Weekday Evening Radio
Between 5:00 and 8:00 PM network radio transitioned from game shows and soap operas to their primetime lineup with the evening news also playing a part. It was also the time slot to target adolescent boys with adventure and crime shows.
WEAF went after the adult audience with four 15-minute serial dramas from 5:00 to 6:00 PM.
"When a Girl Marries" from Elaine Carrington was about the trial and tribulations of a married couple from opposite sides of the tracks.
"Portia Faces Life" was about a woman lawyer fighting corruption in her small town while dealing with her married life. Both were top ratings getters.
Taking into account that some men were now home from work, the soap operas airing on WEAF between 5:30 and 6:00 PM had male protagonists.
"Just Plain Bill" was about a small town barber.
"Front Page Farrell" was a crime-fighting reporter on a New York City newspaper. Deep-voiced Carleton Young starred in the title role, replacing the originator, Richard Widmark.
The other networks went after the younger crowd. WOR had:
The long-running kiddy show "Uncle Don" at 5:00.
"Superman" based on the comic book.Some of the Superman mythology was created for the radio show.
"Captain Midnight. Captain Midnight headed a top secret squad of fliers who went after all kinds of bad guys. Like other shows of the genre it trafficked in promotional items like secret decoder rings to help fans decipher cryptic messages from the Captain.
"The Adventures of Tom Mix." "Tom Mix" was the fictional adventures of the one-time cowboy star who had died in 1940.
WABC had a half-hour educational program
"American School of the Air" at 5:00, the kind of shows educators and some parents wanted the kids to listen to. Each day of the week was devoted to a theme. Originally it had been broadcast mid-day for classroom use.
"Cimarron Tavern" was a western serial
"Sparrow and the Hawk," was an adventure serial about an aviator and his young nephew. As further evidence of the postwar decline in interest in stories about aviation, "Sparrow and the Hawk," which had premiered the previous May, was off the air in September.
WJZ had an adventure line up:
"Terry and the Pirates"," "Terry and the Pirates" was another show about aviators that was seeing postwar ratings erosion but was still among the highest rated shows among juveniles at this point. It was based on a comic strip carried in the Daily News.
"Dick Tracy" was based on the most popular comic strip in the Daily News.
"Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy" The thrilling adventures of high school athlete Jack Armstrong who traveled the globe with his uncle had been the most popular show for young boys since the Thirties.
"Tennesee Jed," a western.
The hour between 6:00 and 7:00 was news, interspersed with entertainment.
At 6:15 WEAF broadcast "Serenade to America," 25-minutes of song starring Metropolitan Opera tenor Thomas Hayward. It was followed by a five-minute sports report and then Lowell Thomas, who had been reporting the news nightly since 1930.
WOR aired "Easy Aces," a low-key comedy starring Goodman and Jane Ace as a realtor and his malaprop-prone wife, which had been broadcast from 1930 to 1945 and was now in rerun syndication where it was getting higher ratings than on its original run. It would later return to production. Chicago sportscaster Bob Elson interviewed sports figures, politicians and celebrities on his show at 6:15. Fred Vandeventer came on with the news at 6:30 with sports at 6:45 with Stan Lomax.
At 6:00 WABC broadcast the CBS news with Harry Marble and at 6:45 with Bob Trout, who had a very long broadcast career. In-between came two music shows. Patty Clayton, the original Chiquita Banana, was on at 6:15. followed by rising young vocalist Gordon MacRae, who was appearing on Broadway in "Three to Get Ready." On Wednesday Eileen Farrell had the 6:30 spot. She was a successful, versatile radio singer before she had made her operatic debut.
WJZ had news and analysis from Walter Kiernan at 6:00, "Ethel and Albert," another low key sit com about married life, at 6:15, news and sports talk at 6:30 and "Here's Morgan" at 6:45. Acerbic satirist Henry Morgan also had a Thursday night primetime spot.
At 7:00 the schedule began to resemble primetime more closely.
Among the most successful shows in this time slot was "The Chesterfield Supper Club" on WEAF at 7:00. It aired 15-minutes each day. Two rapidly rising vocalists alternated the hosting duties, Perry Como in New York and Jo Stafford in Los Angeles. Both already had hit records and would become recording superstars in the postwar world with Como even overtaking Crosby in popularity in the television age. Among the show's guests that week was the zany bandleader Spike Jones and His City Slickers who massacred pop standards by adding kazoos, washboards and shotguns to the musical mix. Singer-songwriter Hoagy Carmichael also made an appearance.
WEAF had alternating variety shows in the 7:30-7:45 slot, followed by 15 minutes of news. Claude Hopkins had the 7:30 slot Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Best remembered as a jazz stride pianist, he led a big band in 1946. Actor and singer Warde Donovan broadcast on Tuesdays. Thursday night was rustic comedian Bob Burns with singer Shirley Ross and comic actor Leo Gorcey, star of the movie Dead End Kids movies and more recently the Bowery Boys series of low-budget comedies. Veteran journalist H.V. Kalternborn who had been broadcasting news and analysis since 1928, came on at 7:45 each night.
Fulton J. Lewis had fifteen minutes nightly on WOR. His folksy style masked an extreme Right Wing, America First agenda that portrayed anyone who disagreed with his opinions as Communists or dupes. He created the template followed by Rush Limbaugh and his ilk and like Limbaugh was immensely popular with one audience segment and reviled for his lack of concern for facts by others. At times he crossed over into Antisemitism. Lewis was followed at 7:15 by "The Answer Man," The show also had a daytime edition. Albert Carlyle Mitchell answered brain teasers submitted by the radio audience. The format made it seem as if he answered spontaneously from a vast store of personal knowledge but actually the show employed a large research staff who often used the New York Public Library, across the street from their offices, to find the answers. The show was a long-running hit that aired from 1938 to 1956. A rotating trio of commentators held down the 7:30 slot followed by sports.
Singer Lanny Ross, who had reached his peak in the Thirties, had a CBS show pm WABC at 7:00. His co-star, Evelyn Knight, would have a string of hits later in the Forties. Singer Jack Smith followed. This week Smith's guests included Ella Fitzgerald, who was just beginning to claim her position as a top jazz stylist, and Los Panchos Trio, pioneers in the Latin music genre. At 7:30 WABC aired different half-hour series each day of the week Monday was a popular quiz show hosted by comedian Bob Hawk. "The American Melody Hour" airing Tuesday nights, was another product of Anne and Frank Hummert's New York-based radio factory which was involved in the production of 125 series over the years including soaps and musical schmaltz. They were pioneers of the lowest common denominator school of broadcasting and employed a stable of low-paid ghost writers to churn out product. This show featured the Van Steeden Orchestra, contralto Evelyn MacGregor and tenor Bob Hannon. Detective "Ellery Queen" was heard on Wednesday and "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons" occupied the slot on Thursday. Vocalist Ginny Simms had a Friday evening show. Her guest this week was comedian Alan Young.
WJZ had two news shows, "Headline Edition" and commentary from Raymond Swing from 7:00 to 7:30. The half-hour between 7:00 and 7:30 belonged to "The Lone Ranger" on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. "Boston Blackie" solved crimes Tuesday and "Professor Quiz" set up shop Thursday evenings. Both shows had later primetime slots on other days of the week.