| Other names | The Linit Bath Club Revue The Salad Bowl Revue The Sal Hepatica Revue The Hour of Smiles Town Hall Tonight Texaco Star Theatre with Fred Allen |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Running time | 30 minutes (1932–1934; 1942–1949) 60 minutes (1934–1942) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Syndicates | CBS NBC |
| Starring | Fred Allen Portland Hoffa Minerva Pious Parker Fennelly Jack Smart Alan Reed John Brown Charlie Cantor (full list below) |
| Announcer | Ken Roberts Edmund Ruffner Harry Von Zell Arthur Godfrey Jimmy Wallington Kenny Delmar |
| Produced by | Roger White Pat Weaver Vick Knight Howard Reilly |
| Original release | October 23, 1932 – June 26, 1949 |
| Opening theme | Oh, Mr. Allen? |
| Other themes | Smiles |
| Ending theme | Darn Ya, Smile |
| Sponsored by | Linit Bath Soap Hellmann's Mayonnaise Ipana Sal Hepatica Texaco Tenderleaf Tea Ford Motor Company |
The Fred Allen Show was a long-running American radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's, Ipana, Sal Hepatica, Texaco and Tenderleaf Tea. The program ended in 1949 under the sponsorship of the Ford Motor Company.[1]
The most popular period of the program was the few years of sponsorship under The Texas Company. During this time, the program was known as Texaco Star Theatre with Fred Allen. On the December 6, 1942 episode of the program, Allen premiered his first in a series of segments known as "Allen's Alley". The segments would have Allen strolling through an imaginary neighborhood, knocking on the "doors" of various neighbors, including average-American John Doe (played by John Brown), Mrs. Nussbaum (Minerva Pious), pompous poet Falstaff Openshaw (Alan Reed), Titus Moody (Parker Fennelly), and boisterous Southern senator Beauregard Claghorn (announcer Kenny Delmar).[2] Texaco ended its sponsorship of the program in 1944.
Some prominent guest stars on Allen's program over the years included Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles, Roy Rogers, Bela Lugosi, Ed Gardner, Norman Corwin and Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy.[3]