On This Day, August 23: Our Miss Brooks and Raymond Scott
Also featured: The Goon Show.
August 23 Exhaustive Update
This report documents 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 (1942–1980):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Quiz Kids #113: Joe Kelly with Richard Williams & Ruth Duskin (Alka-Seltzer)" | Blue Network 1942-08-23 8:00 PM EWT |
Miles Laboratories Alka-Seltzer & One-A-Day |
Joe Kelly (Quizmaster), Richard Williams, Harve Fischman, Ruth Duskin | Louis G. Cowan (Creator), Fort Pearson (Announcer) | ["Game Show", "Quiz", "Children", "Educational"] |
Quizmaster Joe Kelly tests child prodigies Richard Williams, Harve Fischman, and 8-year-old Ruth Duskin with listeners' brainteasers on classical literature, European war geography, and quadratic mathematics for Alka-Seltzer war savings bonds. |
| "The Comic Weekly Man: Reading 'Bringing Up Father' & 'Blondie' (Puck Comic Weekly)" | WOR New York 1953-08-23 9:00 AM EDT |
Puck – The Comic Weekly N.Y. Journal-American |
The Comic Weekly Man (Dramatic Reader) | King Features Syndicate, New York | ["Children", "Comedy", "Comic Strips", "Family"] |
The Comic Weekly Man reads the Sunday color comics aloud for children, performing character voices for George McManus's Bringing Up Father with Jiggs and Maggie, Blondie, Prince Valiant, and The Little King, opening with a bicycle riddle. |
| "Raymond Scott and his Orchestra with Dorothy Collins Singing 'Sweet and Lovely'" | CBS (WABC) 1944-08-23 11:30 PM EWT |
Sustaining CBS Jazz Presentation |
Raymond Scott (Piano / Leader), Dorothy Collins (Vocalist) | Raymond Scott (Arranger), Warren Sweeney (Announcer) | ["Music", "Jazz", "Big Band", "Swing"] |
Innovator Raymond Scott leads his full modern jazz orchestra in dynamic swing arrangements from CBS New York, featuring 'Sweet and Lovely', Scott's signature descriptive jazz instrumental 'Powerhouse', and vocals by Dorothy Collins. |
| "The Goon Show: Crazy People (Series 1, Episode 13 — Spike Milligan & Peter Sellers)" | BBC Home Service 1951-08-23 9:00 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Public Radio |
Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine | Larry Stephens & Spike Milligan (Writers), Dennis Main Wilson | ["Comedy", "Satire", "Surrealism", "British"] |
The original founding quartet of Goons—Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, and Michael Bentine—present surreal sketch comedy and vocal parody routines in the historic first series of Crazy People on the BBC Home Service. |
| "Haunted: The Late Departure (Roy Russell Ghost Story)" | BBC Radio 4 1980-08-23 10:30 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Drama |
Nigel Anthony (Arthur), Steve Hodson, Elizabeth Bell | Roy Russell (Writer), Vanessa Whitburn (Producer) | ["Horror", "Supernatural", "Mystery", "Drama", "British"] |
A weary late-night commuter waiting for a delayed connection at a desolate railway junction experiences terrifying visions of a tragic train disaster that occurred on the same platform fifty years earlier. |
| "The Swiss Chronometer Watch Auction (Palmolive & Lustre-Creme)" | CBS (KNX) 1948-08-23 9:00 PM EDT |
Colgate-Palmolive Palmolive Soap & Lustre-Creme |
Eve Arden (Connie Brooks), Jeff Chandler, Gale Gordon, Richard Crenna | Al Lewis (Creator & Director), Verne Smith (Announcer) | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "School"] |
Madison High English teacher Connie Brooks tries to impress biology teacher Philip Boynton by bidding on a fancy Swiss chronometer wristwatch at an estate auction, only to get into a bidding war against principal Osgood Conklin. |