radio comedy Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve variety show, sitcom elements, sketches, and various types of comedy found in other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be con ...
show that ran on the
CBS Radio Network
CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. ...
for fifteen episodes in 1957 from July 14 through October 20. The show, starring comedian Stan Freberg and featuring the vocal talents of
Daws Butler
Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry H ...
,
June Foray
June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...
Peggy Taylor
Peggy Taylor (born Margaret Tague, October 12, 1927 – February 9, 2002) was an American singer and actress who later became a radio and television announcer.
Early life
On October 12, 1927, Taylor was born as Margaret Tague in Inglewood, Ca ...
as the resident singer, and the musical direction of Billy May. The show aired in the 7:30 p.m. (ET) time slot following repeats of ''
The Jack Benny Program
''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...
'' on Sundays. The show was produced by Pete Barnum.
Despite its short run, the show contained some running gags and stock jokes, from Freberg's ambivalence toward Madison Avenue (faux advertisements for "Puffed Grass" and "Food," as well as the sketch " Gray FlannelHatful ofTeenage Werewolves") to the interviews with a sneaker-wearing
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, te ...
's then-current '' Dodge Dancing Party'', which he later released (in a somewhat shorter form) as a single, "Wun'erful, Wun'erful! (Sides uh-one & uh-two)." (He would reprise the Welk impersonation for his final show, in which the fictional Welk tersely mocks Freberg's cancellation.)
By the thirteenth episode, it was clear that ''The Stan Freberg Show'' was suffering from a lack of advertiser interest (perhaps helped by Freberg's werewolf comparisons). According to Freberg's autobiography, ''It Only Hurts When I Laugh'', two different cigarette companies offered to sponsor the program, but Stan turned them down; because no other advertisers were willing to provide primary or alternate sponsorship on Freberg's terms, CBS canceled the series after fifteen episodes. According to author Joe Bevilacqua, it was the last American network radio show to devote itself purely to comedy.
1958's ''The Best of the Stan Freberg Shows'', a recording of collected material from the show, won the first 1959 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.