On This Day, August 24: Jack Paar and Duffy's Tavern
Also featured: Aviation Pioneer de Seversky.
August 24 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, serial multi-part narrative arcs, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 24 across American network, golden age aviation biography, summer variety satire, tavern comedy, telepathic mentalism, and juvenile detective radio history (1940–1950):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Major Alexander de Seversky's Pursuit Plane Triumph (Col. Roscoe Turner — Wonder Bread)" | CBS (WABC) 1940-08-24 8:00 PM EDST |
Continental Baking Wonder Bread & Hostess |
Col. Roscoe Turner, Santos Ortega, Karl Swenson | Phillips H. Lord, William Sweets, Frank Gallop | ["Adventure", "Aviation", "Biographical", "Historical", "Military"] |
Aviation hero Col. Roscoe Turner dramatizes the true story of Russian immigrant pilot Major Alexander de Seversky, detailing his arrival in America after World War I and his brilliant breakthrough designs in high-altitude pursuit planes for Wonder Bread. |
| "Cinderfella Parody & Blue Moon (Jack Paar & Hans Conried — Lucky Strike)" | NBC (WNBC) 1947-08-24 7:00 PM EDT |
American Tobacco Co. Lucky Strike — "L.S./M.F.T." |
Jack Paar (Host), Hans Conried, Florence Halop | Larry Marks & Mac Benoff, Hy Averback | ["Comedy", "Variety", "Parody", "Satire", "Music"] |
Jack Paar summer-substitutes for Jack Benny with rapid-fire conversational wit, staging a riotous fairytale parody sketch called 'Cinderfella' with Hans Conried and singing 'Blue Moon' with the Page Cavanaugh Trio for Lucky Strike. |
| "Archie's High-Society Debutante Scheme (Ed Gardner as Archie — Vitalis)" | NBC (WNBC) 1950-08-24 9:30 PM EDT |
Bristol-Myers Co. Trushay & Vitalis |
Ed Gardner (Archie), Charlie Cantor (Finnegan) | Larry Gelbart & Dick Martin, Rod O'Connor | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Vaudeville", "Slapstick", "Americana"] |
"Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat, Archie the manager speakin', Duffy ain't here..." Archie schemes to pass Finnegan off as an eccentric Park Avenue millionaire bachelor to woo a visiting high-society debutante for Vitalis Hair Cream. |
| "Master Mentalist Mind-Reading Feats (Joseph Dunninger — Kem-Tone)" | Blue/ABC (WJZ) 1945-08-24 8:30 PM EWT |
Sherwin-Williams Kem-Tone Miracle Wall Finish |
Joseph Dunninger (Master Mentalist), Bill Slater | Frances R. King, Earl McGill, Glenn Riggs | ["Mystery", "Magic", "Talk", "Entertainment", "Game Show"] |
Master mentalist Joseph Dunninger performs astonishing telepathic mind-reading feats before a panel of prominent guest judges and studio audience members, offering his standing ten-thousand-dollar challenge for Kem-Tone Paint. |
| "The Mayor's Final Decision (Bill Lipton as Chick Carter — Mutual)" | Mutual (WOR) 1943-08-24 5:30 PM EWT |
Sustaining Juvenile Detective Serial |
Bill Lipton (Chick), Leon Janney (Tex) | Street & Smith, Fritz Blocki, Ken Powell | ["Detective", "Adventure", "Juvenile", "Action", "Mystery"] |
Chick Carter and Tex Tucker race against the clock to deliver critical ballistic evidence to City Hall before the corrupt syndicate coerces the Mayor into signing a rigged municipal defense franchise. |
| "The Subterranean Waterfront Smugglers (Bill Lipton as Chick Carter — Mutual)" | Mutual (WOR) 1944-08-24 5:30 PM EWT |
Sustaining Juvenile Detective Serial |
Bill Lipton (Chick), Joanne Myers (Sue) | Street & Smith, Fritz Blocki, Ken Powell | ["Detective", "Adventure", "Juvenile", "Action", "Mystery"] |
Chick Carter and Sue Farraday discover a secret subterranean tunnel beneath the old harbor docks used by a ring of waterfront saboteurs smuggling black-market wartime goods. |