Comments on: In Memoriam: Peg Lynch and Her Records of Broadcast History

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 19:18:39 +0000

God I must’ve been even more precocious an adolescent than I recall being. To wit, I listened to Ethel and Albert even more avidly than I did Sky King or Straight Arrow. What drew me to E&A was its similarity (somewhat) to Kukla, Fran and Ollie. That was allegedly a show for kids that adults watched unlike E&A, a show for adults that kids (at least me) listened to. What drew me to both shows was their rare naturalism. Maybe Ozzie and Harriet also bought into the approach. Four people all living under the same roof and instead of being at war with one another, they took the high road, got along, and enjoyed doing so. Just like Seinfeld skewed widely sociologically and generationally, I would guess Ethel and Albert had a similar following. . . . including a ten-year-old boy—me—living in Appalachia.

By: David

David — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 16:00:03 +0000

Unfortunately I’m not able to watch that clip. It says it’s “private.”

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 12:41:27 +0000

While not Chex, here’s an example of a Ralston hot cereal commercial from the middle of an Ethel and Albert episode on CBS: http://youtu.be/xjIpTG2w_GM. The title of the commercial is “How to Torture Your Husband.”

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 12:39:35 +0000

Thanks, Cynthia. And good questions! I think when Ethel and Albert was on the air, 1953-1956, syndication was not so much an option for the live sitcom originating in NYC. That was more an innovation from with I Love Lucy / Desilu. From what I can tell, there’s some evidence in the NBC archives (in Wisconsin) that the kinescopes were made to show the sponsor, Sunbeam. And occasionally, NBC used the better quality recordings as reruns., but that didn’t seem common. Lynch said a few times that she considered filming the show, but it was too expensive (for example, NBC paid Lynch a lump sum and then she paid out the director, actors, stage workers, props, etc.) and later, she was simply not interested in moving to California. Overall, I think she was tired of the demanding schedule and was glad to be one of the last live sitcoms.

By: David

David — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 17:56:37 +0000

This is a fascinating story. Very well written with fantastic anecdotes. Great post! Makes me like Chex even more!

By: Cynthia Meyers

Cynthia Meyers — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 15:58:43 +0000

Great post! This story about Peg Lynch’s descent into relative obscurity brings up issues about canons and popular memory and the role of scholarship in shaping both of those. Now I want to know more! Did the fact that the program was kinescoped instead of filmed affect its potential syndication market? Did lack of syndication distribution then contribute to its obscurity? Did Lynch ever consider filming the show? Was that ever an option? Or was she perhaps just used to “live” and unwilling to work in different format? Or do you think there were other factors involved? Thanks for sharing Lynch’s fascinating story.