User:Teblick/Ripley's Believe It or Not! (1949 TV series)

Ripley's Believe It or Not! is an American television program that was broadcast on NBC beginning on March 1, 1949, and ending on September 28, 1950.

The program was based on Ripley's Believe It or Not!, a newspaper feature that "consisted of colored drawings and captions illustrating the bizarre in human beings and events". The cartoonist, Robert Ripley, was the show's host until his death on May 27, 1949. He greeted viewers from a living-room set that featured souvenirs from his travels and oriental antiques. In each episode Ripley related several strange stories, sometimes aided by dramatizations or exhibits.

Some stories took on a "freak-show atmosphere", such as those that featured a Mongolian with four eyes and "a man who could thread a needle with one hand while balancing his bod parallel to the floor with the other". In other cases, those featured were relatively ordinaty people who had overcome significant difficulties "to lead normal, and even exceptional, lives".

The first episode broadcast after Ripley's death was one that he had prepared, and a tribute to him was added. Thereafter guest hosts continued the series until July 1949 when Robert St. John was made the new permanent host. After a brief hiatus at the end of 1949, the series returned in January 1950 with a different format. As a dramatic series, each episode had a guest cast that acted out one of Riple's stories.

Production
Douglas Storer was the packager for the J. Walter Thompson agency. Harry Herrmnn was the producer, J. Fielder Cooke was the director, and Sam Carter was the writer. The sponsor was Ballantine, and the program originated from WNBT.

The series initially was broadcast on Tuesdays from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time. In July 1949, it was moved to Wednesdays from 10 to 10:30 p.m. E. T., then for the rest of 1949 it was seen at various times. When it returned in January 1950 it was on Wednesdays from 8 to 8:30 p.m. E. T. In May 1950, it was moved to Thursdays from 8 to 8:30 p.m. E. T. and it remained in that slot until it went off the air.

Partial list of episodes

 * September 21, 1950 - "The Dead Will Speak" - Adia Kuznetzoff, Miriam Goldina, Lewis Edmonds, Boris Marshalov, Bruno Wicks, Al Thaler, Lotte Stavisky, Tony Dowling, Julius Bing