1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Films can be magical. Think of the movies 7 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: that influenced aspiring filmmakers. From great white sharks off the 8 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: coast of New England to dinosaurs rampaging across to Costa 9 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: Rican Island. Two hours in a dark in theater can 10 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: be life changing. The films with this kind of power 11 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: tend to be the ones with the best of lists. Casablanca, Jaws, 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: Citizen Kane, Taxi Driver, movies with one heck of a 13 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: story to tell. And then there's nineteen thirty nine Code 14 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: of the Secret Service. It certainly was a movie, just 15 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: not a great one, at least according to the film star, 16 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: an actor named Ronald Reagan. Before he became the forty 17 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,479 Speaker 1: president of the United States, Ronald Reagan was an entertainer, 18 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: starring in dozens of films, including western's and dramas. One 19 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: series had Reagan, playing a character named Lieutenant Brass Bancoft, 20 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: a former military pilot who joined the Secret Service to 21 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: take down criminals. The first installment in the franchise, the 22 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,199 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine Secret Service of the Air, was a 23 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,479 Speaker 1: modest hit. Its success pushed the studio to green light 24 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: three more sequels over the next year. That's right, three 25 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: Secret Service movies starring Ronald Reagan were released in nineteen 26 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: thirty nine. The final film, Murder in the Air, came 27 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: out in nineteen forty. Quantity over quality, I guess it 28 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: was the second installment, though Code of the Secret Service, 29 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: that was particularly special, not because it was Eddie good. 30 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: Though Reagan hated it. He called it the worst picture 31 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: he had ever made, and was quoted as saying, never 32 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,519 Speaker 1: has an egg of such dimensions been laid. He wasn't 33 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: yoking either. The film was almost universally panned by theatergoers 34 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: and critics alike. Still, it made enough money to keep 35 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: the series afloat for two more installments. In the film, 36 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,959 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Bancroft is sent after a ring of counterfeiters who 37 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: have stolen engraving plates from the U. S. Treasury. Exciting 38 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: on paper, but not so much in execution unless you 39 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: were Jerry. Jerry was born in nineteen thirty in Montgomery, Alabama, 40 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: but grew up in Florida. When he was thirty two 41 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: years old, a recruiter from the United States Secret Service 42 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: paid him a visit and asked if he wanted to join. 43 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: Jerry didn't think the job was any more dangerous than 44 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: the one that he had been doing in Florida, Power 45 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: and Light, so he said yeah. Jerry was no spring chicken. 46 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: He entered the academy alongside much younger cadets, but that 47 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: didn't stop him from persevering as a new agent. In 48 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: the early sixty Jerry was first assigned to protect John F. 49 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: Kennedy and then Lyndon B. Johnson as they attended Eleanor 50 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: Roosevelt's funeral. From there, he was almost always beside a 51 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: president or vice president, though, Jerry faced the challenge of 52 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,079 Speaker 1: his life. He was working as part of President Reagan's 53 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: Secret Service detail the afternoon of March. The president had 54 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: just given a speech at a major union organization at 55 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,679 Speaker 1: the Washington Hilton Hotel in d C. He was being 56 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,959 Speaker 1: led out of the hotel around two pm, where a 57 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: sea of reporters were waiting to greet him. President Reagan 58 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: had stepped up to the crowd to answer questions when 59 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: a man named John Hinckley Jr. Pulled a revolver out 60 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: and fired six shots rang out. Jerry jumped into action, 61 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: shoving Reagan into a waiting limousine. He looked back to 62 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: see three people bleeding on the sidewalk. Hinkley had severely 63 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: wounded several of the president's staff. Jerry assumed that the 64 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: President had gone unharmed, but he looked back and saw 65 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: blood spurting out of Reagan's mouth. Out of the six 66 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: bullets that were fired, one had managed to lodge itself 67 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: in Reagan's lung, which had collapsed. Jerry told the driver 68 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: to head to George Washington University Medical Center, where doctors 69 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: spent two hours removing the bullet and stitching the president's 70 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: back up. Reagan was fine, thanks in no small part 71 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: to Jerry's quick thinking. What very few people knew at 72 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: the time was that Jerry Parr almost didn't become a 73 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: Secret Service agent, but he'd been inspired by a film 74 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: he'd seen many times when he was younger. It was 75 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: a movie about a former military pilot who joined the 76 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: Secret Service to take down criminals. A movie starring Ronald Reagan, 77 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: called Code of the Secret Service, the worst movie Ronald 78 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: Reagan ever made, inadvertently saved his life. Sometimes truth really 79 00:04:46,120 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: is stranger than fiction. Today's television landscape comprises a vast 80 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: rate of programming, much of it is good or even 81 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: better than what we might find at the cinema. From 82 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: star studded series two movies of the week. The TV 83 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: of today is a far cry from the sitcoms and 84 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: camp of yesteryear. But that doesn't mean the television shows 85 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: of the old days weren't special in their own right. 86 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: They entertained families every week with tales of genies and bottles, 87 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: bumbling spies, and witchy wives. But one man didn't quite 88 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: care for the quality of programming in the nineteen sixties. 89 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: He thought it could be better. What he got instead 90 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: was his name on a piece of television history, though 91 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: not in the way he probably wanted. Newton Norman was 92 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: a lawyer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born in nineteen six. Norman 93 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: fought during World War Two before getting his law degree 94 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: from Northwestern He worked his way up in the private sector, 95 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 1: getting a job at a major law firm until he 96 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: joined ad LEA. Stevenson on his two presidential campaigns in 97 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties. In nineteen sixty one, President John F. 98 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: Kennedy appointed Norman into the Federal Communications Commission. As a commissioner, 99 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: Norman took his job very seriously, lamenting the states of 100 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,559 Speaker 1: television at the time. It was a topic he spoke 101 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: of frequently with Kennedy's brother, Roberts, who agreed that modern 102 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: TV programming of the time needed a lot of help. 103 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: More importantly, though, he felt that the children would suffer 104 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: if television continued its commercial decline. Norman furthered his agenda 105 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 1: with a speech which he gave at a convention in 106 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one held by a powerful lobbying group, the 107 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: National Association of Broadcasters, were responsible for setting guidelines for 108 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: television networks and radio stations. Want to know why the 109 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: hour from eight to nine pm is considered primetime? What 110 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: we have the n A B To thank for that? 111 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: Norman had just become chair of the FCC two months earlier, 112 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: and he was determined to make a splash. He launched 113 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: into a tirade about undesirable programming such as game shows, 114 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: Westerns and sitcoms. He believed that if there was more variety, 115 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: people would naturally choose to watch better shows. Among the 116 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: ones he actually liked were The Twilight Zone and certain 117 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,919 Speaker 1: news programs, where there was plenty that he despised. He 118 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: referred to television as a whole, as a vast wasteland 119 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: populated by what he called formula comedies about totally unbelievable families. 120 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: Many at the n A B agreed, though by the 121 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: time the speech was given, the networks had already lined 122 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: up their schedules for the next season. Programming changes wouldn't 123 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: happen until at least nineteen sixty three. But one person 124 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: had heard the speech who didn't agree with any of it, 125 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: and he was going to have the last word. Sherwood 126 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: Schwartz had gotten his start in radio, writing for programs 127 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: like the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet's and The Bob 128 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: Hope Show. When he made the jump to television, he 129 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: got a job writing for the popular comedy program The 130 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: Red Skeleton Show. But Schwartz wasn't going to stay in 131 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: the writer's room forever. He had an idea for a 132 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: show of his own, one which he started production on 133 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: in November of nineteen sixty three. It started an ensemble 134 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: cast who found themselves strand it on a deserted island 135 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: after their tour boat was damaged in a storm. What 136 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: was supposed to have been a three hour tour ended 137 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: up becoming one of the most popular series on television, 138 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: spanning three seasons, almost one episodes, and several film sequels 139 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: plus one catchy theme song. Gilligan's Island was a hit, 140 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: and in some ways it was a hit piece on 141 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,559 Speaker 1: the former FCC chair himself. You see, Sherwood Schwartz didn't 142 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: take too kindly to the ways in which he'd been insulted. 143 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: Here he was with a formula comedy about totally unbelievable 144 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: characters getting into one hairbrain scheme after another, and he 145 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: knew that people were going to love it. So as 146 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: any great artist would, Schwartz fired back at his critic, Norman, 147 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: in the only way he knew how he named something 148 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: in the show after him, Newton. Norman Minnow would live 149 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: on in the hearts and minds of viewers everywhere as 150 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 1: the inspiration behind the name of the skipper's ill fated ship, 151 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: The S. S. Minnow I hope you've enjoyed today's guided 152 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on 153 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting 154 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:14,080 Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me 155 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make 156 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 157 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 158 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com. 159 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.