The Cuckoo Hour

The Cuckoo Hour , also known as The KUKU Hour and The Raymond Knight Cuckoo Hour, is an American musical variety radio series created by radio comedian Raymond Knight. It aired on the NBC Blue Network January 1, 1930–March 9, 1936.

Knight, a pioneer in satirical humor on the radio, studied law at Boston University and passed the Massachusetts bar, but he returned to school to study theater and writing at Harvard's 47 Workshop, followed by more studies at Yale. In 1927, he performed in the Broadway musical revue The Manhatters.

He was writing continuity and commercials for NBC in 1929, when NBC programmer Bertha Brainard asked him to devise "something cuckoo" for the Blue Network. He responded with the zany Cuckoo Hour as a showcase for his comedy, performing as Professor Ambrose J. Weems, who ran a radio station where he would give his views on current events and chat with his sidekick, Mrs. Pennyfeather.

The cast of The Cuckoo Hour included Carl Matthews (1899-1959).

References

The Cuckoo

The Cuckoo can refer to:

The Cuckoo (film)

The Cuckoo (Russian: «Кукушка», translit. Kukushka) is a 2002 Russian historical comedy drama film directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin. It takes place during World War II from the perspective of opposing Soviet and Finnish soldiers stranded at a Sami woman's farmhouse. "Kukushka" was the nickname given by Soviet soldiers to Finnish cuckoo snipers, who ambushed their targets from a purpose-built tree-branch-nest. Thus the title refers to both Veikko (the sniper) and Anni (whose name means cuckoo in Sami, and who is a lone woman living in the forest, much like a cuckoo).

Plot

September 1944. Several days before Finland, a co-belligerent of Nazi Germany, pulls out of the Continuation War against the Soviet Union, Veikko (Ville Haapasalo), a Finnish soldier, is turned in by his Finnish and German compatriots for being a pacifist and, in their eyes, a would-be deserter. As a punishment, the young man is placed in shackles, chained to a rock outcrop in a remote Lapland forest, left with nothing but a few supplies, rifle and ammunition - effectively made a forced Kamikaze kukushka sniper. To ensure his willingness to fight, they dress him in the uniform of the Waffen-SS, as Soviet soldiers felt little mercy towards SS men. Days pass, and after several failed attempts, Veikko succeeds in freeing himself and heads for safety, shackles still attached.

The Cuckoo (novel)

The Cuckoo (不如帰, Hototogisu) is a renowned Japanese novel published by author Kenjirō Tokutomi (Rōka Tokutomi) in serialized form between 1898 and 1899.

Synopsis

The Cuckoo explores the theme of a marriage coming to grief in which both husband and wife belong to the privileged class. Namiko is the daughter of a general. Takeo is a Naval officer, son of a baron now deceased. At first, they are happily married. Then three sources of unhappiness ruin it all. The first is Taneo, Takeo's cousin and Namiko's rejected suitor. Then there is the wicked mother-in-law. Finally, Namiko contracts tuberculosis.

Along with those sources of woe, Roka deals in conflicting values, traditional and modern. Takeo is torn between the absolutism of the family and individual moral authenticity. His mother urges him to divorce Namiko, whose illness prevents her from having children. Even though it means the end of his lineage, he refuses to take a course of action he considers inhumane and unethical. Takeo's choice is dramatically enhanced by the outbreak of war. He is called up for active duty, leaving Namiko unprotected. His mother, encouraged by the vengeful Taneo, takes matters into her own hands. She in effect dissolves her son's marriage by sending her wife back into her family. Namiko soon dies in despair. As Namiko lies dying, an old woman brings her a copy of the Christian Bible, which they discuss.