The run
- Network
- Syndicated
- Years active
- 1940–1950
- Surviving broadcasts
- 75
- Genre
- comedy
MAMA BLOOM'S BROOD This early series (circa 1934) combines elements of the soap opera with those of the situation comedy. The episodes are fifteen minutes long and serialized as well as having a domestic focus, tending to place the show in the soap opera genre. But the treatment of plot and character is light-hearted and humorous, similar to what is found in the myriad of sitcoms that sprang up during radio's golden age. Papa Bloom (Jake) has reached retirement age, and with some astute help from Mama (Becky), sells his kneepants factory at a nice profit. Together with their "brood" -- daughters Yetta and Sarah and sons-in-law Harold and Sidney -- they embark on an automobile trip to Hollywood to enjoy their first vacation in twenty-five years. The party has various adventures along the way. Digitised by the Old Time Radio Researchers and streamed from the Internet Archive item “OTRR_Mama_Blooms_Brood_Singles”; these recordings are in the public domain.
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
0 dated broadcasts across 11 years on the air, with 11 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from NaN, in original transmission order.
- 1. Jake's Lawsuit · Date unknown
- 2. The Wedding Day Arrives · Date unknown
- 3. Should Sam Retire · Date unknown
Jake's Lawsuit
Date unknown · 13 min
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
The Wedding Day Arrives
Date unknown · 13 min
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Should Sam Retire
Date unknown · 14 min
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
A Controlling Interest
Date unknown · 14 min
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Movie Plot Problem
Date unknown · 13 min
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Almost Caught at Pinochle
Date unknown · 13 min
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Abe Morgenstern
Date unknown · 15 min
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Yetta's Lesson
Date unknown · 13 min
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Also on Syndicated
Syndicated in 1940–1950
Other series the network carried while Mama Bloom's Brood was on the air.
Same seasons
comedy on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
Friends in front of a microphone
Jack Benny and Fibber McGee sold intimacy: recurring characters, in-jokes, a house style. The modern hang-out show is the same trick without the script.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Mama Bloom's Brood
Modern series carrying this form forward.
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