The Adventures of Christopher Wells
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Italic title Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The Adventures of Christopher Wells is a 30-minute radio crime drama broadcast on CBS from September 28, 1947, to June 22, 1948.[1]
It debuted at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday[2] and remained there through January 1948. Beginning on February 3, 1948, it aired on Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. E. T. The move was part of a CBS "mood programming" strategy, which put dramatic programs on Tuesday evenings, comedy shows on Friday nights, and musical offerings on Sunday afternoons.[3] The shift to Tuesday was fatal, as it placed the drama opposite Fibber McGee and Molly on NBC.[4]
Sponsored by DeSoto-Plymouth, the program was created and directed by Ed Byron, who also created the more successful Mr. District Attorney.[5]
Myron McCormick had the title role of globe-trotting journalist Wells, and Charlotte Lawrence portrayed Stacy McGill, Wells' assistant. Les Damon and Vicki Vola took over those lead roles in February 1948. Edward A. Byron was producer-director. Peter Van Streeden furnished the background music.[6]
Robert Shaw's scripts usually placed Wells in a different country each week. For Newsweek, Byron offered a back story on Wells, noting that he was born September 28, 1912, sold newspapers and worked as a $16-a-week cub reported on a New York daily newspaper before becoming a featured columnist with traits of Nellie Bly, Richard Harding Davis and Walter Winchell.[4]
In its original time slot, the show's competition included Take It or Leave It.[5]
Critical response
A review in the trade publication Variety said that the premiere episode had "an unbelievable situation" in which "All the old cliches and pat quips were yanked out and strung together."[5] The review found fault with McCormick's acting as well as with the scripts and said that Byron's direction did not match the quality of his work on Mr. District Attorney.[5]
Jack Gould wrote in a review in The New York Times that the premiere episode "was produced with Mr. Byron's usual eclat and assurance".[7] He complimented McCormick's performance and predicted that the program should fare well in ratings.[7]
A review in the trade publication Billboard called the program "straight escapist stuff" with "no attempt to adhere to realism".[8] It said that the show succeeded in "building considerable tension" and complimented the dialog, the production, and the acting.[8]
References
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- ↑ Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. Template:ISBN. P. 9.
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