On This Day, August 26: Nick Carter and Beyond Our Ken
Also featured: The First Nighter.
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 and British radio, Lon Clark solving cases on Nick Carter, Master Detective (for Old Dutch Cleanser and Mutual), Kenneth Horne and Kenneth Williams on holiday in BBC's Beyond Our Ken, Don Ameche starring on The First Nighter Program for Campana's Italian Balm, Eddie Mayehoff on That's Our Boy for Anacin, and Larry Haines on Deadline (1931–1958):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Death by Proxy (Larry Haines & Mason Adams — Mutual Deadline)" | Mutual (WOR) 1953-08-26 8:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Newspaper Drama |
Larry Haines (Reporter), Mason Adams | Jerry Devine, Ted Cott, Bob Hite | ["Newspaper", "Detective", "Docudrama", "Crime", "Noir"] |
"Deadline! The thrilling, authentic dramatizations of the men and women of the press who risk their lives to bring you the news!" In 'Death by Proxy', an investigative metropolitan reporter investigates the mysterious electrocution of an industrial chemist, unmasking a corporate espionage proxy contract killer. |
| "The Case of the Vanishing Postman (Lon Clark & Charlotte Manson — Old Dutch)" | Mutual (WOR) 1945-08-26 5:30 PM EWT |
Cudahy Packing Co. Old Dutch Cleanser ("Chases Dirt") |
Lon Clark (Nick), Charlotte Manson (Patsy) | Jock MacGregor, Michael Fitzmaurice | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Mystery", "Crime", "Action"] |
"Old Dutch Cleanser presents Nick Carter, Master Detective, starring Lon Clark with Charlotte Manson as Patsy Bowen!" Nick Carter investigates the inexplicable midday disappearance of a veteran mail carrier along his routine postal route, uncovering a counterfeit bearer bond mail fraud ring operating from a suburban cellar for Old Dutch Cleanser. |
| "The Case of the Murder Memory (Lon Clark & Charlotte Manson — Nick Carter)" | Mutual (WOR) 1951-08-26 6:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Detective Mystery Series |
Lon Clark (Nick), Charlotte Manson (Patsy) | Jock MacGregor, John Bryson | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Mystery", "Psychological", "Crime"] |
"Mutual presents Nick Carter, Master Detective, starring Lon Clark!" An amnesiac veteran arrives in Nick Carter's office tormented by terrifying, fractured flashbacks of committing a violent homicide, prompting Nick and Patsy to reconstruct the man's missing 48 hours to expose a hypnotic blackmail conspiracy. |
| "The Football Mascot Fiasco (Eddie Mayehoff as Jarvis Jackson — Anacin)" | CBS (WCBS/KNX) 1950-08-26 8:30 PM EDT |
Whitehall Pharmacal Anacin Fast Pain Relief |
Eddie Mayehoff (Jarvis), Barbara Eiler | Hal Fimberg, Parke Levy, Lemond | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Domestic", "Family", "Americana"] |
"Anacin presents That's Our Boy, starring the uproarious comedy of Eddie Mayehoff as Jarvis Jackson!" Overzealous, athletic father Jarvis Jackson tries to turn his frail, bookworm son Junior into a varsity high school football star, leading to a riotous disaster when Jarvis accidentally steals the rival team's live bulldog mascot for Anacin. |
| "A Trip to France (Kenneth Horne & Kenneth Williams — BBC Beyond Our Ken)" | BBC Light 1958-08-26 8:30 PM |
Sustaining Light Entertainment |
Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick | Eric Merriman, Barry Took, Smith | ["Comedy", "Satire", "British", "Sketch", "Parody"] |
"The BBC Light Programme presents Beyond Our Ken, starring Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, and Betty Marsden!" Kenneth Horne guides the troupe on a chaotic cross-channel holiday to France, featuring surreal travel sketches, Arthur Fallowfield's rural philosophizing, and Rodney and Charles on the Riviera. |
| "The Devil's Pitchfork (June Meredith & Don Ameche — Campana Italian Balm)" | NBC Red (WMAQ) 1931-08-26 9:30 PM EDST |
Campana Corp. Campana's Italian Balm |
June Meredith, Don Ameche, Hughes | Arch Oboler, Vincent Pelletier | ["Drama", "Melodrama", "Romance", "Theatrical", "Americana"] |
"From the Little Theater off Times Square, Campana's Italian Balm presents The First Nighter Program!" In 'The Devil's Pitchfork', an ambitious young mountain engineer (Don Ameche) is torn between his devotion to a gentle village schoolteacher (June Meredith) and the sinister temptations of a wealthy copper baron offering him fortune at the cost of his integrity for Campana. |