Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show. Oct. 30, 1938

22 days ago
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This Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy (official title was The Chase & Sanborn Hour) played opposite of Orson Welles production of War Of The Worlds. The ratings of this show were way higher than Orson Welles show, until that night. Twelve minutes in this show, Edgar Bergen finished his 1st comedy routine of the show and then a singer went on to perform. A good portion of the audience only cared about the comedy and searched the dial to and wound up on the Welles broadcast. At that moment they heard an announcer describing a cylinder that landed in Grover Mills, NJ. This held their interest and they didn't switch back to Bergen/McCarthy Show. A few minutes later they heard the announcer saying " “Good heavens,” he declared, “something’s wriggling out of the shadow like a gray snake. Now here’s another and another one and another one. They look like tentacles to me … I can see the thing’s body now. It’s large, large as a bear. It glistens like wet leather. But that face, it… it … ladies and gentlemen, it’s indescribable. I can hardly force myself to keep looking at it, it’s so awful. The eyes are black and gleam like a serpent. The mouth is kind of V-shaped with saliva dripping from its rimless lips that seem to quiver and pulsate.” The audience heard screaming and "the remote transmission was lost." This portion of the audience never heard the announcer at the beginning of the Welles broadcast that the play was War of The Worlds. I uploaded the original War broadcast for your listening pleasure. Enjoy.

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