The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy

Last updated

The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy is an American radio situation comedy that was broadcast on NBC from June 2, 1946, through March 26, 1947. [1]

Contents

Premise

Episodes dealt with the school and home activities of Thaddeus Q. Tweedy, [2] the absent-minded dean of men at Potts College [1] who regularly found himself in difficulties. [3] The show's opening narration described Tweedy as a man "who is always eager to help, but whose advice is often not helpful". [4] More often than not, his advice resulted in chaotic situations. [2]

Tweedy had an adopted son, Sidney, and they lived with their manservant, Welby, who had been a hobo. [1] Miss Tilsey was the head of the school. Alexander Potts was chairman of the board of Potts College, and his daughter (Mary) was engaged to Sidney Tweedy. Colonel Beauregard Jackson was Tweedy's neighbor; Kitty Bell Jackson was the colonel's sister. [2]

Cast

Cast of The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy
CharacterActor
Thaddeus Q. Tweedy Frank Morgan [2]
SidneyHarlan Stone Jr. [2]
Mary Potts Janet Waldo [2]
Welby Harry von Zell [1]
Miss Tilsey Nana Bryant [1]
Alexander Potts Gale Gordon [2]
Beauregard Jackson Will Wright [2]
Kitty Bell Jackson Sara Berner [2]

Bud Hiestand was the announcer. [2] Barbara Eiler frequently portrayed one of the students. Supporting actors included Eddie Green. [1]

Production

The series initially was on Sundays at 7 p.m. Eastern Time as a summer replacement for The Jack Benny Program . After September 22, 1946, it was heard on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. E. T. [1] The fall program replaced the first half of Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge , which was shortened from an hour to 30 minutes. [5] Lucky Strike was the sponsor in the summer, and Pall Mall sponsored the fall series. [1]

Z. Wayne Griffin was the producer. [6] Eliot Daniel directed the orchestra. Writers included Robert Riley Crutcher. [1]

Critical response

Critic Jack Gould wrote in The New York Times that The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy "is a sad item if ever there was one". [3] Gould cited silliness and superficiality in scripts, resulting in "a half-hour of obvious confusion". [3] He also noted that Morgan relied too much on his old-wolf characterization and that Morgan's "familiar forced laughter ... proves wearing even under the best of circumstances". [3]

Paul Ackerman, in the trade publication Billboard , referred to the program's "so-called comical situations" and said that the October 16, 1946, episode was "singularly lacking" in laughs. [7] Ackerman cited "a basic lack of strong comedy material" in the script, which he described as "just a routine effort" by the writers. [7]

A review in the trade publication Variety said that Crutcher appeared to be continuing the style of writing that he used on a previous program that starred Eddie Bracken, but the results in The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy were less successful than those in Bracken's show. The review added that the Tweedy scripts seemed "to have gone overboard" in use of double entendre lines. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>The First Hundred Years</i> Television series

The First Hundred Years was the first ongoing TV soap opera in the United States that began as a daytime serial, airing on CBS from December 4, 1950 until June 27, 1952.

<i>The Adventures of Maisie</i> Radio show

The Adventures of Maisie was a radio comedy series starring Ann Sothern as underemployed entertainer Maisie Ravier. It was a spin-off of Sothern's successful 1939–1947 Maisie movie series, based on a character created by Wilson Collison.

<i>City Hospital</i> (American TV series) American TV medical drama (1951–1953)

City Hospital, one of the first medical dramas on American television, was broadcast from 1951 to 1953, first on ABC and later on CBS.

Front Row Center is the title of two American television programs with different formats that were broadcast on different networks.

Your Favorite Story is a syndicated TV anthology series that was broadcast in the United States from 1953 to 1955. The program was also known as My Favorite Story. It was premiered in December 1954 with the title Your Favorite Playhouse.

Official Detective is an American anthology television series which aired in syndication from 1957 to March 19, 1958. The series was hosted by veteran film actor Everett Sloane.

Detectives's Wife is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from July 7 to September 29, 1950. The series was the summer replacement for Man Against Crime.

Sure as Fate is a 60-minute American anthology mystery drama series that aired on CBS from July 4, 1950, until April 3, 1951.

The Black Robe is a weekly 30-minute American docu-drama anthology court show based on actual police night court cases that was broadcast on the National Broadcasting Company from May 18, 1949, until March 30, 1950. Its creator was Phillips H. Lord.

The Ginny Simms Show is an umbrella title that can refer to any of several radio musical variety shows in the United States. The versions were broadcast on CBS and NBC beginning September 19, 1941, and ending March 18, 1951.

<i>The Cases of Mr. Ace</i> Radio show

The Cases of Mr Ace is a 1947 ABC radio crime drama starring George Raft. It was an unofficial spinoff from his film Mr. Ace (1946) although it was very different from that film.

<i>The Eddie Bracken Show</i> American old-time radio situation comedy

The Eddie Bracken Show is an American old-time radio situation comedy. It was broadcast on NBC from January 28, 1945, to May 27, 1945, and on CBS from September 29, 1946, to March 23, 1947.

<i>Family Skeleton</i> American old-time radio serial drama

Family Skeleton is an American old-time radio serial drama, "the story of a girl with a dark past and highly uncertain future." It was broadcast on CBS from June 8, 1953, to March 5, 1954.

This Is Show Business is an American variety television program that was broadcast first on CBS and later on NBC beginning July 15, 1949, and ending September 11, 1956. It was CBS-TV's first regular series broadcast live from coast to coast. It was originally titled This Is Broadway.

Leave It to Larry is an American television situation comedy that was broadcast on CBS from October 14, 1952, until December 23, 1952, for a total of 11 episodes.

Your Lucky Clue is an American television game show that was broadcast on CBS from July 13, 1952, until August 31, 1952, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time as a summer replacement for This Is Show Business.

Let's Talk Hollywood is a radio quiz and panel discussion program that was broadcast on NBC from July 4 to September 26, 1948, as a summer replacement for The Jack Benny Program.

Dick and the Duchess is an American television situation comedy that was broadcast on CBS from September 28, 1957, to May 16, 1958. It was "one of the earliest of filmed television shows in the UK". A dubbed version of the series was also shown in Germany.

Lights Out is an American television anthology series that featured dramas of thrills and suspense. Broadcast on NBC from July 12, 1949, until September 29, 1952, it was the first TV dramatic program to use a split-screen display.

The Aldrich Family is an American television situation comedy that was broadcast on NBC from October 2, 1949, through September 12, 1953. Adapted from the radio program of the same name, which was based on Clifford Goldsmith's Broadway play What a Life (1938), it was the first successful situation comedy on NBC television. The program was also broadcast in Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Dunning, John (May 7, 1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. p. 239. ISBN   978-0-19-984045-8 . Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 112. ISBN   978-0-7864-4513-4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Gould, Jack (June 16, 1946). "Some Recent Premieres: Alec Templeton Enlivens the Airwaves for Sunday Night Listeners" . The New York Times. p. X 7. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  4. ↑ Terrace, Vincent (June 8, 2015). Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931-1972. McFarland. p. 79. ISBN   978-1-4766-1223-2 . Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Duffy's Tavern, Fabulous Dr. Tweedy Now At New Time". The Capital Times. Wisconsin, Madison. October 2, 1946. p. 16. Retrieved February 22, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "New Producer for E. Bracken Show; Wolff for Griffin". Billboard. November 16, 1946. p. 5. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  7. 1 2 Ackerman, Paul (October 26, 1946). "NBC Opposish To the Larynx On Weak Side". Billboard. pp. 8, 14. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  8. ↑ "The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy". Variety. June 5, 1946. p. 44. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.