NEWSLETTER | VOL. 53, September 2025
Welcome to this month’s edition of The Hollywood 360 Newsletter, your place to get all the news on upcoming shows, schedule and interesting facts from your H360 team!
Carl’s Corner
by Carl Amari
PAT NOVAK, FOR HIRE
by Carl Amari and Martin Grams
In 1946, Pat Novak, For Hire came to West Coast regional radio (produced at KGO in San Francisco) starring Jack Webb in the title role with scripts by his roommate Richard L. Breen. When Webb and Breen moved to Los Angeles in 1947, Ben Morris replaced Webb as Novak. In a later network version, Jack Webb resumed the role along with Breen as scriptwriter. Pat Novak, For Hire was set on the San Francisco waterfront and depicted the city as a dark, tough as nails jungle where the main goal was survival. Novak was not a detective by trade. He owned a boat shop on “Pier 19″ where he rented out boats and did odd jobs to make money while dishing out sarcasm and colorful metaphors at a mile-a-minute. The set up from show-to-show was similar: An unknown person would ask Novak to perform an unusual or risky job. In need of money, Novak would reluctantly accept and find himself in hot water, usually involving a dead body and a femme fatale. Police Inspector Hellman (played by Raymond Burr) would be called to the case. Hellman hated Novak and badly wanted to lock him up and throw away the key. While solving the crime, Novak usually employed the help of his friend Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owen), a drunken ex-doctor. Pat Novak, For Hire lasted until 1949, which was about the time Jack Webb turned his attention to the series that would make him a star, Dragnet.
LEND ME YOUR EARS by Lisa Wolf
DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT, by King Harvest
RELEASED: 1972
“Dancing in the Moonlight” is best known from the 1972 hit version by King Harvest, but its origins go back a few years earlier. The song was written in 1969 by Sherman Kelly while recovering from a violent attack during a trip to the Caribbean. During his recovery, he imagined a peaceful, joyful world — the kind of world captured in the lyrics. The original version was recorded by his band, Boffalongo, and appeared on their self-titled album in 1970. That version did not receive widespread attention.
King Harvest recorded “Dancing in the Moonlight” in Paris in 1972. The track was produced independently and initially released on a small French label. It wasn’t until the song was picked up by the U.S. label Perception Records that it began to receive radio play. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1972 and peaked at No. 13 in early 1973.
Despite the single’s success, King Harvest never replicated that hit. The group disbanded shortly afterward, and “Dancing in the Moonlight” became their only major charting single — making them a one-hit wonder.
“Dancing in the Moonlight” has maintained a long afterlife thanks to its frequent use in film, television, and advertising. One of its most notable appearances was in the 2002 romantic drama A Walk to Remember. The song was also featured in Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special (2022), part of Marvel’s popular franchise, in addition to Better Call Saul.
Its continued presence in soundtracks, commercials, and cover versions has kept “Dancing in the Moonlight” culturally relevant well beyond its original release. While King Harvest never repeated its success, the song remains a recognizable and widely used track across multiple platforms, securing its place as a lasting part of pop music history.
HOLLYWOOD 360 Broadcast Schedule for September 2025 (episodes subject to change):
9/6/25
YOU BET YOUR LIFE 5/19/54 Secret Word: Arm w/ Groucho Marx
THE FIRST NIGHTER PROGRAM 5/6/48 The Tin Box w/ Olan Soule and Barbara Luddy
ROCKY JORDAN 8/14/49 Cairo Vendetta w/ Jack Moyles
DUFFY’S TAVERN 2/16/49 Archie’s Old Schoolmate Visits w/ Ed “Archie” Gardner
HOPALONG CASSIDY 9/22/51 Apaches Don’t Need Guns w/ William Boyd
9/13/25
THE ADV. OF SAM SPADE, DETECTIVE 9/29/48 The Lawless Caper w/ Howard Duff
THE DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS SHOW 2/1/52 w/ guest, Gordon MacRae
ESCAPE 1/21/48 Papa Benjamin w/ Frank Lovejoy
THE SCREEN DIRECTOR’S PLAYHOUSE 12/7/50 My Favorite Wife w/ Cary Grant and Irene Dunne
MARK TRAIL 10/16/50 The Strange Invitation to Death w/ Matt Crowley
9/20/25
THE CBS RADIO WORKSHOP 8/31/56 An Analysis of Satire w/ Stan Freberg
PAT NOVAK, FOR HIRE 4/30/49 Wendy Morris w/ Jack Webb and Raymond Burr
BABY SNOOKS & DADDY 5/23/47 Radio Quiz Show w/ Fanny Brice
GUNSMOKE 2/12/55 Chester’s Hanging w/ William Conrad
SUSPENSE 11/22/45 Nineteen Deacon Street w/ Lloyd Nolan
9/27/25
SPACE PATROL 2/21/53 The Moon Beetles w/ Ed Kemmer and Lyn Osborn
OUR MISS BROOKS 1/16/49 Student Government Day w/ Eve Arden
MR. CHAMELEON 11/10/48 The Case of the Murder and the Sleeping Man w/ Karl Swenson
TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE 4/19/51 Life or Death w/ Lamont Johnson
BIG TOWN 5/3/49 The Fatal Alibi w/ Edward Pawley
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