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Showing posts from January, 2013

Old Time Radio Shows "Transcribed" Explained

What does it mean on old time radio shows when you hear the show is "Transcribed"? During the Golden Age of Radio , "transcribed" programs were recorded and sent to stations or networks on a disc running at 16 rps. The discs are larger than 33 1/3s. "Transcribed" means it was recorded on a disc. "Recorded" was a term that was known, of course, but not used very much in Radio's Golden Age. During the era, it was also considered very important to distinguish which shows went out live and which were recorded (transcribed), so if a show was transcribed it was announced as such.  "Transcribed" was a colloquialism of the era. One reason they came up with it was because there was still enough skittishness about recording that "pre-recorded" sounded a little obscene inside the industry. CBS and NBC were live through the '30s and '40s. Yet line transcriptions were made for either the sponsor or its ad agency.

Doris Day and Martin Melcher

Life, love and Radio are full of mysteries. One of the biggest is how could a sweetheart like Doris Day wind up married to a schmuck like Martin Melcher? Melcher got his start as an agent and road manager for The Andrews Sisters, and was married for a short time to Patty Andrews. Less than a year after the couple divorced , Melcher was married to Doris Day , and they formed their own production company in 1952. All but one of the movies Melcher produced were starring vehicles for Doris, and the pictures were admittedly some of her best work. Melcher passed away in 1968, probably from a ruptured appendix or complications from an enlarged heart. He refused medical treatment. Melcher's death left Doris Day with some disturbing revelations. Despite her success in films, Melcher had squandered her money through a series of bad investments and left her deeply in debt. He also committed her to a TV Sitcom that she knew nothing about! Although she had little enthusiasm for televis

Jack Webb: Pat Novak and Jeff Regan Quips & Quotes

"It was a pretty room, if you like dead women on your rugs. She was stretched out in a pale, yellow dressing gown, as quiet as an April morning and twice as pretty." - Pat Novak, Private Investigator 490423 Rita Malloy "The veins stood out in his face and made a pattern as if he slept on an alligator bag instead of a pillow." "He was crumpled up against the desk and she was staring down at him as if she forgot to water the plants." - 490604 Agnes Botton "The sky was the color of a bruised spot on a man's arm." "He was crumpled up against the desk and she was staring down at him as if she forgot to water the plants." - 490604 Agnes Botton Jeff Regan: "All kinds of people have followed me at one time or another - and I have followed all kinds of people. This had a professional feel to it. "I stood there, listening... remembering my automatic in the suitcase back at my hotel. "It only took him seco