Breaking Walls

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BW - EP129—012: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—Roy Rogers Takes Us Home Jul 26, 2022

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Roy Rogers was born on November 5th, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He spent much of the early 1930s performing with groups like Uncle Tom Murray’s Hollywood Hillbillies, The Texas Outlaws, and The Rocky Mountaineers. In mid-decade he joined up with Bob Nolan to form the Sons of the Pioneers. By 1935, they were appearing in bit parts for Republic Pictures. Two years later Republic’s top cowboy, Gene Autry, quit in a dispute, and Rogers became a star. He bought a palomino colt, named it Trigger, and taught it tricks that were guaranteed crowd- pleasers. Rogers was soon nip-and-tuck with Autry at the box office. In the mid-1940s he was among the top ten money-makers in the entire industry. He came to radio in 1944 over Mutual. His second wife, Arline, died in 1946. He married his co-star Dale Evans on New Year’s Eve, 1947. Hollywood radio’s best loved working with Roy. His radio show moved to NBC in 1951 where he also ventured into TV. In 1953 new sponsor Dodge, asked the show to be more adult-oriented. Writer-director Ralph Rose came up with a mystery format, with Evans’s song usually figuring in the plot. The January 27th, 1955, episode was called “Faraway Places.” The Roy Rogers Show went off the air on July 21st, 1955. His television series ran until June 9th, 1957.

BW - EP129—011: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—KNX, Ralph Story, And UFO Mania Jul 24, 2022

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Ralph Story was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on August 19th, 1920. He served as a US Army Fighter Pilot during World War II and started a career in broadcasting after the war. His big break came in 1948 when he was hired to host and direct an early morning show on KNX in Los Angeles. Story's casual style and witty observations about life in LA won him national recognition. He went on to do various shows before going to TV in the 1950s. This afternoon show, Ralph Story’s Backyard featured Story, sidekicks and musical accompaniment. On July 16th, 1953 his guest was UFO follower George Adamski. (A Damn Ski) Adamski claimed to have met with friendly Nordic aliens, and to have taken flights with them to the Moon and other planets. Many of Adamski’s assertions were widely disputed. Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, head of Project Blue Book, the U.S. Government’s Air Force group assigned to investigate UFOs, considered Adamski a talented con artist and likened him to P.T. Barnum.

BW - EP129—010: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—You Bet Your Life's UFO Enthusiast Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

In October of 1952 You Bet Your Life was in the middle of its sixth season on the air and third over NBC. That month’s rating was 8.8, down significantly from its peak, but still good enough for fifth overall. The October 15th’s secret word was “water,” and the male member of the middle couple had a very unusual hobby.

BW - EP129—009: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—UFO Sightings During The Korean War Jul 19, 2022

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Like with Germany, Korea was divided into occupation zones after World War II. The Soviets helped establish communism in the North, while the US supported the South. By June of 1950 fighting along the border had been going on for months. However on the weekend of June 24th, bulletins increased and it became clear a major crisis was underway. After a UN Security Council meeting President Truman‘s motion to send troops was approved. Less than five years after the end of World War II, the U.S. was back at war. That August the manager of a Montana semi-pro baseball team took color film of two UFOs flying over Great Falls. The next year, several V-Shaped formations were spotted flying over Lubbock, Texas. Witnesses included professors and students from Texas Tech University.Then in the summer of 1952 some of the most famous UFO sightings of the 20th Century occurred. In July, a series of sightings happened at three separate airports in Washington, D.C. Simultaneously in Norfolk, Virginia, Pan-American pilots saw eight large, glowing red objects.The sightings made front-page headlines around the nation, and led to the formation of a CIA Panel. Ten days later, two US Air force Colonels saw three unusual aircrafts flying in formation over Carson Sink, Nevada. And perhaps most sensationally, in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12th, six local boys and a woman reported seeing a UFO land and a spade-headed creature near the landing site. It was met with considerable skepticism.

BW - EP129—008: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—Dangerous Assignment's UFO In Ecuador Jul 16, 2022

Show notes

On Saturday July 9th, 1949, Dangerous Assignment debuted on NBC starring Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell. Each week Mitchell was sent to a different location to crack into the bed of discontent and rout the perpetrators. Herb Butterfield and Betty Moran co-starred, with Hollywood regulars, like the just-heard Sam Edwards filling out the supporting roles. The initial Summer run ended on August 20th, but NBC picked the series up in February of 1950. That April Ford Motors signed on for a few broadcasts. April 17th’s episode was called “UFOs in Ecuador.” This episode featured Elliott Reid as Drake. After Ford, Wheaties sponsored the program for their Big Parade in the summer of 1950, but it was short-lived. Dangerous Assignment ran in the States until February 13th, 1953, but never achieved widespread fame. A syndicated version was produced the following year in Australia with Lloyd Burrell as Mitchell.

BW - EP129—007: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—Murrow's Report On Flying Saucers Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

On April 7th, 1950, Edward R. Murrow broadcast the CBS Special “Report on Flying Saucers.” By then, Murrow was long-known for his journalistic integrity and tenacity in chasing down answers. A turbo jet that could fly up to six-hundred miles per hour didn’t exactly line up with witness accounts. Speed of travel aside, It wasn’t at all what Dr. Craig Hunter had described earlier. There were clearly conflicting points of view.

BW - EP129—006: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—Harris And Remley's UFO Hoax Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

On Sunday April 2nd, 1950 at 7:30PM eastern time, The Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show took to the air over NBC. The Harris/Faye show peaked in December of 1948 with a rating of 26, but by this month it was down 8.5. Harris resisted taking the program into TV, as his wife Alice Faye remembered. Elliott Lewis’ friendship with Phil Harris went all the way back to their days on Jack Benny’s program. On that Sunday, the episode was called “Frankie’s Flying Saucer.”

BW - EP129—005: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—Fibber Sees A UFO Jul 09, 2022

Show notes

On Tuesday nights at 9:30PM eastern time in the spring of 1950, Fibber McGee and Molly was NBC’s highest-rated show. They’d stuck with NBC while stars like Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen, George Burns, and Gracie Allen jumped to CBS. Their 17.7 was fourth overall, but their rating fell by almost six points from the year prior. Opposite on TV, NBC aired The Life of Riley, while CBS aired Suspense. The days of NBC’s Tuesday night comedy schedule being appointment radio were over. On March 28th, Fibber McGee saw a UFO.

BW - EP129—004: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—The Spring Of 1950 With Red Skelton Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

In the spring of 1950, network radio revenue was falling for the first time since 1933. There were now over twenty-six-hundred AM and FM stations vying for advertising dollars. The US also spent the first ten months of 1949 in a recession while TV was becoming a serious threat to both prime time Network Radio and Hollywood films. Over a hundred TV stations were on the air, and radio’s top fifty program ratings were down thirty-percent in just two years since the record high of 1947-48. Only The Lux Radio Theater and Jack Benny had ratings higher than twenty. Meanwhile, the TV networks reported a combined income of more than twenty-nine-million dollars. The world was changing too. The U.S. was on the brink of war with Korea. During the week of March 26th, Wisconsin junior senator Joseph McCarthy named five U.S. State Department employees as potential Communists. The senator’s actions placed him firmly in the crosshairs of Edward R. Murrow. Two-time Republican Presidential nominee Thomas Dewey was relegated to voice of reason. It would be four years before McCarthyism came to an end while Cold War fears continued to escalate. That Spring, with both science-fiction and UFOs en vogue, multiple shows focused on flying saucers within individual episode plots. On March 26th, 1950 The Red Skelton Show presented “Flying Saucers.” One of the co-stars was famed radio character actress Lurene Tuttle. Skelton was airing over CBS Sunday nights at 8:30PM eastern time. His March rating was 15.6, but his season number was 13.5. It was 14th overall, but down seven points from two years prior. On March 29th, RCA made their first color television demonstration. Their system would eventually be accepted by the FCC and would become the standard for broadcasting.The next fall Skelton took his show into TV where it would air until 1971.

BW - EP129—003: Radio, Roswell And The Flying Saucer Craze—Dimension X Launches Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

Until March of 1950, most reported UFO observations were seen from a great distance. On March 16th, a physician and pilot — Dr. Craig Hunter of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia — saw one close up. That same month, the Mutual Broadcasting System launched a series called 2000 Plus. Considered the first adult science fiction show in radio history, a month later NBC launched their own. Produced from Radio City in New York, It would be called Dimension X, and debut on Saturday April 8th at 8PM. The man you’re listening to is Arnold Moss. An accomplished New York actor, by 1950 he was all over the radio dial. Moss was also no stranger to playing multiple parts in a single broadcast. On May 6th, 1950 Arnold Moss starred in Dimension X’s “Knock.” For its time. Dimension X was a wonder. Two and sometimes three sound effects men worked each show. Each show was produced in a huge, two-story studio, giving the crew the ability to obtain tremendous echo effects. Blended in were futuristic musical scores, composed by Albert Berman and played on the organ. Host-narrator Norman Rose was the perfect voice, combining an authoritative resonance with a touch of dark irony. Arnold Moss was right at home in these futuristic dramas. He was flanked by Joan Alexander and Luis Van Rooten. The show was produced live for the first thirteen weeks and transcribed thereafter. It ran against Gene Autry on CBS. To help promote it, the NBC press department sent out a Radio Editors' Flying Saucer Mail Service. It was a promotional piece made up of a white saucer-shaped cardboard lettered in red and white and attached to a blue square. It wasn’t long before Wheaties grabbed the series with their Big Parade in the summer of 1950. They began sponsorship on July 7th. But, aside from Friday, Saturday night was radio’s lowest-rated evening. NBC won three of the four time slots between 8:30 and 10PM, but they were all comedies. While Dimension X was well-produced, it was an outlier sandwiched between The Joe Dimaggio Show and Truth of Consequences. Wheaties ended their big parade in August and NBC began to bump Dimension X around its schedule. It was picked up and dropped without announcement, and finally went off the air for good on September 29th, 1951.

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