rand's esoteric otr

My Son Jeep - April 26, 1953

Wrapping up our short run of this rare early 50s sitcom, we drop in for the last time on the Allison Family of Grove Falls. This week, we listen to the broadcast of April 26, 1953, where Jeep is sent some money for opening a bank account by an aunt.  Of course, Jeep starts thinking about things like compound interest, access to his money, and all the things he can do with ten dollars and winds up turning Doctor. Allison's office into a bank.

This episode of "My Son Jeep" appears to already be in circulation, but this mp3 has been taken directly from a set of NBC reference acetates. I still haven't heard any episodes of the 15 minute version of "My Son Jeep" that was broadcast a couple of years later on CBS and I haven't run into any episodes of the television version that ran concurrently with the NBC series. I find it curious that not more episodes of this series have cropped up, since it was broadcast on AFRS.  Perhaps more will come out of the woodwork eventually.

My Son Jeep - Pgm 7

This week, our next to last episode of the rare 1950s radio sitcom, "My Son Jeep". Program 7, as broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Service, deals with Jeep seeing an ad for a physique building course, sort of like one of those Charles Atlas ads in the comic books, and deciding he's going to become a bodybuilder.  The program was originally broadcast on NBC, probably around March, 1953; it appears to be a "lost" episode of the series.

The show is interesting for a look at the popular stereotypes of bodybuilders at the time, which associated them more with circus strongmen than the modern conception we have today of someone like Steve Reeves or Arnold Schwarzenegger. Our mp3 was transferred directly from an original set of vinyl AFRS transcriptions.  I've got one more show in the series due up next week from an original NBC reference acetate.

My Son Jeep - Pgm 6

Let's give another episode of "My Son Jeep" a spin.  This rare series was originally broadcast on NBC radio and television in the early 50s as a half-hour sitcom and would reappear in the mid-1950s on CBS in a 15 minute format.

Program 6, probably originally heard on NBC in March 1953, deals with Jeep's sister, Peggy, going out on her first date.  This appears to be a previously lost program and was directly transferred from an original set of AFRS vinyl transcriptions. I have a couple more shows in the series coming up in January.

My Son Jeep - Pgm 4

This week, we offer another in our series of episodes of the rare sitcom, "My Son Jeep".

As we drop in again on the Allison family this week, Jeep's worried because he's behind in all the good deeds he has to do in order to get his Cub Scout merit badge.  So, of course, he comes up with some schemes to get the good deads done post-haste!  The program was originally broadcast on NBC, probably in February or March, 1951 and repeated as program 4 in the series on the Armed Forces Radio Network. The mp3 was transferred from a set of original AFRS vinyl transcriptions and appears to be a previously "lost" episode of the series.

My Son Jeep - Pgm 2

Continuing our look at the rare early 50s sitcom, "My Son Jeep", we offer in this post episode 2 of the series as broadcast on AFRTS, probably originally heard on NBC on February 1, 1953.  Jeep has the measles and plots a way he can still play with his friends while being cooped up in the house.  The show stars Donald Cook and Martin Houston.

The program, which appears to have been previously lost and not in circulation, was transferred directly from an AFRTS vinyl transcription.

My Son Jeep - Pgm 1

"My Son Jeep" appears to be a "lost" series with perhaps only one episode floating around old time radio circles.  I hope to correct that with a half-dozen examples of the program in coming weeks.

The show is a lighthearted family comedy in the vein of radio's "Father Knows Best" about a widow, Doctor Robert Allison or "Pop", his mischievous ten year old son, "Jeep", and his 13 year old daughter, Peggy.  The series was originally broadcast on NBC radio and television in 1953 as a half-hour sitcom; it would return to radio on CBS in 1955-56 in a 15 minute format.  Donald Cook plays "Pop" and Martin Houston stars as "Jeep". This week, we present the first program of the series, originally broadcast January 25, 1953 on NBC.  In this episode, Jeep is smitten with a new substitute teacher at school, Mrs. Miller, eventually convincing Pop to hire her as an assistant in his office.  Of course, with Jeep things are never really that simple and Pop has to straighten out a mess before the happy ending.  The series is a good example of the 1950s trend towards more "Americana", "slice of life" comedy on radio and television and away from the "one liner" topical urban humor of shows like Jack Benny or Fred Allen. One distinctive feature of this disc is the collection of music cues at the end.  Often, AFRS would use a specially recorded version of the series theme song to fill out time at then of the show since the commercials were deleted.  "My Son Jeep" seems to have used a collection of library music cues rather than a specially recorded music, so AFRS just edited the cues together to fill out the time.  (Trust me, if you listen to all six shows I'll be posting, you'll get very familiar with them.) The show was transferred from a set of vinyl AFRS transcription in near mint condition.