What happens
Fred Allen hosts this installment of Town Hall Tonight, a 1938 comedy variety program from the Fred Allen series, first broadcast on November 2, 1938. Allen and his regulars Harry Von Zell and Portland Hoffa trade jokes about Hollywood time clocks, a hardware convention, and a Radio City tour guide named Joe Allen. Music from Peter Van Steeden and his orchestra breaks up the sketches, and there are sponsor messages for Ipana and Sal Hepatica along the way. The episode moves from one topical bit to the next, with Allen's exchanges with his guests and cast forming the bulk of the program.
A 1938 Town Hall Tonight radio broadcast, with the program's studio, a mock newsreel, and the NBC Radio City offices as the main settings.
Characters: Fred Allen, Harry Von Zell, Portland Hoffa, Peter Van Steeden, Joe Allen, Baxter Brand, Laverne Dapple, Lulu Schlepp
Listen for: Listen for the Radio City tour guide sketch with Joe Allen, the Hollywood time clock newsreel, and Portland Hoffa's hairdo banter with Fred Allen.
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.