| Show Name: | The Charlotte Greenwood Show |
| Other Names: | The Hallmark Charlotte Greenwood Show |
| Format: | Situation Comedy |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Syndicates: | NBC ABC |
| Starring: | Charlotte Greenwood |
| Announcer: | Wendell Niles |
| Producer: | John Guedel Thomas Freebairn Smith Arnold McGuire |
| First Aired: | June 13, 1944 |
| Last Aired: | January 6, 1946 |
| Sponsor: | Pepsodent (1944) Hallmark Cards (1945–46) |
The Charlotte Greenwood Show was a radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States, on NBC from June 13 to September 5, 1944, and on ABC from October 15, 1944 to January 6, 1946.[1]
The program began as a summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show.[2] Newspaper columnist Hedda Hopper reported, "The interesting thing is that she (Charlotte Greenwood) got the job on a couple of scripts written by her husband, Martin Broones, who's never before written for radio."[3] [4]
The 1944 version of the show had Greenwood, playing herself, working as a cub reporter in a small newspaper as research in preparation for a future film role. When the program resurfaced in 1945, Greenwood's character had the responsibility of raising three children, teenagers Jack and Barbara and little Robert[1] after her good friend died, making her executor of the estate. The setting was the fictional town of "Lakeview".[5]
An old time radio reference commented that Greenwood's character "managed to be single, moral, and peppy."[6]
The main characters of the latter program and the actors portraying them are shown in the table below.[1] [5]
| Character | Actor/actress | |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Barton | Cliff Carpenter,[7] Edward Ryan | |
| Barbara Barton | Janet Waldo, Betty Moran | |
| Robert Barton | Dix Davis, Bobby Larson | |
| Judge Cronin | Charles Cantor | |
| William Anderson | John Brown | |
| Mr. Reynolds | Edward Arnold |
Others in the cast were Shirley Mitchell, Arthur Q. Bryan, Harry Bartell and Will Wright.[1] Wendell Niles was the announcer.[8] The writers included Jack Hasty, Don Johnson,[5] Ray Singer, and Phil Leslie. The producers included Arnold McGuire.[9]