On This Day, August 30: Glenn Miller and The Goon Show
Also featured: The Witch's Tale.
August 30 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 30 across American network radio, British BBC broadcasting, and Australian syndication, Glenn Miller's swing orchestra broadcasting Sunset Serenade live from the Hotel Pennsylvania (1941), Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers in The Terrible Blimp Mystery on The Goon Show (1951), Alonzo Deen Cole's classic macabre thriller The Witness on The Witch's Tale (1932), Metropolitan Opera tenor Richard Crooks on Music We Love (1943), Morton Downey on The Coke Club (1946), and BBC supernatural drama Haunted (1932–1980):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Sunset Serenade with Here We Go Again" | NBC Blue (WJZ) 1941-08-30 5:00 PM EDST |
Sustaining Big Band / Military |
Glenn Miller & Orch, Modernaires | Glenn Miller (Director) | ["Big Band", "Swing", "Jazz", "Orchestral", "Music"] |
Glenn Miller and his orchestra perform swing favorites including Here We Go Again live from the Cafe Rouge of the Hotel Pennsylvania. |
| "The Terrible Blimp Mystery (Series 1, Episode 14)" | BBC Home Service 1951-08-30 9:45 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Comedy |
Spike Milligan, Sellers, Secombe | Milligan & Larry Stephens | ["Comedy", "Satire", "British", "Absurdist", "BBC"] |
Neddie Seagoon and Major Bloodnok investigate a mysterious rogue airship floating erratically across the English Channel. |
| "Esmeralda" | BBC Radio 4 1980-08-30 |
Sustaining Supernatural Drama |
Nigel Stock, Cast | Guy Vaesen (Writer) | ["Horror", "Supernatural", "British", "Ghost Story", "Drama"] |
A retired scholar residing in a remote coastal cottage becomes obsessed with the spectral apparition of a drowned Victorian doll. |
| "Host Richard Crooks with The Voice of Firestone Orchestra" | NBC (WEAF) 1943-08-30 8:30 PM EWT |
Firestone Tire Tires / Rubber |
Richard Crooks (Tenor) | Howard Barlow (Conductor) | ["Classical", "Opera", "Vocal", "Orchestral", "Music"] |
Metropolitan Opera tenor Richard Crooks sings classical art songs and popular operatic arias backed by the Firestone Symphony. |
| "Morton Downey with The Girl That I Marry" | Mutual (WOR) 1946-08-30 12:15 PM EDT |
The Coca-Cola Co. Coca-Cola Refreshment |
Morton Downey, Ray | Jimmy Lytell & Orchestra | ["Music", "Vocal", "Pop Standards", "Irish", "Variety"] |
Tenor Morton Downey performs Irving Berlin's The Girl That I Marry and shares warm musical banter between Coca-Cola announcements. |
| "The Witness" | 2UW Sydney (AU) 1932-08-30 |
Sustaining Horror Anthology |
Old Nancy, Satan the Cat | Alonzo Deen Cole (Author) | ["Horror", "Macabre", "Supernatural", "Anthology", "Alonzo Deen Cole"] |
A greedy heir murders his wealthy benefactor only to be relentlessly haunted by the phantom screams of a pet cockatoo. |