BW - EP159—009: NYC In January 1956 With Johnny Dollar—The End Of Johnny Dollar

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

Support Breaking Walls at https://www.patreon.com/thewallbreakers Despite a loyal audience, by January of 1956 it was clear that Yours Truly Johnny Dollar was failing to attract any kind of national sponsorship. The road to would have been difficult. Airing at 8:15PM weeknights on CBS radio, it was up against CBS’s own TV schedule, with Burns and Allen broadcast at 8PM eastern time on Mondays, The Phil Silvers Show on Tuesdays, Arthur Godfrey on Wednesdays, The Bob Cummings Show on Thursdays, and Mama on Fridays. The serial format was great for character development, but it also meant audiences needed to tune into all five parts to know what was going on. In April of 1956 Yours Truly Johnny Dollar was shifted to 9:15PM. By the summer CBS radio executives were looking to cut costs. Bob Bailey’s daughter Roberta remembered that time. CBS aired these five-part episodes until November 2nd, 1956. The show moved to Sunday afternoons where it enjoyed continuous airtime in a half-hour time slot. Bob Bailey became the actor most closely associated with the Dollar character, keeping the title role until November of 1960. It was then that CBS decided to move all remaining dramatic productions with the exception of Gunsmoke to New York. Neither Jack Johnstone or Bob Bailey would move with the production. The last Hollywood episode was appropriately entitled “The Empty Threat Matter.” It aired on November 27th, 1960. The trade papers made no mention of the production change. On December 4th, 1960, New York’s version of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar took to the air starring Bob Readick, son of New York radio legend Frank Readick. Former show director Jack Johnstone continued to write scripts, but Bob Readick had the unenviable task of following Bailey, who played Dollar in almost five-hundred episodes. Readick was replaced after just six months as of June 25th, 1961 by the final Johnny Dollar, Mandel Kramer. For Bob Bailey, the end of Dollar meant the end of his radio career.