|
Bobby Benson's Adventures
Well, that's just the life orphan/ranch-heir Bobby Benson had when he galloped onto the radio scene on CBS in 1932. Sponsored initially by Hecker's Oats, Bobby's ranch o' fun was called the H-Bar-O. This name changed to the B-Bar-B when Hecker's dropped sponsorship, where it continued for a short while before being revived, under the Mutual network, as Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders in 1949. This second revival solidified Bobby as a radio hit - and he ran until 1955, outlasting the majority of dramatic kid's radio shows. But did you know that Bobby's lasso-swingin' horse-rustlin' world was created by radio director, writer, producer and actor Herbert C. Rice - an Englishman living, of all places, in Buffalo? The program debuted, with 11-year old Richard Wanamaker in the title role, to astounding success. His enviable adventures, coupled with premiums such as code books, badges, buttons, photos and more, had kids going absolutely wild for their Western boy-hero. After the first season ended, the show's popularity demanded that it move to New York City - and Wanamaker was replaced by Dead-End Kid Billy Halop. In fact, Halop's sister even won the role of Bobby's best cowgal pal Polly. New characters were added, older ones were phased out, and Halop became a star. The show lasted until 1936, but little did anyone know that, more than a decade later, it would be making a huge comeback. It happened like this: Rice, who by 1949 was a Vice President with the Mutual Network, was nostalgic for the show and decided it had to go back on the air. He held auditions and renamed the ranch, and the show re-debuted with a cast that included famous TV star Don Knotts. A series of comic books, merchandise galore, two television programs and hundreds of both national and international appearances by Bobby made the years from 1949 - 1955 very good to the gang at the B-Bar-B ranch. Yee-ha!
|
|||||||||||||||
