Evening star., 1951-01-17
On the Air
Somebody
Wants Jerry
To Return
On the Air
By Horry Macarthur

appearance on "The Comedy
Hour" (WNBW-Sunday, 8 pmo
was IAN increasing plea" that he
return to the series next month.
The news, delivered by the Asso-
ciated Press, does not identify the
source of this plea. 1t might be
Mr.. Lester, himself, who thinks
it best that he try to redeem
himself.
Or it might be Buddy Lester.
who has been engaged for num-
ber of years in a feud with his
elder brother and who might well
come a repeat of the debacle. A
man feuding with Jerry Lester is
the only one who might thor
oughly have enjoyed the proceed
ings last Sunday. Or it might be
Joan Bennett who is making this
increasing plea for a return OF
Broadway Open House" to Com
edy Hour" On a second try she
might get on in time to say hello.
X X X X
1t is hard to guess from an out
side view what did happen to the
Jerry Lester crew. The funniest
moment of the hour was achieved
accidentally, when the sound was
lost during an early commercial.
Fred Allen managed to inject
some amusement in banter with
Dagmar and Lester. but he also
managed to prove that Dagmar is
no ad-libber in the Allen league.
"Mr. Allen-please?" is a line to
give girl time to get her bearings,
but it does not throw the living
room into an uproar. After this.
things got so far out of hand that
the other guest stars-Kukla, Fran
and Ollie, Miss Bennett and Pat
O'Brien-got the shortest shrift
any guest stars have been given
in some time.
It is possible that the casual
approach of Lester and his asso-
ciates does not function well un-
der pressure of Sunday-at-8 pm.
television. The well planned, care
fully-timed, studied casualness,
which permits Dave Garroway to
appear as if he'd been walking |
down the street and suddenly de-
cided to get into television |
studio. may be required. 1t it pos
Sible, too. that the relaxed nom
sense of Broadway Open House"
is out Of its league when compet-
ing with something like Ed Sulli-
vans slick vaudeville.
If Lester does get another chance
at Comedy Hour" let's hope he
keeps things well enough in hand
to at least prove or disprove this
point. Come to think of it, maybe
it Is Sullivan who is pleading for
Lester's return to the opposition
show.)
Fred Allen, incidentally, is going
back to radio. Nothing that hap
pened to him last Sunday was the
cause, since his plans already seem
to have been made. The major
reason is that q proper Tv formal
was not developed for him in four
tries. He probably has not been
too happy with his critical recep-
ton, either, though that is a re-
suit Of the formal failure and can't
be a cause for his temporary de-
sertion of television,
NBC radios 'The Big Show" on
which he has been a Tallulah
Bankhead guest several times. will
occupy much Of Aliens time for
the rest Of this season. Starting |
next Sunday, he will appear regu-
larly on alternate Sundays.
II X II Il
Birthday Department: Lee Day.
tons Hour of Dreams, (WMAL-l
nightly, 11:15) celebrates its birth
day tonight with a special program
extended an hour for the occasion
One of the more popular record
programs on the air here-largely
because Mr.. Dayton devotes 1t to
music rather than talk about mu-
sicians-"Hour Of Dreams" was
on January II, 1914.
+ X 4 \
Programs and People: Lorraine
Rognan, who was injured and lost
her husband, Roy. in that Lisbon
Clipper crash in 1912, will be al
guest Of Jack Haley on "Star Re-
vue" tomorrow night at 81
(WNBW). =. Johnnie Johnston,
singing star of screen. stage and
records, will become q regular on
THE Ken Murray Show" (WTOP-
TV-Saturday. 8 p.m.). :. Alan
Shackner. harmonicist; Danny
Shaw. comedian: Lillian Shelby,
soprano. and Martez and Lucia,
balancing team. are the veterans
of Robert @. Lewis "The Show
Goes On" who will help him cele-
brate the programs first anniver-
Sarv tomorrow night at 8.3Cl