Edgar Bergen 1947 09 28 (452) Guest Betty Hutton

# The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show: September 28, 1947

Step into Studio 8-H at Rockefeller Center on this crisp autumn evening as Edgar Bergen settles before the microphone with his most famous creation—the impudent wooden ventriloquist's dummy Charlie McCarthy—ready to skewer the week's celebrities and current events. Tonight's special guest is the vivacious Betty Hutton, fresh from her triumph in *The Perils of Pauline*, and the banter promises to be deliciously sharp. Listeners can expect Bergen's masterful control of multiple characters, the orchestra's spirited accompaniment, and that signature interplay where Charlie's caustic observations and romantic jealousy inevitably upstage his "master." When Hutton arrives, the comedy practically writes itself: a glamorous film star reduced to fits of laughter as a ventriloquist's dummy makes impossible pronouncements from across the studio, the whole scene playing out in listeners' minds with crystalline clarity.

By 1947, Bergen had elevated ventriloquism from vaudeville novelty to sophisticated comedy art, proving that invisible audiences needed no sight lines to roar with laughter. The show's decade-long run would make it one of radio's most decorated programs, and Bergen himself became a household name despite never being seen by most of his millions of listeners—a paradox perfectly suited to the medium. Hutton's appearance represents a golden era when radio remained the nation's paramount entertainment and major film stars eagerly graced the broadcast stage, mixing mediums and audiences with natural ease.

This episode captures radio at its peak: live performance, spontaneous chemistry between guests, and the sheer theatrical magic of voices conjuring laughter through speakers in living rooms across America. Don't miss the moment when Charlie meets his match in Hutton's quick wit and infectious energy.