For almost as long as there has been broadcasting, there has been commercial sponsorship. But from the 1930s through the 1960s sponsors had an unusual amount of power because, through advertising agencies, they owned entire blocks of time on the program schedule and produced their own shows. In this episode we look at a few examples of sponsor power run amok, resulting in complications that were sometimes dangerous, sometimes just silly. Along the way we will sample clips from "The Jack Benny Program," "The Flintstones," "I Love Lucy," "Playhouse 90," "The $64,000 Question" and "30 Rock," among others.
Life According to "Hey, Arnold!"
It's the "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" Halloween Special!
Elvis Presley -- Year One
When Louis Met Dolly
The World Accordion to Lawrence Welk
What We Watched: Cartoons and Kids' Shows
Orson Welles's Radio Days
A Short, Unhappy "Life with Lucy"
Raymond Burr's Secrets and Lies
Variations on a Theme Song (1966 Edition)
Silverman's Travels
What We Laughed At
Sid Caesar and His Demons
The Miracle of "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Sonny and Cher's Long, Strange TV Trip
Seven and a Half Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
The Marlon Brando-Wally Cox Connection
What We Saw at the Movies
A Very Short History of TV Shows with Very Short Histories
The 1960s: What We Listened To
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