On This Day, August 26: Jackie Robinson and Fibber McGee
Also featured: Twenty Questions.
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 and syndicated radio, baseball trailblazer Jackie Robinson discussing his MVP season with Bill Stern for Colgate, Jim and Marian Jordan in two historic milestones of Fibber McGee and Molly (winning 79 Wistful Vista in 1935 and the bedroom mirror in 1954), Skitch Henderson on Twenty Questions for Ronson Lighters, Art Carney as Red Lantern on The Land of the Lost, and Robert Dryden in The Giant Footsteps (1935–1954):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Guest Jackie Robinson: 1949 MVP Season & Dodgers (Bill Stern — Colgate)" | NBC (WNBC) 1949-08-26 10:30 PM EDT |
Colgate-Palmolive Colgate Shave Cream & Soap |
Bill Stern (Host), Jackie Robinson (Dodgers) | Ted Collins, Carl Frank | ["Sports", "Baseball", "Interview", "Docudrama", "Americana"] |
"Colgate Shaving Cream presents Bill Stern's Sports Newsreel!" Hall of Fame Brooklyn Dodgers trailblazer Jackie Robinson joins Bill Stern live to discuss his historic 1949 National League MVP season, his league-leading .342 batting average, and his dramatic base-stealing exploits for Colgate. |
| "The Phantom Footprints on the Moors (Robert Dryden — The Giant Footsteps)" | Syndicated 1936-08-26 (15-Min Mystery) |
Local Mystery Sponsors Supernatural Anthology |
Robert Dryden (Narrator), Ted Osborne | Jerry Devine, Jean Paul King | ["Mystery", "Horror", "Macabre", "Supernatural", "Short Form"] |
"The Giant Footsteps! A chilling descent into the unknown!" A terrified rural English village is haunted by gigantic, burning footprint depressions appearing overnight across the foggy moors, culminating in a spine-tingling investigation of a mad scientist's hidden geothermal laboratory. |
| "The Tale of the Magic Flying Carpet (Art Carney as Red Lantern — Land of the Lost)" | Blue (WJZ) 1944-08-26 11:30 AM EWT |
Sustaining Children's Fantasy Series |
Isabel Manning Hewson, Art Carney | Isabel Manning Hewson, Jimmy Blaine | ["Fantasy", "Children's", "Adventure", "Fairy Tale", "Short Form"] |
"The Blue Network presents The Land of the Lost, created by Isabel Manning Hewson!" Isabel and Billy dive beneath the ocean waves with Red Lantern the glow-fish to the Kingdom of Lost Things, where they restore a magic Persian flying carpet that was lost centuries ago by an Arabian merchant. |
| "Guest Skitch Henderson & Toscanini's Baton (Bill Slater — Ronson Twenty Questions)" | Mutual (WOR) 1950-08-26 8:00 PM EDT |
Ronson Art Metal Ronson Lighters & Ronsonol |
Bill Slater, Skitch Henderson, Florence Rinard | Gary Stevens, Frank Waldecker | ["Game Show", "Panel", "Trivia", "Comedy", "Americana"] |
"Ronson, world's greatest lighter, presents Twenty Questions!" Renowned pianist and conductor Skitch Henderson joins the resident panel of brain-trusters to deduce mystery subjects—animal, vegetable, or mineral—including 'The Baton of Arturo Toscanini' within twenty questions for Ronson. |
| "The McGees Win 79 Wistful Vista (Jim & Marian Jordan — Johnson's Wax)" | NBC Red (WMAQ) 1935-08-26 8:00 PM EDST |
S.C. Johnson & Son Johnson's Wax & Glo-Coat |
Jim Jordan (Fibber), Marian Jordan (Molly) | Don Quinn, Cecil Underwood, Wilcox | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Domestic", "Family", "Americana"] |
"Johnson's Wax presents Fibber McGee and Molly, from the studios of WMAQ Chicago!" In this legendary formative broadcast, Fibber and Molly discover they have won the grand prize in a real estate contest: the iconic suburban house at 79 Wistful Vista for Johnson's Wax. |
| "Molly's New Bedroom Mirror (Jim & Marian Jordan — Pet Milk Fibber McGee)" | NBC (WNBC/KFI) 1954-08-26 10:00 PM EDT |
Pet Milk Co. Pet Evaporated Milk |
Jim Jordan (Fibber), Marian Jordan (Molly) | Phil Leslie, Ralph Goodman, Wilcox | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Domestic", "Family", "Americana"] |
"Pet Milk presents Fibber McGee and Molly!" Fibber undertakes a disastrous home improvement project to hang Molly's new full-length bedroom mirror, managing to hammer through the hall lath and plaster into the infamous hall closet for Pet Milk. |