This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 99: New Year's 1948 On The Air

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Between nine and ten o’clock on Wednesday nights during 1947-48, NBC aired two of the top-fifteen shows on the air. The first was Duffy’s Tavern, who broadcast to a 23.9 rating in January 1948.

The brainchild of star Ed Gardner, the show debuted as part of CBS’s Forecast pilot series on July 30th, 1940. By the winter of 1947 it was in the midst of its fourth season on NBC.

Duffy’s Tavern was allegedly located in manhattan on 3rd avenue and 23rd street. It was the “eyesore of the East side” where the “elite meet to eat.”

Duffy never made an appearance, but his disagreeable nature was a constant source of anxiety for Archie, thanks to his frequent telephone calls.

Gardner’s heavily New York-accented Archie has inspired several characters in the years since.

Garry Moore was the special guest for the evening and Alan Reed voices the accountant who has come to check on Duffy's books.