On This Day, August 22: Ma Perkins and Joseph Cotten's Ceiling Unlimited
Also featured: Dick Tracy, Whack-O!.
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 and British broadcasting history (1932–1961):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Fay's Difficult Decision at the Lumberyard" | CBS (WABC / WBBM) 1949-08-22 1:15 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Oxydol Laundry Detergent |
Virginia Payne (Ma Perkins), Charles Egelston (Shuffle Shober), Rita Ascot (Fay), Murray Forbes (Willie) | Frank & Anne Hummert (Producers), George Fogle (Director), Jack Brinkley (Announcer) | ["Drama", "Soap Opera", "Serial"] |
Ma Perkins and her trusted lumberyard partner Shuffle Shober comfort Fay as she wrestles with a life-changing career decision in Rushville, offering wise homespun counsel on family loyalty and integrity. |
| "Evy's House Construction Blueprints" | CBS (WABC) 1950-08-22 1:15 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Oxydol & Dreft Detergents |
Virginia Payne (Ma Perkins), Charles Egelston (Shuffle Shober), Kay Campbell (Evy), Murray Forbes (Willie) | Frank & Anne Hummert, Philip Bowman (Director), Jack Brinkley (Announcer) | ["Drama", "Soap Opera", "Serial"] |
Evy Fitz brings contractor blueprints to the Rushville lumberyard office, seeking Ma's approval on mortgage estimates while Shuffle warns Willie about inflated building supply costs. |
| "Air Transport Command Over the Hump (Narrated by Joseph Cotten)" | CBS (KNX / WABC) 1943-08-22 2:00 PM EWT |
Lockheed Vega Aircraft Corporation ("Look to Lockheed") |
Joseph Cotten (Host / Narrator), supporting Hollywood dramatic cast | Frank Wilson (Writer), Paul Stewart (Director), Wilbur Hatch (Music) | ["Documentary", "Aviation", "War", "Drama"] |
Joseph Cotten narrates the harrowing story of U.S. Army Air Transport Command pilots flying unarmed Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo planes over the Himalayan 'Hump' to deliver aviation fuel and ammunition to Allied airfields in China. |
| "The Waterfront Refinery Ambush" | ABC (WJZ) 1947-08-22 5:00 PM EDT |
The Quaker Oats Co. Puffed Wheat & Puffed Rice ("Shot from guns!") |
Matt Crowley (Dick Tracy), Howard Smith (Pat Patton), Jackie Kelk (Junior), Helen Lewis (Tess) | Chester Gould (Creator), Sidney Slon (Writer), Dan Seymour (Announcer) | ["Adventure", "Detective", "Children", "Crime"] |
Two-way wrist radio crackling with static, detective Dick Tracy and junior partner Pat Patton pursue a jewel-smuggling syndicate into an abandoned waterfront sugar refinery, springing a trap on the gang's trigger-happy enforcer. |
| "The Dismissal" | BBC Light Programme 1961-08-22 8:00 PM BST |
Non-commercial BBC Light Entertainment |
Jimmy Edwards (Prof. James Edwards), Arthur Howard (Mr. Pettigrew), Kenneth Cope (Inspector), Edwin Apps (Lumley) | Frank Muir & Denis Norden (Writers), Charles Maxwell (Producer), Aeolian Hall London | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "British"] |
Disreputable, cane-swishing headmaster Professor Jimmy Edwards faces immediate dismissal when the Board of Governors and a strict School Inspector arrive unannounced to investigate missing school funds at Chiselbury Public School. |
| "A Parsnip Stew" | NBC Blue (WJZ) 1932-08-22 8:30 PM EDT |
Pacific Coast Borax Co. 20 Mule Team Borax & Boraxo |
Tim Frawley (The Old Ranger), Jack MacBryde (Grizzly Pete), John White (Lonesome Cowboy) | Ruth Cornwall Woodman (Writer), Felix Mills (Organist), George Hicks (Announcer) | ["Western", "Anthology", "Historical", "Drama"] |
The Old Ranger recounts the humorous frontier tale of a snowbound Nevada gold prospector who guards a single pot of boiling parsnip stew against ravenous camp claim jumpers during the blizzard of 1888. |