On This Day, August 24: Joel McCrea and Billie Burke
Also featured: Bulldog Drummond.
August 24 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 24 across American network, British BBC Radio 4, and daytime drama broadcasting history (1942–1969):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Thousand Dollar Bill (Starring Billie Burke — Listerine)" | CBS (WABC) 1946-08-24 11:30 AM EDT |
Lambert Pharmacal Listerine Antiseptic |
Billie Burke, Earle Ross, Lillian Randolph | Ruth Brooks Flippen, Axel Gruenberg, Marvin Miller | ["Comedy", "Domestic", "Sitcom", "Humor", "Vocal"] |
Fluffy-headed socialite Billie Burke inadvertently discovers a thousand-dollar banknote tucked inside an antique cookbook, embarking on a comically bewildering spree to return the money to its eccentric rightful owner while dodging opportunistic neighbor relatives. |
| "Three Victims (Starring Joel McCrea as Ranger Jace Pearson — Wheaties)" | NBC (WNBC) 1952-08-24 6:30 PM EDT |
General Mills Wheaties - "Breakfast of Champions" |
Joel McCrea (Ranger Jace Pearson), Herb Vigran | Stacy Keach Sr. (Director), Joel Murcott, Hal Gibney | ["Western", "Police", "Procedural", "Action", "True Crime"] |
Texas Ranger Jace Pearson investigates a deadly hit-and-run crash on a lonely highway near San Angelo that claimed three victims, utilizing tire impressions, paint chip forensics, and cattle-guard dent analysis to track down a reckless rancher's son. |
| "The Case of the Ghost Town Ambush (Starring Jim Ameche as The Silver Eagle)" | ABC (WJZ) 1954-08-24 7:30 PM EDT |
General Mills Cheerios & Wheaties |
Jim Ameche (Jim West), Jack Lester (Joe Bideaux) | James E. Jewell (Creator/Director), Ed Prentiss | ["Western", "Adventure", "Canadian", "Action", "Juvenile"] |
Canadian Mountie Jim West—the Silver Eagle—and French-Canadian guide Joe Bideaux brave a blizzard in the Canadian Rockies to infiltrate an abandoned mining camp, breaking up an armed counterfeit fur-trading operation. |
| "The Big Business Lark: Dining Out (Stephen Murray & Jon Pertwee)" | BBC Radio 4 1969-08-24 2:00 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Radio 4 Comedy |
Stephen Murray, Jon Pertwee, Leslie Phillips | Lawrie Wyman (Writer), Alastair Scott Johnston | ["Comedy", "Satire", "British", "Corporate", "Sitcom"] |
In this business-world spin-off of The Navy Lark, the directors of British United Plastics attempt to host an extravagant expense-account dinner to impress an aristocratic investor, unravelling into hilarious gastronomic pandemonium when the wrong table is booked. |
| "The Bull-Pen Mystery (Starring Ned Wever as Bulldog Drummond)" | Mutual (WOR) 1942-08-24 8:00 PM EWT |
Sustaining Action Adventure |
Ned Wever (Bulldog Drummond), Luis Van Rooten | H.C. McNeile, Himan Brown, Dan Seymour | ["Detective", "Adventure", "Hardboiled", "Action", "British"] |
British adventurer Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond and loyal valet Denny investigate the midnight stabbing murder of a championship prize bull breeder inside a locked stockyard barn, uncovering a ring of international livestock saboteurs. |
| "Claudia and the Play's Director (Starring Claire Niesen as Mary Noble — Dr. Lyon's)" | NBC (WNBC) 1950-08-24 4:00 PM EDT |
Sterling Drug Inc. Dr. Lyon's Tooth Powder |
Claire Niesen (Mary Noble), James Meighan | Frank & Anne Hummert, Richard Leonard, Harry Clark | ["Soap Opera", "Drama", "Theater", "Romance", "Domestic"] |
In Manhattan's theater district, Mary Noble strives to keep peace during Broadway rehearsals as tempestuous leading lady Claudia clashes furiously with the director, threatening to derail Larry Noble's new theatrical production. |