How Dollar Stores Really Make Their Money
Every year, dollar stores see higher and higher earnings, but how can a store that seems like it's giving things away turn itself into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise? The answer is simple: that dollar isn't always the great deal it appears to be. Here are their secrets.
Whether times are good or bad, you can still count on people to flock to dollar stores because they have the one thing everyone loves: convenience. Sales for Dollar General are always on the upswing, with the chain seeing an increase of 3.7 percent between 2017 and 2018, regardless of the state of the economy. Take it from Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos, who had this to say about their regular customers:
We have seen no sign of trade out or trade up from our core customers. Even in a good economy, [they are] still looking for value and convenience.
So, basically, no matter how much money people have, they still want something that bigger grocery stores can't give them. Dollar stores are not just convenient because their items are cheaper, but also because there seems to be one on every corner — and that makes them perfect for a quick fill-in trip between your weekly grocery runs. These stores are also typically smaller than the ones in a big chain like Walmart, which means that you can usually get in and out with your emergency bag of dog food, a handful of snacks, or supplies for your kid's art project in just a couple of minutes. The fact that most people are on to this, means dollar stores are always making money — even if customers buy just a few things.
Watch the video to learn how dollar stores really make their money!
#DollarStores #DollarTree #FamilyDollar
Convenience is key | 0:15
Location, location, location | 1:36
Getting those low-income customers | 2:47
Not always a deal | 3:29
The illusion of a discount | 4:23
Cheaply made items | 5:29
Design strategies | 6:46
Hiring few employees | 7:59
Private-label items | 8:50
Causing economic distress | 9:51
FULL SPEECH: President Trump speech on energy in Pennsylvania
Sharing a mix of breaking news, Arizona stories, engaging discussions, and popular culture.
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Sharing a mix of breaking news, Arizona stories, engaging discussions, and popular culture.
FNN: Continuing to honor #Bush41; Phoenix Car Menorah Parade; LA police chase
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President Trump Delivers Remarks on America’s Energy Dominance and Manufacturing Revival
Monaca, PA
Energy Datapalooza
On May 28, 2014, entrepreneurs, software developers, energy experts and policy makers gathered to highlight ways use data and innovation to promote a clean energy economy in America. The 2014 Energy Datapalooza was hosted by the White House, the Energy Department, and the General Services Administration.
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Christmas Season 2011
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my friends and family and thank you for sharing your amazing smiles of Christmas Cheer with me!
Centuria, Colfax, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Milwaukee, Madison,Green Bay Wisconsin/Bluffton, Kenton Ohio/Chicago, Worth IL/Rochester, Minnesota/Utica, Brooklyn and New York City New York/Cumberland Center Maine/Queen Creek Arizona/Virginia Beach, Floyd, Richmond, Alexandria Virginia/Washington D.C./Bristol, Severiville and Nashville, TN/Tampa FL/Rye Colorado/Philadelphia, Glen Mills, Berwyn, Paoli, York, Upper Darvby,Westtown, Quarryville,Guthriesville, Harrisburg,Downingtown Pennsylvania/Townsend DE/San Francisco CA/Jakarta Thailand
Drucker School Global Family Business Institute Launch
The Drucker School of Management celebrated the launch of the Drucker School Global Family Business Institute on April 12, 2018, featuring special guests and leaders from the family business sector, including keynote speaker Jamie T. Richardson, vice president of the White Castle Management Company, a family-owned business; and Randall W. Lewis, executive vice president of the Lewis Group of Companies.
The kick-off event also featured a welcome (via videoconference) from alumnus Andrew Chen (MBA, ’10), the founding donor of the Drucker School Global Family Business Institute who moved back to Taiwan to work at his family’s business, which supplies merchandise to Starbucks worldwide; and reports from alumnus Koji Ogura (EMBA, ’11), the director for Japan and Drucker-Ito Relationships who previously worked for 25 years for Yamato Holdings, a Japanese logistics company that his grandfather started in 1919; and Jenny Darroch, the Henry Y. Hwang Dean of the Drucker School, professor, and Drucker brand champion.
The panel discussion was moderated by family business consultant and alumna Pat Soldano (EMBA, ’86).
* * *
“The majority of businesses everywhere are family-controlled and family-managed. Yet management books and management courses deal almost entirely with the publicly-owned and professionally-managed company—they rarely as much as mention the family-managed business.”
–Peter Drucker
Mission
To unite world-class experts in family business governance with successors and representatives of family businesses from around the globe for a comprehensive graduate program in management and executive training.
Vision
The Institute will be the flagship academic institute of the Drucker School, seeking to attract students and family businesses throughout the world. Its programs will address the issues and opportunities of family businesses: managing the family name, succession planning, innovation, corporate responsibility, governance, finance, and sustainability.
Activities
• Providing the tools to succeed in a global business environment that requires traditional business practices and theories combined with new growth tools such as social media, digital platforms, and technology.
• Offering a concentration in family business and courses that focus on governance and management of family businesses.
• Hosting an annual global conference on family business with a new theme each year.
• Holding high-level retreats to bring generations of family businesses together.
• Forging collaborations with family business programs globally as a leading institution in the US that emphasizes and promotes family business research, training, and education.
• Conducting faculty and industry research related to family business issues and trends.
• Publishing an annual report on global family business to allow cross-cultural comparisons.
Founding Advisory Board Members
Lana Abou-Assi, Director of Operations, AmEx International, Inc. and Student Engagement Officer, Drucker School Global Family Business Institute
Gary Chan, Chief Executive Officer, GEMA Capital Partners Limited
Andrew Chen, Director of Market Development, Woodmax KY Industries Corporation
Athena Chiera, Vice President of Business Development, Athena Engineering Inc.
Koji Ogura, Director for Japan and Drucker-Ito Relationships, Drucker School of Management
Pat Soldano, Principal Advisor, Drucker School Global Family Business Institute
Allyson Stewart-Allen, Chief Executive, International Marketing Partners Ltd.
Contact
For more information, contact druckerfamilybusiness@cgu.edu.
* * *
For more than 90 years, Claremont Graduate University has been a leader in graduate education. 40 master’s and 19 doctoral degree fields. Limited enrollment, renowned faculty, and small class sizes devoted entirely to graduate study. At CGU we put students first.
Tunisia | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Tunisia
00:03:10 1 Etymology
00:04:14 2 History
00:04:23 2.1 Antiquity
00:08:24 2.2 Middle Ages
00:12:44 2.3 Ottoman Tunisia
00:15:06 2.4 French Tunisia (1881–1956)
00:16:57 2.5 Post-independence (1956–2011)
00:19:25 2.6 Post-revolution (since 2011)
00:22:22 3 Geography
00:24:28 3.1 Climate
00:25:14 4 Politics
00:27:38 4.1 Human rights
00:29:21 4.2 Military
00:30:46 4.3 Administrative divisions
00:31:12 5 Economy
00:34:44 5.1 Tourism
00:35:12 5.2 Energy
00:37:03 5.3 Transport
00:38:20 5.4 Water supply and sanitation
00:39:47 6 Demographics
00:40:17 6.1 Ethnic groups
00:42:18 6.2 Languages
00:43:16 6.3 Major cities
00:43:24 6.4 Religion
00:47:11 6.5 Education
00:48:54 6.6 Health
00:49:33 7 Culture
00:49:58 7.1 Painting
00:51:58 7.2 Literature
00:54:04 7.3 Music
00:55:16 7.4 Media
00:57:28 7.5 Sports
01:00:21 8 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Tunisia
(officially the Republic of Tunisia)
is a country in northern Africa, covering 165,000 square kilometres (64,000 square miles). Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia's population was estimated to be just under 11.93 million in 2016. Tunisia's name is derived from its capital city, Tunis, which is located on its northeast coast.
Geographically, Tunisia contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains, and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert. Much of the rest of the country's land is fertile soil. Its 1,300 kilometres (810 miles) of coastline include the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin and, by means of the Sicilian Strait and Sardinian Channel, feature the African mainland's second and third nearest points to Europe after Gibraltar.
Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic. It is considered to be the only fully democratic sovereign state in the Arab World. It has a high human development index. It has an association agreement with the European Union; is a member of La Francophonie, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Arab League, the OIC, the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, the African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77; and has obtained the status of major non-NATO ally of the United States. In addition, Tunisia is also a member state of the United Nations and a state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Close relations with Europe – in particular with France and with Italy – have been forged through economic cooperation, privatisation and industrial modernization.
In ancient times, Tunisia was primarily inhabited by Berbers. Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century BC; these immigrants founded Carthage. A major mercantile power and a military rival of the Roman Republic, Carthage was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC. The Romans, who would occupy Tunisia for most of the next eight hundred years, introduced Christianity and left architectural legacies like the El Djem amphitheater. After several attempts starting in 647, the Muslims conquered the whole of Tunisia by 697, followed by the Ottoman Empire between 1534 and 1574. The Ottomans held sway for over three hundred years. The French colonization of Tunisia occurred in 1881. Tunisia gained independence with Habib Bourguiba and declared the Tunisian Republic in 1957. In 2011, the Tunisian Revolution resulted in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, followed by parliamentary elections. The country voted for parliament again on 26 October 2014, and for President on 23 November 2014.
2018 Corky Kell Classic | Friday Aug. 17
High school football in Georgia kicks off with the Corky Kell Classic.
Here's the full schedule:
Our Miss Brooks: The Auction / Baseball Uniforms / Free TV from Sherry's
Our Miss Brooks is an American situation comedy starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high school English teacher. It began as a radio show broadcast from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952--56), it became one of the medium's earliest hits. In 1956, the sitcom was adapted for big screen in the film of the same name.
Connie (Constance) Brooks (Eve Arden), an English teacher at fictional Madison High School.
Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), blustery, gruff, crooked and unsympathetic Madison High principal, a near-constant pain to his faculty and students. (Conklin was played by Joseph Forte in the show's first episode; Gordon succeeded him for the rest of the series' run.) Occasionally Conklin would rig competitions at the school--such as that for prom queen--so that his daughter Harriet would win.
Walter Denton (Richard Crenna, billed at the time as Dick Crenna), a Madison High student, well-intentioned and clumsy, with a nasally high, cracking voice, often driving Miss Brooks (his self-professed favorite teacher) to school in a broken-down jalopy. Miss Brooks' references to her own usually-in-the-shop car became one of the show's running gags.
Philip Boynton (Jeff Chandler on radio, billed sometimes under his birth name Ira Grossel); Robert Rockwell on both radio and television), Madison High biology teacher, the shy and often clueless object of Miss Brooks' affections.
Margaret Davis (Jane Morgan), Miss Brooks' absentminded landlady, whose two trademarks are a cat named Minerva, and a penchant for whipping up exotic and often inedible breakfasts.
Harriet Conklin (Gloria McMillan), Madison High student and daughter of principal Conklin. A sometime love interest for Walter Denton, Harriet was honest and guileless with none of her father's malevolence and dishonesty.
Stretch (Fabian) Snodgrass (Leonard Smith), dull-witted Madison High athletic star and Walter's best friend.
Daisy Enright (Mary Jane Croft), Madison High English teacher, and a scheming professional and romantic rival to Miss Brooks.
Jacques Monet (Gerald Mohr), a French teacher.
Our Miss Brooks was a hit on radio from the outset; within eight months of its launch as a regular series, the show landed several honors, including four for Eve Arden, who won polls in four individual publications of the time. Arden had actually been the third choice to play the title role. Harry Ackerman, West Coast director of programming, wanted Shirley Booth for the part, but as he told historian Gerald Nachman many years later, he realized Booth was too focused on the underpaid downside of public school teaching at the time to have fun with the role.
Lucille Ball was believed to have been the next choice, but she was already committed to My Favorite Husband and didn't audition. Chairman Bill Paley, who was friendly with Arden, persuaded her to audition for the part. With a slightly rewritten audition script--Osgood Conklin, for example, was originally written as a school board president but was now written as the incoming new Madison principal--Arden agreed to give the newly-revamped show a try.
Produced by Larry Berns and written by director Al Lewis, Our Miss Brooks premiered on July 19, 1948. According to radio critic John Crosby, her lines were very feline in dialogue scenes with principal Conklin and would-be boyfriend Boynton, with sharp, witty comebacks. The interplay between the cast--blustery Conklin, nebbishy Denton, accommodating Harriet, absentminded Mrs. Davis, clueless Boynton, scheming Miss Enright--also received positive reviews.
Arden won a radio listeners' poll by Radio Mirror magazine as the top ranking comedienne of 1948-49, receiving her award at the end of an Our Miss Brooks broadcast that March. I'm certainly going to try in the coming months to merit the honor you've bestowed upon me, because I understand that if I win this two years in a row, I get to keep Mr. Boynton, she joked. But she was also a hit with the critics; a winter 1949 poll of newspaper and magazine radio editors taken by Motion Picture Daily named her the year's best radio comedienne.
For its entire radio life, the show was sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive-Peet, promoting Palmolive soap, Lustre Creme shampoo and Toni hair care products. The radio series continued until 1957, a year after its television life ended.
School Board Meeting: April 17, 2018
Calling All Cars: I Asked For It / The Unbroken Spirit / The 13th Grave
The radio show Calling All Cars hired LAPD radio dispacher Jesse Rosenquist to be the voice of the dispatcher. Rosenquist was already famous because home radios could tune into early police radio frequencies. As the first police radio dispatcher presented to the public ear, his was the voice that actors went to when called upon for a radio dispatcher role.
The iconic television series Dragnet, with LAPD Detective Joe Friday as the primary character, was the first major media representation of the department. Real LAPD operations inspired Jack Webb to create the series and close cooperation with department officers let him make it as realistic as possible, including authentic police equipment and sound recording on-site at the police station.
Due to Dragnet's popularity, LAPD Chief Parker became, after J. Edgar Hoover, the most well known and respected law enforcement official in the nation. In the 1960s, when the LAPD under Chief Thomas Reddin expanded its community relations division and began efforts to reach out to the African-American community, Dragnet followed suit with more emphasis on internal affairs and community policing than solving crimes, the show's previous mainstay.
Several prominent representations of the LAPD and its officers in television and film include Adam-12, Blue Streak, Blue Thunder, Boomtown, The Closer, Colors, Crash, Columbo, Dark Blue, Die Hard, End of Watch, Heat, Hollywood Homicide, Hunter, Internal Affairs, Jackie Brown, L.A. Confidential, Lakeview Terrace, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Life, Numb3rs, The Shield, Southland, Speed, Street Kings, SWAT, Training Day and the Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour and Terminator film series. The LAPD is also featured in the video games Midnight Club II, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, L.A. Noire and Call of Juarez: The Cartel.
The LAPD has also been the subject of numerous novels. Elizabeth Linington used the department as her backdrop in three different series written under three different names, perhaps the most popular being those novel featuring Det. Lt. Luis Mendoza, who was introduced in the Edgar-nominated Case Pending. Joseph Wambaugh, the son of a Pittsburgh policeman, spent fourteen years in the department, using his background to write novels with authentic fictional depictions of life in the LAPD. Wambaugh also created the Emmy-winning TV anthology series Police Story. Wambaugh was also a major influence on James Ellroy, who wrote several novels about the Department set during the 1940s and 1950s, the most famous of which are probably The Black Dahlia, fictionalizing the LAPD's most famous cold case, and L.A. Confidential, which was made into a film of the same name. Both the novel and the film chronicled mass-murder and corruption inside and outside the force during the Parker era. Critic Roger Ebert indicates that the film's characters (from the 1950s) represent the choices ahead for the LAPD: assisting Hollywood limelight, aggressive policing with relaxed ethics, and a straight arrow approach.
Springfield, Massachusetts | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Springfield, Massachusetts
00:01:57 1 History
00:05:10 2 Geography
00:08:05 2.1 Climate
00:10:35 2.2 Neighborhoods
00:15:11 3 Demographics
00:18:10 3.1 Income
00:18:25 4 Economy
00:21:00 4.1 Business headquarters
00:22:17 4.2 Companies headquartered in Springfield
00:23:48 4.3 Companies formerly in Springfield
00:25:33 5 Arts and culture
00:25:42 5.1 Amusement parks and fairs
00:27:06 5.2 Festivals
00:33:05 5.3 Museums
00:34:35 5.4 Music
00:37:02 5.5 Nightlife
00:38:12 5.6 Points of interest
00:47:41 6 Sports
00:51:43 7 Architecture
00:55:57 8 Parks
01:02:42 9 Government
01:02:50 9.1 City of Springfield
01:03:56 9.1.1 Finances
01:05:35 9.2 Judicial system
01:06:10 9.3 Politics
01:08:08 9.4 Switch to ward representation
01:09:25 9.5 Crime
01:11:15 10 Education
01:11:24 10.1 Grade schools
01:11:33 10.1.1 Public schools (K–12)
01:13:03 10.1.2 Private schools
01:14:35 10.2 Higher education
01:14:44 10.2.1 Universities and colleges
01:17:19 10.2.2 Community colleges
01:18:01 10.3 Library
01:18:53 11 Media
01:19:02 11.1 Newspapers
01:19:34 11.2 Television
01:23:46 11.2.1 Cable operators
01:24:10 11.3 Radio
01:24:39 12 Transportation
01:25:36 12.1 Rail
01:27:24 12.2 Bus
01:28:19 12.3 Air
01:29:15 13 Water and sewer system
01:30:40 14 Sister cities
01:30:52 15 Notable people
01:31:04 16 See also
01:31:25 17 Notes and references
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Springfield is a city in the state of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern Mill River. As of the 2010 Census, the city's population was 153,060. Metropolitan Springfield, as one of two metropolitan areas in Massachusetts (the other being Greater Boston), had a population of 692,942 as of 2010.The first Springfield in the New World, it is the largest city in western New England, and the urban, economic, and cultural capital of Massachusetts' Connecticut River Valley (colloquially known as the Pioneer Valley). It is the third-largest city in Massachusetts and fourth-largest in New England after Boston, Worcester, and Providence. Springfield has several nicknames – The City of Firsts, due to the many innovations developed there, such as the first American dictionary, the first American gas-powered automobile, and the first machining lathe for interchangeable parts; The City of Homes, due to its Victorian residential architecture; and Hoop City, as basketball – one of the world's most popular sports – was invented in Springfield in 1891 by James Naismith.
Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, lies 24 miles (39 km) south of Springfield, on the western bank of the Connecticut River. The Hartford-Springfield region is known as the Knowledge Corridor because it hosts over 160,000 university students and over 32 universities and liberal arts colleges – the second-highest concentration of higher-learning institutions in the United States. The city of Springfield itself is home to Springfield College, Western New England University, American International College, and Springfield Technical Community College, among other higher educational institutions.
The Great Gildersleeve: French Visitor / Dinner with Katherine / Dinner with the Thompsons
Premiering on August 31, 1941, The Great Gildersleeve moved the title character from the McGees' Wistful Vista to Summerfield, where Gildersleeve now oversaw his late brother-in-law's estate and took on the rearing of his orphaned niece and nephew, Marjorie (originally played by Lurene Tuttle and followed by Louise Erickson and Mary Lee Robb) and Leroy Forester (Walter Tetley). The household also included a cook named Birdie. Curiously, while Gildersleeve had occasionally spoken of his (never-present) wife in some Fibber episodes, in his own series the character was a confirmed bachelor.
In a striking forerunner to such later television hits as Bachelor Father and Family Affair, both of which are centered on well-to-do uncles taking in their deceased siblings' children, Gildersleeve was a bachelor raising two children while, at first, administering a girdle manufacturing company (If you want a better corset, of course, it's a Gildersleeve) and then for the bulk of the show's run, serving as Summerfield's water commissioner, between time with the ladies and nights with the boys. The Great Gildersleeve may have been the first broadcast show to be centered on a single parent balancing child-rearing, work, and a social life, done with taste and genuine wit, often at the expense of Gildersleeve's now slightly understated pomposity.
Many of the original episodes were co-written by John Whedon, father of Tom Whedon (who wrote The Golden Girls), and grandfather of Deadwood scripter Zack Whedon and Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog).
The key to the show was Peary, whose booming voice and facility with moans, groans, laughs, shudders and inflection was as close to body language and facial suggestion as a voice could get. Peary was so effective, and Gildersleeve became so familiar a character, that he was referenced and satirized periodically in other comedies and in a few cartoons.
Dragnet: Big Cab / Big Slip / Big Try / Big Little Mother
Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a dragnet, meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
Scripts tackled a number of topics, ranging from the thrilling (murders, missing persons and armed robbery) to the mundane (check fraud and shoplifting), yet Dragnet made them all interesting due to fast-moving plots and behind-the-scenes realism. In The Garbage Chute (December 15, 1949), they even had a locked room mystery.
Though rather tame by modern standards, Dragnet—especially on the radio—handled controversial subjects such as sex crimes and drug addiction with unprecedented and even startling realism. In one such example, Dragnet broke one of the unspoken (and still rarely broached) taboos of popular entertainment in the episode .22 Rifle for Christmas which aired December 22, 1949 and was repeated at Christmastime for the next three years. The episode followed the search for two young boys, Stanley Johnstone and Stevie Morheim, only to discover Stevie had been accidentally killed while playing with a rifle that belonged to Stanley—who'd be receiving it as a Christmas present but opened the box early; Stanley finally told Friday that Stevie was running while holding the rifle when he tripped and fell, causing the gun to discharge, fatally wounding Morheim. NBC received thousands of complaint letters, including a formal protest by the National Rifle Association. Webb forwarded many of the letters to police chief Parker who promised ten more shows illustrating the folly of giving rifles to children. (Dunning, 211)
Another episode dealt with high school girls who, rather than finding Hollywood stardom, fall in with fraudulent talent scouts and end up in pornography and prostitution. Both this episode and .22 Rifle for Christmas were adapted for television, with very few script changes, when Dragnet moved to that medium. Another episode, The Big Trio (July 3, 1952), detailed three cases in one episode, including reckless and dangerous (in this case, fatal) driving by unlicensed juveniles. With regard to drugs, Webb's strident anti-drug statements, continued into the TV run, would be derided as camp by later audiences; yet his character also showed genuine concern and sympathy for addicts as victims, especially in the case of juveniles.
The tone was usually serious, but there were moments of comic relief: Romero was something of a hypochondriac and often seemed henpecked; Frank Smith continually complained about his brother-in-law Armand; though Friday dated, he usually dodged women who tried to set him up with marriage-minded dates.
Due in part to Webb's fondness for radio drama, Dragnet persisted on radio until 1957 (the last two seasons were repeats) as one of the last old time radio shows to give way to television's increasing popularity. In fact, the TV show would prove to be effectively a visual version of the radio show, as the style was virtually the same [including the scripts, as the majority of them were adapted from radio]. The TV show could be listened to without watching it, with no loss of understanding of the storyline.
The Great Gildersleeve: The Circus / The Haunted House / The Burglar
Premiering on August 31, 1941, The Great Gildersleeve moved the title character from the McGees' Wistful Vista to Summerfield, where Gildersleeve now oversaw his late brother-in-law's estate and took on the rearing of his orphaned niece and nephew, Marjorie (originally played by Lurene Tuttle and followed by Louise Erickson and Mary Lee Robb) and Leroy Forester (Walter Tetley). The household also included a cook named Birdie. Curiously, while Gildersleeve had occasionally spoken of his (never-present) wife in some Fibber episodes, in his own series the character was a confirmed bachelor.
In a striking forerunner to such later television hits as Bachelor Father and Family Affair, both of which are centered on well-to-do uncles taking in their deceased siblings' children, Gildersleeve was a bachelor raising two children while, at first, administering a girdle manufacturing company (If you want a better corset, of course, it's a Gildersleeve) and then for the bulk of the show's run, serving as Summerfield's water commissioner, between time with the ladies and nights with the boys. The Great Gildersleeve may have been the first broadcast show to be centered on a single parent balancing child-rearing, work, and a social life, done with taste and genuine wit, often at the expense of Gildersleeve's now slightly understated pomposity.
Many of the original episodes were co-written by John Whedon, father of Tom Whedon (who wrote The Golden Girls), and grandfather of Deadwood scripter Zack Whedon and Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog).
The key to the show was Peary, whose booming voice and facility with moans, groans, laughs, shudders and inflection was as close to body language and facial suggestion as a voice could get. Peary was so effective, and Gildersleeve became so familiar a character, that he was referenced and satirized periodically in other comedies and in a few cartoons.