The Big Show — 1952

British vocalist Vera Lynn, the wartime "Sweetheart of the Forces," began what became a run of regular appearances during her first American visit. Claude Rains starred with Gene Reynolds in a dramatization of John Collier's "Midnight Blue," a murder-mystery sketch turning on a wrongly colored muffler, with Bankhead opposite him as Mrs. Spiers; the broadcast also carried the on-air announcement that Bankhead had been voted Woman of the Year in Radio by the nation's radio editors, marked by the chorus interrupting her with "My Darling, My Darling."

Phil Foster began a running mother-wants-me-to-marry-Tallulah-Bankhead bit that carried across several January broadcasts. June Havoc performed a scene from her Broadway hit "Affairs of State" with Sheppard Strudwick, which Fred Allen and Bankhead then spoofed; Tony Bennett and Betty Hutton also appeared, Hutton promoting her new film "The Greatest Show on Earth."

Dick Powell, better known from his own "Richard Diamond" series, starred as a criminologist who commits a "perfect crime" in a dramatization of Ben Ray Redman's "The Perfect Crime." Jack Pearl and Cliff Hall reprised their Baron Munchausen routine, Shirley Booth and Earl Wrightson also appeared, and the whole company opened with birthday-card rhymes for Bankhead's approaching birthday.

Jack Carson played opposite Bankhead in Dorothy Parker's honeymoon comedy "Here We Are." James Barton, Tony Bavaar and Vera Lynn performed songs from the new Broadway musical "Paint Your Wagon," Victor Borge offered his comic "Mozart Opera" piano routine, and Bob and Ray contributed their "Tahiti Travelogue" sketch; the broadcast also announced the show had been voted 1951's "Champion of Champions" in Motion Picture Herald's radio-editors poll.

Cathleen Nesbitt joined Bankhead in a repeat staging of the comedy sketch "A Matter of Perspective," first performed more than a year earlier -- which Fred Allen, Jerry Colonna and Portland Hoffa then spoofed. Ethel Merman traded an insult routine with Bankhead, Vera Lynn sang "Tulips and Heather," and Jan Murray performed his "Fight Routine."

Claude Rains starred, with Jan Miner and Ed Jerome, in a dramatization of James Thurber's "The Catbird Seat," about a mild-mannered employee who fakes a lurid double life to discredit an officious coworker. Jean Sablon and Vera Lynn sang, and around Valentine's Day, Bankhead read Lincoln's condolence letter to Mrs. Bixby in honor of Lincoln's birthday, alongside a Valentine-themed run of guest verses.

In a Valentine to radio itself, Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa staged "The Television Mikado," a sketch about a soap tycoon who wants a TV show with "30 minutes of commercials" and no talent required. Tallulah Bankhead starred in a separate dramatization of Edith Wharton's ghost story "Afterward"; Joan Davis, Hoagy Carmichael and Jane Pickens also appeared, and the broadcast marked Vera Lynn's farewell before her return to London.

Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer performed a dramatization of Friedrich Gerstaecker's German folk tale "The Enchanted Village," about an artist who stumbles into a bewitched town that reappears only once a century. Connee Boswell sang "Stormy Weather," Henny Youngman delivered a life-story monologue, and Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa appeared alongside a station-anniversary salute to WLW Cincinnati.

Peter Lorre performed Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" -- mangled in Bankhead's introduction as "Armen Tilado" -- and Shepperd Strudwick starred in a dramatized excerpt from Meredith Willson's own novel-in-progress, "Who Did What to Fedalia?," which Lorre, Bankhead and Ethel Merman then spoofed as a mock "Author Meets the Critics" panel. Fibber McGee and Molly checked in from Hollywood to mark their twentieth anniversary on NBC, and Phil Foster closed with a Brooklyn monologue and a specially written Willson song, "I Take a Dim View."

For St. Patrick's Day, Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa staged an original "Irish Musical" about the Widow Green of Donegal, with Frank Sinatra as her singing son and Bill Gargan as the villainous landlord Allen's character ultimately outwits. Gargan separately starred in a dramatization of John Collier's twist story "De Mortius"; Helen O'Connell and Peter Donald also appeared, Donald in his familiar Irish-dialect comedy.

Paul Douglas starred in a dramatization of John Richard Humphrey's fantasy "Michael Finney and the Little Men," about strange fish-like creatures living beneath a vacation-house pump house. Victor Borge performed his classic "Phonetic Punctuation" routine, Jack Pearl and Cliff Hall's Baron Munchausen went to Africa this time, and Marlene Dietrich traded an insult exchange with Bankhead before the two spoofed Douglas's own sketch.

Judy Canova attempted, unsuccessfully by all accounts, to teach Bankhead to yodel, and Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa monologued about why he wasn't born in Alabama despite his grandfather's best intentions. Vivian Blaine, Johnny Johnston and Jan Murray rounded out the bill, with Phil Foster contributing a bit about preferring the telephone to television.

Paul Winchell and dummy Jerry Mahoney visited the dentist in one sketch; in another, "The Continental" Renzo Cesana performed an original seduction-themed piece, "Brave Men with a Sword," which Jane Russell and then Judy Canova each spoofed in turn. Oscar Levant contributed a topical gag about President Truman, and the broadcast closed with an Easter salute featuring Meredith Willson's composition "It's Easter Time."

Groucho Marx and Fred Allen reminisced together about their vaudeville days in a two-part bit that continued into the following week's finale. Groucho sang his own new novelty number, "There's a Place Called Omaha, Nebraska," George Sanders sang an aria from Verdi's "Otello," and Bankhead read Carl Sandburg's "Chicago" as part of a station-anniversary salute to WMAQ.

The series finale closed out Groucho Marx and Fred Allen's two-part vaudeville reminiscence, awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle prize on-air to John Van Druten for "I Am a Camera" (performed in excerpt by Julie Harris and William Prince), and gave Ethel Merman and George Sanders a spoof of Merman's Broadway vehicle "Call Me Madam." Portland Hoffa closed the run bantering with Bankhead and Merman about a hoped-for Paris vacation against Fred Allen's preference for Redbank, New Jersey, before Bankhead thanked the cast and Meredith Willson's chorus sang a final "My Darling" in her honor.