Breaking Walls

On December 3rd, 1984, with Joan Rivers subbing for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, Lucille Ball appeared as special guest. During the course of the chat, Lucy explained how she found herself working in Hollywood on short notice in the early days of her career.

On the June 22nd, 1944 episode of Suspense: radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Lucille Ball guest-starred as a chorus girl who inexplicably finds ten thousand dollars in her purse after it's been temporarily stolen on the subway. She's not sure what to do about it, and it soon leads to trouble. Ball's character has been set up.

In early 1944 between films, Lucy began carving out a second career on the radio. She appeared on Duffy’s Tavern, Abbott & Costello, The Screen Guild Theater, and Suspense.

Simultaneously, with the biggest war effort in full-swing, Desi was put to the task of organizing entertainment shows for the army, using his and Lucy’s influence to snag stars for guest appearances. Word began to circulate about his abilities as a producer. He was soon put in charge of events at the Birmingham Hospital in San Fernando. Lucy threw herself into the fundraising efforts.

For more information on Lucille Ball's radio career and how it led to I Love Lucy, tune into Breaking Walls Episode 100: The Radio Career of Lucille Ball (1938-1952). It's available to stream and download for free anywhere you might get a podcast, and at http://thewallbreakers.com/

On the debut episode of NBC's Monitor on June 12th, 1955, Dave Garroway sat down for an interview with Marilyn Monroe. He'd heard she was permanently moving to New York, but was surprised to hear where she really wanted to live.

To hear this entire interview, tune into Breaking Walls Episode 116: The Launch of NBC’s Monitor (1955).

Photo: Marilyn Monroe in New York City, as photographed by Eve Arnold in 1955.

In 1976 John Hickman of WAMU put together an outstanding five-part documentary on the history of Gunsmoke. One of the people interviewed was Gunsmoke director Norman Macdonnell. Macdonnell directed the series during its entire radio run from 1952-1961.

In this clip he speaks about the sound effects patterns that SFX men Bill James, Ray Kemper, & Tom Hanley employed, and how "dead air" became a tool of theirs.

On the June 18th, 1955 episode of Gunsmoke, Lucy Middlecamp is a former dance hall girl who married Ethan Hunt, a soon-to-be preacher.

Chester never could understand the relationship between them two. Both he and Lucy are worried that Ethan is going to kill her. Lucy admitted that Ethan is cruel and hides it well from the town's people. Ethan told her that when she married him she lead in him to sin and now she had to pay.

After Rick Nelson tragically passed away in a plane crash on New Year's Eve 1985, KRLA in Southern California broadcast a retrospective on his career, which featured many interviews, including one with older brother David Nelson. In this clip, David talks about when he and Ricky began to perform on their parents' radio show in 1949.

On the 1st anniversary of Dragnet's debut, Detective Sergeant Joe Friday is assigned to Robbery Detail. Women are being beaten and robbed. The victims have been unable to identify the criminals.

It’s Friday’s job to get them…

On April 28th, 1971, Chuck Schaden interviewed radio legend and the original Great Gildersleeve, Hal Peary (full interview here - http://www.speakingofradio.com/interviews/peary-harold-actor/) about his life and career. During the course of the chat, Hal Peary spoke about starting the character of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve and the character's relationship with Fibber McGee.

On December 13th, 1973 Chuck Schaden sat down with radio writer Phil Leslie (full Conversation here -http://www.speakingofradio.com/interviews/leslie-phil/) for a chat about his life and career. Mr. Leslie was perhaps best known for being a Fibber McGee and Molly writer. Here he shares his tenure.

On the June 9th, 1955 episode of Fibber McGee and Molly, after Fibber discovers the couple has an extra $22.50 ($225.50 today) in their checking account, he decides to take Molly out "steppin" at the new nightclub three miles out of town, the Copacabbibbo.

By 1955, Fibber McGee and Molly was running on NBC as a Sunday—Thursday serial. They were one of the few shows to remain on NBC's Sunday schedule after the network debuted Monitor on June 12th.

For more information on this era of Fibber McGee and Molly, tune into Breaking Walls Episode 103: A Weekend at the Malt Shop with Fibber McGee and Molly (1955). For more information on the launch of Monitor, tune into Breaking Walls Episode 116: The Launch of NBC’s Monitor (1955).