Mitchell Hadley's "It's About TV"

Here is an enjoyable and interesting post--by Mitchell Hadley, on his "It's About TV" blog" (www.itsabouttv.com)--about the use of guest hosts, years ago, on late-night talk shows, such as Johnny Carson's Tonight Show:

http://www.itsabouttv.com/2014/11/be-my-guest-host.html

Photograph of a Television Screen, Your Hit Parade, NBC, 1952

On the Hit Parade television show, the program's featured vocalists routinely sang to other performers, who, while acting with the singers in the program's song dramatizations, remained silent.  

Singers from the show's choral group, the "Hit Paraders," were often sung to, as were Hit Parade dancers; outside actors were also hired for this purpose. 

The picture, here, is of my mother, Sue Bennett, singing the song "Anytime,"  on the March 29, 1952 telecast of the program. (It was the number two song on the Hit Parade, that week;  the first-place song was "Wheel of Fortune.")  She is singing to Bob Herget, one of the Hit Parade dancers.  

The picture is from a group of photos I found in 2012, in my father's apartment.  The pictures are of a television screen/television set, and they show parts of a couple of Hit Parade telecasts, as the programs were in progress.  I do not know who took them.

Bob Herget later became a prominent choreographer, for both television, and Broadway. (He was later, indeed, a choreographer for Your Hit Parade.)

Mr. Herget died in 1981.  Here is his obituary from The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/10/obituaries/bob-herget-56-choreographer-director-of-stage-and-tv-shows.html

Here, as well, is an entry about his career on the Internet Broadway Database (ibdb.com):

http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=112289

Photograph, Your Hit Parade, 1951, Russell Arms and Sue Bennett

This is a rehearsal photograph from the September 22, 1951 telecast of Your Hit Parade, on NBC (the photograph appears in my book).  The song being performed was "Shanghai," the number five song on the Hit Parade survey that week.  The fictional scene was a nightclub, and the number featured singers Russell Arms, and my mother, Sue Bennett.

(Photo used by permission of Lost Gold Entertainment, Inc.)

Radio Shows

In a previous post, I noted that I am no longer a host at the Internet radio station "Radio Once More." Last Sunday night, the station dropped my Thursday night program from its schedule.

The ending of my show was not the station's only change, last weekend. The previous day, my friend and colleague Kathleen Meola--the Monday night co-host on "Radio Once More"--had chosen to leave the station.

Kathleen was one of the radio station's most enjoyable, and one of its most popular, personalities. I wish her all the best.

Gracepoint

Have been enjoying watching the mystery/crime program Gracepoint, on Fox television.  The show, a ten-episode series, stars David Tennant and Anna Gunn.

http://www.fox.com/gracepoint/

Radio Show

I've been the host of a weekly talk show on "Radio Once More," the Old-Time Radio and nostalgia-oriented Internet station, since the spring of 2011.

The radio station and I have now parted ways.  I enjoyed, immensely, being a part of the station, and I wish "Radio Once More," and its listening audience, the very best.

Morgan White, Jr., and Mel Simons

I've written previously, in this space, about my friends Morgan White Jr., and Mel Simons.  Both are trivia experts, authors, and entertainers; both have appeared for years--Morgan as a host, Mel as a guest--on Boston's WBZ Radio.

www.morganwhitejr.com

www.melsimons.net

Since November of 2013, Morgan has been the host of The Morgan Show, heard Saturdays on WBZ, from 10 p.m. to midnight (Eastern time).  This week, Mel will be his guest.  The program will feature Mel's "Audio Clip Trivia Quiz," in which listeners are asked to identify well-known voices (as heard, for example, on records, or radio and television programs).  Mel will also be discussing his just-released book, The Comedians Trivia Book.  It is the 11th title he has written for BearManor Media.

To listen to The Morgan Show, please visit this link:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/station/wbz-news-radio/