On This Day, August 22: Death Valley Days and Walter Pidgeon's The Doctor Fights
Also featured: Phone Again Finnegan.
August 22 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for 6 historical broadcasts transmitting on August 22 across American network and syndicated broadcasting history (1935–1946):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Mark Twain Fights a Duel in Virginia City" | NBC Blue (WJZ) 1935-08-22 8:00 PM EDT |
Pacific Coast Borax Co. 20 Mule Team Borax & Boraxo |
Tim Frawley (The Old Ranger), Jack MacBryde, John White (Lonesome Cowboy) | Ruth Cornwall Woodman (Writer), Edwin M. Whitney (Director), George Hicks (Announcer) | ["Western", "Historical", "Comedy", "Anthology"] |
The Old Ranger recounts the hilarious historical incident in 1864 Virginia City when young newspaperman Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) gets challenged to a deadly pistol duel by a rival editor, bluffing his way out of the showdown by shooting the head off a bird with the help of his quick-thinking second. |
| "The Ghost of the Great White Sands" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1941-08-22 8:30 PM EDT |
Pacific Coast Borax Co. 20 Mule Team Borax Flakes |
Harry Humphrey (The Old Ranger), Jack MacBryde (Pioneer Scout), John White | Ruth Cornwall Woodman (Writer), Felix Mills (Organist), George Hicks (Announcer) | ["Western", "Supernatural", "Historical", "Drama"] |
The Old Ranger shares the eerie Southwestern legend of a 16th-century Spanish conquistador's lost bride whose spectral white shroud allegedly drifts across the shimmering gypsum dunes of New Mexico's White Sands to guide lost desert travelers toward safety. |
| "Combat Surgeon on Saipan (Starring Walter Pidgeon)" | CBS (WABC) 1944-08-22 9:30 PM EWT |
Schenley Laboratories Penicillin-Schenley |
Walter Pidgeon (Guest Star Host / Army Combat Surgeon), supporting cast | Arthur Heinemann (Writer), Marx Loeb (Director), Leith Stevens (Music), Ken Niles (Announcer) | ["Medical", "War", "Drama", "Historical"] |
Hollywood star Walter Pidgeon dramatizes the heroic true story of a U.S. Army combat surgeon operating under continuous mortar bombardment in a makeshift tent hospital on Saipan, using newly mass-produced penicillin to save wounded Marines from fatal gangrene infections. |
| "The Case of the Missing Persian Rug" | NBC (WEAF) 1946-08-22 8:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining NBC Summer Comedy |
Stuart Erwin (Finnegan), Florence Lake (Sister), Lucien Littlefield (Mr. Henderson) | Frank Galen (Writer), Thomas Freebairn-Smith (Director), Frank Martin (Announcer) | ["Comedy", "Sitcom"] |
Bewildered apartment hotel manager Finnegan scrambles to restore an eccentric tenant's antique Persian rug after accidentally sending it to a municipal auction instead of the dry cleaners, enlisting his scatterbrained sister to outbid rival antique collectors. |
| "Jack Fina and His Piano Melodies" | Syndicated 1945-08-22 (San Francisco) |
Associated Oil Company Flying A Gasoline & Tide Water Oil |
Jack Fina and his Piano Orchestra | Associated Oil Radio Division, Scott Douglas (Announcer) | ["Music", "Easy Listening", "Variety"] |
Pianist Jack Fina and his orchestra entertain listeners with sparkling cocktail piano arrangements of 'Bumble Boogie', 'Dream', and 'Sentimental Journey' for Flying A Gasoline and Tide Water Oil. |
| "The Backstage Murder Trial Begins" | Syndicated / Mutual 1946-08-22 (Transamerican Disc) |
Regional Department Stores Syndicated Retail |
Myrtle Vail (Myrt), Helen Mack (Marge), Ray Hedge (Clarence), Vinton Hayworth (Jack) | Myrtle Vail (Creator & Writer), Transamerican Broadcasting (Producers) | ["Drama", "Serial", "Show Business"] |
As the sensational backstage murder trial commences, seasoned vaudevillian Myrt takes the witness stand to defend a frightened chorus girl wrongly accused of poisoning a wealthy Broadway producer in his dressing room. |