DAMERON ------------- 1972 - 1973 By: Stewart Wright Initial Compilation: 08/01/2001 Last Update: 06/30/2004 Copyright 2003 by Stewart Wright First Show: 09/26/1972 Last Show: 09/18/1973 Number of Shows: 049 Audition Show: See NOTE: Audition/Pilot Show in SERIES BACKGROUND: SERIES BACKGROUND & DESCRIPTION: DAMERON was the second radio series created, written, and produced by Jim French for radio station KVI in Seattle, WA. The first series was the short-run TOWER PLAYHOUSE; the third was CRISIS. At the time, KVI was part of the Golden West Radio Network: KMPC - Los Angeles, KSFO - San Francisco, KEX - Portland, and KVI - Seattle. The Golden West Radio Network was owned by radio's singing cowboy, Gene Autry. Roy Dameron, played by Robert E. Lee Hardwick, was a high- priced, globe-trotting troubleshooter. Emile St. Clair, played by Douglas Young, was Dameron's partner. He was variously described as a cook or chef, chemist, and general factotum. The basic opening tag line for the series was: "KVI and the Golden West Radio Network present the new audio adventures of DAMERON. Dameron: his home - the world; his profession - the jobs nobody else can do. Dameron goes anywhere, solves any problem - for a price." Most DAMERON episodes follow typical detective show plots - masquerading as someone else or solving or preventing a crime. However, the plot lines usually have interesting and unusual twists. In one episode, Dameron must stop the bombing of the Vietnam War Peace Talks in Paris with the help of several persons possessing exceptional Extra Sensory Perception powers who are portraying their favorite movie stars from the 1940's. Dameron used his wits to solve his cases, he didn't carry or even own a gun. He did carry something that was very unusual for the early 1970's: a portable wireless telephone in a briefcase. Less than three years after the end of DAMERON, Jim French went on to create another detective series: the long-running THE ADVENTURES OF HARRY NILE. NOTE: Audition/Pilot Show The initial appearance of the Dameron and Emile characters was in the episode 002, "A Spark of the Sun," of the TOWER PLAYHOUSE series. In that episode, which aired on 08/01/1972, Dameron was a sailor/soldier of fortune; Emile was a cafe owner who was involved in espionage. Just a few weeks later DAMERON became a series. THE STARS: Roy Dameron was played by Robert E. Lee Hardwick, a Seattle radio personality from the late 1950's until the early- 1990's. He was perhaps best known to decades of Seattle listeners for such stunts as riding a bronco at a rodeo, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, swimming across Puget Sound, and riding a jet ski over 700 miles from southern Alaska to Seattle. Hardwick was named Billboard Magazine's Radio Personality of the Year in 1979. Robert E. Lee Hardwick died on June 5, 1992. Douglas Young is an actor who appeared on many series during the Golden Age of Radio including AUNT MARY, CISCO KID, LUX RADIO THEATRE, DR. CHRISTIAN, RED RYDER, SHERLOCK HOLMES, STARS OVER HOLLYWOOD, and THE WHISTLER. He has had roles in more than 130 Jim French productions. Doug has a great facility for doing accents and dialects. In DAMERON, Doug usually played other roles in addition to his co-starring role as Emile. Before moving to Seattle, Doug also did a lot of cartoon voice work for Hanna-Barbera Studios. He modeled some of his cartoon voices after his favorite character actors. His voice for the character of Doggie Daddy in the Augie Doggie cartoons was patterned after Jimmy Durante. In the Hokey Wolf cartoons, Doug did a character called Ding-A-Ling whose voice emulated Buddy Hackett's. SPONSORS: Mainly the defunct Seattle-based retail chains Ernst (hardware) and Tradewell Stores (supermarkets.) At least one episode (025) had multiple sponsors: Bank of California, Isabel Rose Wine, and First Lease from First Bank. CREW: Creator: Jim French Director: Jim French Writer: Jim French Music: "City of Glass" by Robert Graettinger Announcer: Jack Spencer? and Jim French CAST: Starring: Robert E. Lee Hardwick as ROY DAMERON Douglas Young as EMILE ST. CLAIR and Jane Aldren as LETICIA, Dameron's answering service in the early episodes. Guest Stars: John Amendola, Greg Aust, Griff Cavenier, Pearl Castle, Ray Court, Ted D'Arms, Roger Dowdy, Jim French, Pat French, Cecilia Hardwick, John B. Hughes, Tony Karloff, Merrill Mael, Ray McMackin, Terry McManus, Jack Morton, Joan Norton, Lee Paasch, Colleen Patrick, Mike Reynolds, John Roeder, Phil Royal, Leah Sluis, Rick Thomas, Mark Wayne, Veronica Weikle, Irving Zimmer, and others. LOG: All dates are the date of original airing on Seattle radio. The episode number (Num) indicates the order in which they were aired. ALTERNATE TITLES: Alternate titles are shown in parentheses ( ) in a separate line immediately following the primary show title entry. Date Num Title -------- --- ---------------------------------- 09/26/1972 001 The Short Sweet Life of Lee Chow Soon 10/03/1972 002 Don't Point at Me, You're Loaded 10/10/1972 003 The Siamese Cat Affair 10/17/1972 004 The Sweet Job 10/24/1972 005 If You Eat Bananas You Gotta Expect Spiders 10/31/1972 006 A Guy Could Die Of Thirst In The Middle Of A Brewery 11/07/1972 007 The Girl With the Aquiline Nose 11/21/1972 008 Take Another Chorus, They're Small 11/28/1972 009 Uncle Albert 12/05/1972 010 Why Would Anyone Want To Kill A Nice Guy Like Pete? (Who Would Want to Kill a Nice Guy Like Pete?) 12/12/1972 011 There's A Broken Broad For Every Light On Hardway 12/19/1972 012 The Lady Says Die 12/26/1972 013 The Sweetheart Of Sydney Fry 01/02/1973 014 The Ground Glass Incident 01/09/1973 015 Guaranteed Not To Rip, Rust, Or Collect Dust (The Tapes of Bobby Dee) 01/16/1973 016 Some Days You Get The Bear (Somedays You Get the Bear, Other Days the Bear Gets You) (Somedays You Get the Bear, Somedays the Bear Gets You) 01/23/1973 017 The Private War Of Ambrose Cain 01/30/1973 018 The Rapture Of Mrs. Parrington 02/06/1973 019 The Outsider 02/13/1973 020 Pursuit Of A Ghost 02/20/1973 021 The Tin Ghost Of Kuala Lumpur 02/27/1973 022 The Crossword Puzzle 03/06/1973 023 Who Is Buried In Grant's Tomb? 03/13/1973 024 The Lemming Syndrome 03/27/1973 025 Flashback 04/03/1973 026 The Van Hoolen Curse 04/10/1973 027 Run, Tony, Run 04/17/1973 028 Come Home John Doe 04/24/1973 029 Ransom 05/01/1973 030 The Tunnel 05/08/1973 031 To Wake The Dead 05/22/1973 032 The Door That Wouldn't Close 05/29/1973 033 How Does Your Garden Grow? 06/05/1973 034 Find A Tall Stranger Part 1 06/12/1973 035 Find A Tall Stranger Part 2 06/19/1973 036 The Transpacific Misfortune 06/26/1973 037 The Berryman Chamber 07/03/1973 038 The Last Commando 07/10/1973 039 Pipedream 07/17/1973 040 Seeds Of Kathmandu 07/24/1973 041 Baked Alaska 07/31/1973 042 The Chinese Checkers Murders 08/07/1973 043 The Son I Never Had 08/14/1973 044 In His Own Image 08/21/1973 045 The Man Who Was Beside Himself 08/28/1973 046 The Mind Changes 09/04/1973 047 The World Series Caper 09/11/1973 048 Earth Is Ours! 09/18/1973 049 Roostertail NEW PRODUCTIONS OF PREVIOUS SCRIPTS: Several DAMERON scripts have provided the basis for episodes of current Jim French series. "The Short Sweet Life of Lee Chow Soon" was extensively reworked for the first episode of the series CALL SIMON WALKER, "You Should Live So Long," which initially aired on IMAGINATION THEATRE 05/19/2002. The script has some plot line similarities to the DAMERON script, but had different characters. "Why Would Anyone Want to Kill a Nice Guy Like Pete?" was reworked for THE ADVENTURES OF HARRY NILE episode "The Pete Lambert Case" which first aired on IMAGINATION THEATRE 01/20/2002. "The Rapture of Mrs. Parrington" served as the foundation for the second episode of the series CALL SIMON WALKER, "Heaven Doesn't Take Plastic," which initially aired on IMAGINATION THEATRE 11/24/2002. The script has some plot line similarities to the DAMERON script, but had different characters. "The Berryman Chamber" was modified for the KINCAID, THE STRANGE-SEEKER episode "Gravity" which first aired on IMAGINATION THEATRE 07/13/2003. The plot line is quite similar to the DAMERON script, but had different characters and a modified plot line. AVAILABILITY: THESE SHOWS ARE STILL PROTECTED UNDER COPYRIGHT LAW. A few episodes (002, 003, 017, 034, 035, and 037) have been aired on IMAGINATION THEATRE and are available from the syndicator TransMedia Inc. 719 Battery St. San Francisco, CA 94111 1-800-BAY-RADIO or http://www.transmediasf.com/imag.html The above address is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement. INFORMATION SOURCES: Interviews with Jim French conducted by Stewart Wright in 1998. 1998 DAMERON article by Stewart Wright on www.thrillingdetective.com Conversations with Jim French 1999 - 2004. Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound Doug Young interview, February, 1992. Conversation with Doug Young 1998. Radio Historical Association of Colorado newsletter article on Doug Young, February, 2003. Correspondence with Larry Albert of Jim French Productions 2001 and 2002. WSU Media Materials Services http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Various Dates. Jim French Productions can be reached at: jrfproductions@yahoo.com