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Sunday Flashback…Some Of America’s Most Famous Announcers

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Eyes Of A Generation.com


Sunday Flashback…Some Of America’s Most Famous Announcers

Visiting with Tom Snyder, here are some funny stories and interesting insights into life at the top of the network television food-chain.

From “You Bet Your Life” with Groucho Marx, George Fenneman; from “The Jack Benny Show”, Don Wilson; and from “Burns & Allen”, Harry Von Zell. The fourth man is John Reed King, and for the many that don’t know who he is, here’s a thumbnail sketch.

In the ’30, King hosted the top radio show, “Misses Goes A Shopping”, which he also hosted on television in 1944 and was one of the first ever TV game show hosts. In ’46, he hosted the CBS game show “It’s A Gift” and a newcomer named Bill Cullen was his assistant and announcer on “Give And Take” in 1952. He was also radio’s original “Sky King”, and the announcer for the hit radio show, “Duffy’s Tavern” in 1941. Thanks to Barry Mitchell for the clip. Enjoy! -Bobby Ellerbee

Three of the greatest announcers of all time sat down for an hour-long chat with Tom Snyder on Apr 4, 1978, because this is the kind of interesting program t…

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7 responses to “Sunday Flashback…Some Of America’s Most Famous Announcers”

  1. Jay Nugent

    Loved working afternoon shift at NorthernTelecom / BNR and going home to watch Tom Snyder on the Tomorrow Show. Good stuff!

  2. Dave Miller

    A show in a similar vein was the infamous “Goodbye to Hurley’s” Tomorrow Show, filled with those NBC people past and present who needed an adult beverage with friends in “Studio 1-H” Used to have a copy of the show but it was lost in a move or two. Here’s a description via NBC: http://www.nbcuniversalarchives.com/nbcuni/clip/5112448425_s01.do

  3. Randy Stewart

    Snyder did several of these panels. About four years before this one he did a show on old-time radio with Edgar Bergen, Jim Backus, Gale Gordon, Frank Nelson, Bill Baldwin (Bergen’s announcer late in his radio run), and Ernestine Wade (Sapphire on “Amos & Andy”). Ostensibly about radio’s “second bananas” except for Bergen–though as he said, he ended up second-banana status to Charlie, Mortimer et al.!

  4. Michael Carraher

    The post you are about to read is true. The name has not been changed to protect the announcer. George Fenneman was not only the announcer on “You Bet Your Life” but (one of two paired announcers) on all three versions of Dragnet (radio, 50s TV and 60s TV).

  5. Vernon Swygert

    Watched Tom Snyder often to unwind from the second shift at GM. Some of the best TV ever.

  6. Steve Byrd

    And how about this clip of John Reed King guest-hosting “Beat the Clock” for the vacationing Bud Collyer in Aug. 1952?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xm3M4LVtk0

  7. Eyes Of A Generation.com

    This is John Reed King hosting “It’s A Gift” in 1946.

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