On This Day, September 3: FDR and Father Coughlin
Also featured: V-J Day Comedy.
September 3 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 September 3 across presidential wartime addresses to the American people and international youth assemblies, controversial religious discourses at the outbreak of European hostilities, battlefield news of Allied victory in Brussels, high-energy comedy celebrations on V-J Day, and mystery radio theatre, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1939, 1942), Father Charles Coughlin (1939), Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa on The Charlie McCarthy Show (1945), Douglas Edwards on CBS (1944), and Movietown Radio Theater for Skippy (1939–1948):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Fireside Chat on the Outbreak of War and Neutrality with FDR" | Combined Networks 1939-09-03 10:00 PM EDST |
Sustaining Presidential Address |
President FDR | White House Staff | ["Speech", "WWII", "FDR", "Fireside Chat", "President"] |
President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation from the Oval Office affirming that America will remain neutral but cannot ask every citizen to remain neutral in thought. |
| "Address to the International Student Assembly with FDR" | Combined Networks 1942-09-03 9:30 PM EWT |
Sustaining Presidential Address |
President FDR | International Youth Staff | ["Speech", "WWII", "FDR", "International Student Assembly", "Youth"] |
President Franklin D. Roosevelt speaks to youth delegates from fifty nations emphasizing freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the post-war world order. |
| "Father Coughlin on the Good Samaritan and Neutrality" | WJR Detroit / Ind. 1939-09-03 4:00 PM EDST |
Sustaining Religious Broadcast |
Father Charles Coughlin | WJR Studio Staff | ["Religion", "Speech", "Father Coughlin", "WWII", "History"] |
Father Charles Coughlin delivers a controversial sermon invoking the Good Samaritan parable while arguing against American involvement in the newly erupted European war. |
| "Liberation of Brussels on CBS World News Today" | CBS (WABC) 1944-09-03 2:30 PM EWT |
Sustaining Wartime News Special |
Douglas Edwards (Anchor) | Charles Collingwood | ["News", "WWII", "CBS News", "Douglas Edwards", "Liberation"] |
Douglas Edwards and battlefield correspondents report the liberation of Brussels by British armored columns five years to the day after war began. |
| "Guest Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa on V-J Day (Linit Bath Club)" | NBC (WEAF) 1945-09-03 8:00 PM EWT |
Standard Brands Chase & Sanborn Coffee |
Edgar Bergen, Fred Allen | Portland Hoffa & Staff | ["Comedy", "Variety", "Fred Allen", "Charlie McCarthy", "Linit"] |
Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa celebrate the surrender of Japan with rapid-fire comedic exchanges alongside Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. |
| "The Next Chapter with Les Mitchel and Skippy" | Syndication 1948-09-03 |
Rosefield Packing Skippy Peanut Butter |
Les Mitchel (Host/Dir) | Hollywood Radio Cast | ["Drama", "Anthology", "Movietown Radio Theater", "Les Mitchel", "Skippy"] |
A novelist realizes his fictional murder plot is being enacted in real life by an obsessed criminal reader. |