What happens
Fred Allen returns to the Town Hall stage after his time in Hollywood, greeted at the station and at the door by a crowd and his stage companions, Portland Hoffa and the Allen players. The evening moves through a run of comic sketches and segments. A mock news report covers a campaign against noise in New York City and a poultry store robbery in the Bronx. A short scene follows Portland and Fred at home, and a separate bit concerns a welcome arranger named Mr. Bowers. The program also includes a quartet, several sponsor messages, and a melodrama about a family of country amateur performers, in which a son leaves home to chase money and fame in the city. Fred Allen's radio series aired in 1935, with Kenny Delmar and Minerva Pious among the cast.
Town Hall, New York City, and a country household in a one-room home.
Characters: Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa, Mr. Bowers, Pevcat, Pappy, Mama Harry
Listen for: The noise-campaign news bit and the poultry racketeer sketch, both delivered as mock news reports.
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.