Procrastination and Being Late Collection in Old Time Radio

 

We wanted to write this blog post for a long time, but we kept putting it off.

Procrastination is often the reason we are late to get things one, but sometimes we are late for reasons which are beyond our control. Simply being late has led to some interesting situations in the plot of the episode, but keep in mind that many of the broadcasts during the Golden Age of Radio were broadcast live, so being late was a real possibility which happened on many occasions. Fred Allen, who was in seemingly constant warfare with the network and his sponsors anyway, was notorious for allowing his show to run over its allotted time slot. This happens on live programs because of the actor's timing or because the studio audience laughs longer than the writer and director expected. Sometimes the actors and director can pick up the pace, or the program might be allowed to run a few seconds over, but in Fred's case, given his reputation with the network, when it was time to ring the NBC Chimes, he would be cut off.

Fred Allen was not the only comic whose show ran long. His supposed nemesis, Jack Benny, had the problem on several occasions while working for Lucky Strikes. In Jack's defense, the LSMFT auctioneers and spokesmen packed a lot of advertising into the episodes with less skill than General Foods used during the Jell-O days. Other factors could lead to lateness, like the time guest Bob Hope was late even though Jack was broadcasting from Bob's Palm Springs stomping grounds.

Liz is always late on My Favorite Husband and George tries to get her to budget her time, anyone who would try that with actress Lucille Ball is braver than most. The troops on Fort Laramie have trouble when the Army paymaster is four months late on his rounds. A lost dog causes the Ivy's to be late for an important dinner on The Halls of Ivy.

Procrastination turns out to be a big problem for teenagers in Old Time Radio. Both Henry Aldrich and Archie Andrews find it far too easy to put off their homework. Even when it is time for a date, Archie finds that with Jughead's help, the earlier he tries to be, the more behind he gets.