NEWSLETTER | VOL. 56, December 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
BARRYMORE’S SCROOGE
By Dorothy O’Leary
Now comes Wednesday, the day before Christmas, when the average man is filled with good-will and cheer, Lionel Barrymore will be gruff, grumpy and waspish. The fact that Barrymore is no average man is not the cause of this individuality; his ill humor will be his preparation for the role of Scrooge in which he will be heard that evening on ABC. This will be the twelfth year that Barrymore has portrayed the tight-fisted old miser in Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” for the benefit of radio listeners, and his performance now is almost as much a part of Yuletide tradition as pine and holly. So close to his heart is his delineation of Scrooge that Barrymore seems to become the frosty spirited, covetous old sinner. His friends say they avoid him that day; early in the morning he seems to start shriveling. To get completely into the spirit of the miser, he takes no money with him when he leaves his San Fernando Valley home for the broadcasting studios! At the rehearsal he is exacting and demanding, although his regular “Mayor of the Town” rehearsals are consistently casual and easygoing. For “A Christmas Carol” he is satisfied with nothing less than perfection.“I seem to shrink and an unnatural meanness of disposition comes over me. I seem to be Scrooge in body and mind,” Barrymore explains, “until the peal of the rollicking bells at the story’s end, when my spirit lifts up and leaves the cramped, thin body of Scrooge. Then I truly want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.”
“Of all the roles I’ve done, the one I’d like best to be remembered for is Scrooge. It is unquestionably one of my favorites.”
Mr. Barrymore admits he does not remember who conceived the happy notion of his portraying Scrooge, but knows it was not his own suggestion. Lionel Barrymore first was heard in “A Christmas Carol” in 1934 in an elaborate Christmas Day program on CBS, presented by Nash-Kelvinator. Beatrice Lillie and the late Alexander Woollcott were also on the program—certainly not, however, as Mrs. Cratchit and Tiny Tim. The following year Campbell’s Soup presented it, continuing until 1940. Originally, it was the Christmas attraction in the sponsor’s Hollywood Hotel which later became the Campbell Playhouse, and was an hour program. Mr. Barrymore also was heard in 1935, but not in 1936 because of the death of his wife just before Christmas. That year his brother, the late John Barrymore, played the role. The elder Barrymore has portrayed Scrooge every year except 1938, when Orson Welles took over because of Lionel’s illness.
LEND ME YOUR EARS by Lisa Wolf
MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA, by Gladys Knight & the Pips
RELEASED: 1973
Released in 1973, “Midnight Train to Georgia” is one of Gladys Knight & the Pips’ most iconic songs. Written by Jim Weatherly, it was originally titled “Midnight Plane to Houston,” inspired by a conversation with a friend moving from Los Angeles back to the South. Gladys Knight & the Pips adapted it, changing the title to “Midnight Train to Georgia” and adding their signature soulful style. Produced by Tony Camillo and recorded in New York, the track features strings, piano, and a rhythm section.
The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in October 1973 and reached No. 1 on the R&B charts, earning the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1974. Its popularity extended beyond the charts: it was featured in the 1987 film Broadcast News, and Neil Diamond recorded his own version in 2010.
Even today, “Midnight Train to Georgia” stands as one of the most recognizable and beloved soul recordings of its era.
HOLLYWOOD 360 Broadcast Schedule for December, 2025 (episodes subject to change):
12/6/25
THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM 12/22/40 Christmas Shopping w/ Jack and all his gang
SUSPENSE 12/21/58 Out for Christmas w/ Raymond Burr
GUNSMOKE 12/20/52 Christmas Story w/ William Conrad
THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE 12/24/52 Alone for Christmas w/ Willard Waterman
FAMILY THEATER 12/11/47 Substitute Santa w/ Ray Milland
12/13/25
STARS OVER HOLLYWOOD 12/19/53 A Christmas Carol w/ Edmund Gwenn
COMMAND PERFORMANCE 12/25/43 Christmas Special w/ Bob Hope
THE ADV. OF ARCHIE ANDREWS 12/13/37 Christmas Shopping w/ Bob Hastings
SUSPENSE 12/20/59 Korean Christmas Carol w/ Bill Lipton
ROCKY FORTUNE 12/22/53 Santa Murdered w/ Frank Sinatra
12/20/25
A CHRISTMAS CAROL 12/25/49 w/ Lionel Barrymore
THE BING CROSBY SHOW 12/20/50 w/ Dixie Lee Crosby and the Crosby Boys
THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM 12/24/44 Christmas Show w/ Jack and all his gang
THE FIRST NIGHTER PROGRAM 12/23/52 Little Town of Bethlehem w/ Olan Soule and Barbara Luddy
THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE 12/24/44 Christmas Eve w/ Hal Peary
12/27/25
THE EDGAR BERGEN & CHARLIE McCARTHY SHOW 1/1/56 New Year’s Show Pt. 1
THE EDGAR BERGEN & CHARLIE McCARTHY SHOW 1/1/56 New Year’s Show Pt. 2
SUSPENSE 12/28/58 The 32nd of December w/ Frank Lovejoy
THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE 12/31/47 New Year’s Eve Party w/ Hal Peary
THE BING CROSBY SHOW 12/28/49 New Year’s Show w/ guest, Al Jolson
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