What happens
Fred Allen hosts a Town Hall program in an old-time radio broadcast, opening with a parade of townsfolk heading to the Town Hall as the lively show gets underway. Fred greets neighbors, introduces a mock newscast that includes a long-distance telephone experiment, and offers a series of comic sketches. Among them, a bungled attempt to order a cherry coke, a courtroom-style joke, and a theatrical company performing scenes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. The program then turns to a community singalong led by Kendall Farr, where a series of comic interruptions disrupts the singing. Fred Allen's program is a comedy-variety show from the 1930s, first aired in 1936 on CBS and NBC.
The Old Town Hall, a radio variety show set in a small town, with a studio audience and a parade down Main Street
Characters: Fred Allen, Harry, Peter, Kendall Farr, Mr. Squall, Mr. Petrie, Mr. Lappetito, Mr. Scroggs
Listen for: The mock newscast's long-distance telephone experiment and the community singalong's comic interruptions
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.