Evening star., 1943-10-10
F. or RadioL;steners
By Ben Katlan.

For the first time in history, the
biggest changes in radio are those
IN the daytime listening schedules.
Ordinarily, around the second week
IN october, either the big-name
comics come back from their sum-
mer Information or new smash
Idea programs reach the airlanes
at night-but not So in 1943. The
biggest changes that have taken
place-aside from Amos n Andy
going to a single half hour with
guest stars-have all been planned
for the daytime audience.
Although it has not been heard
east of Pittsburgh, a daytime pro-
gram five days week called Holly
wood Theater of the Air" presents a
movie star in the dramatization in
hive or 10 "acts" over one or two
weeks of a recent movie. And after
a sound testing. it will no doubt
become Nationwide offering,
probably around January.
Xavier Cugat with Lima Romay
and Baritone Don Rodney are turn
ing out regulation nighttime Of
fering Saturday mornings for half
hour before noon, and the latest
serial to blossom about mid-October
Is to be the Perry Mason stories,
written by the famous Erie Stanley
Gardner. And it is not to be just
the dramatizing of his old stories,
but brand new stuff wherein the
outlines prepared by Gardner, to be
turned over to a radio script writer,
run as much as 1873 pages of dialogue
and plot outline for four to six
week serial.
And We are not to be surprised
If one called Prophecies of l943 ar
rives' on Sunday afternoon over
NBC before long, with a couple of
postwar planners making the proph-
ecies and a cast acting out scene
from the future, say 1858.
II Guy Lombardo had had his way
one night recently his kilocycle pro-
gram would not have gone on the
air over the Columbia network. 1t
all came about when Guy and his
orchestra were playing the RKO
Boston Theater and his regular
Monday evening broadcast with Og-
den Nash was to originate from the
stage.
lombard had just checked in all
the instruments and band equip
ment at the theater when an ex-
press truck pulled up with an enor-
NOUS room-Size box The driver
came over to Guy and asked him to
sign for it. II am sure that it isn't
for me-" said Guy, Il have just re-
ceived all of our equipment.
Look" said the driver, Il have
orders to deliver this to the RKO
Theater and am going to leave it
here. I can't take it back to the
station and l don't want to carry it
around with me all day The argu-
ment went on for several minutes
until finally the driver said Wait
8 minute. Aren't you Major Bowes?"
With that. Guy almost tainted,
but recovered enough to look at the
back of the big box and saw that
1t read in giant type. MAJOR
BOWES.' Then the search started
for the stage manager to see if the
major was due at the theater any,
time within the next few weeks
This produced negative reply and
the disguised truck driver started
to drive away. Luckily, Carmen
Lombardo happened along and re-
membered that CBS's only portable
control room for broadcasting is
owned by Major Bowes and that
they had borrowed it for the Boston
broadcast. When the producer of
the show arrived from New York on
a later train, his first words were :.
did the booth arrive?" Guy didn't
tell him how close they came to not