Follow a Star · 1932–1949

Fred Allen

The wit the network kept cutting

Allen wrote his own material, hated the sponsors, and built Allen's Alley out of ordinary people talking nonsense with total conviction. The journey runs through his own programme and then across the feud with Benny — the joke the whole country was in on.

444 recordings across 3 chapters

Chapter 1 · 1932–1949

showing 40 of 416

The Fred Allen Show

Town Hall Tonight and what followed: topical, fast, and forever running long because Allen refused to cut his own script.

Linit Bath Club Revue (10) Mammoth Department Store
The Fred Allen Show · 1932 · 29 min
Series
Linit Bath Club Revue (12) Wide-Awake Detective Agency (cleaned)
The Fred Allen Show · 1933 · 15 min
Series
Court of Judge Allen, the
The Fred Allen Show · 1933 · 24 min
Series
Linit Bath Club Revue (14) Judge Allen's Court
The Fred Allen Show · 1933 · 25 min
Series
Salad Bowl Revue (4) Aching Hearts Matrimonial Agency
The Fred Allen Show · 1933 · 17 min
Series
Salad Bowl Revue (12) Inspector Allen Solves Spinach Problems
The Fred Allen Show · 1933 · 20 min
Series
Salad Bowl Revue (17) Dr Allen of the Bedlam Sanitorium
The Fred Allen Show · 1933 · 20 min
Series
Salad Bowl Revue (18) Final Program of the Salad Bowl Series
The Fred Allen Show · 1933 · 18 min
Series
Sal Hepatica Review (3) Bedlam University
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 17 min
Series
Sal Hepatica Review (4) Trustee's Meeting
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 15 min
Series
Sal Hepatica Review (5) Bedlam's Amusement Agency
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 14 min
Series
Sal Hepatica Review (6) Bedlam's Amusement Agency Revisited
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 16 min
Series
Sal Hepatica Review (7) Bedlam Penitentiary
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 16 min
Series
Sal Hepatica Review (8) Bedlam Penitentiary Revisited
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 17 min
Series
Sal Hepatica Review (10) Mechanical Robot
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 18 min
Series
Sal Hepatica Review (11) Sideshow
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 19 min
Series
Hour of Smiles (1) Judge Allen's Cut Rate Court
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 31 min
Series
Hour of Smiles (2) Stamping Out Crime (Incomplete)
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 23 min
Series
Hour of Smiles (3) Circus Has Arrived
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 25 min
Series
Hour of Smiles (4) Spring Has Arrived
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 26 min
Series
Hour of Smiles (5) To Buy or Not Buy a Toupee
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 24 min
Series
Hour of Smiles (6) Bedlam Department Store
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 26 min
Series
Hour of Smiles (7) Bedlamville Needs Funds
The Fred Allen Show · 1934 · 14 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (51) Last Show of the Season
The Fred Allen Show · 1935 · 59 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (52) Once an Amateur, Always an Amateur
The Fred Allen Show · 1935 · 59 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (54) Who Killed Kirk Reuben
The Fred Allen Show · 1935 · 59 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (57) The Wild Women of the Wilderness
The Fred Allen Show · 1935 · 59 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (60) Voopie on the Volga
The Fred Allen Show · 1935 · 57 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (61) Case of the Disappearing Elephant
The Fred Allen Show · 1935 · 55 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (62) Uncle Tom's Hot Spot
The Fred Allen Show · 1935 · 30 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (64) Department Store Santa
The Fred Allen Show · 1935 · 41 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (65) Murder at the Microphone
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 59 min
Series
Home on the Range
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 31 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (67) Home on the Range (pt 1 only - noisy)
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 30 min
Series
Mumbo, or Who Stole the Elephant From Billy Nose's Finale
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 58 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (68) Mumbo
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 58 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (69) Lord Falconbeak's Dilemma
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 59 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (70) Going, Going, Gone
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 59 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (72) The Fatal Shot
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 59 min
Series
Town Hall Tonight (74) Murder Backstage
The Fred Allen Show · 1936 · 59 min
Series

Hear the whole run →

Chapter 2 · 1936–1949

The other side of the feud

Benny's programme, in the weeks its own title names Allen. Heard next to the Allen broadcasts above, the timing of the whole stunt becomes visible.

Cinderallen
The Jack Benny Program · 1936 · 29 min
Series
JB Nightmares of Fred Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1937 · 29 min
Series
JB End of Fued with Fred Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1937 · 57 min
Series
Jack Benny Program 37-04-11 Guests Burns and Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1937 · 29 min
Series
JB Guests are George Burns & Gracie Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1937 · 29 min
Series
JB Guests - Fred Allen, Kate Smith
The Jack Benny Program · 1938 · 29 min
Series
Jack Challenges Fred Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1939 · 29 min
Series
Jack Talks About Lending Fred Allen Ten Dollars
The Jack Benny Program · 1942 · 29 min
Series
JB Talks about Lending $10 00 to Fred Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1942 · 28 min
Series
JB Jack Imitates Fred Allen House
The Jack Benny Program · 1942 · 27 min
Series
Host George Burns and Gracie Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1943 · 29 min
Series
Jack Resolves to Be Friends With Fred Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1944 · 29 min
Series
Guest Fred Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1946 · 30 min
Series
Allen's Alley
The Jack Benny Program · 1947 · 29 min
Series
JB (2 Eps) How Jack & Fred Allen Met
The Jack Benny Program · 1950 · 1h 8m
Series
JB Who is the Best Comedian - Benny or Allen
The Jack Benny Program · 1940 · 29 min
Series

Chapter 3 · 1942–1955

Guest turns

Variety spots, Treasury shows and wartime transcriptions whose titles name him.

Fred Allen, Henny Youngman, Gladys Swarthout
Command Performance · 1942 · 29 min
Series
Fred Allen, Kenny Baker
Command Performance · 1942 · 30 min
Series
Fred Allen, Ginny Simms, Benny Goodman
Command Performance · 1943 · 30 min
Series
Rudy Vallee, Fred Allen, Frank Sinatra, Gloria DeHaven
Mail Call · 1944 · 30 min
Series
Fred Allen, Rochester, Ginny Simms
Command Performance · 1944 · 30 min
Series
CP 1944-12-25 Christmas Special - Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Fred Allen
Guest Star · 1944 · 2h 0m
Series
CP 1946-04-21 Fred Allen, Ginny Simms, Jack Benny
Guest Star · 1946 · 30 min
Series
18 (4) Fred Allen, Kenny Baker
Command Performance · 1948 · 30 min
Series
20 (98) Fred Allen, Ginny Simms, Benny Goodman
Command Performance · 1948 · 30 min
Series
26 (135) Fred Allen, Rochester, Ginny Simms
Command Performance · 1948 · 30 min
Series
21 (218) Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Ginny Simms (partial repeat of 135)
Command Performance · 1948 · 29 min
Series
Frank Sinatra, Rudy Vallee, Fred Allen, Mary Livingstone (Assembled Program)
Mail Call · 1945 · 30 min
Series

Follow someone else

1932–1955

Jack Benny

The man who owned the pause

1937–1952

Orson Welles

Radio's first auteur

1948–1951

Lucille Ball

The sitcom, three years early

1937–1954

Agnes Moorehead

The finest actress radio had

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