The Fred Allen Show

Fred Allen began his radio career in 1932 with The Limit Bath Club Revue and evolved through multiple formats before settling into The Fred Allen Show format. His weekly Allen's Alley segment introduced beloved characters like Senator Beauregard Claghorn (the inspiration for Foghorn Leghorn), Mrs. Pansy Nussbaum, Titus Moody, and Ajax Cassidy. Allen's legendary radio feud with Jack Benny was one of the most beloved running gags in radio history. Allen was constantly at war with NBC censors, famously remarking that "a vice president in a radio network is a person who comes to work at 9 a.m. and finds a molehill on his desk. By 5 p.m. he has turned it into a mountain." His show ended in 1949 when his ratings slipped; he never regained his radio footing, though he remained a beloved cultural figure until his death in 1956.