On This Day, August 26: The Silver Eagle and Bulldog Drummond
Also featured: Red Barber.
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, Jim Ameche as Mountie Jim West in two thrilling Silver Eagle adventures for Cheerios, Ned Wever solving an upholstery murder on Bulldog Drummond, Gayne Whitman narrating the frozen ghost ship Octavius on Strange As It Seems for Ex-Lax, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll rallying War Bond sales on Victory Theater, and Red Barber analyzing the 1950 pennant race on Sports Digest (1936–1954):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Feud of the Timberland (Jim Ameche as The Silver Eagle — Cheerios)" | ABC (WJZ) 1952-08-26 7:30 PM EDT |
General Mills Cheerios & Wheaties |
Jim Ameche (Jim West), Jack Lester (Joe) | James E. Jewell, Ray Erlenborn, Ed Prentiss | ["Western", "Adventure", "Juvenile", "Action", "Drama"] |
"The Silver Eagle, Mountie Jim West of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, brought to you by Cheerios!" Inspector Jim West and French-Canadian woodsman Joe Bideaux ride deep into the Northwest wilderness to halt a violent timber war between rival lumber camps, exposing a corrupt timber baron who ignited a forest fire to destroy an independent sawmill for Cheerios. |
| "The Trail of the Arctic Wolf (Jim Ameche as Jim West — Cheerios)" | ABC (WABC) 1954-08-26 7:30 PM EDT |
General Mills Cheerios ("Oat Cereal") |
Jim Ameche (Jim West), Jack Lester (Joe) | James E. Jewell, Ed Prentiss | ["Western", "Adventure", "Juvenile", "Action", "Drama"] |
"The Silver Eagle! Adventure in the Great Canadian Northland!" Inspector Jim West and trusty guide Joe Bideaux brave a howling Arctic blizzard to hunt down a renegade fur smuggler known as 'The Arctic Wolf', who abandoned an injured Native trapper in the freezing tundra to steal a cache of rare silver fox pelts for Cheerios. |
| "Upholstered for Murder (Ned Wever as Bulldog Drummond — Mutual)" | Mutual (WOR) 1946-08-26 8:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining British Detective Thriller |
Ned Wever (Bulldog Drummond), Luis Van Rooten | H.C. McNeile, Himan Brown, Henry Morgan | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Hardboiled", "Adventure", "British"] |
"Bulldog Drummond! Starring Ned Wever as the famous British adventurer who loves danger!" Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond and loyal valet Denny investigate a bespoke custom furniture maker in London after an antique leather armchair is found upholstered around the corpse of a blackmailed jeweler, uncovering an extortion racket operated from an antique upholstery workshop. |
| "The Ghost Ship of the Frozen North (Gayne Whitman — Ex-Lax)" | Syndicated 1936-08-26 (15-Min Series) |
Ex-Lax Mfg. Co. Ex-Lax Chocolated Laxative |
Gayne Whitman (Narrator), Cyril Armbrister | John Hix, Cyril Armbrister, Howard Culver | ["Docudrama", "Historical", "Supernatural", "Curiosities", "Short Form"] |
"Strange As It Seems, based on John Hix's world-famous cartoon feature and brought to you by Ex-Lax!" Gayne Whitman presents authenticated strange-but-true tales from history, including the haunting discovery of the icebound schooner Octavius, found drifting off Greenland with its captain preserved at his desk, still holding a frozen pen from seventy years before. |
| "Amos 'n' Andy in Washington (Gosden & Correll — U.S. Treasury War Bonds)" | CBS (WABC) 1942-08-26 9:00 PM EWT |
U.S. Treasury War Savings Bonds Drive |
Freeman Gosden (Amos), Charles Correll (Andy) | WPB & Treasury, Bill Goodwin | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Wartime", "Americana", "Historical"] |
"Victory Theater! Presented by the United States Treasury to help finance freedom through War Bonds!" Andy and Kingfish travel to wartime Washington D.C. with an elaborate invention to speed up military logistics, stumbling into bureaucratic confusion before realizing the greatest contribution any citizen can make is buying U.S. War Savings Bonds. |
| "National Tennis & Red Sox Pennant Chase (Red Barber — Mutual Sports Digest)" | Mutual (WOR) 1950-08-26 6:15 PM EDT |
Sustaining Sports Journalism Digest |
Red Barber, Jimmy Powers, Bill Stern | Mutual Sports Special Events | ["Sports", "News", "Talk", "Interview", "Historical"] |
"The Mutual Sports Digest! Bringing you the inside story from the stadiums and locker rooms of America!" Red Barber recaps the opening rounds of the U.S. National Tennis Championships at Forest Hills and analyzes the blistering American League pennant race between the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Detroit Tigers. |