returned to the air.

The new 1941 – 42 season now featured Ray Noble and his Orchestra supplying the music for the program. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello signed on as regular comedians performing short skits each week.

Buddy Twiss became the announcer.

Broadcast on Sunday evening from 8 to 8:30 p.m., EST on NBC.

 

  1. (9/7/41) Judy Garland
  2. (9/14/41) Rita Hayworth
  3. (9/21/41) W.C. Fields
  4. (9/28/41) Virginia Weidler
  5. (10/5/41) Dale Carnegie
  6. (10/12/41) Chester Morris
  7. (10/19/41) Marlene Dietrich
  8. (10/25/41) Hedda Hopper
  9. (11/2/41) Fibber McGee and Molly
  10. (11/9/41) Veronica Lake
  11. (11/16/41) Gene Tierney is guest. Maxine Grey supplied musical vocals.
  12. (11/23/41) Dr. Albert Edward Wiggam
  13. (11/30/41) Hedy Lamarr
  14. (12/7/41) Judy Garland
  15. (12/14/41) Lana Turner and Mickey Rooney
  16. (12/21/41) Charles Laughton
  17. (12/28/41) James Hilton
  18. (1/4/42) Rosalind Russell
  19. (1/11/42) Betty Grable and Charles Raft
  20. (1/18/42) James Stewart
  21. (1/25/42) Nelson Eddy
  22. (2/1/41) Donald Crisp
  23. (2/8/42) Ida Lupino
  24. (2/15/42) Chester Morris
  25. (2/22/42) Hedy Lamarr
  26. (3/1/42) Louella Parsons
  27. (3/8/42) Ann Southern
  28. (3/15/42) Cecil B. DeMille
  29. (3/22/42) Gary Cooper
  30. (3/29/42) Sir Cedric Harwdicke
  31. (4/5/42) Jeanette MacDonald
  32. (4/12/42) Don Ameche
  33. (4/19/42) Monty Wooley
  34. (4/26/42) Lucille Ball
  35. (5/3/42) Edward Everett Horton
  36. (5/10/42) Jane Withers
  37. (5/17/42) Bert Lahr
  38. (5/24/42) Carmen Miranda
  39. (5/31/42) Laird Cregar
  40. (6/7/42) Nelson Eddy
  41. (6/14/42) Ida Lupino
  42. (6/21/42) Judy Garland
  43. (6/28/42) Singer Ginny Simms and actor Walter Brennan are guests.
  44. During the nine weeks The Chase and Sanborn Program was off for the summer, the sponsors continued to sponsor the same time slot with a different (and patriotic) program, Star-Spangled Vaudville, starring Walter O’Keefe. When Bergen and McCarthy returned in the fall of 1942, Don Ameche had signed on to become emcee like the olden days. Bill Thompson became a regular during the last four months of the 1942 – 43 season.

    Ray Noble and his Orchestra supplying the music for the program.

    Broadcast on Sunday evening from 8 to 8:30 p.m., EST on NBC.

  45. (9/6/42) Charlie Ruggles
  46. (9/13/42) Rita Hayworth
  47. (9/20/42) Harold Peary (a.k.a. The Great Gildersleeve)
  48. (9/27/42) Heddy Lamarr
  49. (10/4/42) Broadcast originated from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
  50. (10/11/42) no guest known
  51. (10/18/42) no guest known
  52. (10/25/42) no guest known
  53. (11/1/42) no guest known
  54. (11/8/42) W.C. Fields
  55. (11/15/42) Edward Arnold
  56. (11/22/42) Marjorie Main
  57. (11/29/42) Edward Everett Horton
  58. (12/6/42) Marjorie Main
  59. (12/13/42) Nelson Eddy
  60. (12/20/42) Dale Evans, wife of cowboy star Roy Rogers
  61. (12/27/42) musician Gene Krupa
  62. (1/3/43) no guest known
  63. (1/10/43) musician Gene Krupa returns
  64. (1/17/43) Paulette Goddard
  65. (1/24/43) singer Jeanette MacDonald and pianist Jose Iturbi
  66. (1/31/43) Bert Lahr
  67. (2/7/43) Teresa Wright
  68. (2/14/43) Charlie Ruggles
  69. (2/21/43) Carmen Miranda
  70. (2/28/43) Ida Lupino
  71. (3/7/43) Sydney Greenstreet
  72. (3/14/43) Greer Garson and Cornelia Otis Skinner
  73. (3/21/43) Lupe Velez [episode broadcast from Mexico City]
  74. (3/28/43) Roy Rogers
  75. (4/4/43) Mary Boland
  76. (4/11/43) Martha Raye
  77. (4/18/43) Ronald Colman
  78. (4/25/43) Irene Dunne
  79. (5/2/43) Barbara Stanwyck
  80. (5/9/43) William Gaxton and Victor Moore
  81. (5/16/43) Claudette Colbert and Rags Ragland
  82. (5/23/43) Charles Boyer
  83. (5/30/43) Walter Pidgeon
  84. Summer replacement for Charlie McCarthy’s time slot was the thirteen-week musical variety series Paul Whiteman Presents. Chase and Sanborn was the sponsor for that program. Dinah Shore was the lead singer and Victor Moore and William Gaxton were regulars. (Note Moore and Gaxton were both guests on the May 9 broadcast four weeks before the premiere of Paul Whiteman Presents!

    According to a press release dated August 29, 1943, The Chase and Sanborn Program would return September 5 with Victor Moore and William Gaxton as new regulars for the show for the first seven weeks. Beginning October 24, 1943, Bert Lahr and Lena Horne were featured regulars, replacing Gaxton and Moore. Lena Horne and Bert Lahr were regulars till the end of the year – their final appearance was December 26, 1943.

  85. (9/5/43) Jean Arthur
  86. (9/12/43) Humphrey Bogart
  87. (9/19/43) W.C. Fields
  88. (9/26/43) Heddy Lamarr
  89. (10/3/43) Charles Laughton
  90. (10/10/43) Marjorie Main
  91. (10/17/43) Roy Rogers
  92. (10/24/43) Joan Blondell
  93. (10/31/43) Dorothy Lamour
  94. (11/7/43) Bob Burns
  95. (11/14/43) Mary Boland
  96. (11/21/43) Jane Powell and Heddy Lamarr
  97. (11/28/43) William Bendix
  98. (12/5/43) Jane Powell and Fats Waller
  99. (12/12/43) Jane Powell and Paulette Goddard
  100. (12/19/43) Lupe Velez
  101. (12/26/43) Veronica Lake
  102. (1/2/44) Charlie Ruggles
  103. (1/9/44) Paulette Goddard and Prince Michael Romanoff
  104. (1/16/44) Carmen Miranda
  105. (1/23/44) Greer Garson
  106. (1/30/44) Basil Rathbone
  107. (2/6/44) Susan Hayward
  108. (2/13/44) Edward Everett Horton
  109. (2/20/44) W.C. Fields
  110. (2/27/44) Dorothy Lamour
  111. (3/5/44) Cecil B. DeMille
  112. (3/12/44) Charlie Ruggles
  113. (3/19/44) Ruth Hussey
  114. (3/26/43) W.C. Fields
  115. (4/2/44) Orson Welles
  116. (4/9/44) Ray Milland
  117. (4/16/44) no guest known
  118. (4/23/44) Clyde Beatty and Yvette
  119. (4/30/44) Eve Arden
  120. (5/7/44) Ed Gardner from radio’s Duffy’s Tavern
  121. (5/14/44) Signe Hasso
  122. (5/21/44) James Melton
  123. (5/28/44) Orson Welles
  124. (6/4/44) This was the final episode of the season, but broadcast at a sixty-minute time slot instead of a thirty-minute time slot. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy were the stars, along with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. A special salute to the Armed Forces, broadcast from 8 to 9 p.m., EST.
  125. Chase and Sanborn continued to sponsor the same 8 to 8:30 p.m. time slot, a twelve-week program entitled The Gracie Fields Show, starring (who else?) Gracie Fields. This musical variety took off where her last series left, The Gracie Fields Victory Show sponsored by Pall Mall Cigarettes. Lou Bring and his Orchestra supplied the music.

    When The Chase and Sanborn Program returned in September, Bill Goodwin signed as a temporary announcer for the first three or four episodes, then replaced by Bill Forman who would stay till the end of the season. The King Sisters supplied vocal music from September to mid-October, when Joan Merrill replaced the singers as the new lead singer. Like many comedic programs during WWII, many of these broadcasts originated at bases and stations across the country to entertain troops and boost listener morale.

  126. (9/3/44) Judy Garland is guest and puppet Effie Klinker debuts.
  127. (9/10/44) Ed Gardner was guest to promote his new season of Duffy’s Tavern set to begin 9/15.
  128. (9/17/44) Leo Carillo is guest. Program originated from the Small Craft Training Center at the Roosevelt Navy Base at Terminal Island in California.
  129. (9/24/44) Anne Baxter
  130. (10/1/44) Olivia de Havilland
  131. (10/8/44) no guest listed
  132. (10/15/44) Gertrude Niesen
  133. (10/22/44) Jim Ameche become a regular beginning with this episode.
  134. (10/29/44) Joan Merrill
  135. (11/5/44) John Robert Powers, founder of the Powers Model Agency and Orson Welles are guests
  136. (11/12/44) Frank Fay
  137. (11/19/44) Joan Merrill
  138. (11/26/44) Don Ameche
  139. (12/3/44) Professor Irwin Corey
  140. (12/10/44) Professor Irwin Corey returns, Signe Hasso and Verna Felton
  141. (12/17/44) Joan Merrill
  142. (12/24/44) The Chorus of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station
  143. (12/31/44) Joan Merrill
  144. (1/7/45) Carmen Miranda [program originated from the 21st Ferrying Group of the Ferrying Division of the Air Command, Palm Springs, California]
  145. (1/14/45) Louis Bromfield
  146. (1/21/45) Ed Gardner
  147. (1/28/45) Frank Sinatra
  148. (2/4/45) Dr. Albert E. Wiggam
  149. (2/11/45) Dorothy Lamour
  150. (2/18/45) Veronica Lake
  151. (2/25/45) Gene Tierney
  152. (3/4/45) Anne Baxter
  153. (3/11/45) Joan Blondell performs "A Bud Blooms in Brooklyn"
  154. (3/18/45) Maria Montez
  155. (3/25/45) Lynn Bari [program originated from Luke Field, Arizona]
  156. (4/1/45) Linda Darnell
  157. (4/8/45) Jackie Oakie
  158. (4/22/45) Rita Hayworth [program originates from the Santa Barbara Redistribution Center]
  159. Trivia: Rita Hayworth was originally scheduled for the broadcast of April 15, 1945. Due to the death of President Roosevelt, the program was pre-empted (along with other regularly-scheduled programs that same evening) so Hayworth agreed to appear the week after on April 22.

  160. (4/29/45) Ida Lupino
  161. (5/6/45) Monty Wooley
  162. (5/13/45) Edward Everett Horton
  163. (5/20/45) Janet Blair [program originates from Norman, Oklahoma]
  164. (5/27/45) Martha O’Driscoll
  165. (6/3/45) Joan Merrill
  166. The summer replacement for the Charlie McCarthy time-slot was The Frances Langford Show, a twelve-week musical variety series. Langford was the star, and guests included Hollywood actors and comedians including Groucho Marx. Chase and Sanborn sponsored.

    According to a press release dated September 2, 1945:

    "When Fred Allen returns to the air in October, he is not expected to take Jack Benny to task quite so often. The new objects of his barbed witticisms will be Charlie McCarthy, it is said. The change might be explained by the fact that Mr. Allen’s new sponsor also presents McCarthy."

    That’s right, Chase and Sanborn was sponsoring two programs, Charlie McCarthy and Fred Allen during the 1945-46 season. On the broadcast of October 7, 1945 (8 to 8:30 p.m., EST), Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy was not featured during the last few moments, as they had to rush to another studio to appear as guest on The Fred Allen Show broadcast from 8:30 to 9 p.m., EST. Fred Allen’s program premiered on October 7. Edgar Bergen was also guest on Fred Allen’s program on October 28.

    Ben Grauer, who had recently left the Information Please program as pitchman for Heinz products, signed on as temporary announcer for the first few weeks, replaced by Johnny Martin. In December of 1945, Ken Carpenter took over the announcing duties. Ray Noble and his Orchestra was still supplying the music. Believe-it-or-not, Keenan Wynn was a regularly featured guest for the first four episodes of this season!

  167. (9/2/45) Keenan Wynn and Carmen Miranda
  168. (9/9/45) Keenan Wynn and June Kilgore
  169. (9/16/45) Keenan Wynn, Don Ameche and Joan Blondell
  170. (9/23/45) Keenan Wynn and Anne Baxter
  171. (9/30/45) Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa
  172. (10/7/45) Paulette Goddard
  173. (10/14/45) Hildegarde
  174. (10/21/45) Fred Allen
  175. (10/28/45) Boris Karloff
  176. (11/4/45) Elsa Maxwell
  177. (11/11/45) Robert S. Kerr, Governor of Oklahoma, where the broadcast originated.
  178. (11/18/45) Margaret O’Brien performs "The Courtship of Miles Standish"
  179. (11/25/45) Vera Vague
  180. (12/2/45) Walter Pidgeon
  181. (12/9/45) Charles Laughton
  182. (12/16/45) Susan Hayward
  183. (12/23/45) Margaret O’Brien returns for another holiday episode.
  184. (12/30/45) Charlie Ruggles
  185. (1/6/46) Roy Rogers
  186. (1/13/46) Chester Morris
  187. (1/20/46) Rita Hayworth
  188. (1/27/46) Signe Hasso
  189. (2/3/46) Edward Everett Horton [Candice Bergen was born this week and it was announced during this broadcast that Bergen was the proud father of a baby girl.]
  190. (2/10/46) Jose Iturbi
  191. (2/17/46) Ray Milland
  192. (2/24/46) Tallulah Bankhead
  193. (3/3/46) Walter Slezak
  194. (3/10/46) Dorothy Lamour performs a drama entitled "The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter"
  195. (3/17/46) Margaret O’Brien
  196. (3/24/46) W.C. Fields
  197. (3/31/46) Jack Mather, Charles Kemper, and Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers
  198. (4/7/46) Heddy Lamarr
  199. (4/14/46) Cornel Wilde
  200. (4/21/46) Margaret O’Brien returns for the fourth time in the same season!
  201. (4/28/46) Chester Morris
  202. (5/5/46) Lauritz Melchoir
  203. (5/12/46) Edward Everett Horton
  204. (5/19/46) Ethel Barrymore
  205. (5/26/46) no guest known
  206. Summer replacement for the Charlie McCarthy show is Alec Templeton Time, a musical variety series starring pianist Alec Templeton. Again sponsored by Chase and Sanborn, this program lasted thirteen broadcasts.

    For the new season of The Chase and Sanborn Program, Pat Patrick and Anita Gordon signed on as regulars. Ray Noble and his Orchestra was still supplying the music. Ken Carpenter is still announcer. The broadcast of January 19, 1947 was a special homecoming broadcast with Bergen’s friends from the premiere season.

  207. (9/1/46) James Stewart
  208. (9/8/46) Anne Baxter
  209. (9/15/46) Fred MacMurray
  210. (9/22/46) Governor Earl Warren of California
  211. (9/29/46) Joan Caulfield
  212. (10/6/46) Jack Benny
  213. (10/13/46) Lily Pons
  214. (10/20/46) Governors Phil M. Donnelly of Missouri and Andrew Schoeppel of Kansas
  215. (10/27/46) no guest known
  216. (11/3/46) Fred Allen
  217. (11/10/46) Charles Laughton
  218. (11/17/46) Tallulah Bankhead
  219. (11/24/46) Edward Everett Horton [broadcast originates from Baltimore, Maryland]
  220. (12/1/46) William Bendix
  221. (12/8/46) Charlie Ruggles
  222. (12/15/46) Susan Hayward
  223. (12/22/46) Irene Dunne
  224. (12/29/46) Charlie Ruggles
  225. (1/5/47) Charles Boyer
  226. (1/12/47) Edward Arnold
  227. (1/19/47) Dorothy Lamour, Nelson Eddy, Don Ameche and Rudy Vallee
  228. (1/26/47) Roy Rogers
  229. (2/2/47) Jane Wyman
  230. (2/9/47) Nelson Eddy
  231. (2/16/47) Nelson Eddy and Billie Burke
  232. (2/23/47) Elsa Maxwell
  233. (3/2/47) Chester Morris
  234. (3/9/47) Monty Woolley
  235. (3/16/47) Margo
  236. (3/23/47) Anne Baxter
  237. (3/30/47) Edward Everett Horton
  238. (4/6/47) Don Ameche
  239. (4/13/47) Clyde Beatty
  240. (4/20/47) Monty Woolley
  241. (4/27/47) Van Johnson
  242. (5/4/47) Cass Daley
  243. (5/11/47) Jane Russell
  244. (5/18/47) Lauritz Melchoir
  245. (5/25/47) Don Ameche
  246. Summer replacement for Charlie McCarthy was Alec Templeton Time (yes, the same series broadcast last summer). This short-run summer series lasted a total of fourteen weeks.

    For the 1947-48 season, Pat Patrick and Anita Gordon remained regulars and Ray Noble and his Orchestra was still supplying the music. Ken Carpenter was the announcer with Nelson Case substituting for Carpenter at times. Eddie Mayehoff signed on as a regular comedian. This marked the first season that co-op sponsorship began for the Charlie McCarthy show. Royal Puddings and Chase and Sanborn were both sponsors of The Charlie McCarthy Show.

  247. (9/7/47) Eddie Mayehoff
  248. (9/14/47) Veola Vonn and Prince Michael Romanoff
  249. (9/21/47) Jack Mather, Alan Reed and Walt Disney are guests.
  250. Trivia: During the broadcast of September 21, 1947, Disney and the troop performed a short skit entitled "Jack and the Beanstalk." This was merely for publicity purposes. RKO Pictures and Walt Disney released Fun and Fancy Free, a movie featuring Edgar Bergen hosting two classic animated shorts, the first being an animated version of "Jack and the Beanstalk."

  251. (9/28/47) Alan Reed and Betty Hutton [program originates from Santa Monica, California]
  252. (10/5/47) Don Ameche [program originates from Pasadena, California]
  253. (10/12/47) Linda Darnell plays the role of Queen Lindabella in a Columbus Day skit. [program originates from Whittier, California]
  254. (10/19/47) Jane Wyman and Hans Conried perform "Aladdin and his Lamp" [program originates from Occidental College, Los Angeles]
  255. (10/26/47) Gloria Blondell, Jack Mather and Richard Widmark [from Van Nuys High School, California]
  256. (11/2/47) Fred Allen
  257. (11/9/47) Lulu McConnell and Maurice Evans
  258. (11/16/47) Lana Turner
  259. (11/23/47) Carmen Miranda
  260. (11/30/47) Edward Everett Horton
  261. (12/7/47) Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers [program originates from Claremont Men’s College]
  262. (12/14/47) John McGovern and Gary Cooper
  263. (12/21/47) Claudette Colbert
  264. (12/28/47) Dorothy Lamour
  265. (1/4/48) Adolph Menjou
  266. (1/11/48) Lucille Ball
  267. (1/18/48) Hoagy Carmichael
  268. (1/25/48) Al Jolson
  269. (2/1/48) Madeline Carroll
  270. (2/8/48) Andy Devine
  271. (2/15/48) Mario Lanza
  272. (2/22/48) Don Ameche
  273. (2/29/48) Esther Williams
  274. (3/7/48) Olga San Juan
  275. (3/14/48) Dinah Shore
  276. (3/21/48) Alfred Hitchcock
  277. (3/28/48) Diana Lynn
  278. (4/4/48) Barbara Bel Geddes and Rudy Vallee
  279. (4/11/48) Dr. Max Mason
  280. (4/18/48) Gary Cooper
  281. (4/25/48) Ethel Barrymore
  282. (5/2/48) Dr. Max Mason returns
  283. (5/9/48) Don Ameche
  284. (5/16/48) Bing Crosby [broadcast originates from Washington, D.C.]
  285. (5/23/48) Groucho Marx
  286. (5/30/48) Morton Downey
  287. By this time, Edgar Bergen and his wooden pal Charlie McCarthy were at the top of their game. According to recent radio polls, their weekly radio program was still in the top ten. But the movie offers slowed, and ratings – although still high – was slipping little by little as the seasons pass. The gossip of television crept through the back stage and it was certain a ventriloquist would be more successful seen on television – but could the radio audience handle watching Bergen on television? They pictured the wooden dummy with a life of its own, and even movies like Look Who’s Laughing (1941) didn’t have Charlie McCarthy always in the same scenes as Edgar Bergen.

    W.C. FIELDS: Is it true your father was a gate-leg table?

    McCARTHY: If it is, your father was under it.

    Chase and Sanborn was still sponsoring both the Charlie McCarthy and Fred Allen programs. But even with the assistance of Royal Puddings, the coffee makers would eventually have to drop one of the programs because of the expenses. Edgar Bergen received the notice in the fall of 1948. His contract would keep him employed till the end of the year. But after Christmas of 1948, Bergen would need a new sponsor. This made the budget shrink for weekly guests, and Hollywood stars were paying Fred Allen visit more often then Charlie McCarthy.

    For the remainder of the 1948 season, Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt starred in short comedy skits entitled "The Bickersons," written by Phil Rapp. This comedy series would later become a classic among radio listeners and a short-lived radio and television series of their own. Gale Gordon was hired as a supporting performer for these short skits and routines. Ken Carpenter was still the announcer. Ray Noble and his Orchestra was still supplying the music. Writers for Bergen’s material included Norman Paul, Zeno Clinker and Sy Rose.

  288. (10/3/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  289. (10/10/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  290. (10/17/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  291. (10/24/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  292. (10/31/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  293. (11/7/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  294. (11/14/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  295. (11/21/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  296. (11/28/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  297. (12/5/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  298. (12/12/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  299. (12/19/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt and Mario Lanza sings "The Lord’s Prayer."
  300. (12/26/48) Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt
  301. After five hundred broadcasts, the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy program went off the air. Edgar Bergen began touring the stages of vaudeville to pass the time. In the summer of 1949, Edgar Bergen wrote this small editorial for the New York Times:

    After thirteen years of life on the half shell in Hollywood, I have made a trip where I wasn’t a tourist. The only depots that have known my luggage – and the luggage of most of my colleagues – for the last decade have been a couple of European capitols, New York and Palm Springs. I have just rediscovered America – an actor’s America, not a vacationist’s. For five weeks I’ve been back in my element, vaudeville: Buffalo, Hartford, Boston, Minneapolis, Detroit, Vancouver. A beautiful theatrical world of backstage, split weeks, singers, electricians, acrobats, property men, stagehands and jugglers.

    So many people are working in vaudeville today that I looked for three weeks to book enough acts for an hour bill and didn’t have them until the night before we opened in Buffalo and money was no object! It all felt like a college play, enthusiastic, ambitious, somewhat extemporaneous with a few fine, old-fashioned professional hallmarks like the card game, which had been played persistently backstage since, I imagine, sometime shortly before Genesis. The actors hunch about their draw (it’s all canasta now, no more pinochle) and then with the agility of a pickpocket they drop their hands at the sound of a music cue, transform their expressions to match their costumes, glide onto the stage, have their say, and resume their play at the gaming tables without a flick of the eyelash.

    The pace is faster than it was thirteen years ago. Maybe it is the war or the movies or because this generation was bred on radio comedy, but I found out that they want bombastic stuff with a lot of drive. They have little time for whimsy. It varies, of course, from town to town. The Hartford audience was sharper on some things than the Buffalo audience. Political jokes go, depending upon how the community votes. A Negro audience will pick up subtle comedy quicker than anyone else.

    My friend Charlie McCarthy is, of course, much more of a celebrity than he was thirteen years ago. I found out something about Charlie’s friends this time. Charlie and I worked out a new act for the tour. It was based on the cherry tree episode in the life of George Washington. We both got lovely velvet costumes and powdered wigs. I thought Charlie looked fine as the father of our country. But something happened. They wanted to see McCarthy: striped pants, monocle, derby and Bergen’s bald head. If that had happened in radio, the reaction would have been slow, diffused and debatable. I wouldn’t learn anything from an audience sitting in a broadcasting studio in Hollywood because those people all are in my business.

    You find out your mistakes from an audience that pays admission. When you look these people in the eye you know what is wrong and what is right with the act. If it’s good you can keep it in. If it’s bad you can get rid of it before the next show. In radio and television you can’t be sure of anything. And whatever is uttered over the air is irrevocable.

    I am just as well pleased as we made a mistake with the George Washington act. It showed me I’m not immune from theatrical error. Now I’m on my toes. I took this tour to find out from the audience what they want. If I had strolled through with only the polite applause, such as rings in one’s ears after years in the free halls of entertainment of Hollywood, my trip would have been enjoyable but not enlightening. Nobody seems to know yet how television is going to affect the radio, movies, love, housekeeping or the church, but it has definitely revived vaudeville. I wish there be a guardian over vaudeville this time to protect the same people from killing it who killed it before – and several of them are back at the scene of the crime.

    I would like to see a vaudeville world of three-a-day. Five-a-day is too many. Managers who are trying to profit at that rate will gorge themselves right out of business. You can’t put entertainment on a production line basis. Some people have asked me if I was back in vaudeville to get ready for television. As a matter of fact I went back to vaudeville to get ready for radio. After a sabbatical from radio for nearly a year, I needed to work with Charlie again. Ventriloquism is not like riding a bicycle. I have to keep practicing or Charlie would sit tounge-tied, silently staring at me with the chill eye of a department store dummy.

    In October of 1949, the Coca-Cola Company signed a lucrative contract, allowing for a larger budget (thus the addition of weekly guest stars) with the option to renew every few months. Coca-Cola would end up sponsoring the program for three seasons! Not known as The Charlie McCarthy Show, the program returned to its ever-familiar time-slot of Sunday evenings, from 8 to 8:30 p.m., EST.

  302. (10/2/49) no guest known
  303. (10/9/49) Dorothy Shay
  304. (10/16/49) no guest known
  305. (10/23/49) Ann Blythe
  306. (10/30/49) Rose Bampton
  307. (11/6/49) Kay Starr
  308. (11/13/49) Dick Powell
  309. (11/20/49) Celeste Holm
  310. (11/27/49) Alec Templeton (pianist)
  311. (12/4/49) Joan Davis
  312. (12/11/49) Hoagy Carmichael
  313. (12/18/49) June Allyson
  314. (12/25/49) William Boyd as "Hopalong Cassidy"
  315. (1/1/50) Gregory Peck
  316. (1/8/50) Danny Kaye
  317. (1/15/50) Al Jolson
  318. (1/22/50) Alec Templton returns
  319. (1/29/50) Henry Fonda
  320. (2/5/50) The Tuskegee Institute Choir
  321. (2/12/50) June Haver
  322. (2/19/50) Dan Dailey
  323. (2/26/50) Dorothy Kirsten
  324. (3/5/50) Dinah Shore
  325. (3/12/50) Dennis Morgan
  326. (3/19/50) Victor Mature
  327. (3/26/50) Jane Wyman
  328. (4/2/50) Van Heflin
  329. (4/9/50) Jeanne Crain
  330. (4/16/50) Jack Benny
  331. (4/23/50) June Haver returns
  332. (4/30/50) Jimmy Wakely
  333. (5/7/50) Dinah Shore
  334. (5/14/50) Alan Young
  335. (5/21/50) Dick Powell
  336. (5/28/50) Mimi Benzell
  337. The Coca-Cola Company continued to sponsor the same time slot while the Charlie McCarthy program went off the air for the summer. The Pause that Refreshes starred Percy Faith and his Orchestra, a musical variety series previously heard over NBC from 1934 to 1935 and over CBS from 1947 to 1949. This would be the last revival for the program, heard over a period of eighteen weeks, last heard on October 1, 1950. Replaced by four network specials for the month of October, then Charlie McCarthy returned.

  338. (11/5/50) Jean Simmons
  339. (11/12/50) Van Heflin
  340. (11/19/50) Alan Young
  341. (11/26/50) Agnes Moorehead
  342. (12/3/50) Robert Cummings
  343. (12/10/50) Robert Cummings
  344. (12/17/50) Paulette Goddard
  345. (12/24/50) Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Baeumont and the De Pour Infantry Chorus
  346. (12/31/50) Diana Lynn
  347. (1/7/51) Joseph Szigetti
  348. (1/14/51) Wendell Corey
  349. (1/21/51) Marilyn Maxwell
  350. (1/28/51) Morton Downey
  351. (2/4/51) Don Ameche
  352. (2/11/51) Van Heflin
  353. (2/18/51) Dorothy Kirsten
  354. (2/25/51) Deborah Kerr
  355. (3/4/51) Robert Cummings
  356. (3/11/51) Anne Baxter
  357. (3/18/51) James Melton
  358. (3/25/51) Maureen O’Hara
  359. (4/1/51) Margaret Whiting and colonel Mary Halloran
  360. (4/8/51) William Holden
  361. (4/15/51) June Allyson
  362. (4/22/51) Dan Dailey
  363. (4/29/51) Charles Colburn
  364. (5/6/51) Ann Southern
  365. (5/13/51) Robert Cummings
  366. (5/20/51) Ann Sheridan
  367. (5/27/51) Frank Lovejoy
  368. (6/3/51) Hoagy Carmichael and Ava Gardner
  369. Summer replacement was again sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company. Coke Time starred Mario Lanza and features weekly musical regulars Giselle MacKenzie and the Ray Sinatra Orchestra. The program lasted seventeen weeks. With the success of this program, Coca-Cola insisted that the majority of the guests featured on the Charlie McCarthy program be musicians and singers, not Hollywood actors.

  370. (10/7/51) Rosemary Clooney
  371. (10/14/51) Cass Daley
  372. (10/21/51) Jack Kirkwood and William Warfield
  373. (10/28/51) Toni Arden
  374. (11/4/51) Aleen Stanley, Jr.
  375. (11/11/51) Jussi and Annalisa Bjoerling
  376. (11/18/51) Dorothy Kirsten
  377. (11/25/51) no guest known
  378. (12/2/51) no guest known
  379. (12/9/51) Lisa Kirk
  380. (12/16/51) Frankie Laine
  381. (12/23/51) Adriana Caselotti
  382. (12/30/51) no guest known
  383. (1/6/52) William Warfield
  384. (1/13/52) Carol Richards and Dominic Frontiere
  385. (1/20/52) Robert Cummings
  386. (1/27/52) no guest known
  387. (2/3/52) no guest known
  388. (2/10/52) Hans Conried and Patti Page
  389. (2/17/52) no guest known
  390. (2/24/52) Dick Powell
  391. (3/2/52) Dorothy Kirsten
  392. (3/9/52) no guest known
  393. (3/16/52) no guest known
  394. (3/23/52) no guest known
  395. (3/30/52) June Allyson
  396. (4/6/52) The Mills Brothers
  397. (4/13/52) Gisele MacKenzie
  398. (4/20/52) no guest known
  399. (4/27/52) Liberace and Prince Michael Romanoff
  400. (5/4/52) Tennessee Ernie
  401. (5/11/52) Nanette Fabray
  402. (5/18/52) Rosemary Clooney
  403. (5/25/52) no guest known
  404. (6/1/52) Ginger Rogers
  405. The Frank Fontaine Show was the summer replacement for The Charlie McCarthy Show. Lud Gluskin and his Orchestra supplied the music. The premiere broadcast featured Helen O’Connell as guest. When Charlie McCarthy returned to the airwaves in the fall, Coca-Cola was no longer the sponsor. Hudnut took over sponsorship and Hollywood actors began making weekly guest appearances again.

  406. (10/5/52) Rosemary Clooney
  407. (10/12/52) Dorothy Kirsten
  408. (10/19/52) no guest known
  409. (10/26/52) Marilyn Monroe was originally scheduled to guest for this broadcast, but for reasons unknown, she was unable to attend. Another actor took her place. She did make an appearance on the program two weeks later.
  410. (11/2/52) Tony Martin
  411. (11/9/52) Marilyn Monroe
  412. (11/16/52) Tony Martin
  413. (11/23/52) Dorothy Kirsten
  414. (11/30/52) The Andrews Sisters
  415. (12/7/52) no guest known
  416. (12/14/52) Zsa Zsa Gabor
  417. (12/21/52) singer Mimi Benzell and Candice Bergen
  418. (12/28/52) Rosemary Clooney and Bob Sweeney [originates from Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base]
  419. (1/4/53) no guest known
  420. (1/11/53) no guest known
  421. (1/18/53) Nat King Cole
  422. (1/25/53) Jane Wyman
  423. (2/1/53) Frankie Laine
  424. (2/8/53) Dick Powell
  425. (2/15/53) The Mills Brothers
  426. (2/22/53) no guest known
  427. (3/1/53) Robert Cummings
  428. (3/8/53) Robert Cummings
  429. (3/15/53) Tennessee Ernie
  430. (3/22/53) actor Howard Keel
  431. (3/29/53) pianist Liberace
  432. (4/5/53) Edgar’s daughter, Candice Bergen is guest
  433. (4/12/53) singer/actress Rosemary Clooney
  434. (4/19/53) no guest known
  435. (4/26/53) no guest known
  436. (5/3/53) no guest known
  437. (5/10/53) James Stewart
  438. (5/17/53) Jane Russell
  439. (5/24/53) Gordon MacRae
  440. (5/31/53) actor William Powell
  441. Beginning October 1953, the Charlie McCarthy show was heard over CBS from 9:30 to 10 p.m., EST. This marked the first time since the program’s premiere since 1937 that the program was not broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. Multiple sponsors such as Philip Morris and CBS-Television spots were heard during the broadcasts. Sam Pearce is now the producer and would remain producer till July of 1956. Bill Baldwin is the announcer.

  442. (10/11/53) Gordon MacRae
  443. (10/18/53) Fred MacMurray
  444. (10/25/53) Katy Jurado
  445. (11/1/53) Anita Gordon
  446. (11/8/53) June Allyson
  447. (11/15/53) singer Peggy Lee
  448. (11/22/53) Anita Jordan and Ronald Reagan
  449. (11/29/53) Anna Maria Alberghetti
  450. (12/6/53) no guest known
  451. (12/13/53) The Modernaires
  452. (12/20/53) Frank Fontaine ad Theresa Brewer
  453. (12/27/53) Vic Damone
  454. (1/3/54) Tennessee Ernie
  455. (1/10/54) Gordon MacRae
  456. (1/17/54) pianist Liberace
  457. (1/24/54) Dorothy Kirsten
  458. (1/31/54) actress Terry Moore
  459. (2/7/54) Lilli Palmer
  460. (2/14/54) Nat King Cole
  461. (2/21/54) no guest known
  462. (2/28/54) June Allyson
  463. (3/7/54) Dick Powell
  464. (3/14/54) Jane Wyman
  465. (3/21/54) singer Peggy Lee
  466. (3/28/54) no guest known
  467. (4/4/54) actor David Niven
  468. (4/11/54) no guest known
  469. (4/18/54) Candice Bergen and Mindy Carson
  470. (4/25/54) Ann Blythe
  471. Note: There was no broadcast on May 2, 1954.

  472. (5/9/54) Liberace
  473. (5/16/54) Robert Cummings
  474. (5/23/54) Peggy Lee
  475. (5/30/54) Frances Bergen and George Montgomery
  476. (6/6/54) Virginia Mayo
  477. (6/13/54) Nelson Eddy
  478. (6/20/54) Nelson Eddy and Charlie McCarthy play excerpts from previous broadcasts featuring recordings of Rudy Vallee, Marilyn Monroe, W.C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore and Don Ameche.
  479. The summer replacement for the Charlie McCarthy show is The Freddy Martin Show. When Edgar Bergen returned in the fall of 1954, the program was retitled The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show. This season became very "American" (probably the McCarthy hearings had something to do with it) in which men of important stature became the weekly guests. Kraft Foods began sponsoring the program, still being broadcast over CBS on Sunday evenings, now at an hour-long time slot of 9 to 10 p.m., EST.

  480. (9/12/54) Lt. Gen. Hubert Harmon
  481. (9/19/54) Mrs. Ivy Baker Priest, Treasurer of the United States
  482. (9/26/54) John Beal and Wendell Barnes
  483. (10/3/54) no guest known
  484. (10/10/54) singer Johnny Ray, Senator Albert Gore, and Edmund F. Mansure, General Services Administrator
  485. (10/17/54) no guest known
  486. (10/24/54) Dick Powell
  487. (10/31/54) no guest known
  488. (11/7/54) Gen. Lewis B. Hershey
  489. (11/14/54) Bergen and McCarthy visit the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
  490. (11/21/54) Sen. Henry M. Jackson
  491. (11/28/54) Gov.-elect Averell Harriman, and Chief City Magistrate John Murtagh
  492. (12/5/54) Bergen and McCarthy visit the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
  493. (12/12/54) Bergen and McCarthy visit the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
  494. (12/19/54) Ezra Taft Benson, Perle Mesta and Carol Channing
  495. (12/26/54) Jacob K. Javits, William Willis, and Sarah Vaughn
  496. (1/2/55) Edward R. Murrow, Elsa Maxwell and Clem Johnson
  497. (1/9/55) no guest known
  498. (1/16/55) Duke Ellington, Gypsy Rose Lee and Gov. Robert Meyner of New Jersey
  499. (1/23/55) no guest known
  500. (1/30/55) no guest known
  501. (2/6/55) Dr. Frank Baxter and Gary Crosby
  502. (2/13/55) no guest known
  503. (2/20/55) Charles Farrell, Floyd Odlum and Paul Hoffman
  504. In what was to be Bergen’s final season on the air, The New Edgar Bergen Hour underwent a few changes. Guests included people from all walks of life – authors, musicians, poets, scientists, even astronomers. The series was now heard from 7:05 to 8 p.m., EST under multiple sponsorships such as Philip Morris, Zenith Hearing Aids, CBS-TV, Aunt Wick’s Drink Mixes, Super Anahist and Viceroy. Writers included Zeno Clinker, Sy Rose and Hilda Black. Regulars during the final season included Jack Kirkwood, Carole Richards and Gary Crosby. The Mellomen sang songs in many broadcasts. Ray Noble and his Orchestra, who supplied the music for the program for the last decade, still waved the baton. Bud Hiestand was the announcer.

  505. (10/2/55) Jack Kirkwood and Carole Richards
  506. (10/9/55) Jack Kirkwood and Gary Crosby
  507. (10/16/55) Jack Kirkwood, Carole Richards and Gary Crosby
  508. (10/23/55) Prof. Hale Sparks teaches Charlie about termites. Hans Conried is guest.
  509. (10/30/55) Hans Conried returns.
  510. (11/4/55) Hans Conried returns.
  511. (11/11/55) Frances Bergen (Edgar’s wife) sings and Charlie McCarthy pays a visit in hell.
  512. (11/18/55) Frank Kreml and Shiela Graham
  513. (11/25/55) Dr. Fred Webb Hodge, Indian expert and Jack Benny are guests.
  514. (12/4/55) Dan Pursuit discusses juvenile delinquency.
  515. (12/11/55) Japanese actress Shirley Yamaguchi performs "Romeo and Juliet" with Bergen.
  516. (12/18/55) Gossip columnist Eileen Moseby
  517. (12/25/55) Frank Fawcett (Santa’s helper) is interviewed. Candice Bergen and Charlie McCarthy recite "The Night Before Christmas"
  518. (1/1/56) actor Lew Ayers discusses religions around the world.
  519. (1/8/56) rodeo jockey Pete Moreno
  520. (1/15/56) Tad Sanders of the Cattleman’s Association
  521. (1/22/56) Rudy Wissler and safety expert Cecil Zon
  522. (1/29/56) Stan Erwin, a public relations man from Las Vegas
  523. (2/5/56) nutritionist Adelle Davis
  524. (2/12/56) Charlie is operating his own candy company.
  525. (2/19/56) Dr. Richter, a famous seismologist and Calypso singer Sir Lancelot are guests.
  526. (2/26/56) George Roberts and harmonica player Leo Diamond
  527. (3/4/56) Richard Armour, famous writer of humor
  528. (3/11/56) Interview with a woman who "farms the sea"
  529. (3/18/56) agriculturist Ralph LaRue
  530. (3/25/56) entiomologist Alfred Boyce
  531. (4/1/56) pianist Liberace
  532. (4/8/56) Frank Nelson and sea shell expert Dr. Ernest Tracher
  533. (4/15/56) oceanographer Roger Revell
  534. (4/22/56) author Virginia Cox Smith
  535. (4/29/56) Rudy Wissler
  536. (5/6/56) This episode marks the 20th anniversary of Bergen’s "partnership" with Charlie McCarthy, so recordings from previous Bergen/McCarthy broadcasts are replayed including John Barrymore, W.C. Fields, Marilyn Monroe, Don Ameche, Rudy Wissler, James Stewart, Rudy Vallee and Nelson Eddy.
  537. (5/13/56) Joe Pasternak, film producer
  538. (5/20/56) singer Helen O’Connell and actor Gordon Scott, recent star of the Tarzan movies
  539. (5/27/56) guitarist George Cordova
  540. (6/3/56) Rudy Wissler (rebroadcast of April 29, 1956)
  541. (6/10/56) marriage counselor Dr. Pompano
  542. (6/17/56) guest is Shirley Yamaguchi (rebroadcast of December 11, 1956)
  543. (6/24/56) Leo Diamond and George Roberts (rebroadcast of February 26, 1956)
  544. (7/1/56) Gary Crosby, Carole Richards, The Mellomen and Ray Noble

On May 5, 1959, Edgar Bergen attempted a comeback. On that date he recorded an audition for a fifteen-minute, five-a-week series in which Bergen and his wooden pals told humorous little fairy tales. For the audition, two stories were dramatized, "Charlie’s Frogs" and "Mortimer’s Soup." This pilot, however, never went further than the audition recordings.

On November 15, 1964, Chase and Sanborn sponsored an hour-long radio special celebrating the 100th anniversary of Chase and Sanborn Coffee. Many guests appeared in the special, few exclusive and many others recordings of previous broadcasts. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy were among the many guests including Fred Allen, Mae West, Rudy Vallee, Vera Teasdale, Jimmy Wallington, Jimmy Durante, Clark Gable, Eddie Cantor, Adolph Menjou, Nelson Eddy, Alec Templeton and W.C. Fields.

On November 14, 1965, Chase and Sanborn reprised their anniversary special for a 101st anniversary. Many guests included Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Bert Lahr, Beatrice Lillie, Fred Allen, George Jessel, Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, Oscar Levant, Shirley Booth, Jack Benny and Tallulah Bankhead.

BERGEN’s OTHER RADIO APPEARANCES

The Royal Gelatin Hour (3/4/37) "Bill of Divorcement" with Walter Abel and Judith Anderson. Edgar

Bergen and Charlie McCarthy performed a short seven-minute skit.

The Royal Gelatin Hour (October 8, 1937)

Jack Benny’s Tenth Anniversary Testimonial (5/9/41) This isn’t really a radio broadcast, but rather a

circulating recording in honor of Jack’s tenth year on radio. Guests include Jim and Marion Jordon, Burns and Allen, Niles Trammell, Bob Hope and Jimmy Walter (Mayor of NYC).

Fibber McGee and Molly (11/11/41) with guest Martha Tilton.

The Hollywood March of Dimes on the Air (1/24/42) birthday salute to FDR, with an all-star cast that

included Claudette Colbert, Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, Elliott Lewis, Deanna Durbin, Bob Hope, Dennis Day, James Cagney, Tyrone Power, Kay Kyster, Maureen O’Sullivan and others. Charlie McCarthy jokes about his new book, "Ventriloquism: It’s Cure and Prevention."

Command Performance (12/24/42) Christmas broadcast with an all-star cast including Spike Jones,

Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Dinah Shore, Elmer Davis, Red Skelton, Ginny Simms, Kay Kyser, Ethel Waters, Charles Laughton, and the Andrews Sisters.

What’s New? (9/25/43) with Lena Horne and Marguerite Chapman.

The Lady Esther Screen Guild Players (4/24/44) "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" with Jane Powell

and Billy Gilbert. This was partly for publicity purposes because Powell co-starred with Bergen in the recent United Artists release Song of the Open Road.

Double Feature (8/13/44) with Jackie Gleason and Andy Russell. Edgar appears without his wooden pals

in this radio broadcast, a salute to the state of New York. One interesting tid-bit: Edgar describes his plan to introduce a "bachelor girl" dummy in the up-coming fall season, describing the as yet, un-named Effie Clinker!

A Tribute to President Roosevelt (4/15/45) with an all-star cast just two days after Roosevelt’s death.

Includes Harold Peary, Charles Laughton, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Will Hays, Deanna Durbin, James Cagney, Kay Kyser, Ginny Simms, Ed Gardner, Robert Young, Eddie Cantor, John Charles Davis, Bette Davis, Dick Powell, Ronald Colman, Ingrid Bergman and many others.

The Fred Allen Show (10/7/45) First show of the season, Charlie quits Bergen and teams up with Fred to

audition for their own radio show.

The Fred Allen Show (10/28/45) Charlie takes Fred to court for slander.

Command Performance (May of 1946) Includes the King Sisters, Bob Hope, Frances Langford, Donald

Crisp, Mel Blanc, Kay Kyser, Jerry Colonna, Linda Darnell, Fred MacMurray and others. Bergen tells Charlie the story of Dickens’ "Oliver Twist," with a twist.

To the Rear March (5/14/46) an AFRS broadcast featuring various recordings and excerpts from Amos n’

Andy and The Charlie McCarthy Show.

The Lucky Strike Program (10/13/46) stars Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone. Bergen introduces Charlie

to the cast and Benny tries to sell the Sportsmen Quartet to Edgar for his program.

Command Performance (December of 1946) Edgar quested along with Jerry Colonna, Dinah Shore, Harry

Moore, Jimmy Durante, Ginny Simms, President Truman, Don Wilson and Bob Hope.

The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater (12/23/46) "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" repeat

performance from two years before.

The Kraft Music Hall (10/2/47) stars Al Jolson and Oscar Levant.

Hail and Farewell (11/23/47) As radio station KPO in San Francisco changed it’s name to KNBC, many

stars of the past and present showed up to attend a special broadcast. Included Fred Allen,

Charles K. Field, Harold Peary and Earl Warren.

All-Star Western Theater (12/27/47) with Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. Mortimer Snerd

also makes an appearance.

Symphonies Under the Stars (8/5/48) Armed Forces Radio Service Hollywood Bowl release, with Gene

Autry, Danny Kaye, Frances Langford and Red Skelton.

The Philco Radio Time (11/3/48) stars Bing Crosby, who chats with Charlie (without the help of Bergen).

Command Performance (12/25/48) Edgar tries to get Charlie to recite "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

The Jack Benny Program (9/25/49) stars Jack Benny with Amos n’ Andy and Red Skelton.

This is Your Life (3/1/50) [part one] with Ralph Edwards.

This is Your Life (3/8/50) [part two] with Ralph Edwards.

The Screen Guild Theater (12/28/50) "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" repeat performance.

A Salute to Bing Crosby (1/9/51) with Louis Armstrong, Mary Martin, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald,

Bob Hope, Dorothy Kirsten, William S. Paley and many others.

Richard Diamond, Private Detective (5/11/51) Mr. and Mrs. Bergen were guests on this episode. Bergen

was a close friend of Dick Powell, and appeared out of character for this broadcast.

Special All-Star Review (recorded in 1952) American Cancer Society Syndication with Joan Caulfield,

Dennis Day, and Ralph Edwards.

So They Say (5/4/56) This was a review of the news of the week. Barry Goldwater is featured.

Biography in Sound (5/15/56) Features clips from early Charlie McCarthy broadcasts.

Recollections at Thirty (7/8/56) Features clips from early Charlie McCarthy broadcasts.

Clips feature Don Ameche, Mary Boland and W.C. Fields.

Recollections at Thirty (11/14/56) Features clips from early Charlie McCarthy broadcasts.

Clips feature Judy Garland, Jean Sablon, Rudy Vallee and Wallace Berry. This recording also

features Bergen’s very first radio appearance on Rudy Vallee’s program from 1936.

Recollections at Thirty (12/12/56) Features clips from early Charlie McCarthy broadcasts.

Clips feature Rudy Vallee, John Barrymore, Carmen Miranda and Jack Pearl.

A Christmas Spectacular (12/25/56) with an all-star cast.

Radio Color Round-Up (5/4/58) with Ralph Bellamy, Judy Holliday, Andy Griffith and Herb Shriner.

The Year it Began (recorded in 1962) American Cancer Society Syndication featuring excerpts from early

radio programs including the Charlie McCarthy Show.

The Big Broadcast of 1965 (11/25/65) Interviews and excerpts from Jack Benny, Lum and Abner, George

Burns and Gracie Allen, and the Charlie McCarthy Show.

NBC’s Fortieth Anniversary Program (11/13/66) Bergen and McCarthy narrates.

A Salute to Bob Hope (May of 1968) To celebrate Bob Hope’s 65th birthday, Bergen was guest among

others including Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante and Jerry Colonna.

Don Ameche and Edgar Bergen Interview (1969) Local station WRC in Washington had the opportunity

to interview Ameche and Bergen, and replayed excerpts from old shows with Mae West and

W.C. Fields.

The Golden Days of Christmas (12/24/69) This is an Armed Forces Radio Service presentation broadcast

over the Armed Forces Network in Europe with Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Don Ameche.

KFI Fiftieth Anniversary Program (4/16/72) A twelve-hour broadcast with many hours of shows and

excerpts from old shows, and many live appearances by many performers. Includes Jack Haley, Jim Jordan, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Groucho Marx, and Lowell Thomas.

The Hollywood Radio Theatre (10/22/73 to 10/26/73) Five-part drama entitled "The Heirhunters." This

was the premiere broadcast of the series, hosted by Rod Serling. Features Daws Butler, June Foray and Sidney Miller.

UNDATED BROADCASTS BERGEN APPEARED ON

G.I. Journal (episode #61) with Hildegarde, Roy Rogers and Frank Sinatra.

G.I. Journal (episode #103) with Mel Blanc, Rita Hayworth and Mel Torme.

Mail Call (episode #56) with Cass Daley, Roy Rogers and Kay Thompson.

Mail Call (episode #85) with Ellen Drew, Susanna Foster and Nancy Walker.

Mail Call (episode #130) with Ingrid Bergman and Marion Hutton.

Mail Call (episode #328) with Tallulah Bankhead, Frances Gifford, Ray Noble and Ginny Simms.

To the Rear March (episode #38) with Fred Allen and Victor Borge.

To the Rear March (episode #55) with Jack Carson, Alan Reed and Arthur Treacher.

To the Rear March (episode #73) with Barbara Jo Allen, Jerry Colonna, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra.

Command Performance (episode #188) with Joan Davis and Margaret Whiting.

Bergen and McCarthy were also featured in Guardian Maintenance commercials through June of 1960 to September of 1960 on many CBS radio programs such as Suspense and Have Gun-Will Travel.

BERGEN’S TELEVISION APPEARANCES

Edgar Bergen was the host of a comedy quiz program entitled Do You Trust Your Wife? From January 3, 1956 to March 26, 1956. Featured on this series along with Mr. Bergen were his assorted wooden pals, Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd, and Effie Klinker. When the program was moved to a daytime time slot, the program changed its title to Who Do You Trust? With the exception of various guest spots on other television programs, Bergen was primarily a radio performer. He did appear in quite a number of programs produced by his good friend Dick Powell.

The Kraft Television Theater (7/8/54) "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court"

Shower of Stars (10/28/54) "Lend an Ear" William Lundigan hosted this anthology program.

The Jack Benny Program (3/22/59)

Five Fingers (10/10/59) "Dossier" Bergen guest on this show, the second broadcast of the series. David

Hedison starred as Victor Sebastian in this spy drama based rather loosely on a successful 1952 film of the same name directed by Joseph L. Mankiewiez.

The Dupont Show with June Allyson (1/25/60) "Moment of Fear" This dramatic anthology series was

hosted (and occasionally starred) by June Allyson. Allyson was the real-life wife of Dick Powell.

Amos Burke: Who Killed Julie Greer? (NBC, 9/26/61) This was the pilot film for Burke’s Law, which was

later broadcast from 1963 to 1965. The audition pilot was also the premiere of the successful television series, The Dick Powell Show. Edgar Bergen played the role of Dr. Coombs. Jack Carson, Mickey Rooney, Ronald Reagan, Dean Jones and Ralph Bellamy were also guests. Bergen would return for a few episodes of both television series.

The Dick Powell Theatre (1/9/62) "A Time to Die"

Bachelor Father (3/27/62) "A Visit to the Bergens"

The Dick Powell Theatre (9/25/62) "Special Assignment"

Burke’s Law (1/17/64) "Who Killed Victor Burrows?"

The Greatest Show on Earth (4/21/64) "There Are No Problems, Only Opportunities" This episode

centered around the problems of a ventriloquist working at the Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (9/28/64) Bergen was guest along side Lloyd Bochner. Bergen appeared

courtesy of David Hedison, both of whom were good friends.

Burke’s Law (10/28/64)

The Hanged Man (11/18/64)

Burke’s Law (2/3/65)

The Littlest Hobo (5/8/65)

Those Happy Days (6/24/70) Featured Alan Copeland, Bob Elliott, Ray Goulding and Helen O’Connell.

The Homecoming (12/19/71)

Playhouse New York: The Forties (5/12/72) "The Great Radio Comedians" features interviews with Jim

Jordan, Kenny Delmar, Jack Benny, George Burns and Bing Crosby.

The Merv Griffin Show (8/2/73) also featured Mel Blanc and Arch Oboler.

Tomorrow (3/2/76) Edgar Bergen related how his career started on radio and performed a few routines.

The Good Old Days of Radio (8/2/76) with an all-star cast, hosted by Steve Allen.

Tomorrow (10/26/76) featured Jim Backus, Frank Nelson and Gale Gordon.

You Bet Your Life (syndicated date of 11/1/74) The guest contestants were Candice Bergen and Melinda

Marx, both of whom sang along with their fathers while George Fenneman asked the questions.

JUST A FEW OF BERGEN’S TV PILOTS THAT NEVER MADE IT

The Charlie McCarthy Show (CBS, 11/23/50) This thirty-minute pilot was an adaptation of Bergen’s radio series that spotlighted the antics of his dummies: Charlie McCarthy (attired in tuxedo, top hat and monocle), the buck-toothed country bumpkin Mortimer Snerd, and a new character Podine Puffington, a tall, stately blonde from the south. Guests included Bill Baldwin, Diana Lynn and Pat Patrick. Ray Noble and his Orchestra supplied the music. Bergen’s regular radio script writers, Norman Paul, Artie Phillips and Zeno Clinker co-wrote the script. Alan Dinehart directed, Jerry Fairbanks and Ralph Levy produced.

Frances Langford Presents (NBC, 3/15/59) Performances of top-name celebrities was the idea behind this unsold half-hour series. Two, 30-minute pilot films were produced in 1958 but they never aired. So the programs were reedited into an hour program and broadcast as a special on the above date. Langford hosted. Performers included Edgar Bergen, Bob Hope, Jerry Colonna, Tony Romano and George Sanders. Zeno Clinker co-wrote the scripts.

My Sister Hank (CBS, 3/31/72) Comedy about Henrietta Bennett, a young tomboy who prefers to be called Hank. Her parents, Eunice and Willis, don’t quite understand her, but accept her and are trying to change her. Jodie Foster stars as Hank Bennett. Edgar Bergen was Grandpa Bennett. Produced and directed by Norman Tokar.

BERGEN’S MOVIE ROLES

When I first compiled this log years ago, I included a lengthy list of Bergen’s movie appearances from The Goldwyn Follies (1938) to The Muppet Movie (1979). The purpose was merely to reveal to old-time radio fans the range of Bergen’s talents, not just his radio program but on-screen acting as well. Since this episode guide is being reprinted on this web-site for old-time radio fans, for the sake of brevity I am not going to list all of Bergen’s movie appearances. Anyone wishing for further interest in Bergen’s movie credits I suggest they check out the Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com.

Bergen’s career on the screen was successful with and without Charlie McCarthy. He usually appeared on the screen with Charlie, the first being Sam Goldwyn’s The Goldwyn Follies in 1938, released through United Artists. The film was a disaster in many aspects for Goldwyn, but one critic mentioned, "any picture that introduces Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen can’t be all bad."

Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy both became the starring vehicles for a handful of great comedies including Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939), and two RKO films featuring The Great Gildersleeve and Fibber McGee and Molly, Look Who’s Laughing (1941) and Here We Go Again (1942). Any radio listener who has enjoyed the verbal battles between W.C. Fields and Charlie McCarthy will simply love the 1939 picture You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man. Sadly, that film has been overlooked and under-rated by film critics, but any radio fan who has ever seen the picture will admit it’s worth the price of any admission.

Edgar Bergen helped tremendously with the war cause, including appearing in Stage Door Canteen in 1943. Both Bergen and Charlie performed a cute routine, but this 132 minute movie has been edited in length a number of times over the years. Please beware of the shorter prints else you’ll buy the movie and probably never see Edgar or Charlie.

 

Martin Grams, Jr. is the author of numerous books about old-time radio including Inner Sanctum Mysteries: Behind the Creaking Door, The Have Gun-Will Travel Companion, Information Please and The Sound of Detection: Ellery Queen’s Adventures in Radio. This episode guide was first compiled by Mr. Grams in the late 1990s and shortly thereafter, was presented in three consecutive issues of SPERDVAC’s Radiogram in late 1999. It was not until the appearance of this episode guide that any such broadcast log existed for The Charlie McCarthy Show except for what was listed in collector catalogs for existing recordings. This episode guide appears on this web-site courtesy of the author.


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