12-07-41 broadcast

[Maxwell Stroud]

I was listening to the 12-07-41 episode the other day and thought it was interesting that even though NBC added mentions about the attack and the promise to break in with news as it comes in the audience and cast seem oblivious to what was going on in Hawaii. Don chuckles lightheartedly, no one seems in any way downcast or otherwise affected by the news of the attack.
I've got a number of radio programs broadcast that day and The Jello Program is one of the few that didn't make a specific on air mention, other than the NBC break-ins.
Did they make a conscious decision not to mention it and if so how could they keep their attitudes so light?

[mackdaddyg]

Did they make a conscious decision not to mention it and if so how could they keep their attitudes so light?

That's always been my assumption. The whole country was (I'm assuming) pretty shaken up, so any sense of normalcy was probably a welcome relief.

Then again, maybe they were a bit shaken as well and still a little in shock. Either way, I could see a "show must go on" attitude prevailing here.

[helloagain]

Yes, I agree. They were pros and this was a comedy show. How could they have done it any other way? Of course, the program was interrupted a couple of times with news bulletins.

[grittys457]

The ads and some of the news break ins over the years are such bonuses to the episodes.

[Maxwell Stroud]

The ads and some of the news break ins over the years are such bonuses to the episodes.

There's a Fibber McGee & Molly episode where they're visiting the sponsor in Racine WI which ends with the news that Joe McCarthy has just been elected. I love little bits like that.
I also love the regular story lines reflecting the times. George and Gracie were constantly doing plot lines about rationing, Riley worked at a war production plant, Leroy in Gildersleeve wanted to run off and join the service and Mayor Of The Town had stories about soldiers and sailors dying in the war to name a few examples.
With the Benny 12-7 episode I just wondered if the show was broadcast early enough in the day (4:00 Pacific for the east coast broadcast) that there might not have been much news at the time everyone was in the studio. Five weeks later they effectively cancelled the show after Carol Lombard died, it seems if they'd been more aware of what was happening in Honolulu they'd have done something similar. Just the way Don chuckles like he hasn't a care in the world and the way the audience sounds like they're really laughing (not just nervously waiting to hear more war news) made me wonder what they knew and when they knew it.

[helloagain]

And communication was not like it is today. There was really no TV to speak of. People read newspapers and listened to the radio. I don't think most people realized the how serious the attack was until FDR's famous address to the nation the following day.

[Gerry O.]

And communication was not like it is today. There was really no TV to speak of. People read newspapers and listened to the radio. I don't think most people realized the how serious the attack was until FDR's famous address to the nation the following day.

Good point.....I don't think that people really understood what was going on and the magnitude of the attack on the day that it had happened. It isn't like today, when everyone was fully aware of what had happened on 9/11 because many people actually SAW it happen on TV.

[Yhtapmys]

With the Benny 12-7 episode I just wondered if the show was broadcast early enough in the day (4:00 Pacific for the east coast broadcast) that there might not have been much news at the time everyone was in the studio.

As radio had been broadcasting all day about it, I'm sure people were aware of what happened. Don't forget newspapers had been full of front page "Tokio aggression" stories before Pearl Harbor.

The Lombard show isn't a real comparison. Benny bailed on the show because it was a personal tragedy for him, but the show went on.

Realistically, it wasn't until JFK's assassination that radio and TV stations dropped everything they were doing to focus on one single event. Now that all-news formats exist, it's not uncommon to do it (especially because it's very easy to programme).

Yhtapmys

[Maxwell Stroud]

This past month I've been listening to a complete broadcast day from June 6th 1944 and it's been very interesting. It's the Columbia News Service so there are pieces filed by Murrow but they're read by the guy in the studio in NYC.
It's more like a modern CNN broadcast ie Lady Di's death or 9/11 than anything else I've heard out of OTR. They're trying to fill the time as best they can, repeating things over and over until new news comes in. At first the only news comes from German overseas broadcast aimed at England and US shortwave recievers. They're not sure if the invasion is really on or if it's just a "typical German lie" but after a while they get corroboration in the form of British broadcasts to Dutch and French underground groups, followed by cables from Murrow, #10 and SHAEF staff.

[altfactor]

Radio news on the network level as we now know it was still in its infancy in December of 1941.

Had the news departments of the radio networks on December 7th, 1941 been staffed as they were on June 6th, 1944, it's my guess that everything would have been pre-empted for about 24 hours to present wall-to-wall coverage of the aftermath of Pearl Harbor.

Which meant Jack Benny (and the other Sunday-night shows on network radio) would not have aired.

Additionally, most radio programs back then had a single sponsor, and it was difficult to pre-empt sponsored programming for breaking news.

As a result of Pearl Harbor, network contracts with sponsors were altered to permit pre-emption for major breaking news. That's why on D-Day in June of 1944, regular network programming was pretty much "wiped out" for 24 or so hours.