Does Anyone Remember Willie and Martha?

There are situation comedies from the great days of network radio shows have drifted into obscurity.

Remembered by many today are Fibber McGee and Molly, The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show and the ones that made a large leap into television popularity, including The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

But how many have heard of the Tales of Willie Piper?

It debuted on ABC on Sunday, October 20, 1946, at 6:30 p.m. (Eastern), switching to Wednesday evenings as of January 22, 1947. It was sponsored by General Electric. The show signed off May 27, 1948, replaced by a revival of What’s My Name? with Arlene Francis and Ward Wilson.

It was a low-key programme with a gimmick. The announcer/narrator fully admitted the Pipers were characters on a radio show. On one episode, the announcer bemoaned he "could have used a good, juicy sound effect" (a crash followed, with the audience laughing), and he’d have another show next week.

None of the actors on the show were identified on the air. When the programme began, Dick Nelson played Willie and Jean Gillespie was his wife. By the time Herald Tribune syndicate critic John Crosby got around to reviewing the show, Billy Redfield was Willie. But even Crosby didn’t identify the actors in his column of March 4, 1947.

RADIO IN REVIEW
By JOHN CROSBY
The Pipers of New England
Willie and Martha Piper, a young couple who live in Seaport on the New England coast, got married November (when this new comedy series started on A. B. C.). It was a beautiful ceremony marred only by the fact the Willie's suspenders broke at the last moment. His best friend, Alonzo Bissell, an old Western Union messenger, who talks with the brevity and unsmiling candor of Calvin Coolidge, had to hold them up for him.
As a wedding gift. Alonzo sent them a singing telegram, a special kindness which so overwhelmed Martha she almost burst into tears Alonzo explained diffidently that as a member of the firm he got special rate. The wedding present from Mr. Gillespie, Martha's father was a paid honeymoon in a Boston hotel, which unfortunately had been torn down ten years earlier. Mr. Gillespie doesn't get to Boston very often and he couldn't possibly know.
Willie and Martha spent most of their wedding night on a park bench, in Boston Common; then, through a case of mistaken identity, they blundered into a penthouse suite reserved by the State Department for a South American diplomat. They were a little dazed when it was explained that the Government had paid for the suite but Willie concluded it was part of the G. I. Bill of Rights.
When they returned to Seaport, they settled down in a small New England house with two bedrooms—one occupied by Mr. Gillespie—a parlor, kitchen, dining room and bathroom (the handle on the door keeps getting stuck.) For a father-in-law, Gillespie is not hard to get along with. He laughs a little too uproariously at his own jokes and his feelings are rather too easily hurt but you have to make allowances. In general, he sides with his son-in-law against his daughter on such issues as Christmas presents, but usually both males are defeated.
The Pipers have the usual small mishaps common to young couples. Willie, who is a grocery clerk, brings the boss home to dinner unexpectedly when there is nothing in the house but left-over fishballs.
"Can’t you stretch them a little?" inquires Willie.
"I already have. How far can you stretch a fishball?" says Martha angrily. The boss, Mr. Grindle, gets violently ill.
Not all of the adventures are so routine or so small. Willie, for instance, gets his foot stuck fast under a root in the New England woods. As the twilight deepens, he keeps frantically blowing his moose call to attract Mr. Gillespie who has plunged through the woods after a deer. He succeeds in attracting only a moose. "Go away. I'm not going to shoot you. You're protected by the Government."
* * *
More recently, the Pipers, Gillespie and Bissell got throughly confused trying to meet a train on which Mr. Bissell's niece Shirley was coming to town. The train was due to arrive at 6:30 a. m. and Mr. Gillespie insisted that he could awaken on the dot of 5:30 a. m. just by concentrating. Nevertheless, Willie sets the alarm to be on the safe side.
"Why didn't your alarm go off?" roars Gillespie.
"I don't know. Why didn't your mind go off?"
"I didn't set it."
Shirley is a girl with a genius for mixing metaphors. "If wishes were horses, I'd have taken the bull by the horn instead of letting the grass grow under my feet," she exclaims with enthusiasm. She also has a great fondness for that curious Americanism: "Likewise, I'm sure."
That brings the Pipers up to the present. For a radio series it's remarkably credible. Samuel Taylor, who writes it, is not afraid of blending low comedy (Willie getting stuck in the bathroom) with his domestic comedy (what to do with old razor blades.) He is also not afraid of sentiment or pathos. By delicate handling, this mixture makes the program deeply human. The reason, I think, is that his characters never slop over into caricature. Willie is kind, boyish, over-excitable, and a little simple—but he is no Dennis Day. Martha is just a nice small-town girl who always warms her friends to be careful of the taxicabs when they take a trip to Boston. The series is very well cast and beautifully paced by its director, Frank Brown. Gentle and human as the Piper program is, it's surprisingly funny.
It's pleasant to find that the broadcasting industry has discovered New England, a small but heavily populated region somewhat to the north of New York. If you'd like a further acquaintance with the Pipers, you'd find them on the nearest American Broadcasting Company station 8:30 p. m. DST on Wednesdays.

As for Crosby’s other columns for the week, he completed his series from Hollywood:

Monday, March 3: Radio sponsors want to save $.
Wednesday, March 5: Controversy between the Brits and Bing.
Thursday, March 6: The Voice of Firestone (Los Angeles Daily News artwork to the right).
Friday, March 7: Bell Birthday.

You can click on them to read them.