Johnny Carson's New Year's Eve Monologue 12-31-1987

NY Times Bestseller List - NonFiction (12/29/2013)

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Nonfiction 

Week Ending December 29th 2013

10 - Si-Cology 1 - Si Robertson and Mark Schlabach
(15 weeks on list)

9  -  Let Me Off At The Top - Ron Burgundy
(4 weeks on list)
A "memoir" in the voice of Will Ferrell's anchorman character.

8  -  I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai
(10 weeks on list)

7  -  Humans of New York - Brandon Stanton
(9 weeks on list)

6  -  Miracles and Massacres - Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe and Hannah Beck
(4 weeks on list)

5  -  The Bully Pulpit - Doris Kearns Goodwin
(6 weeks on list)

4  -  David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell
(11 weeks on list)

3  -  George Washington's Secret Six - Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger
(6 weeks on list)

2  -  Killing Jesus - Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
(12 weeks on list)

1  -  Things That Matter - Charles Krauthammer
(8 weeks on list)
Three decades worth of essays from the conservative columnist

NY Times Bestseller List - Fiction (12/29/2013)

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Fiction

Week Ending December 29th 2013

10 - King and Maxwell - David Baldacci 
(4 weeks on list)

9  -  Innocence - Dean Koontz
(Debut)
A grotesque man living in exile beneath the city encounters a teenage girl hiding from dangerous enemies.

8  -  Takedown Twenty - Janet Evanovich
(4 weeks on list)

7  -  The Gods of Guilt - Michael Connelly
(2 weeks on list)
Mickey Haller, a.k.a. the Lincoln lawyer, defends a "digital pimp" accused of murder. Outside the courtroom, he confronts killers, crooked cops and an angry daughter.

6  -  Cross My Heart - James Patterson
(3 weeks on list)

5  -  Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
(12 weeks on list)

4  -  The Goldfinch - Donna Tarrt
(8 weeks on list)

3  -  Command Authority - Tom Clancy w/Mark Greaney
(2 weeks on list)  (last weeks #1)
President Jack Ryan and his son, a covert intelligence expert, try to counter a Russian threat in Tom Clancy's last novel before his death.

2  -  The First Phone Call From Heaven - Mitch Albom
(5 week on list)

1  -  Sycamore Row - John Grisham
(8 weeks on list)
A sequel, about race and inheritance, to "A Time To Kill". 

1963 SPG Awards

from left to right

Georgie Jessel, Rosalind  Russell, Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Dean Martin 

and Danny Kaye

These legends gather around Irving Berlin at the piano in Beverly Hilton in 1963 at the Screen Producers Guild Awards.

Billboard Japan Hot 100: 2013 Year-End Chart

Billboard Japan

2013 Top 100 Songs

Golden Age of Radio - Christmas

Here are some selected Christmas episodes from the great radio classics, The Great Gildersleeve, Fibber McGee and Molly, Jack Benny, Duffy's Tavern, Red Skelton, Bing Crosby, Dragnet, Martin and Lewis, Bob Hope and we finish it off with a version of "A Christmas Carol" from CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Enjoy the fun and please visit my friend Buck Benny at his OTR podcast 

A Jack Benny Christmas

A few classic Christmas episodes from The Jack Benny Show on radio.  Some years Jack had 2 "Christmas episodes" I have included both from 1943.

Thank you to OTR Halloweenholidaze on Youtube and Buck Benny and his podcast

Goodbye Candlestick Park. Finally.

This is just funny and true.

The Parrot Sketch

Golden Age of Radio Christmas - Fibber McGee and Molly

Today we have 5 classic episodes of Fibber McGee and Molly Christmas shows from the War Years

We start off with the first episode after the Pearl Harbor attack that led to the US entry into WWII.  This is a good and sometimes poignant show with comments on the events that fateful December

These shows take us through the end of the war and back to peacetime as the country is trying to resume normal non wartime activities.

The Golden Age of Radio Christmas - Gunsmoke

From the first season of Gunsmoke 

thanks to Bob Camardella and his Boxcars 711 OTR Podcast

A Christmas Story

Season 1 episode 34

originally aired 12/20/1952

Japan Billboard Top 30 Singles (12/16/2013)

Billboard Japan

Top 30 Song

Week of December 16th 2013

NY Times Best Seller List - NonFiction 12/15/2013

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback NonFiction

Week Ending December 15th 2013

10 - My Promised Land - Ari Shavit
(2 weeks on list)
An Israeli journalist expresses both solidarity with and criticism of his countrymen in this memoir and history.

9  -  Si-Cology 1 - Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach
(13 weeks on list)

8  -  I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai
(8 weeks on list)

7  -  Humans of New York - Brandon Stanton
(7 weeks on list)

6  -  The Bully Pulpit - Doris Kearns Goodwin
(4 weeks on list)

5  -  Miracles and Massacres - Glenn Beck/Kevin Balfe/Hannah Beck
(2 weeks on list)
Little Known stories from American history

4 -  George Washington's Secret Six - Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager
(4 weeks on list)

3  -  Killing Jesus - Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
(10 weeks on list)

2  -  David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell
(9 weeks on list)

1  -  Things That Matter - Charles Krauthammer 
(6 weeks on list) (4th consecutive week at #1)
Three decades worth of essays from the conservative columnist.

NY Times Bestseller List - Fiction (12/15/2013)

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Fiction

Week Ending December 15th 2013

10 - The Supreme Macaroni Company - Adriana Trigiani
(Debut)
Tensions arise when Valentine Roncalli, a Greenwich Village shoe designer, marries a handsome Italian, and the two must balance careers, countries and families.  The final book in the Valentine trilogy.

9  -  The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
(11 weeks on list)

8 -  The Goldfinch - Donna Tart
(6 weeks on list)

7  -  S. - Doug Dorst 
(5 weeks list)

6  -  Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
(10 weeks on list)

5  -  King and Maxwell - David Baldacci
(2 wees on list)

4  -  The First Phone Call From Heaven - Mitch Albom
(3 weeks on list)

3  -  Takedown Twenty - Janet Evanovich
(2 weeks on list) (#1 last week)

2  -  Sycamore Row - John Grisham
(6 weeks on list)

1  -  Cross My Heart - James Patterson
(DEBUT)
Alex Cross's family is threatened by a genius intent on proving that he is the greatest mind in the history of crime.

51st Academy Awards - Best Original Song

The Winner for Best Original Song at the 51st Academy Awards ceremony, held Monday April 9th 1979

Last Dance - Donna Summer

from the original motion picture soundtrack of "Thank God It's Friday"

Japan Billboard Hot 100 - Top 30 (12/09/2013)

Top 30 Songs

December 9th 2013

Billboard Korea K-POP Top 50 (12/04/2013)

Academy of Country Music Awards - 1981

George Jones with his ACM Awards for 1980

Song of the Year, Single of the Year and Top Male Vocalist 

The winning Song and Single of the Year has been called the ultimate country song and also won the Country Music Association Song of the Year for 1980 and 1981.  George also won the CMA Male Vocalist of the Year for 1980 and 1981.

He Stopped Loving Her Today
(Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam)

NY Times Bestseller List - Fiction 12/01/2013

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Fiction

Week Ending December 1st 2013

10 - The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion - Fannie Flagg
(2 weeks on list)

9  -  Mirage - Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul
(2 weeks on list)

8  -  The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
(9 weeks on list)

7 -  The Valley of Amazement - Amy Tan
(2 weeks on list)

6  -  Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
(8 weeks on list)

5  -  The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
(4 weeks on list)

4  -  White Fire - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
(Debut)
Special agent Pendergast discovers that the killing of several miners 150 years ago my be related to deadly arson attacks at a Colorado ski resort.

3  -  Dust - Patricia Cornwell
(Debut)
The murder of a computer engineer at M.I.T. leads the Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta in unexpected directions.

2  -  Sycamore Row - John Grisham
(4 weeks on list) (3 at #1)

1  -  The First Phone Call From Heaven - Mitch Albom
(DEBUT)
A small Michigan town is transformed when its residents receive phone calls said to be from Heaven.

Japan Billboard Hot 100 - Top 20 (2013/11/25)

Gunsmoke on Radio and Television

Time for this week's double dose of Gunsmoke.  As always its the radio version followed up by the television version of the same episode.
This week we see the basic idea of the radio episode used on tv but the writers (Endre Bohem and Louis Vittes) took the John Meston's original storyline in a different direction and substituted different characters as the protagonist.  The did work in Miss Kitty to be rescued and only the bad guy dies such were the changes beginning on Gunsmoke's tv version.
The radio episode features legendary voice actor Ralph Moody as "Tobiel" the Indian.

Another big thank you to Buck Benny and his tremendous podcast that helps bring you this radio treat every week.  Follow him and hear all the classic radio shows Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Suspense, Phil Harris, Bing Crosby and many more surprises each week. 
 Click here for Buck Benny

Kick Me

originally aired November 28th 1953

Season 2 episode 12

CBS Radio

Kick Me

Originally aired January 26th 1957

Season 2 episode 18

CBS Television

Billboard Korea K-POP Top50 11/20/2013

Gunsmoke on Radio and TV (Custer)

This time we hear and see the episode from Gunsmoke :

Custer

Originally aired November 21st 1953

Season 2

Episode 11

CBS Radio

Custer

Originally Aired September 22nd 1956

Season 2

Episode 3

CBS Television

NY Times Bestseller List - Nonfiction 11/17/2013

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Non Fiction

Week Ending November 17th 2013

10 - History Decoded - Brad Meltzer
(2 weeks on list)
Ten historical mysteries based on the History Channel show "Brad Meltzer's Decoded".

9  -  Si-Cology 1 - Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach
(9 weeks on list)

8  -  The Reason I Jump - Naoki Higashida
(6 weeks on list)

7  -  Johnny Carson - Henry Bushkin
(3 weeks on list)

6  -  40 Chances - Howard G. Buffett and Howard W. Buffett
(2 weeks on list)
What Warren Buffett's son and grandson have learned in their efforts to feed the hungry.

5  -  I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai
(4 weeks on list)

4  -  The Death of Santini - Pat Conroy
(Debut)
In this memoir, Conroy mourns the abusive father on whom "The Great Santini" was based

3  -  David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell
(5 weeks on list)

2  -  Things That Matter - Charles Krauthammer
(2 weeks on list)
Three decades' worth of essays from the conservative columnist.

1  -  Killing Jesus - Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
(6 weeks on list)
The host of "The O'Reilly Factor" recounts the events leading up to Jesus' exececution.

Top 20 Network Nielsen Ratings - 11/17/2013

Nielsen Prime Time Network Ratings

Top 20 

Week Ending November 17th 2013

1 - Sunday Night Football (Broncos vs Chiefs)  NBC
2 - NCIS   CBS
3 - The Big Bang Theory  CBS
4 - The OT   FOX
5 - NCIS: Los Angeles  CBS
6 - Football Night in America  NBC
7 - Person of Interest   CBS
8 - Dancing with the Stars   ABC
9 - The Voice  (Monday)  NBC
10 - 60 Minutes   CBS
11 - Blue Bloods  CBS
12 - The Voice (Tuesday) NBC
13 - Criminal Minds   CBS
14 - The Millers   CBS
15 - Modern Family   ABC
16 - The Blacklist   NBC
17 - CSI   CBS
18 - Castle   ABC
19 - Hawaii Five-O   CBS
20 - Survivor   CBS

NY Times Bestseller List - Fiction 11/17/2013

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Fiction

Week Ending November 17th 2013

10 - Identical - Scott  Turow
(3 weeks on list)

9  -  We Are Water - Wally Lamb
(2 weeks on list)

8  -  S - Doug Dorst
(Debut)
In a project conceived by the writer and director J.J. Abrams, the facsimile of a novel published in 1949 contains marginal annotations, postcards, newspaper clippings and other objects.  Two of the annotators are students who flirt and spar and begin to decode the novels mystery.

7  -  Accused - Lisa Scottoline
(Debut)
Mary DiNunzio is now a partner at the all-women Philadelphia law firm of Rosato and Associates.

6  -  The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
(7 weeks on list)

5  -  Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
(6 weeks on list)

4  -  Winners - Danielle Steel
(Debut)
Six people with intertwined lives, among them an aspiring Olympic skier who is gravely injured, struggle to surmount challenges.

3  -  The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
(2 weeks on list)

2  -  After Dead - Charlaine Harris
(Debut)
A coda to the Sookie Stackhouse novels that inspired "True Blood".

1  -  Sycamore Row - John Grisham
(2 weeks on list) (2nd consecutive week at #1)

Billboard Korea K-POP Top50 11/13/2013

NY Times Bestseller List - Hardback Fiction 11/10/2013

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Fiction

Week Ending November 10th 2013

10 - Just One Evil Act - Elizabeth George
(2 weeks on list)
In the 18th Inspector Lynley novel, Lynley's partner Barbara Havers searchs for a friend's kidnapped child in Italy.

9  -  Bridget Jones : Mad About the Boy - Helen Fielding
(2 weeks on list)
Bridget, now 51 and a mother and widow, is once again looking for love.

8  -  Gone - James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
(4 weeks on list)

7  -  Storm Front - John Sanford
(3 weeks on list)

6  -  Identical - Scott Turow
(2 weeks on list)
Paul Giannis running for mayor of Kindle County, is accused of having played a role in the murder of his identical twin brother's girlfriend - for which his brother, Cass, has already served time.

5  -  The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
(6 weeks on list)

4  -  We Are Water - Wally Lamb
(Debut)
About to marry the woman who is her gallery owner, a divorced artist and mother must confront secrets from her past.

3  -  Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
(5 weeks on list) (Last week's #1)

2  -  The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
(Debut)
A painting smuggled out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art after a bombing becomes a boy's prized, guilt and burden.

1  -  Sycamore Row - John Grisham
(DEBUT)
A sequel, about race and inheritance, to "A Time to Kill".  

Gunsmoke on Radio and Television

Tonight we again visit Dodge City 

Today:

(and yes they used this title twice)

How To Kill a Woman

aired 10/31/1953

Season 2  episode 6

CBS Radio

How To Kill a Woman

aired 11/30/1957

Season 3 episode 12

CBS Television

(This was Gunsmoke's first of 4 consecutive seasons as the #1 show on prime time network TV)

In Case You Missed It

Yesterday was the 152nd running of the Melbourne Cup, in Melbourne Australia.  The annual race held the first Tuesday in November and was made worldwide famous by the movie/horse Phar Lap.

This year's race saw the favorite Fiorente, with jockey Damien Oliver, outrun 23 other contenders to win the coveted Melbourne Cup.

The UK Official Chart - Top 50 Songs (11/02/2013)

UK Official Chart

Top 50 Songs

Week Ending November 2nd 2013

Nielsen Prime Time Network TV Ratings

The Nielsen Prime Time Network TV Ratings 

Week ending October 27th 2013

The Top 20 in Total Viewship

1 - NCIS   CBS

2 - The Big Bang Theory  CBS

3 - Sunday Night Football   NBC

4 - The World Series : Game 4   FOX

5 - The OT   FOX

6 - NCIS: Los Angeles   CBS

7 - The World Series : Game 1  FOX

8 - The Voice  (Monday)  NBC

9 - The World Series : Game 2  FOX

10 - Dancing with the Stars   ABC

11 - Person of Interest  CBS

12 - The Voice (Tuesday)  NBC

13 - The World Series : Game 3  FOX

14 - Criminal Minds   CBS

15 - Blue Bloods   CBS

16 - The Millers   CBS

17 - Castle   ABC

18 - CSI   CBS

19 - Blacklist  NBC

20 - Modern Family  ABC

The Golden Age of Radio - Halloween #5

Suspense
November 1st 1945
The Dunwhich Horror
Starring Ronald Coleman
An HP Lovecraft story, considered one of the "core stories" of the Cthulhu Mythos.



Inner Sanctum
October 30th 1945
The Man Who Couldn't Die



Suspense
December 5th 1946
The House in Cypress Canyon
Starring Robert Taylor and Cathy Lewis

NY Times Bestseller List - NonFiction (10/27/2013)

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Non Fiction

Week Ending October 27th 2013

10 - Zealot - Reza Aslan
(13 weeks on list)

9  -  Tip and The Gipper - Chris Matthews
(2 weeks on list)

8  -  Lean In - Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell
(31 weeks on list)

7  -  One  Summer - Bill Bryson
(2 weeks on list)

6  -  Si - Cology 1 - Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach
(6 weeks on list)

5  -  My Story - Elizabeth Smart with Chris Stewart
(Debut)
A woman kidnapped by religious fanatics from her Utah home in 2002 at age 14 describes her captivity and rescue nine months later.

4  -  I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb
(Debut) 
The experience of the Pakistani girl who advocated for women's education as was shot by the Taliban.

3  -  The Reason I Jump - Naoki Higashida 
(3 weeks on list)

2  -  David and Goliath - Malcolm Galdwell
(2 weeks on list)

1  -  Killing Jesus - Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
(3 weeks on list and at #1)

NY Times Bestseller List - Fiction (10/27/2013)

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Fiction

Week Ending October 27th 2013

10 - The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri
(3 weeks on list)

9  - The Signature of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert
(2 weeks on list)
A 19th century botanist's love of knowledge takes her to Tahiti.

8  -  Doing Hard Time - Stuart Woods
(Debut)
In the 27th Stone Barrington novel, the New York lawyer teams up with a rogue former CIA agent and heads west to protect Barrington's son and his friends from Russian assassins.

7  -  The Circle - Dave Eggers
(Debut)
A dystopian novel about life on the campus of a powerful Internet company.

6  -  Starry Night - Debbie Macomber
(Debut)
At Christmastime, a big-city columnist sets out to interview a reclusive author in Alaska.

5  -  Dog Songs - Mary Oliver
(Debut)
The dogs who have shared the life of the Pulitzer Prize winning poet, in 35 poems and an essay.

4  -  Gone - James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
(2 Weeks on list)
Detective Michael Bennett, living with his 10 adopted children on a California fame is pursued by the head of a Mexican drug cartel he once put in jail.

3  - The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
(4 weeks on list)

2  - Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
(3 weeks on list) (2 consecutive weeks at #1)

1  - Storm Front - John Sanford
(DEBUT)
The Minnesota investigator Virgil Flowers becomes involved in the hunt for an ancient inscribed stone smuggled out of the Middle East.

28th Grammy Awards

The 28th annual Grammy Awards, held February 25th 1986.  Celebrating the music of 1985

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male

Boys of Summer

Don Henley

(reached #5 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the UK Official Chart)

Golden Age of Radio - Halloween #4 (Jack Benny)

Welcome to another installment of Halloween OTR style.   

This time we see how the legend Jack Benny celebrated Halloween.

Golden Age of Radio - Halloween #3

Today our Halloween show is from Summerfield and The Great Gildersleeve

Great Gildersleeve Halloween Party

Originally aired 10/29/1947

NBC Radio

The 10

Ten Awe Inspiring Man Made Wonders

Flashback - Cashbox Top 40 Singles Chart (07/19/1980)

Cashbox Singles Chart

Top 40

Week  Ending July 9th 1980

The Great Radio Comedians - PBS

This PBS special from 1972 looks at the great radio comedians including Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Edgar Bergen, Fibber McGee and Molly and more.
Enjoy this tremendous show with interviews with George Burns, Jim Jordan (Fibber McGee), Jack Benny and the cast of Allen's Alley all done just a few years before we would see most of the pass.

NY Times Bestseller List (Non Fiction) 10/13/2013

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Non Fiction

Week Ending October 13th 2013

10 - Command and Control - Eric Schlosser
(Debut)
Accidents and near misses in the management of America's nuclear arsenal.

9  -  Simple Dreams - Linda Ronstadt
(2 weeks on list)

8  -  Empty Mansions - Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.
(3 weeks on list)

7  -  Happy, Happy, Happy - Phil Robertson and Mark Schlabach
(21 weeks on list)

6  -  The Liberty Amendments - Mark Levin
(7 weeks on list)

5  -  Lean In - Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell
(29 weeks on list)

4  -  Still Foolin'em - Billy Crystal
(3 weeks on list)

3  -  Zealot - Reza Aslan
(11 weeks on list)

2  -  Si-Cology 1 - Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach
(4 weeks on list)

1  -  Killing Jesus - Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
(DEBUT)
Jesus' life and times, and the events leading up to execution.

The Golden Age of Radio - Halloween #2 (Double Feature)

Tonight we visit 2 different shows with Boris Karloff as guest, from 1945.

First up is "Duffy's Tavern" from January 12th 1945.

Archie tries to enlist Boris Karloff to be in his horror play.

The second show of our double feature is "The Fred Allen Show".

First up is a visit to Allen's Alley, then Fred goes looking for an apartment and meets Boris Karloff who is looking to rent his house.

Airing November 8th 1945

NY Times Bestseller List - Fiction (10/13/2013)

New York Times Bestseller List

Hardback Fiction

Week Ending October 13th 2013

10 - Inferno - Dan Brown
(20 weeks on list)

9  -  The Final Cut - Catherine Coulter
(2 weeks on list)

8  -  Thankless in Death - J.D. Robb
(2 weeks on list)

7  -  Deadline - Sandra Brown
(Debut)
A journalist who pursues a story about a former marine, the son of terrorists from 40 years ago, becomes a suspect in the death of his ex-wife.

6  -  W is for Wasted - Sue Grafton
(3 weeks on list)

5  -  Never Go Back - Lee  Child
(4 weeks on list)

4  -  The Quest - Nelson DeMille
(2 weeks on list)

3  -  The Lowland - Jhumpa Lhairi
(Debut)
After his radical brother is killed, an Indian scientist brings his widow to join him in America.

2  -  The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
(2 weeks on list) (last week at #1)

1  -  Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
(DEBUT)
Now grown up, Dan, the boy with psycho-intuitive powers in "The Shining", helps another threatened child with a spectacular gift.