Skippy Hollywood Theatre is an American radio dramatic anthology program that began as a syndicated series and later was broadcast on CBS from December 1, 1949, through September 21, 1950.
[1] Rosenfield Packing Company initially ventured into radio as an advertising medium for its Skippy peanut butter when it sponsored Superman in Fresno, California, and San Francisco.
The company then worked with its advertising agency "to develop a program which would be reasonable in cost, would belong to Skippy, and would permit unlimited expansion as Rosefield grew.
"[2]: 39 The trade publication Variety reported in November 1945 that Skippy Hollywood Theatre was being heard on more 50,000-watt radio stations west of Chicago than any other program.
[6] The first of those six episodes was an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, whose cast included Alec Guinness, Jean Simmons, John Mills, Dirk Bogarde, Googie Withers, and Derek Bond.
[8] Another notable debut aired in April 1944, when New York Yankees centerfielder Joe DiMaggio appeared alongside then popular child actor Dix Davis[9] in the episode, "One Hit—Two Errors".
[1] One contemporaneous critic, Bill Bird of the Pasadena Independent, likewise lauded Mitchel's resourcefulness in putting out a polished product while also seeing the program as emblematic of the industry-wide transition from "live" to "canned" entertainment.
[Mitchel] attributes part of the program's success to the fact that, being transcribed, scenes that don't come out right the first time can be redone and spliced into the tape and some of which are then taken off on transcription discs for presentation over the air.