On This Day, August 23: Counterspy and Radio Active
Also featured: 21st Precinct.
August 23 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 23 across American and British network broadcasting history (1943–1985):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "21st Precinct [Preempted for CBS Republican National Convention Coverage]" | CBS (WCBS) 1956-08-23 8:30 PM EDT |
CBS News Special Gavel-to-Gavel Coverage |
Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Everett Sloane | CBS News Bureau, Live from Cow Palace, San Francisco | ["Police Procedural", "Docudrama", "News", "Historical"] |
The scheduled dramatization of 21st Precinct (Captain Frank Kennelly) is preempted by CBS Radio for live wall-to-wall gavel news coverage of the 1956 Republican National Convention from the Cow Palace in San Francisco as President Dwight D. Eisenhower accepts his renomination. |
| "Radio Active: The 24-Hour Charity Radiothon (Series 2, Episode 2 — BBC Radio 4)" | BBC Radio 4 1982-08-23 6:30 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Comedy |
Angus Deayton (Mike Channel), Geoffrey Perkins, Helen Atkinson-Wood | Angus Deayton & Geoffrey Perkins, Jimmy Mulville | ["Comedy", "Satire", "British", "Parody", "Sketch"] |
Local commercial station Radio Active stages an agonizingly inept 24-hour charity radiothon, featuring shameless pledge drives by smooth-talking anchorman Mike Channel, disastrous celebrity phone-ins, and absurd musical appeals. |
| "Radio Active: 'Did You Catch It?' Arts Review Parody (Series 5, Episode 7)" | BBC Radio 4 1985-08-23 6:30 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Comedy |
Angus Deayton, Geoffrey Perkins, Helen Atkinson-Wood, Philip Pope | Angus Deayton & Geoffrey Perkins, Jamie Rix | ["Comedy", "Satire", "British", "Parody", "Sketch"] |
The Radio Active team mercilessly lampoons television arts review programmes and highbrow cultural panels in a pretentious media discussion show titled 'Did You Catch It?', hosted by the pompous Mike Channel. |
| "The Case of the Sabotaged Sea Wall (Mail Pouch Tobacco)" | Blue Network (WJZ) 1943-08-23 9:00 PM EWT |
Mail Pouch Tobacco Mail Pouch & Kentucky Club |
Don MacLaughlin (David Harding), Mandel Kramer (Harry Peters) | Phillips H. Lord (Creator), Bob Shepherd (Announcer) | ["Espionage", "Mystery", "Action", "Thriller", "War"] |
Chief Counterspy David Harding and operative Harry Peters foil an Axis espionage plot to blast an East Coast coastal shipping breakwater and destroy a secret wartime munitions convoy staging area. |
| "The Case of the Bouncing Bank Robber (Starring Don MacLaughlin — Pepsi-Cola)" | NBC (WNBC) 1949-08-23 7:30 PM EDT |
Pepsi-Cola Company Pepsi-Cola ("Twice as much!") |
Don MacLaughlin (David Harding), Mandel Kramer (Harry Peters) | Phillips H. Lord (Producer), Leonard Bass, Don Lowe | ["Espionage", "Mystery", "Action", "Thriller", "Crime"] |
David Harding and Harry Peters track an athletic criminal syndicate utilizing acrobatic specialized entry techniques and stolen government blueprints to tunnel into high-security federal reserve vault banks. |
| "The NBC Story Shop: Audition Pilot Special (Morton Wishengrad)" | NBC (WNBC) 1947-08-23 1:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining NBC Dramatic Workshop |
Mercedes McCambridge, John McIntire, Karl Swenson | Morton Wishengrad (Writer), Edward King, Ed Herlihy | ["Drama", "Anthology", "Literature", "Experimental"] |
In this audition pilot for a proposed NBC dramatic showcase, an ensemble of radio actors dramatize contemporary American short stories, exploring the moral choices facing post-war veterans returning to civilian small-town life. |