Radio-TV mirror (July-Dec 1954)

Many more had met us through the years in the illustrations for stories that have appeared in Radio-TV Mirror. But we still weren't sure about the reaction. The reason for that uncertainty is buried deep in the tradition of radio, where there has always been the fear that a hitherto unseen personality — known only by voice — may not fit the picture a listener has imagined for herself or himself. So, when the listener finally meets that particular performer in person, there is always the risk of disillusionment. To some extent, we had always felt this might be true about the Breakfast Club. I don't think that any of us are exactly freaks, although you might get yourself an argument on that point. But it definitely was a worry. The only way to resolve that worry, we knew, was to go ahead and do TV shows and then wait for the mail. Well, bless the people! Here's an example: Dear Don: I don't know who surprised me the most, but you're so big you dwarf everyone else. And the way you talked about Eddie Ballantine. Shame on you! He's no grandpa. I expected an old, gray-haired, brokendown man, but he's handsome. And Sam really does have a bay window! Johnny looks so young, but what's that streak in his hair? And Eileen is as pretty as she sings! Don, please bring your boys, because I know everyone is dying to see your "little boys," as Aunt Fanny says. I've been a Breakfast Clubber for twenty years. I never wrote to a program before, but you're all tops. God bless you all. Sincerely and piously, God bless you, too, ma'am, and the thousands more like you who have wished us well. But, ma'am, what's that about "little" boys? I am the proud papa of several mooses! Incidentally, Tom had to cut classes at Notre Dame to see our TV show, and I got a letter from him asking me to makeup the work that he missed in order to watch us. But the mail — oh my, yes, the mail! It takes seven people, three from my office and four in the audience-mail department at ABC, to keep up with it. Although I can't possibly read it all myself, I do get to see a good share of it. But, just to indicate what the problem can amount to, the fans sent us 12,232 pieces of mail in the first two weeks our television show was on the air! It made us very happy to find that by far and away the largest part of it was in the form of congratulations. Not all of it was that way. There were criticisms, too. It would have been very strange if we hadn't been criticized, because nothing is ever perfect. Regardless of planning in advance, the actual presentation always manages to go astray in some respects, although on a show like ours there is enough freedom so that the boners can often be turned to good advantage. One of the advantages of the criticism we have received is that much of it consisted of guideposts pointing ways to improve what we were doing. For instance, one viewer complained that the background looked like a coffin. Well, naturally, we changed that, and we have also given more attention to things that can be seen. We went to Florida again in March, and Sam did his usual stunt of falling into a pool. He had done it before in radio days — but, this time, sight was added to the sound of the splash and, of course, the TV audience got a bigger kick out of it. Meanwhile, the whole thing still sounded funny to the radio audience. In many respects, we have found the television show easier to do than just the radio show alone. This statement is probably going to be cause for some amazement on the part of other people in the TV field, but it's nothing but the truth. The explanation is that we can take advantage of some natural features of the program which didn't mean so much in "radio only" days, such as the fact that Sam is naturally a great clown to watch, and that Fran "Aunt Fanny" Allison is a great sight in those getups of hers. Speaking of getups reminds me that not all of the getups are confined to our show by any means. A lot of them must be out there in the audience. Take this message, for instance: Dear Don: You are really causing a pajama parade in our neighborhood. Our town just recently got its first TV station, so there are not too many sets around yet. My next-door neighbor and I push the kids out the front door to school and, in pajamas and housecoats, we rush out the back door, one with the coffee and the other with cookies, dash across the muddy garden to another Breakfast Clubber's to watch your program. I even leave my poor husband to drink his last cup of coffee alone, and if we don't get our own TV set soon I'm afraid he's going to charge you with breaking up our happy home. Perish forbid! I sure hope those nice folks have that set by now! But, as for my own home, I sometimes wonder if this modern scientific miracle and its attached jargon aren't going to be the ruin of us. This is the kind of conversation my boys open up with when I get home: "Hey, Pop, the next time they make a tight shot of you, tell 'em not to hit it so hard with the spot and to take those pans slower." Not only mooses, but technical directors yet! None So Cool ^V'> > Guaranteed by l Good Housekeeping These are the panties that never get clingy, never feel clammy — even on the warmest days. Cool in Summer, comfortable always, because they're naturally absorbent! the KNIT with the FIT where you SIT They g-i-v-e with every motion, really fit your figure — they're made for an active life. 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