Starter of this subject: Edwin Brooks
Last post in this subject: 10/25/2001
Messages in this subject: 3
| Edwin Brooks | 10/25/2001 3 replies |
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I've run across an old 78 rpm Victor record of Sam 'n' Henry (Amos and Andy, I know). It's "'Sam Phonin' His Sweetheart Liza" and "Sam 'n' Henry At the Dentist's". Two qustions, please: Was Sam 'n' Henry regularly on the air? (I probably should know, but don't.)
The record carries the line: "Ten P.M.--WGN" I know what WGn (Chicago radio) is/was, but what is the relation beeween the record and/or Sam 'n' Henry and WGN? Thanks Edwin |
| Elizabeth McLeod | 10/25/2001 2 replies |
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"Sam and Henry" was the first dramatized program to feature continuing characters in a continuing storyline ever heard on American radio, and began over WGN on 1/12/26. It was heard six nights a week at 10 pm for most of its run. Correll and Gosden wrote and acted in the series until 12/18/27, when they left WGN at the expiration of the contract in a dispute over their desire to syndicate the program. WGN attempted to continue "Sam and Henry" with two other actors, but the series ended in April 1928, after Correll and Gosden had returned to the air as Amos 'n' Andy over WMAQ.
The record you have is one of a series of Sam and Henry discs made for Victor in 1926-27. These are NOT recordings of the broadcasts, nor were they made for broadcasting. The WGN credit appears on the label because the Tribune Company (owners of WGN) owned the copyright on Sam and Henry and saw the records as a chance to promote the program. A more detailed account of "Sam and Henry's" history can be found at the website below. |
| Edwin Brooks | 10/26/2001 1 replies |
| Thanks, Elizabeth==a lot there I didn't know. Was 10 p.m. a common time for "story" radio (comedy or whatever?) back then? Seems awfully late considering contemporary work hours? Edwin |
| Elizabeth McLeod | 10/26/2001 0 replies |
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I think the time slot was more a function of Correll and Gosden's work schedule than anything else -- in addition to doing "Sam and Henry" they were on the air over WGN as themselves several times each night doing songs and patter, beginning at 7pm, and originally their musical act was considered a bigger attraction than the dramatic skit.
There really weren't any precedents for the timeslot for "Sam and Henry" when it first started, because comedy and drama shows were very scarce in 1926. Most radio in that era consisted of musical acts and simple talks on various subjects. A few stations were doing dramatic anthology shows during the mid-twenties, but no one had done a nightly continuing-character dramatic feature before Correll and Gosden -- so there was no "conventional wisdom" to follow. Ten PM was a good time slot for them -- it gave them time to get from the regular WGN studio where they did their musical act to the private room at the Drake Hotel where they broadcast "Sam and Henry" -- so that's what they used. And when it became established, and the show became a success in that slot, there was no reason to change. Interestingly, when they began "Amos 'n' Andy" at WMAQ in 1928 they tried to move it to an earlier slot -- 7:11 pm -- but within the first month popular demand led to the show being moved back to 10 PM, and it continued to air |