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From: lbv@sdchem.UUCP (Gordon Schlesinger)
Newsgroups: net.wobegon
Subject: "The way it was"
Message-ID: <200@sdchema.sdchem.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 28-Apr-86 17:51:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdchema.200
Posted: Mon Apr 28 17:51:22 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 30-Apr-86 01:05:34 EDT
Distribution: na
Organization: Chemistry Dept, UC San Diego
Lines: 53
Keywords: network radio, broadcast history


The April 26 telecast of APHC was not only ripping good fun,
but  also  a  chance  to see the past come alive.  Much more
than just providing an  opportunity  to  see  what  everyone
"looks  like",  the  show  provided an accurate feel for the
stage production of  "big time network radio shows" as  they
once occurred in this country.

I vividly recall being taken, as a  youngster,  to  the  NBC
Radio  Network studios in Hollywood to be in the audience of
several live network radio shows.  For me, Keilor's  program
not  only  recreats  the  "sound"  of classic radio, but the
*production* (as seen on TV) was also a good  representation
of "the way it once was", when network radio was at its peak
in the years prior to TV.

Authentic touches:  numerous performers on a large stage  in
front  of  a  big studio audience, many microphones all over
the stage, performers creeping on and off  stage  as  script
timing  permitted,  lighted  "on  air"  signs,  live band on
stage, announcements read from scripts, pre-show  "warm  up"
by M.C., sound effects crew in the corner.

Non-authentic  touches:   elaborate  stage  decorations   (a
1940's  era  studio  had  just  a  formally  draped  stage),
multiple banners raised and lowered onto stage (an "old time
show"  probably  would have had just one fixed banner on the
rear curtain), spotlights.

Missing:  control booth with glass front  window,  uniformed
ushers.

There once was an aura to network radio, in the  days  prior
to  the  invasion  of the boob tube.  That aura still lives,
every Saturday, thanks in part to the genius of GK.   Seeing
an   authentic  live,  network  radio  production,  however,
provided a touch of history which I, for one, never expected
to have the privilege of enjoying again.  I don't know for a
fact, but I strongly suspect that GK strives for  historical
accuracy  in  the show's stage production, as well as in the
programming.

Numerous tapes of the TV program must now exist.  Those  who
missed the TV program would do well to seek out and borrow a
copy.  And those who were born too late can now see (as well
as hear) what radio was, in the days when the "magic talking
box" was king.

			Gordon Schlesinger
			UC San Diego Chemistry Dept.


"Anything worth measuring....is worth measuring poorly"