PROJECT #4
Will Linthicum
AMST 205
4/24/97
ASSIGNMENT
FIBBER McGEE AND
MOLLY
Jim Jordan and Marian Driscoll met and
married in Peoria, Illinois. This union began one of the most famous and
popular radio team of all time. Jim and Marian Driscoll got into radio on
a bet. After hearing a bad show, they boasted to a friend about how easy
it would be to do a
radio show. In 1924, they walked into the local Chicago radio station,
and asked to do a show. The station hired them on the spot at ten
dollars a show. They did a daytime comedy show for a few years, and then
were hired to do the show Smackout. This show had the same basis
as Fibber McGee and
Molly would years later. At first Smackout was very crude,
but
there was something about it that the public liked, and it stuck around on
air. As time went on the show became more polished and eventually
impressed a sponsor.
On Smackout Jim and Marian Jordan caught the ear of S.C. Johnson's
Auto Wax and Cleaner. S.C.
Johnson was
the sponsor for fifteen years
(1935-1950), which was the longest sponsor client relationship in radio
history. They purchased the rights to Smackout and
re-named it Fibber McGee and Molly. Each show started off with a
comercial from S.C. Johnson's Auto Wax and Cleaner, and every time it
was time
for a commercial an add for some Johnson product came on. Johnson's
allowed Fibber Mcgee and Molly to be played on NBC's Chicago
affiliate.
Fibber Mcgee and Molly ran continuously, as a half-hour show, until
1951. In 1953 it reappeared in fifteen minute shows, and that ran until
1957.
On Monday April 4, 1935 at 7:30 Fibber Mcgee and Molly made its
primetime network debut on NBC Blue. It debuted on only thirteen network
stations, and unfortunately, it was going head to
head with the Lux Radio Theater. It was doing okay, but the head
men at NBC thought that it could do better. In three months it was moved
to its permanent spot, at 9:30 on Tuesday nights. The show was about a
grocery store employee, who could not resist turning small stories into
tall tales, thus the name "Fibber" McGee, and his wife Molly. In the
beginning the show did not have a big following. It was decided that
changes needed to be made. They changed the entire format, hired new
writers, tightened the script, and added supporting cast to the show.
Some of the supporting characters were, the Old Timer (Bill Thompson),
Nick DePopolous, Horatio K. Boomer, and Isabel Randolph's Mrs.
Uppingate, which was the first regular women besides Molly. The most
famous character on Fibber McGee and Molly was their neighbor,
Thockmorton P. Gildersleeve. This character became one of radio's first
spin-offs, when it spun-off into The Great Gildersleeve. Perhaps
the most famous person to ever be a regular on the show was Perry Como,
who performed as a back-up singer for many episodes. Once these format
changes were made the show began to pick up listeners, and soon had a
solid audience. In 1939 the show followed the trend of other shows, and
moved its home base from Chicago to Hollywood. They took their place at
their permanent residence, 79 Wistful Vista.
In April of 1941 Fibber Mcgee and Molly became the highest rated
show on the radio, surpassing the shows of both Jack Benny and Bob Hope.
It continued on as one if not the top shows for several more years.
Fibber McGee and Molly had been battling with these shows for the
top spot for a while, and when it finally over took them, this show took
its place in Americana. This show is considered by many as the best
comedy ever on the radio. From the perspective of someone from the time,
the show was something that you did not miss. My grandmother remembers
sitting around the radio with my grandfather in the early days of their
marriage, and continuing as the family grew. My grandmother said, about
when the show was on Monday night and for a while on Tuesday night, "the
show was unorganized and sloppy, but every now and then had moments of
brilliance." As time went on and the show became more organized, the show
became an almost must hear. My grandmother said, "The shows humor appealed
to the middle class, it was full of gags, puns, plays on words, but was
corny at times." On Fibber McGee and Molly some of the issues of
the day were tackled, like financial problems
. At the height
of the shows popularity, World War II was taking place. Jim and Marian
Jordan were big supporters of the war effort, and that view was clear on
their show. If you want to learn more about how radio in general had an
effect on politics look at Elissa
Aaronson's project on that topic.
In the era of Fibber McGee and Molly comedy shows ruled the air
waves. Comedy shows, and comedy duo's, began with the famous duo of Amos
'n Andy, for more information on Amos 'n Andy check out Suzanne Sostmann's project on the famous
radio pair. The other most popular shows in the time of Fibber McGee
and Molly were comedies. To be the most popular comedy, when all of
the popular show's are comedies is quite an achievement. Fibber McGee
and Molly have been inducted into the
National Radio Broadcast Hall of
Fame. Jim and Marian Jordan will always be remembered for the joy
that they brought to so many people.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) Aaronson, Elissa. Politics and Radio.1997.http://otal.umd.edu/~vj01.
2) Lenhart, Victor."Fibber Tops Hope", Newsweek. April 16, 1941,
14:41.
3) National Broadcasting Corporation, Inc. Premiers of Outstanding
NBC
Radio Programs. 1956.
4) Sostmann, Suzanne. Amos 'n Andy. 1997. http://otal.umd.edu/~vj28
.
5) Tune In Yesterday : An Encyclopedia Of Radio History.
1973
Thanks to my grandmother Emma Linthicum