The comedy team of Burns and Allen consisting of George Burns and his wife,
Gracie Allen, worked together in vaudeville, films, and radio and television with
great success over four decades. The couple met in 1922 while performing at
the Hill Street Theater in Newark, New Jersey and were later married January 7,
1926 in Cleveland.      

Will Rogers

The Dodge Victory Hour, one of radio’s first variety shows, debuted on
NBC on Wednesday, January 4, 1928. The show starred Will Rogers
broadcasting from his home in Beverly Hills, Paul Whitman and his
orchestra from New York, Fred Stone in Chicago and Al Jolson who
was in New Orleans. It was a 47-station coast-to-coast program
sponsored by Dodge’s new Victory Six automobile. The show
reached an estimated audience of 35 million, the largest since
Charles Lindbergh’s return in 1927. The premiere was produced
at a cost of $67,600.

Paul Whitman

 
Al Jolson

William Bendix initially starred as the main character in the “Life of Riley”
radio program on the Blue Network, later known as ABC, from January 16,
1944 to June 8, 1945. Then it moved to NBC, where it was broadcast from September 8, 1945 to June 29, 1951.The show was adapted for television
on NBC and starred Jackie Gleason, Bendix’s movie contract prevented
him from appearing on the television version. It was only seen for a single
season from October 4, 1949 to March 28, 1950.

A second TV series ran for six seasons, from January 2, 1953 – May 23,
1958 and starred William Bendix. He was supported by Marjorie Reynolds, replacing both Paula Winslowe and Rosemary DeCamp, as wife Peg, Tom D’Andrea as schemer buddy Gillis, Gloria Blondell as Gillis’ wife, Honeybee, Lugene Sanders as daughter Babs, and Wesley Morgan as son Junior. This
Life of Riley series with Bendix, was a ratings hit, ranking at #16 in its first season, with four of its six seasons in the top 30, and ran for a total of 217
episodes. It then went into syndicated reruns.

On April 1, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed legislation officially banning
cigarette ads on television and radio. By the early 1970s, a  fight between the
tobacco lobby and public health interests began. Though the cigarette company’s continued to bombard unregulated print media with ads for cigarettes, tobacco companies lost the regulatory battle over television and radio.  

The last televised cigarette ad ran at 11:50 p.m. during The Johnny Carson Show
on Friday, January 1, 1971. Tobacco ads representing $20 million dollars in
advertising were then officially banned from TV and radio broadcast.  

Guy Madison and Andy Devine

The CBS radio western “The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok” featured movie star
Guy Madison as the lead, and film veteran Andy Devine as his sidekick Jingles. Both remained with the series for its entire run with the final episode airing on Friday, December 31,1954 . Kellogg’s was the sponsor of the show from start to finish. “The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok” was also on television (CBS/ABC) from 1951 to 1958
with the same cast as the radio show.