Beginning in 1968, Bill Cosby began his long association with The Coca-Cola Company with a now-forgotten daily syndicated radio series, "The Bill Cosby Radio Program".Over 350 of the daily 5-minute comedy inserts were produced by Frank Buxton (who also doubled as the announcer and Bill's "straight man") and syndicated to over 200 teen-oriented (top 40) radio stations all over America on LP record by The Coca-Cola Company and distributed by McCann-Erikson (Coke's ad agency). Bill and Frank improvised each episode, with sound effects provided by Jack Benny's sound man, Gene Twombly.
Regular features on the show:
ANIMAL INTERVIEWS - Professor P.W. Hooker, friend of wildlife, visits the zoo (usually) each Monday to talk with another animal.
CAPTAIN OH-WOW! - Bill, as Captain Oh-Wow, answers listener mail, some real, some not. Before the format change in mid-season (see Programs section), Captain Oh-Wow appeared every Wednesday.
COYOTE CALHOUN - A singer (Bill) whose biggest hit (???) is something called "Hoo-Ray for the Chickens!" He accompanies himself on harmonica (which someone keeps putting peanuts in).
SNOOPING SNEAKERS - Frank Buxton, as Sneakers, interviews Cosby, who
takes on the identities of, let's say, UNUSUAL interview subjects.
THE BROWN HORNET - A bow to the golden age of radio superheroes, with Cosby playing both The Brown Hornet and his never-speaking-above-a-whisper sidekick, Leroy, in a spine-tingling serial where nothing much ever happens. The Hornet and Leroy have an arsenal of ineffective weapons at their disposal, ride around the city in the very fast car, The White Beauty, and are always accompanied by Weaver,
a vicious dog. Buxton plays the part of the over-the-top announcer, whose name changes with each episode.
As this site continues to grow, we hope to at least document the series from beginning to end.
Now, the bad news...The Bill Cosby Radio Program is extremely hard to find. To date, no history of modern radio even acknowledges the show ever existed, and copies of the series, as I stated, cannot be found...yet.
This is where you can come in. If you have copies of The Bill Cosby Radio Program, and can either provide audio tape copies or a written program rundown, please contact the webmaster. Thank you.
TV's Undercover Spy Does Satire On Radio!
Bill Cosby Talks To Teens In Their Own Language!
America's Teens Like The Bill Cosby Show!
Old-Time Radio With Top 40 Zing!
The programs!
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