The Great Radio Soap Operas
The Great Radio Soap Operas

Author: Jim Cox

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-06-14

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 1476604142

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This reference work contains exhaustive histories of 31 of network radio's most durable soap operas on the air between 1930 and 1960. The soap operas covered are Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories, Backstage Wife, Big Sister, The Brighter Day, David Harum, Front Page Farrell, The Guiding Light, Hilltop House, Just Plain Bill, Life Can Be Beautiful, The Light of the World, Lora Lawton, Lorenzo Jones, Ma Perkins, One Man's Family, Our Gal Sunday, Pepper Young's Family, Perry Mason, Portia Faces Life, The Right to Happiness, Road of Life, The Romance of Helen Trent, Rosemary, The Second Mrs. Burton, Stella Dallas, This Is Nora Drake, Today's Children, Wendy Warren and the News, When a Girl Marries, Young Doctor Malone, and Young Widder Brown. Included for each series are the drama's theme and story line, an in-depth focus on the major characters, and a listing of producers, directors, writers, announcers, casts, sponsors, ratings, and broadcast dates, times and networks. Profiles of 158 actors, actresses, creators and others who figured prominently in a serial's success are also provided.

Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas
Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas

Author: Jim Cox

Publisher: Historical Dictionaries of Lit

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13:

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The dictionary section, made up of more than 500 cross-referenced entries, provides brief vignettes of the more popular and also less well-known "soaps," among them Back Stage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Pepper Young's Family and The Guiding Light. Other entries evoke those who brought these programs to life: the actors, announcers, scriptwriters, networ

The A to Z of American Radio Soap Operas
The A to Z of American Radio Soap Operas

Author: Jim Cox

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2009-07-17

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0810863499

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The period from 1925 to 1960 was the heyday of the American Radio Soap Opera. In addition to being part of popular culture, the soap opera had important commercial aspects as well that were not only related to their production, but also to the desperate need to sell products or perish. Both sides of this story are traced in this comprehensive compendium. The dictionary section, made up of more than 500 cross-referenced entries, provides brief vignettes of the more popular and also less well-known 'soaps,' among them Back Stage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Pepper Young's Family and The Guiding Light. Other entries evoke those who brought these programs to life: the actors, announcers, scriptwriters, networks, and even the sponsors. Nor are the basic themes, the stock characters and the gimmick, forgotten. The book's introduction defines the soap opera, examines the span of the radio serial, reviews its origins and its demise, and focuses on the character types that made up its denizens. The chronology outlines the period and the bibliography offers further reading. Together, these elements make a comprehensive reference work that researchers will find invaluable long into the future.

Worlds Without End
Worlds Without End

Author: Museum of Television and Radio (New York, N.Y.)

Publisher: ABRAMS

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13:

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As a special feature for this book, The Museum of Television & Radio conducted interviews with leading writers, producers, actors, and directors of soap operas. Dozens of revealing quotes from these interviews appear throughout the book - personal and professional comments by men and women who make their living in the field.

Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas
Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas

Author: Jim Cox

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2005-11-15

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 0810865238

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The period from 1925 to 1960 was the heyday of the American Radio Soap Opera. In addition to being part of popular culture, the soap opera had important commercial aspects as well that were not only related to their production, but also to the desperate need to sell products or perish. Both sides of this story are traced in this comprehensive compendium. The dictionary section, made up of more than 500 cross-referenced entries, provides brief vignettes of the more popular and also less well-known 'soaps,' among them Back Stage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Pepper Young's Family and The Guiding Light. Other entries evoke those who brought these programs to life: the actors, announcers, scriptwriters, networks, and even the sponsors. Nor are the basic themes, the stock characters and the gimmick, forgotten. The book's introduction defines the soap opera, examines the span of the radio serial, reviews its origins and its demise, and focuses on the character types that made up its denizens. The chronology outlines the period and the bibliography offers further reading. Together, these elements make a comprehensive reference work that researchers will find invaluable long into the future.

Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory
Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory

Author: Jim Cox

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2003-05-21

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780786416318

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Frank and Anne Hummert brought at least 125 separate series to the airwaves. The production dynasty over which they presided extended far beyond the serialized melodrama that became their trademark. Their genres also included music, mystery, juvenile adventure, quiz, sports, news, comedy and dramatic theater. The Hummerts tried to appeal to everyone's tastes and probably influenced more old time radio listeners than anyone else. By the 1940s the twosome controlled four and a half hours of the national weekday broadcast schedule. This book explores the private lives and professional dealings of broadcasting's most prolific creator-producers. There are five appendices: a list of all broadcast series that were created, adapted, supervised, augmented or influenced by the Hummerts; a list of the most active players among radio producers stemming from the Golden Age and their best-remembered titles; a collection of statements attributed to Frank or Anne that express their philosophy of broadcast programming; a chronology of defining moments in the Hummerts' lives; and three sample programming schedules that give the reader a clear understanding of the Hummerts' involvement in radio producing.

The Great Radio Sitcoms
The Great Radio Sitcoms

Author: Jim Cox

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2024-10-17

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0786491809

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On January 12, 1926, radio audiences heard the first exchanges of wit and wisdom between "Sam 'n' Henry"--the verbal jousters who would evolve into Amos 'n' Andy and whose broadcasts launched the radio sitcom. Here is a detailed look at 20 of the most popular such sitcoms that aired between the mid-1920s and early 1950s, the three-decade heyday of radio. Each series is discussed from an artistic standpoint, with attention to the program's character development and style of comedy as well as its influence on other shows. The book provides complete biographical profiles of each sitcom's stars as well as several actors whose careers consisted primarily of supporting roles. Appendices include an abbreviated summary of 13 sitcoms beyond those discussed in the main body of the book, and a comprehensive list of 170 radio sitcoms. Notes, bibliography, index.

Speaking of Soap Operas
Speaking of Soap Operas

Author: Robert Clyde Allen

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 1985

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780807841297

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From "Ma Perkins" and "One Man's Family" in the 1930s to "All My Children" in the 1980s, the soap opera has capture the imagination of millions of American men and women of all ages. In Speaking of Soap Operas, Robert Allen undertakes a reexaminati

Vic and Sade on the Radio
Vic and Sade on the Radio

Author: John T. Hetherington

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-04-30

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 0786463031

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Vic and Sade, an often absurd situation comedy written by the prolific Paul Rhymer, aired on America's radios from 1932 to 1944 (with short-lived revivals afterward). The title characters, known as "radio's home folks," were a married couple exploring the comedic side of ordinary life along with their adopted son and an eccentric uncle. This book examines the program's depiction of many aspects of American culture--leisure activities, community groups, education, films--in light of the critiques put forward by the era's critics such as William Orton. Vic and Sade offered its own subtle cultural critique that reflected how ordinary people experienced mass culture of the time.

Her Stories
Her Stories

Author: Elana Levine

Publisher: Duke University Press Books

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781478007661

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Since the debut of These Are My Children in 1949, the daytime television soap opera has been foundational to the history of the medium as an economic, creative, technological, social, and cultural institution. In Her Stories, Elana Levine draws on archival research and her experience as a longtime soap fan to provide an in-depth history of the daytime television soap opera as a uniquely gendered cultural form and a central force in the economic and social influence of network television. Closely observing the production, promotion, reception, and narrative strategies of the soaps, Levine examines two intersecting developments: the role soap operas have played in shaping cultural understandings of gender and the rise and fall of broadcast network television as a culture industry. In so doing, she foregrounds how soap operas have revealed changing conceptions of gender and femininity as imagined by and reflected on the television screen.