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82 years ago this show was broadcast on CBS on December 22... 1937. Comedian Fred Allen was the host of "Town Hall Tonight" which was the prelude to his "Allen's Alley" comedy show. His wife, Portland Hoffa was also featured on the program along with the Mighty Allen Art Players. Fred Allen was an incredibly good comedian and he knew how to entertain radio audiences. He developed many different and very entertaining characters who would "drop in" for a short visit on the show. On this program though, he welcomes Jack Benny who was his competition on NBC. In fact Allen and Benny had a mock feud going in competition with their shows. They made fun of each others programs and the "feud" simply raised the size of the listening audience, so they kept it up for years with some very funny results. Allen was born and in Cambridge, Massachusetts and graduated from Boston University. (Side note: Fred Allen (John Florence Sullivan was his real name) was in my grandmother's high school class!) Fred Allen was the most admired and frequently censored comedian on radio... he did a lot of ad-libbing that got him in trouble with sponsors and network executives. President Franklin Roosevelt was an avowed Fred Allen fan as were James Thurber, William Faulkner, John Steinberg, and Herman Wouk. Allen has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988. He was born in 1884 and died in 1956 at the age of 61. This show is in two playlists "Comedy" and "Christmas"