The Adventures of Topper

The Adventures of Topper is a radio situation comedy in the United States. It was broadcast on NBC June 7, 1945 - September 13, 1945,[1] as a summer replacement for Dinah Shore's program.[2]

The Adventures of Topper
Roland Young as Cosmo Topper (from the film Topper Returns)
Country of originUnited States
Language(s)English
TV adaptationsTopper
StarringRoland Young
AnnouncerRichard Kollmar
Original releaseJune 7, 1945 – September 13, 1945
Sponsored byPost Toasties cereal
Maxwell House coffee

Format

The 30-minute program was based on characters created by novelist Thorne Smith. Cosmo Topper, a businessman, bought the house that had been inhabited by George and Marian Kerby before they died. He had no idea that the Kerbys' ghosts haunted the house. Confusion arose because only Topper could see the ghosts, leading his wife to wonder why he spoke to people who apparently were not there.[3]

David C. Tucker, in his book, The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms, cited the program's ghost-based premise as one reason for its lack of success: "As noted by Variety's reviewer, however, a comedy centered on the antics of appearing and disappearing ghosts 'reads good on paper and was even enhanced in the film treatment,' but played less well on radio, resulting in a show he found 'singularly unfunny.'"[4]

The program was sponsored by Post Toasties cereal and Maxwell House coffee.[5]

Personnel

Characters in the program and the actors who played them are shown in the table below.

CharacterActor
Cosmo TopperRoland Young
Malvena Topper
or Henrietta Topper[1]		Hope Emerson
George KerbyPaul Mann
Tony Barrett[1]
Marian Kerby
or Marion Kerby[1]		Frances Chaney
HeliatropeBob Corley
Mr. BorrisEd Latimer

Source: Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows,[3] except as noted.

The announcer was Richard Kollmar.[3]

gollark: No, C bad.
gollark: Well, C bad and C likely partly responsible for huge losses due to security vulnerabilities in everything.
gollark: SLICE
gollark: But git will allow advanced "fork" technology.
gollark: See, as of now, you cannot contribute code except by sending me patches to review.

See also

References
  1. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 15-16. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-10-29. The Adventures of Topper, situation comedy.
  2. House, Helen (April 30, 1945). "Sponsors Prepare for Summer Season" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 15. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  3. Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4. P. 17.
  4. Tucker, David C. (2015). The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms. McFarland. p. 94. ISBN 9780786487325. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  5. Terrace, Vincent (1981), Radio's Golden Years: The Encyclopedia of Radio Programs 1930-1960. A.S. Barnes & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-498-02393-1. P. 10.

Streaming
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.