What happens
Fred Allen marks his thirtieth anniversary as an entertainer with his usual banter alongside Harry Von Zell. The program moves through jokes about the passing years and a mock news segment on the opening of Jamaica Race Track's new parimutuel betting machines. State Senator Bill Bowzer argues that everybody wins under the system, while a bookmaker, a society reporter and a horse player each give their views on the new machines. Later, the show turns to a guest, Portland Hoffa, and an exchange with Jack Benny's valet Rochester. Radio's Fred Allen show, first heard on April 24, 1940, features Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa, Kenny Delmar and Minerva Pious.
A radio studio during a live broadcast of the Fred Allen program, with a studio audience, around 1940.
Characters: Fred Allen, Harry Von Zell, Portland Hoffa, Rochester, Senator Bill Bowzer, Sam, Bobbie, Tyler Vance
Listen for: Listen for the parimutuel betting debate and the bookmaker's complaints about the new machines, followed by the Jack Benny and Rochester exchange.
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.