Showing posts with label Canadian OTR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canadian OTR. Show all posts
Saturday, August 27, 2011
A sneak at Canadian radio
Came across more ads from Canadian Radio series. I can find no documentation about them.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Interviewing my special guest: Bob Braaksma
Bob Braaksma runs Silly Snowman Radio -- an OTR Radio Station. They broadcast 24/7 on the internet and very soon also terrestrial on AM 1680 Edmonton, AB, Canada -- and he is a member of the Canadian Old Time Radio Alliance. He graciously provided me with an e-mail interview last week.
OTR Buffet: Please tell us a little something about you and your history of old-time radio. How did it all begin for you?
Bob Braaksma: I started with collecting old radio commercials. I'm especially fond of old car and boat ads. From that point, every time a heard something I liked, it became part of the collection.
My earliest memories include listening to short wave broadcasts with my father. The ones that interested me most were the mystery shows like Suspense, The Whistler and many more.
OTR Buffet: Is there anything you can tell us about Canadian OTR, especially anything from the Golden Age (1940's or 1950's?)
Bob Braaksma: I am a member of the Canadian Old Time Radio Alliance. Their website would summarize a good answer to this question.
OTR Buffet: What shows keep you going today?
Bob Braaksma: My current collection contains about 25,000 otr shows, 3000 commercials and about 5000 news clips. Currently my interests lie with finding all the Canadian made otr broadcasts.
OTR Buffet: What are your favorite OTR Comedies and why?
Bob Braaksma: Overall I would have to say anything with Groucho Marx. Mainly his quick wit and cynicism.
OTR Buffet: You say you like Amos 'n' Andy. Do you ever feel any guilty listening to the show because of the stereotypes - do the pressures of political correctness bother you regarding this show?
Bob Braaksma: No, I don't feel guilty. The past is history, and entertainment history helps me learn about past social attitudes. A show like Amos n' Andy gives me insight into what was considered comedy long before I was born.
OTR Buffet: I have tried listening to Life with Luigi but I just can't get into it - but you are the second enthusiast I have found who really likes the show - try talking me into listening to the show again?
Bob Braaksma: Well, like anything, you either like it or you don't. For me, being the son of an immigrant to Canada, there are a lot of scripts in the show that remind me of situations my father faced in a new country.
OTR Buffet: Do you have any least favorite Comedies?
Bob Braaksma: There are not any specific otr comedy shows that I could say are least favourite. The content of some episodes is of course, dated, and therefore not that humorous in today's day and age.
OTR Buffet: What are your favorite OTR Mysteries and why?
Bob Braaksma: Too many to list. But here are some: Nightfall, Vanishing Point, The Whistler, Suspense, The Kranken Wakes, etc. A mystery, when it takes my imagination on a journey or adventure away from the everyday, is always enjoyable.
OTR Buffet: What are your favorite OTR Westerns?
Bob Braaksma: Gunsmoke because it's very entertaining and the characters are classic western. The Lone Ranger, mainly because listening to it helps me to remember being a kid and listening to it.
OTR Buffet: What are your favorite OTR Science Fiction shows and why?
Bob Braaksma: Personally, I'm not a big sci-fi fan. However I own a lot of it! I think that there is a lot of items called sci-fi that could also be categorized as mystery or thriller. I love mystery, if it's out of this world, that's ok too.
OTR Buffet: What show do you wish you had more of to listen to?
OTR Buffet: How many hours a day and week do you listen to OTR? Do you have a listening schedule or is it just random?
OTR Buffet: By what primary means do you listen to your OTR?
OTR Buffet: Please tell me who the best actor and actress in OTR is?
OTR Buffet: Tell us something about your blog and website?
OTR Buffet: Thanks so much for you time and for answering my questions!
©Jimbo 2010/2011
OTR Buffet: Please tell us a little something about you and your history of old-time radio. How did it all begin for you?
Bob Braaksma: I started with collecting old radio commercials. I'm especially fond of old car and boat ads. From that point, every time a heard something I liked, it became part of the collection.
 |
| The one. The only. Groucho |
My earliest memories include listening to short wave broadcasts with my father. The ones that interested me most were the mystery shows like Suspense, The Whistler and many more.
OTR Buffet: Is there anything you can tell us about Canadian OTR, especially anything from the Golden Age (1940's or 1950's?)
Bob Braaksma: I am a member of the Canadian Old Time Radio Alliance. Their website would summarize a good answer to this question.
 |
| The main radio cast of Gunsmoke |
OTR Buffet: What shows keep you going today?
Bob Braaksma: My current collection contains about 25,000 otr shows, 3000 commercials and about 5000 news clips. Currently my interests lie with finding all the Canadian made otr broadcasts.
OTR Buffet: What are your favorite OTR Comedies and why?
Bob Braaksma: Overall I would have to say anything with Groucho Marx. Mainly his quick wit and cynicism.
OTR Buffet: You say you like Amos 'n' Andy. Do you ever feel any guilty listening to the show because of the stereotypes - do the pressures of political correctness bother you regarding this show?
Bob Braaksma: No, I don't feel guilty. The past is history, and entertainment history helps me learn about past social attitudes. A show like Amos n' Andy gives me insight into what was considered comedy long before I was born.
OTR Buffet: I have tried listening to Life with Luigi but I just can't get into it - but you are the second enthusiast I have found who really likes the show - try talking me into listening to the show again?
Bob Braaksma: Well, like anything, you either like it or you don't. For me, being the son of an immigrant to Canada, there are a lot of scripts in the show that remind me of situations my father faced in a new country.
OTR Buffet: Do you have any least favorite Comedies?
Bob Braaksma: There are not any specific otr comedy shows that I could say are least favourite. The content of some episodes is of course, dated, and therefore not that humorous in today's day and age.
OTR Buffet: What are your favorite OTR Mysteries and why?
Bob Braaksma: Too many to list. But here are some: Nightfall, Vanishing Point, The Whistler, Suspense, The Kranken Wakes, etc. A mystery, when it takes my imagination on a journey or adventure away from the everyday, is always enjoyable.
OTR Buffet: What are your favorite OTR Westerns?
Bob Braaksma: Gunsmoke because it's very entertaining and the characters are classic western. The Lone Ranger, mainly because listening to it helps me to remember being a kid and listening to it.
OTR Buffet: What are your favorite OTR Science Fiction shows and why?
Bob Braaksma: Personally, I'm not a big sci-fi fan. However I own a lot of it! I think that there is a lot of items called sci-fi that could also be categorized as mystery or thriller. I love mystery, if it's out of this world, that's ok too.
OTR Buffet: What show do you wish you had more of to listen to?
Bob Braaksma: Most of these.
OTR Buffet: How many hours a day and week do you listen to OTR? Do you have a listening schedule or is it just random?
Bob Braaksma: I am always monitoring the radio station. So I listen all day most everyday. Schedule.
OTR Buffet: By what primary means do you listen to your OTR?
Bob Braaksma: Computer, iphone and once our AM transmitter is installed, on my car's radio!
OTR Buffet: Please tell me who the best actor and actress in OTR is?
Bob Braaksma: Orson Welles and Harriet Nelson.
OTR Buffet: Tell us something about your blog and website?
Bob Braaksma: The station's blog provides listeners with a brief desciption of the shows that air on the radio. We are always updating, adding shows that are currently playing and shows that will be aired in the future.
OTR Buffet: Thanks so much for you time and for answering my questions!
©Jimbo 2010/2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
For the love of Agnes Moorehead! (Hodge-podge)
Worn to a frazzle. Worn to a frazzzzzzz ull! For the past couple of days I have been revamping the blog, cleaning stuff up, making stuff better - I am trying to set up and write some interviews that should appear here next week with some big OTR fans... bascially, I've been busy.
So I have nothing planned for today. Oops! Sometimes, when there's nothing planned for the blog, that's when I write best - so here it goes...
I thought I might tell you what's popular in OTR. The reason I know is I can tell from my blog numbers that if Agnes Moorehead is mentioned, she gets a lot of attention. She gets more attention than Orson Welles for some reason. Is this because of TV/Bewitched? I have no idea.
I like Agnes, I really do - but I was first introduced to her via Bewitched and I've always thought of her as evil!
I know now, especially after listening to her on her 4 minutes of OTR's This I Believe, that she probably wasn't evil at all.
The Shadow is popular too. While I enjoy The Shadow, it's certainly not one of those shows I would think people would flock to; for one thing, the sound is bad in a lot of the shows - and those are the ones that star Orson Welles and Agnes Moorehead! So why is The Shadow popular? Plus, as I have Hodge-podged before, the whole Shadow thing is just goofy.
Something else that is popular is Pepsodent. If I put a Pepsodent ad up, they get a lot of attention as well. Bob Hope be hanged - but Pepsodent ads starring Bob Hope draw people in like flies. Are the people who make Pepsodent the ones looking at the blog? Who knows.?
This blog is popular in Russia. I never knew that Russians listened to American old-time radio but I suppose they do.
The Halls of Ivy get a lot of attention as well - but I can see that. The Halls of Ivy is a fantastic show with a lot of charm.
---
You may recall a while back I wrote about Canadian OTR. I still haven't found any information about it - I'm hoping I can find a Canadian fan on Twitter with whom I can do an interview about it. I think we all would find it interesting to find out exactly what kind of shows were popular up there that were done in Canada. I know Canadians listened to a lot of American shows (this I know from Canadian radio schedules.)
Examine the following schedule from The Vancouver Sun in the late 1940's:
As you can see, they could listen to Suspense on two stations (I take it one of the stations is in Seattle) and if you look on the far right side, you see station CKMO, which looks to be playing nothing but Canadian-made radio. While some of it is obviously local programming, there is some national programming as well, especially in prime time, you'd think.
You see I have also highlighted a few shows I have never heard of before - are those Canadian? Were they national?
If you are from Canada and would like to help answer those questions, you can leave a comment and let us know. Or let me know via Twitter, @Jimbo_OTR.
---
It says in the book, On the Air that Henry Aldrich of the Aldrich Family was described as "typical" and "not at all typical" at the same time in reviews...
I think he's atypical for the fact that as goofy as he may seem, Henry seems pretty smart - certainly smarter than the kids his age I know. :)
©Jimbo 2010/2011
So I have nothing planned for today. Oops! Sometimes, when there's nothing planned for the blog, that's when I write best - so here it goes...
 | |
| Agnes Moorehead |
I like Agnes, I really do - but I was first introduced to her via Bewitched and I've always thought of her as evil!
I know now, especially after listening to her on her 4 minutes of OTR's This I Believe, that she probably wasn't evil at all.
The Shadow is popular too. While I enjoy The Shadow, it's certainly not one of those shows I would think people would flock to; for one thing, the sound is bad in a lot of the shows - and those are the ones that star Orson Welles and Agnes Moorehead! So why is The Shadow popular? Plus, as I have Hodge-podged before, the whole Shadow thing is just goofy.
Something else that is popular is Pepsodent. If I put a Pepsodent ad up, they get a lot of attention as well. Bob Hope be hanged - but Pepsodent ads starring Bob Hope draw people in like flies. Are the people who make Pepsodent the ones looking at the blog? Who knows.?
This blog is popular in Russia. I never knew that Russians listened to American old-time radio but I suppose they do.
The Halls of Ivy get a lot of attention as well - but I can see that. The Halls of Ivy is a fantastic show with a lot of charm.
---
You may recall a while back I wrote about Canadian OTR. I still haven't found any information about it - I'm hoping I can find a Canadian fan on Twitter with whom I can do an interview about it. I think we all would find it interesting to find out exactly what kind of shows were popular up there that were done in Canada. I know Canadians listened to a lot of American shows (this I know from Canadian radio schedules.)
Examine the following schedule from The Vancouver Sun in the late 1940's:
As you can see, they could listen to Suspense on two stations (I take it one of the stations is in Seattle) and if you look on the far right side, you see station CKMO, which looks to be playing nothing but Canadian-made radio. While some of it is obviously local programming, there is some national programming as well, especially in prime time, you'd think.
You see I have also highlighted a few shows I have never heard of before - are those Canadian? Were they national?
If you are from Canada and would like to help answer those questions, you can leave a comment and let us know. Or let me know via Twitter, @Jimbo_OTR.
---
It says in the book, On the Air that Henry Aldrich of the Aldrich Family was described as "typical" and "not at all typical" at the same time in reviews...
I think he's atypical for the fact that as goofy as he may seem, Henry seems pretty smart - certainly smarter than the kids his age I know. :)
©Jimbo 2010/2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
200+ new ads (and counting)
I'm nowhere near finished and have found 211 new ads and I'm not even 1/10th of the way done yet!
I found a whole batch of Canadian OTR advertisements and that's pretty exciting yet - what am I going to do with those? (Anyone know of any Canadian OTR sites - if you do, pass me a note, will you?)
Yes, Canada had their own set of National programs. Most seem like they are dramatic - in line with Screen Guild Playhouse and that kind of thing. (Who knew?)
First OTR, then Doug Flutie... those pesky Canucks are trying to take over the world!
I hope you'll be patient with "Buffet Boy" here as I do some things behind the scenes. I will do what I can to the OTR Buffet and the L&A Dictionary but in the meantime, the other digits may suffer for a bit.
I found a whole batch of Canadian OTR advertisements and that's pretty exciting yet - what am I going to do with those? (Anyone know of any Canadian OTR sites - if you do, pass me a note, will you?)
 |
| One of the wacky Canuckian shows no one has ever heard of |
First OTR, then Doug Flutie... those pesky Canucks are trying to take over the world!
I hope you'll be patient with "Buffet Boy" here as I do some things behind the scenes. I will do what I can to the OTR Buffet and the L&A Dictionary but in the meantime, the other digits may suffer for a bit.
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