On This Day, August 28: Abbott and Costello
Also featured: Lum and Abner, Inspector West.
August 28 Update
This report documents the historical provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and pure narrative synopses for broadcasts transmitting on August 28 across American network radio, BBC Radio 4, and syndication, Bob Trout & William L. Shirer reporting on the Axis partitioning of Romania, Bud Abbott & Lou Costello's Western movie burlesque for Ipana Toothpaste, poetry and chamber music on Music and the Muse, Scotland Yard's Roger West on BBC Radio 4, Hallmark's Radio Reader's Digest, and Lum & Abner buying a trailer office for Horlick's Malted Milk (1935–1971):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Axis Foreign Ministers Meet" | CBS (WABC) 1940-08-28 8:00 AM EDST |
Sustaining International News |
Bob Trout, W.L. Shirer | Eric Sevareid | ["News", "Broadcast Journalism", "Historical", "Diplomacy", "World War II"] |
CBS correspondents report on diplomatic negotiations in Vienna between German and Italian foreign ministers partitioning Romanian territory. |
| "Tribute to Westerns" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1940-08-28 9:00 PM EDST |
Bristol-Myers Ipana / Sal Hepatica |
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello | Pied Pipers, Will Osborne | ["Variety", "Comedy", "Vaudeville", "Parody", "Western"] |
Bud Abbott casts Lou Costello as an incompetent frontier sheriff in a slapstick burlesque spoofing Hollywood Western movies. |
| "Romantic Poets and Melodies" | Syndicated Elec 1949-08-28 |
Commercial Regional Sponsors |
Classical Narrator | Chamber Ensemble | ["Music", "Classical", "Poetry", "Literature", "Anthology"] |
A classical narrator recites romantic English poetry accompanied by live chamber ensemble performances of Chopin and Schumann. |
| "Makes Haste — Old Coppers Never Die" | BBC Radio 4 1971-08-28 |
Sustaining BBC Police Drama |
Patrick Barr, G. Matthews | John Richmond & J. Creasey | ["Police Procedural", "Detective", "Mystery", "British", "Action"] |
Scotland Yard's Inspector Roger West races to protect a retired police detective targeted for assassination by an escaped convict. |
| "Dear Mother, I'm In Jail" | CBS (WABC) 1947-08-28 10:00 PM EDT |
Hallmark Cards "When You Care Enough" |
Richard Kollmar (Host) | Dramatic Repertory | ["Docudrama", "Human Interest", "Anthology", "Comedy", "Americana"] |
A dramatic human-interest story about an eccentric traveling salesman arrested on bogus vagrancy charges who turns his jail cell into a bustling community center. |
| "A Trailer for an Office" | NBC Blue (WJZ) 1935-08-28 7:30 PM EDST |
Horlick's Malted Milk Malted Milk Tablets |
Chester Lauck, Norris Goff | Pine Ridge Writers | ["Sitcom", "Comedy", "Rural", "Americana", "Dialect"] |
Lum and Abner purchase an old secondhand automobile house trailer to serve as their executive headquarters for the Pine Ridge bank. |