On This Day, August 31: Death Valley Sheriff and Stars Over Hollywood
Also featured: Benny Goodman.
August 31 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 31 across Western frontier lawmen procedurals, Hollywood celebrity daylight dramas, swing music school sessions, and original daytime medical auditions, Robert Haag as Sheriff Mark Chase across three Death Valley Sheriff broadcasts (1944, 1945, 1951), Ruth Hussey in Stars Over Hollywood (1946), Benny Goodman on Swing School for Camel Cigarettes (1937), and Ann Shepherd auditioning Hello, Joyce (1937–1951):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Model Wife with Ruth Hussey" | CBS (WABC) 1946-08-31 12:30 PM EDT |
Bowey's Inc. Dari-Rich Chocolate |
Ruth Hussey, Miller | Paul Pierce (Writer) | ["Drama", "Comedy", "Stars Over Hollywood", "Ruth Hussey", "Dari-Rich"] |
A sophisticated fashion model attempts to conceal her high-profile commercial advertising career from her conservative in-laws. |
| "The Desert Claim Jumpers with Robert Haag and Donald Briggs" | CBS (WABC) 1944-08-31 8:30 PM EWT |
Pacific Coast Borax 20 Mule Team Borax |
Robert Haag, Briggs | Ruth C. Woodman (Writer) | ["Western", "Police Procedural", "Sheriff Mark Chase", "Death Valley Sheriff", "Borax"] |
Sheriff Mark Chase tracks armed claim jumpers who dynamited a newly registered tungsten mine shaft to fake an accidental cave-in. |
| "The Poisoned Waterhole with Robert Haag" | CBS (WABC) 1945-08-31 8:30 PM EWT |
Pacific Coast Borax Boraxo / 20 Mule Team |
Robert Haag, Ensemble | Ruth C. Woodman (Writer) | ["Western", "Police Procedural", "Sheriff Mark Chase", "Death Valley Sheriff", "Borax"] |
Sheriff Mark Chase investigates a deliberate arsenic contamination of a desert spring intended to bankrupt a neighboring cattle rancher. |
| "Long Time to Kill with Robert Haag" | CBS (WCBS) 1951-08-31 9:00 PM EDT |
Pacific Coast Borax 20 Mule Team Borax |
Robert Haag, Ensemble | Ruth C. Woodman (Writer) | ["Western", "Police Procedural", "Sheriff Mark Chase", "Death Valley Sheriff", "Borax"] |
A paroled convict returns to the desert seeking vengeance against the witnesses whose testimony sent him to prison twenty years earlier. |
| "The Camel Hop with Benny Goodman and His Orchestra" | CBS (WABC) 1937-08-31 9:30 PM EDST |
R.J. Reynolds Camel Cigarettes |
Benny Goodman, Krupa | Harry James (Trumpet) | ["Music", "Big Band", "Swing", "Benny Goodman", "Camel"] |
Benny Goodman leads fast-paced clarinet solos and big band swing arrangements of The Camel Hop and Loch Lomond. |
| "Hello Joyce with Ann Shepherd and John Sylvester (Series Audition)" | ABC Network 1951-08-31 |
Sustaining Daytime Medical Audition |
Ann Shepherd, Sylvester | ABC Audition Unit | ["Soap Opera", "Medical", "Audition", "Joyce Jordan", "ABC"] |
Dr. Joyce Jordan weighs accepting a high-stakes chief surgeon position at an urban charity clinic in this original network series audition. |