Archival Dispatch: August 23 Calendar Walk — Gangbusters, Chet Chetter, and Frank Merriwell Serial
Date:
Author: radio index
Reading: 4 min
Tags: August 23, Calendar Walk, Gangbusters, Phillips H Lord, Norman Schwarzkopf, Tydol Gasoline, Safe Cracking, Charlestown Prison Siege, Police Blotter, Chet Chetter, Meat Loaf, Thomas Lopez, ZBS, Serial, Frank Merriwell, Gilbert Patten, Mel Allen, Uranium Mine, Alternate Titles, Original Filenames
August 23 Exhaustive Archival Metadata Enrichment (Increment 07)
This archival dispatch documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, serial multi-part narrative structures, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 23 across American network, syndication, and public broadcasting history (1947–1992):
1. August 23 Archival Inventory (Increment 07)
| Original Circulating Filename & Alternate Titles | Canonical Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gangbusters_1947_08_23.mp3 Alt: Masquerade Bandit, Tydol Gangbusters 1947 |
"The Case of the Masquerade Bandit (Tydol Gasoline)" | ABC (WJZ) 1947-08-23 9:00 PM EDT |
Tide Water Oil Tydol Gasoline & Veedol Oil |
Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf (Host), Ken Lynch, Don MacLaughlin | Phillips H. Lord (Creator & Director), Roger Krupp (Announcer) | ["True Crime", "Police", "Procedural", "Action", "Drama"] |
Colonel H. Norman Schwarzkopf presents the true case of a cunning bank robber who donned elaborate theatrical makeup and disguises to hold up armored payroll couriers across Ohio, evading local posses until state troopers traced his custom latex adhesives. |
Gangbusters_1952_08_23.mp3 Alt: Rheuark Williams Dyer, Four State Safe Crackers |
"The Case of Rheuark, Williams, Dyer, and Eaton (The Safe-Cracking Gang)" | CBS (WCBS) 1952-08-23 9:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining CBS Radio Crime Drama |
John Larkin (Narrator), Lawson Zerbe, Mandel Kramer, Frank Lovejoy | Phillips H. Lord (Director), Art Hannes (Announcer) | ["True Crime", "Police", "Procedural", "Action", "Drama"] |
Police detectives and FBI agents track a heavily armed quartet of escaped convicts and professional safe-crackers across four southern states, cornering the gang in a shootout at a rural mountain hideout. |
Gangbusters_1954_08_23.mp3 Alt: Charlestown Siege, Boston Prison Breakout |
"The Case of the Charlestown State Prison Siege" | Mutual (WOR) 1954-08-23 8:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Mutual Radio Series |
Bill Smith (Narrator), Larry Haines, Bob Dryden, Ralph Bell | Phillips H. Lord (Creator), Leonard Valenta (Director) | ["True Crime", "Police", "Procedural", "Action", "Drama"] |
A dramatization of the armed standoff at the historic Massachusetts State Prison in Charlestown, where four desperate inmates took prison guards hostage in the maximum-security wing, leading to a seventy-two-hour siege resolved by state police negotiators. |
Police_Blotter_1957_08_23.mp3 Alt: Midnight Jewelry Heist, Desk Sergeant Log |
"Police Blotter: The Midnight Skylight Jewelry Heist" | Mutual Syndication 1957-08-23 (Radio Vignette) |
Local Advertisers Commercial Co-op |
Sgt. Frank Reynolds (Desk Sergeant) | Mutual Radio Features, New York | ["True Crime", "Police", "Short", "Documentary"] |
The police desk sergeant reviews the midnight patrol logs, recounting how a rookie beat officer caught an armed burglar escaping through a jewelry store skylight after hearing the burglar trip a silent seismic alarm. |
Chet_Chetter_1992_08_23.mp3 Alt: 1-800-BigBang Part 2, Tales from Morgue Serial |
"1-800-BigBang (Part 2) — The Cosmic Telephone Hotline" | NPR / ZBS Syndication 1992-08-23 (ZBS Foundation) |
CPB / ZBS Corporation for Public Broadcasting |
Peter Coyote (Chet Chetter), Meat Loaf, Kirby Morrow | Meat Loaf & Thomas Lopez (Writers & Directors), Bob Bielecki (Sound) | ["Comedy", "Satire", "Mystery", "Serial", "Surrealism"] |
In Part 2 of the surreal mystery serial 1-800-BigBang, sardonic coroner Chet Chetter investigates a bizarre hotline that connects callers directly to catastrophic cosmic explosions, teaming with an eccentric demolition expert to trace the telephone switchboard before the universe implodes. |
Frank_Merriwell_1947_08_23.mp3 Alt: Secret of Mesa, Red Rock Mesa Gold Mine |
"The Secret of the Red Rock Mesa" | NBC (WNBC) 1947-08-23 10:00 AM EDT |
Sustaining NBC Youth Drama |
Lawson Zerbe (Frank Merriwell), Jean Gillespie, Harold Studer | Gilbert Patten (Creator), Ruth Adams Knight (Writer), Joe King (Director) | ["Children", "Adventure", "Western", "Sports", "Serial"] |
All-American Yale athlete and adventurer Frank Merriwell and sweetheart Inza Burrage travel into the New Mexico desert to investigate mysterious ghost sightings atop an ancient red rock mesa, exposing a team of unscrupulous prospectors mining stolen uranium ore. |
2. Archival Verification Summary
- Target Calendar Day: August 23
- Broadcasts Resolved This Increment: 6
- Cumulative Resolved on August 23: 42
- Target Repositories Synchronized:
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