On This Day, August 26: Candid Microphone (Allen Funt) and Jack Armstrong
Also featured: I Love a Mystery.
August 26 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, serial multi-part narrative arcs, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 26 across American network, Allen Funt capturing real-life hilarity on Candid Microphone, operatic tenor James Melton on the Texaco Star Theater, Jack Armstrong investigating uranium claims at Blue Acres for Wheaties, Carlton KaDell in Hollywood Mystery Time for Woodbury Soap, Spencer Dean solving The Crime Conductor (Part 2) for Eno Fruit Salt, and Carlton E. Morse's I Love a Mystery: Murder Is the Word for It (Part 14) for Oxydol (1931–1948):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Stuttering Barber & The Diamond Appraiser (Allen Funt — ABC)" | ABC (WJZ) 1948-08-26 9:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Hidden Mic Reality Show |
Allen Funt (Host/Infiltrator), Don Goddard | Allen Funt (Creator/Dir.) | ["Comedy", "Reality", "Hidden Camera", "Satire", "Improv"] |
"Candid Microphone! You're on Candid Microphone with Allen Funt!" Armed with concealed wire recorders, Allen Funt captures unrehearsed human reactions as he pretends to be an utterly incompetent barber attempting to shave a nervous customer, then tries to pawn a five-carat glass ring as a rare gem. |
| "Operetta Melodies with Marion Bell (James Melton — Texaco Star Theater)" | CBS (WABC) 1945-08-26 9:30 PM EWT |
The Texas Company Texaco Fire-Chief Gasoline |
James Melton, Marion Bell, Al Goodman Orchestra | Buchanan & Co., Jimmy Wallington | ["Music", "Operetta", "Vocal", "Classical", "Variety"] |
"The Texaco Star Theater, starring operatic tenor James Melton, brought to you by Texaco Fire-Chief Gasoline!" James Melton and guest soprano Marion Bell perform beloved operetta melodies and romantic ballads including 'The Desert Song' and 'Thine Alone', backed by Al Goodman and his Orchestra for Texaco. |
| "The Mystery of Blue Acres (Part 12 — Michael Rye as Jack Armstrong — Wheaties)" | ABC (WJZ) 1947-08-26 5:30 PM EDT |
General Mills Wheaties ("Breakfast of Champions") |
Michael Rye (Jack), Dick York (Billy) | Robert Hardy Andrews, James Jewell, Franklyn MacCormack | ["Adventure", "Juvenile", "Action", "Mystery", "Americana"] |
"Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy, brought to you by Wheaties!" Jack Armstrong, Billy, Betty, and Uncle Jim Fairfield investigate unexplained midnight phantom riders and glowing signals at the Blue Acres cattle ranch, uncovering a hidden uranium vein for Wheaties. Note: Multi-part serial narrative arc (The Mystery of Blue Acres — Part 12). |
| "The Case of the Painted Poison (Carlton KaDell & Gloria Blondell — Woodbury Soap)" | ABC (WJZ) 1945-08-26 8:30 PM EWT |
Andrew Jergens Co. Woodbury Facial Soap |
Carlton KaDell (Jim Gorham), Gloria Blondell (Lynn) | Kenneth Burton, Frank Worth, Jim Doyle | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Hollywood", "Crime", "Showbiz"] |
"Hollywood Mystery Time, brought to you by Woodbury Facial Soap!" Hollywood producer-director Jim Gorham and his witty secretary Lynn investigate the bizarre murder of a movie starlet who collapses on a film soundstage after applying costume face paint laced with lethal arsenic for Woodbury Soap. |
| "The Crime Conductor (Part 2 of 2 — Edward Reese as Spencer Dean — Eno)" | NBC Blue (WJZ) 1931-08-26 9:30 PM EDST |
J.C. Eno Ltd. Eno Fruit Salt |
Edward Reese (Spencer Dean), John Kane (Dan) | Stewart Sterling, William Sweets, Ray Perkins | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Hardboiled", "Crime", "Classics"] |
"Eno Crime Clues, presented by Eno Effervescent Fruit Salt!" In Part 2 of 'The Crime Conductor', master investigator Spencer Dean and Dan Cassidy trace the mysterious orchestrator of a series of synchronized Manhattan bank robberies to a maestro directing the city's symphony orchestra. Note: Multi-part serial narrative arc (The Crime Conductor — Part 2 of 2). |
| "Murder Is the Word for It (Part 14 — Carlton E. Morse — Oxydol)" | CBS (WABC) 1943-08-26 7:00 PM EWT |
Procter & Gamble Oxydol Granulated Soap |
Michael Raffetto (Jack), Barton Yarborough (Doc) | Carlton E. Morse (Dir.), Frank Martin | ["Adventure", "Mystery", "Hardboiled", "Detective", "Occult"] |
"I Love a Mystery, written and directed by Carlton E. Morse, brought to you by Oxydol!" In Part 14 of 'Murder Is the Word for It', Jack Packard and Doc Long discover the secret underground passage beneath the ominous ancestral mansion, dodging poison-dart traps set by the hooded cultists guarding the hidden vault. Note: Multi-part serial narrative arc (Murder Is the Word for It — Part 14). |