''The Baker's Broadcast'' is the name applied to three

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

variety programs in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The first one went on the air October 8, 1933; the third one's last broadcast was June 26, 1938. The name applied to all three apparently was derived from Fleischmann's Yeast, which sponsored all three programs.

Format

1933–1935

Run dates: October 8, 1933 – June 30, 1935

Joe Penner Joe Penner (born József Pintér; November 11, 1904 – January 10, 1941) was an American vaudeville, radio, and film comedian. Early life Penner was an ethnic Hungarian born József Pintér in Nagybecskerek, Austria-Hungary, (present-day Zren ...

starred in this version, along with

Ozzie Nelson Oswald George Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, musician, composer, conductor and bandleader. He originated and starred in ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'', a radio and tel ...

and Ozzie's future wife,

Harriet Hilliard Harriet Nelson (formerly Hilliard; born Peggy Lou Snyder; July 18, 1909 – October 2, 1994) was an American actress and singer. Nelson is best known for her role on the sitcom ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. Early life and career Ne ...

. Penner's role led to the program's having an alternate unofficial title, ''The Joe Penner Show''. Hal Erickson, in his book, ''From Radio to the Big Screen: Hollywood Films Featuring Broadcast Personalities and Programs'', wrote, "Though bearing the name ''The Baker's Broadcast'' when it debuted over NBC-Blue on October 8, 1933, it was ''The Joe Penner Show'' all the way so far as the public was concerned." Ozzie Nelson led the orchestra for the program, and Harriet was the singer. The Penner-Nelsons combination ended when Penner "abruptly exited ''The Baker's Broadcast'', upset over the sponsor's refusal to freshen up the writing and alter the format." Kliph Nesteroff, in his book, ''The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy'', wrote about Penner's version of the show, "The style of his program was juvenile but undeniably popular ...." Among the contributions this program made was bringing to a national audience

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

, the virtuoso of voices who later had his own program and was featured on other old-time radio programs.

Ben Grauer Benjamin Franklin Grauer (June 2, 1908 – May 31, 1977) was a US radio and TV personality, following a career during the 1920s as a child actor in films and on Broadway. He began his career as a child in David Warfield's production of ''The Retur ...

was the announcer, and Hal Raynor was a writer for the program.

1935–1937

Run dates: October 6, 1935 – June 27, 1937 The Nelsons, who were married two days after this version began, continued as co-stars, with Penner replaced by

Robert Ripley LeRoy Robert Ripley (February 22, 1890 – May 27, 1949) was an American cartoonist, entrepreneur, and amateur anthropologist, who is known for creating the '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' newspaper panel series, television show, and radio show ...

. Ripley's role led to the use of the alternate unofficial title ''Believe It or Not'' (which was used for other radio programs that featured Ripley). Neal Thompson, in his book, ''A Curious Man: The Strange & Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe it Or Not" Ripley'', called the Ripley version of ''The Baker's Broadcast'' "one of America's favorite shows, in league with the top-ranked shows of Jack Benny and Bing Crosby." John Dunning in his reference work, ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'', wrote that the Nelsons "were young and attractive, and their music — lighthearted and melodious — was what America wanted in the Depression. Ben Grauer continued as the program's announcer.

1937–1938

Run Dates: October 3, 1937 – June 26, 1938. For its final series, ''The Baker's Broadcast'' not only changed hosts but moved from New York City to Hollywood. Former athlete and comics artist

Feg Murray Frederic Seymour Murray (May 15, 1894 – July 16, 1973), known as Fred Murray or Feg Murray, was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 110 meter hurdles. He won a bronze medal in the 1920 Summer Olympics. After his athletic ca ...

became the new host, while the Nelsons continued to provide music. Dunning wrote: "Feg Murray hosted and Ozzie helped with interviews. This never generated much excitement: it failed after a single season." Once again, Grauer was the announcer. Robert Brewster was the producer (succeeded by John Christ) and Ed Rice wrote scripts for the program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker's Broadcast, The American radio programs American comedy radio programs American jazz radio programs American variety radio programs 1933 radio programme debuts 1938 radio programme endings 1930s American radio programs NBC Blue Network radio programs