W2XBS Schedule, Week of July 16th, 1939

Here’s the schedule for NBC’s experimental station W2XBS in New York City for the week starting Sunday, July 16th, 1939, straight from television listings printed in The New York Times. It was a busy week, with plenty of variety acts (including a harpsichordist and three explorers), a pair of films, a play and a “light opera” entitled “Cox and Box” (it was also referred to as a Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta). Of special note is the Wednesday, July 19th afternoon broadcast that included an interview with comedians Abott and Costello, conducted by Broadway columnist George Ross.

Also, could the Norman Lloyd who appeared in an E.B. Ginty play on Tuesday, July 18th be this Norman Lloyd, actor/director/producer of St. Elsewhere, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and 7 Days fame?

Tuesday, July 18th, 1939
12:00-1:00PM – Nita Carl, singer; films; Yella Pessl, harpsichordist, and news.
8:30-9:30PM – Play, “Missouri Legend,” by E.B. Ginty, with Dean Jagger, Mildred Natwick, Richard Bishop, Mady Correll, Sam Byrd, Norman Lloyd, Frank Twedell, Harry M. Cooke, G. Pat Collins, Hans Robert and Herman Lieb.

Wednesday, July 19th, 1939
12:00-1:00PM – June Hynd and Mrs. Alexander S. Potts, discussing “Gifts for the Bride”; films; George Ross, Broadway columnist, with Abbot and Costello, comedians, and news.
8:30-10:00PM – Film, “The Wave,” a documentary on life in a Mexican fishing town.

Thursday, July 20th, 1939
12:00PM-1:00PM – Dennis Hoey, singer; films; Alice Maslin and Ray Twyeffort, discussing “How to Buy Your Husband’s Hat,” and news;
8:30-9:30PM – Light opera: “Cox and Box,” by Sir Arthur Sullivan, with Colin O’Moore, Steele Jamison and Walter Preston; also television debuts directed by Allen Prescott.

Friday, July 21st, 1939
12:00-1:00PM – Julio Martinez Oyanguren, guitarist; films; Glasgow and Birt, in “Piano and Paint,” and news.
8:30-9:30PM – Mildred Fenton, of “Leave It to Me,” in popular songs; fashion show; discussion by Sir Hubert Wilkins, Walter Granger and Vilhjalmur Stefansson, explorers.

Saturday, July 22nd, 1939
8:30-10:00PM – Film, “Peg of Old Drury,” with Anna Neagle.

Sources:

“Notes on Television.” New York Times. 16 Jul. 1939: 112.


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One Reply to “W2XBS Schedule, Week of July 16th, 1939”

  1. Yes, THE same Norman Lloyd. He started out on Broadway (and was one of Orson Welles’ original “Mercury Players”), and was often seen in experimental telecasts during this period. By 1942, he was in Hollywood appearing in Hitchcock’s “Saboteur” {as “Frye”}, his first film, and the beginnning of a LONG association with “the master of suspense”, including his services as associate [and later] producer of “ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS” and “THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR”.

    “Peg of Old Drury” was an obscure 1934 British film featuring Anna Neagle, one of England’s best-known actresses; as usual, the ONLY films NBC telecast on their experimental New York station between 1939 and ’42 were obscure B-movies {lotsa Westerns!} from “Poverty Row” studios, imported European films, old cartoons [particularly from the extinct Van Beuren studio], “industrial” and “commercial” shorts, and travelogues…NEVER a current or recent film from a major Hollywood studio (even then, they considered TV “the enemy” for control of attendance and profits, and would continue to do so until the mid-’50s).

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