On This Day, August 28: Lux Radio Theatre and Steptoe and Son
Also featured: Under Arrest.
August 28 Update
This report documents the historical provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and pure narrative synopses for broadcasts transmitting on August 28 across American network radio, the BBC Light Programme, and syndication, Cecil B. DeMille hosting Robert Young & Maureen O'Hara in The Fallen Sparrow for Lux Soap, Galton and Simpson's classic Steptoe and Son comedy The Holiday, vintage 1933 sleuths Detectives Black and Blue, Rossini's sparkling comic opera La Scala di Seta, Joe DeSantis in Under Arrest, and Bret Morrison narrating Robert Fontaine's coming-of-age memoir The Happy Time (1933–1966):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Fallen Sparrow" | CBS (WABC) 1944-08-28 9:00 PM EWT |
Lever Brothers Lux Toilet Soap |
Cecil B. DeMille, Robert Young | Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak | ["Drama", "Film Noir", "Espionage", "Wartime", "Hollywood"] |
An American veteran of the Spanish Civil War hunted by Nazi agents in New York tries to discover who murdered his childhood friend. |
| "The Holiday" | BBC Light Programme 1966-08-28 2:00 PM |
Sustaining BBC Radio Sitcom |
Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett | Ray Galton & Alan Simpson | ["Sitcom", "Comedy", "British", "Working Class", "Family"] |
Harold plans an exotic continental vacation abroad, but his manipulative, hypochondriac father Albert schemes to force a miserable week in Bognor Regis. |
| "The Missing Heiress" | Syndicated Elec 1933-08-28 |
Commercial Regional Sponsors |
Vaudeville Mystery Duo | Early Radio Comedy Team | ["Comedy", "Detective", "Vaudeville", "Slapstick", "Mystery"] |
Bumbling private investigators Black and Blue stumble into a lakeside mansion to locate a runaway socialite before kidnappers find her. |
| "La Scala di Seta (The Silken Ladder)" | NBC Radio Theater 1959-08-28 |
Sustaining Opera Showcase |
NBC Opera Ensemble | Gioachino Rossini (Composer) | ["Opera", "Classical", "Comedy", "Music", "Anthology"] |
A secret newlywed husband must scale a silk ladder into his bride's bedroom each night to avoid her guardian's arranged marriage scheme. |
| "The Case of the Bank Robber's Daughter" | Mutual (WOR) 1949-08-28 5:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Police Procedural |
Joe DeSantis (Capt. Scott) | William Vance (Writer) | ["Police Procedural", "Hardboiled", "Crime", "Mystery", "Action"] |
Captain Jim Scott protects a frightened young woman targeted by violent mobsters believing she knows where her late father buried stolen bank cash. |
| "The Happy Time (Part 2)" | ABC Blue (WJZ) 1945-08-28 3:00 PM EWT |
Sustaining Literary Adaptation |
Bret Morrison (Narrator) | Robert Fontaine (Author) | ["Drama", "Comedy", "Coming-of-Age", "Family", "Serial"] |
A lively French-Canadian boy in 1920s Ottawa navigates the romantic scandals and eccentric advice of his boisterous uncles. |