Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:30 pm
On the Air: Jan. 18, 1937-July 2, 1937, CBS, 1:45 p.m. ET; July 5, 1937-June 21, 1946, CBS, 11:45 a.m.; June 24, 1946-July 1, 1955, CBS, 12:15 p.m.; Jan. 2, 1956-Nov. 16, 1956, CBS, 2:45 p.m.
Aunt Jenny: Edith Spencer (1937-51), Agnes Young (1951-56)
Announcers: Dan Seymour, others unidentified
Theme Song: "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms"
Premise: The format for this soap opera assumed a closed-end story line, a feature shared by few other serials that were considered successes. The number of thriving daytime dramas with terminating story lines could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Ongoing series -- with central characters whose lives were affected by other figures -- were prolific and usually attracted far more fans. But Aunt Jenny proved there was an audience for drama dispensed in only five chapters. For nearly two decades the show confounded the odds, drawing one of daytime radio's biggest audiences and becoming the most successful drama of its kind. The series typically focused on romantic tales involving citizens of the rural community of Littleton. As narrator, Aunt Jenny provided a link between the daily installments and the weekly story changes. In her perky kitchen -- where she baked warm delicacies from the recipes of the longtime sponsor, Spry -- she spun yarns while interacting with announcer Dan Seymour and other townsfolk. The stories themselves were little more than vignettes, of course, when compared with other soap operas. But they were intriguing to serial lovers with short attention spans and to those whose schedules wouldn't permit their involvement in serials with continuing plots.
Ponder this: (a) Of 18 soap operas that pursued the closed-end formula throughout its lifetime, only one besides Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories could be considered successful. What was it? (b) What soap opera was launched as an open-ended serial, yet made the transition successfully to a closed-end formula before the end of its run? Post a note with your answer(s) here.
[You will find a more extensive analysis of closed- vs. open-ended series in chapter 1 of "The Great Radio Soap Operas."]
Aunt Jenny: Edith Spencer (1937-51), Agnes Young (1951-56)
Announcers: Dan Seymour, others unidentified
Theme Song: "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms"
Premise: The format for this soap opera assumed a closed-end story line, a feature shared by few other serials that were considered successes. The number of thriving daytime dramas with terminating story lines could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Ongoing series -- with central characters whose lives were affected by other figures -- were prolific and usually attracted far more fans. But Aunt Jenny proved there was an audience for drama dispensed in only five chapters. For nearly two decades the show confounded the odds, drawing one of daytime radio's biggest audiences and becoming the most successful drama of its kind. The series typically focused on romantic tales involving citizens of the rural community of Littleton. As narrator, Aunt Jenny provided a link between the daily installments and the weekly story changes. In her perky kitchen -- where she baked warm delicacies from the recipes of the longtime sponsor, Spry -- she spun yarns while interacting with announcer Dan Seymour and other townsfolk. The stories themselves were little more than vignettes, of course, when compared with other soap operas. But they were intriguing to serial lovers with short attention spans and to those whose schedules wouldn't permit their involvement in serials with continuing plots.
Ponder this: (a) Of 18 soap operas that pursued the closed-end formula throughout its lifetime, only one besides Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories could be considered successful. What was it? (b) What soap opera was launched as an open-ended serial, yet made the transition successfully to a closed-end formula before the end of its run? Post a note with your answer(s) here.
[You will find a more extensive analysis of closed- vs. open-ended series in chapter 1 of "The Great Radio Soap Operas."]