tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917473912378530721.post2729680536430268580..comments2023-12-01T00:18:59.575-05:00Comments on Cartoons of 1939: Fred Allen, Town Hall Tonight Feb. 22, 1939Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14783618617749580841noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917473912378530721.post-19052285747079972072010-02-24T05:05:37.928-05:002010-02-24T05:05:37.928-05:00Thanks for the link; I haven't heard this part...Thanks for the link; I haven't heard this particular broadcast.<br /><br />Fred's show is no less structured than any of the three types of formats Benny used. The same segments appeared at the same time every week. It's structured like a variety show or the old Tonight Show. Benny's best-known formatic structure was more like a sitcom; it's difficult to compare the two. Of course, Allen's structure changed when he went back to the half-hour length in the '40s.<br /><br />It was nice to hear 'Hawaiian War Chant'. Didn't Avery use it in 'Musical Maestro?'Yowphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09264605351878574044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917473912378530721.post-76925845269273224142010-02-18T15:44:45.096-05:002010-02-18T15:44:45.096-05:00As to cruelty, read the "about me" box.....As to cruelty, read the "about me" box...<br /><br />Just because Fred Allen was able to write and deliver a funny line doesn't mean he made a good show overall. I have heard Allen on the Benny show several times, and quite enjoyed his appearances. This makes his own show all the more disappointing. The show was successful enough in its time, but it does not translate to my ear, unlike the Benny show which is an immediately friendly form and consistently entertaining throughout most episodes. I think Benny deserves to be more than the echo he is, perhaps Allen deserves to be more than a footnote to an echo. But the Allen show is alien in its form to me; I can understand that others would find it similarly alien, similarly rambling, and thus would consign the show, and thus Allen, to a lesser place.Tedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14783618617749580841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917473912378530721.post-66409648448917558272010-02-17T17:54:53.813-05:002010-02-17T17:54:53.813-05:00Hey, the late '30s Allen shows may not be his ...Hey, the late '30s Allen shows may not be his best work, but it strikes me as rather cruel to suggest that Allen DESERVES his place as a footnote in cultural history. The general consensus among OTR fans such as myself is that Allen was a brilliant man.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com