Birds Eye Open House
starring Dinah Shore



By the mid-1940s, the big-time network radio musical variety program had settled into a standardized format: a weekly half hour, built around a prominent vocalist as central personality, supported by a straight man/announcer, perhaps a comedy stooge or two, a big string-heavy orchestra, and a regular rotation of Hollywood guest stars. And it would be difficult to come up with a more textbook example of the format at its most polished than "Birds Eye Open House".

The series was a star vehicle for Dinah Shore, the Tennessee-born pop vocalist who'd climbed steadily up the ladder since her network debut in the late 1930s. Shore blended a jazz-conscious approach to the pop hits of the day with a breezy, easy-to-take microphone personality that made her a sensation on radio and records -- and her sense for comedy, honed by an early apprenticeship with Eddie Cantor, helps her carry off the non-musical portions of each week's program. She's accompanied by announcer Harry Von Zell, a practiced foil who'd worked with her on the Cantor program, and the lush melodies of an orchestra conducted by Broadway melodist Robert Emmett Dolan.

But the real interest in the Birds Eye programs is in the guest stars, drawn from the top ranks of Hollywood comedy talent. No less a personality than Groucho Marx appears as a semi-regular on the show -- and while his characterization is somewhat muted by the demands of a scripted series, the programs offer a rare chance to hear the foremost Marx Brother experimenting within the framework of a wide assortment of sketch ideas and comic settings.

Best of all, these programs sound even better than they did when first broadcast. Expertly transferred from original KFI-Los Angeles transcription discs and restored for crystal-clear audio quality by Radio Archives, each episode of "Birds Eye Open House" offers a satisfying 30 minutes of top-notch entertainment.

Here is the complete content of this ten-hour collection:


Guest Groucho Marx
Thursday, April 19, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guests Fibber McGee & Molly
Thursday, May 3, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Frank Sinatra
Thursday, May 10, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Groucho Marx
Thursday, May 17, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Turhan Bey
Thursday, May 24, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Frank Morgan
Thursday, September 13, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guests Joseph Cotten and Bill Goodwin
Thursday, September 20, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guests Vera Vague and Cesar Romero
Thursday, September 27, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Jerry Colonna
Thursday, October 4, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Jack Carson
Thursday, October 18, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guests Hedda Hopper and Vera Vague
Thursday, October 25, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Rudy Vallee
Thursday, November 1, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Groucho Marx
Thursday, November 8, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Groucho Marx
Thursday, November 22, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Red Skelton
Thursday, December 13, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Charles Laughton
Thursday, January 3, 1946 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Groucho Marx
Thursday, January 10, 1946 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Gaines Dog Food

Guest Groucho Marx
Thursday, February 21, 1946 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Sateena

Guest Andy Russell
Thursday, March 28, 1946 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods

Guest Groucho Marx
Thursday, May 16, 1946 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Birds Eye Frosted Foods and Sateen