On This Day, August 23: Launching August 23 with Kay Kyser and The Sea Hound
Also featured: Confession.
August 23 Exhaustive Update
This report initiates the sequential archival review for August 23rd, documenting the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 23 across American and British broadcasting history (1943–1986):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Pearl Smugglers of the Galápagos" | Blue (WJZ) 1943-08-23 5:00 PM EWT |
CIAA / Non-commercial Inter-American Affairs |
Ken Daigneau (Captain Silver), Bobby Hastings (Jerry), Alan Devitt (Kukua) | Fran Striker & Martin Andrews (Writers), Cyril Armbrister (Director) | ["Adventure", "Children", "Action", "Maritime"] |
Captain Silver and youthful first mate Jerry navigate the diesel schooner Sea Hound into a volcanic cove off the Galápagos Islands, outmaneuvering a syndicate of Axis pearl smugglers who established a clandestine shortwave radio transmission bunker. |
| "Kay Kyser: 'Swinging on a Star' & Musical Knowledge Quiz (Colgate)" | NBC (WEAF) 1944-08-23 8:00 PM EWT |
Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Colgate Dental Cream & Palmolive |
Kay Kyser (The Ol' Professor), Georgia Carroll, Ish Kabibble, Harry Babbitt | Bud Freeman & Ed Haldeman (Writers), Frank O'Connor (Director), Verne Smith (Announcer) | ["Comedy", "Variety", "Music", "Quiz"] |
The Ol' Professor Kay Kyser puts serviceman contestants through their musical paces on the Kollege quiz, featuring Ish Kabibble's zany comedy poems and Georgia Carroll leading the band in the chart-topping hit 'Swinging on a Star' for Colgate Dental Cream. |
| "A Peach for the Professor (Sponsored by Mars Candy Bars)" | NBC (WMAQ) 1947-08-23 7:30 PM EDT |
Mars, Incorporated Milky Way, Snickers & Mars Bars |
Harry Elders, Nanette Sargent, Donald Gallagher | Mike Wallace & Russell Maloney (Writers), Norman Felton (Director) | ["Comedy", "Romance", "Drama", "Anthology"] |
A flustered, bookish university botany professor finds his tranquil bachelor life turned upside down when a vivacious Hollywood starlet arrives in town to study rare orchids for an upcoming film role and moves next door. |
| "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: 'Caterers Ball' (Series 14, Episode 6)" | BBC Radio 4 1986-08-23 12:27 PM |
Non-commercial British Broadcasting Corp. |
Humphrey Lyttelton (Chair), Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Willie Rushton | Graeme Garden (Creator), Paul Mayhew-Archer (Producer), Colin Sell (Piano) | ["Comedy", "Satire", "Panel Game", "Improvisation"] |
Chairman Humphrey Lyttelton presides over the antidote to panel games as regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Willie Rushton compete in 'One Song to the Tune of Another' (including singing 'Caterers Ball') and a contentious round of Mornington Crescent. |
| "Paul Lavalle and the Cities Service Band of America" | NBC (WNBC) 1954-08-23 8:00 PM EDT |
Cities Service Oil Co. Cities Service Gasoline & Koolmotor |
Paul Lavalle and Band of America, Green Brothers Marimba Ensemble, Quartet | Paul Lavalle (Producer & Conductor), Ford Bond (Announcer) | ["Music", "Classical", "Brass Band", "Easy Listening"] |
Maestro Paul Lavalle conducts the forty-eight piece Cities Service Band of America through stirring renditions of John Philip Sousa marches, American show tunes, and a virtuoso marimba arrangement of 'Flight of the Bumblebee' for Cities Service Gasoline. |
| "The James V. Madsen Case (Armed Bank Robbery Confession)" | NBC (WNBC) 1953-08-23 9:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining NBC Crime Documentary |
Donald MacDonald (Narrator / Interviewer), dramatic cast & prison recordings | Howard Blake (Writer), Warren Lewis (Director) | ["Documentary", "True Crime", "Drama", "Legal"] |
Real-life tape-recorded prison interviews and dramatic reenactments document the criminal downfall of James V. Madsen, a young war veteran whose escalating gambling debts led him to commit a series of desperate armed bank robberies across Northern California. |