BW - EP81-006: Fred Allen, The Most Underrated Comedian In Radio History-Fighting With Executives

This episode was originally released 07/2018.
On Wednesday October 2, 1940 at 9PM, Fred Allen was back on the air as host and emcee of The Texaco Star Theatre, sponsored by the Texas Company. The cast would be renamed, but remain. The Mighty Allen Art Players became the Texaco Workshop Players.
The biggest change was the show’s network. For the first time since 1933, Allen moved to CBS-a network known for pushing the medium of radio in new directions.
Another major change was the runtime. For years Allen had been fretting over writing enough material for a weekly hour-long program. In October of 1942, The Texaco Star Theatre became a half-hour program, airing Sundays at 9:30PM.
Instead of four comedy spots, they did two. The relaxed dialogue became much more brisk. The guest star spot had to be crammed into a ten-minute period.
When World War II began the complexion of the news items covered by Allen changed greatly. As the war progressed, the American government instituted rations on food, rubber, gasoline, and other items. The comedy dialogue had to be written carefully. Allen was threading the needle between comedy and national morale. He did so with great success.
New York’s Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia once complimented Allen, exclaiming that during a water shortage The Texaco Star Theatre had been able to reach more people in an hour, making them conscious of the city’s plight, than the city had been able to do through its normal channels in several days.
The December 6, 1942 Texaco program gave birth to the most successful comedy device in the 18-year total run of the program. That night, what would come to be known as Allen’s Alley first appeared.
Allen used to read the newspaper column of O.O. McIntyre, called “Thoughts While Strolling.” In this column, McIntyre would describe the sights and sounds he’d met walking through the shabby streets of New York’s Chinatown and The Bowery. Allen felt that this kind of routine could come off very well on radio.
A loud-mouth politician had possibilities. Actor Jack Smart voiced Senator Bloat.
John Doe was another early character. Portrayed by John Brown, Doe was an average man squeezed by life from all angles.
Alan Reed voiced Falstaff Openshaw, the poet.
There was a Greek restaurant owner, an old maid, and a Russian.
The segment was always launched by a quick exchange that began with Hoffa asking Allen what he would ask the Alley occupants that week. They'd then take a stroll down the alley, knocking on various doors.
Eventually many of these characters gave way to the most popular incarnation of the Alley with New Englander Titus Moody, voiced by Parker Fennelly, The metropolitan jewish Mrs. Nussbaum, voiced by Minerva Pious, the irish Ajax Cassidy, voiced by Peter Donald, and Southern Senator Claghorn, voiced by Kenny Delmare.
The entire alley was allotted five minutes with laughter. Each character had 1 minute 15 seconds for their lines. This was an issue because the program often ran over their allotted time slot, getting cut off the air.
It seemed that as Fred's comedic feud with Jack Benny simmered, his real-life one with network and sponsor executives continued to boil. It wasn't in Fred Allen's nature to listen to those he didn't respect, or those executives who made sweeping decisions to his program without understanding the program.
The New York Herald-Tribune critic John Crosby later wrote that part of what made Fred's battles with censorship so difficult was that "the man assigned to reviewing his scripts had little sense of humor and frankly admitted he didn't understand Allen's peculiar brand of humor at all."
As the host and writer, there was no one who understood the Fred Allen Show like Fred Allen. The fight, however, was getting to him. In 1944 he had to quit the Texaco Star Theatre as a battle with high blood pressure forced him off the air.
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