What happens
Fred Allen hosts a sketch-filled Town Hall Tonight broadcast from the old Town Hall, with Portland Hoffa and Peter Van Steeden's orchestra. The show opens with the star's announcement that next week will be his last program of the season. Allen then introduces a series of comic interviews and segments: a mock news report on summer theatres, in which a trailer troupe, a Winnie the Pooh Players group and an eccentric producer describe their odd ventures, and a visit from a Movietone newsreel cameraman named Jess Kizzes. Music, a sponsor pitch and a studio audience quiz on opportunity round out the hour. Broadcast on CBS and NBC, the program is recorded in June 1939.
The old Town Hall, where a live variety show is broadcast in 1939
Characters: Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa, Peter Van Steeden, Harry Von Zell, Jess Kizzes, Uncle James, Mr. Roulard Cuckle, Mrs. Ainsley Tweedle
Listen for: The running gag about next week being the last program of the season, and the comic summer-theatre interviews
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.