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This episode was originally released 07/2018.
In 1948 Jack Benny’s accountant discovered a tax loophole that allowed performers to incorporate as businesses, sell their show to the network as a business, and save hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax money as a result.
Benny brought his idea to David Sarnoff at NBC, who hesitated in making a deal. William S. Paley jumped and bought the Jack Benny Program for CBS.
Following Benny’s jump to CBS were Amos n” Andy, Bing Crosby, Burns & Allen, and Red Skelton, amongst others. It completely changed the balance of network power and oddly enough, left Fred Allen as the sole big Sunday night comedian remaining on NBC.
He was able to negotiate a better deal and for a short time in January of 1948 The Fred Allen Show was radio’s highest rated program with a rating of 28.7.
Then on March 21, 1948 a new show called Stop The Music debuted on a relatively new network, The American Broadcasting Company. The show played on audience greed. Listeners were called at home and given a musical question, which if they got correct, gave them a chance to win huge jackpots in prizes and savings bonds.
By July, Allen had fallen to 17th in the ratings.
It seemed that inevitably he’d fall. By the late 1940’s he’d found a battle he couldn’t win… against Television. The chore of producing a weekly radio program… something he called the Treadmill to Oblivion, was becoming too much.
The Fred Allen show drew to a close on June 26th, 1949. His final guests were comedians Henry Morgan and of course…Jack Benny.
In this skit, Henry Morgan needs to borrow $300 otherwise the Mohawk Loan Company will repossess all of his furniture. Fred takes him to Jack who’s vacationing in his own money vault, spending the summer counting his money to see if Jack will lend him the $300.
Fittingly, the show ran long, and the final Fred Allen Show was cut off on the air by NBC.
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Негізгі бет BW - EP81-008: Fred Allen, The Most Underrated Comedian In Radio History-Fred Quits His Radio Show
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