In the summer of 1950, a booklet called "Red Channels" shook up the East Coast media structure -- radio and TV networks as well as advertising agencies. "Red Channels" listed the "subversive" activities of over 150 writers, directors and performers, from Orson Welles to Lena Horne. If you were named in the book, you were guilty until proven innocent and you ran the serious risk of being unemployable on radio or TV. The blacklist triggered by "Red Channels" lasted for much of the 1950s, seriously affecting and even ruining the lives of innocent people. In the first of two parts, we look at how the blacklist began and how it was abetted by cowardly TV and radio producers and advertisers.
Sources:
A History of Broadcasting in the United States: 2. The Golden Web, 1933-1953, by Erik Barnouw
The Image Empire: A History of Broadcasting in the United States, Volume III, by Erik Barnouw
"15 Entertainers Who Were Labeled Communist in the Red Channels List," Eliza Berman, time.com, June 22, 2015
"Gypsy, Scott and Wicker in Red Denials," Billboard, September 23, 1950
"Blacklist Still Snarls AM-TV," Variety, September 13, 1950
"Ireene Wicker Hammer Dies, 86; Storyteller to Millions of Children," Nan Robertson, The New York Times, November 18, 1987
Red Scare: Memories of the American Inquisition, by Griffin Fariello
Unfriendly Witnesses: Gender, Theatre and Film in the McCarthy Era, by Milly S. Barranger
With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830, by LeRoy Ashby
Invasion of the Mind Snatchers: Television's Conquest of America in the Fifties, by Eric Burns
In 1934, Orson Welles came to Broadway in a production of "Romeo and Juliet" and within a year he was putting his mellifluous voice to use by doing a lot of radio work, including as part of the stock company, imitating famous newsmakers, on "The March of Time." While producing and directing shows on Broadway, he was also making a name for himself as the title character on "The Shadow" and, later, scaring America to death with "War of the Worlds." Today we consider Welles's work as a rising star on the radio, leading to an offer from Hollywood.
Sources:
Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News, by A. Brad Schwartz
Orson Welles on the Air: Packaging Welles, orsonwelles.indiana.edu
"This Ageless Soul," Russell Maloney, The New Yorker, October 1, 1938
Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles, by David Thomson
The Mercury Theatre on the Air, mercurytheatre.info
When the Directors Guild of America announced its award nominations in 1986, history was made. For the very first time, one TV show was nominated for best direction in a comedy and best direction in a drama -- "Moonlighting." The combination detective series-screwball comedy thrived on romantic tension for three seasons in the mid-1980s -- until the lead characters finally got together and the show's creators weren't quite sure what to do next.
Sources:
"Cybill Shepherd's Comeback: Duelling for Dollars," Bill Davidson, TV Guide, December 7, 1985
"Behind the Turmoil on 'Moonlighting': Cybill Won't Be Tamed," Michael Leahy, TV Guide, May 30, 1987
"The Madcap Behind 'Moonlighting,' " Joy Horowitz, The New York Times Magazine, March 30, 1986
" 'Moonlighting' Makes Light of 15 Emmy Losses: Mom Goes to Her Reward But TV Show Didn't," Los Angeles Times, September 24, 1986
"Glenn Gordon Caron Discusses Working with Cybill Shepherd on 'Moonlighting,' " emmytvlegends.org
"Glenn Gordon Caron Discusses the Tone of 'Moonlighting,' " emmytvlegends.org
One of the most anticipated shows of the 1986-87 season was "Life with Lucy," Lucille Ball's return to weekly TV after 12 years. Ball's plan was to get the band back together by turning to the writers and cast members she'd worked with for decades in a show loaded with slapstick comedy and physical pratfalls. But Ball was 75 and her co-star, Gale Gordon, was 80 -- and, like them, the formula that had worked so well for Ball for years was showing its age.
Sources:
I Loved Lucy: My Friendship with Lucille Ball, by Lee Tannen
"Lucy, Coming to Life," Tom Shales, The Washington Post, September 19, 1986
TV Party! Television's Untold Tales, by Billy Ingram
What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History, by David Hoftstede
