''Skippy'' was an American children's radio serial based on the popularity of the comic strip '' Skippy''. It was broadcast on CBS Radio from January 11, 1932 to March 29, 1935. ''Skippy'' has been called the first radio serial for children, though the radio serial '' Little Orphan Annie'' (1930-...) has also been given that honorific title. In 1931 Franklin W. Adams was chosen to play the part of Skippy. Initially the show ran for 13 weeks locally in Chicago on WBBM Radio before being picked up for 2 years on NBC Radio followed by 2 more years on CBS Radio five days a week coast to coast."Up and Down the Hill" Autobiography of Franklin W. Adams, Self-Published 1973 As the principal player Adams was paid $75 per week at the beginning then raised to $100 per week when the show went national. While on NBC the show was produced at 4:15PM and 5:15 PM in Studio B at Chicago's Merchandise Mart. Later it was produced on CBS in the

Wrigley Building The Wrigley Building is a skyscraper located at 400–410 North Michigan Avenue on Chicago's Near North Side. It is located on the Magnificent Mile directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower. Its two towers in an elaborate style wer ...

"Skippy Day" was celebrated at the Chicago "Century of Progress" World's Fair in 1933. Skippy Franklin Adams and Sooky (Francis Smith) "gave a show at the amphitheater constructed next to the Burnham Lagoon". ''Note; There is a
erroneous ledger reference
online that refers to the character of Skippy as being spoken by Franklin Adams, Jr.. Franklin W. Adams who portrayed Skippy was not a junior. In fact his father's name was Elmer. This was presumably mistyped at the time.''

Concept

'' Skippy'' was a popular

gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of ...

comic strip, written and drawn by

Percy Crosby Percy Lee CrosbyPercy Lee Crosby
at FamilySearch.org. Retrieved on January 8, 2016 ...

. The 1932 radio serial was an

audio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

based on the adventures of this mischievous little boys. The scripts were written by

Robert Hardy Andrews Charles Robert Douglas Hardy Andrews (October 19, 1903 – November 11, 1976) was a novelist, screenwriter and radio drama scriptwriter. Career Andrews began his career as a reporter for the ''Chicago Daily News'', and edited the newspaper's maga ...

. Production was in hands of

Frank Hummert Edward Frank Hummert, Jr. (June 2, 1884 – March 12, 1966), professionally known as Frank Hummert and sometimes credited as E. Frank Hummert, was an American advertising agent originally but was best known for writing/producing episodes of ne ...

and

Anne Hummert Anne Hummert (née Schumacher) (January 19, 1905 – July 5, 1996) was the leading creator of daytime radio serials or soap opera dramas during the 1930s and 1940s, responsible for more than three dozen series. Biography She was born in Baltimore ...

. Each episode was 15 minutes long. The series was cancelled in 1935.

Cast

* Skippy: Franklin W. Adams * Sooky: Francis Smith * Jim: St. John Terrell * Announcer:

Dwight Weist Dwight Weist, Jr. (January 16, 1910 - July 16, 1991) was an actor and announcer in the era of old-time radio. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. Dwight W. Weist, he was born in Palo Alto, California, but was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He ...

* Writer: Robert Andrews * Director: David Owen and later Ray Appleby

Sources

{{Reflist American children's radio programs American comedy radio programs 1932 radio programme debuts 1935 radio programme endings Radio programs based on comic strips CBS Radio programs 1930s American radio programs