The Charlotte Greenwood Show is an old-time radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States, on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio network. It aired for three months from June 13 to September 5, 1944, and then later on the newly established third American broadcasting media network of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC radio network, airing from October 15, 1944 to January 6, 1946.
Background The program began as a summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show (1948-1955) on the NBC radio network. Newspaper syndicated gossip and entertainment / celebrity news columnist Hedda Hopper (1885-1966) reported, "The interesting thing is that she (Charlotte Greenwood, 1890-1977) got the job on a couple of scripts written by her husband, Martin Broones, who's never before written for radio."
Format The 1944 short summer version of the show on the NBC Blue Network (1927-1945), had comedienne Greenwood, playing herself, working as a cub reporter in a small newspaper as research in preparation for a future film role. When the program resurfaced in 1945 on the newly established ABC independent radio network, Greenwood's character had now the responsibility of raising three children, teenagers Jack and Barbara and little Robert after her good friend died, making her executor of the estate. The setting was the fictional town of "Lakeview".
An old time radio reference commented that Greenwood's character "managed to be single, moral, and peppy."
Characters, cast and personnel The main characters of the latter program and the actors portraying them are shown in the table below. Character Actor/actress Jack Barton Cliff Carpenter,Terrace, Vincent (2003). Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931-1972. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 49. . Edward Ryan Barbara Barton Janet Waldo, Betty Moran Robert Barton Dix Davis, Bobby Larson Judge Cronin Charles Cantor William Anderson John Brown Mr. Reynolds Edward Arnold
Others in the cast were Shirley Mitchell, Arthur Q. Bryan, Harry Bartell and Will Wright. Wendell Niles was the announcer. The writers included Jack Hasty, Don Johnson, Ray Singer, and Phil Leslie. The producers included Arnold McGuire.
References
External links Episodic log Partial episodic log of The Charlotte Greenwood Show along with other radio appearances of Greenwood, myclassicradio.net
Streaming audio Episodes of The Charlotte Greenwood Show, archive.org