Winner 1956

“Bob and Ray” Show

Mutual Broadcasting System, NBC Radio

Once upon a time—and how astonishingly few years ago this was!—the radio comedian was the entertainer of the nation. Each hour of the night had a funnyman it could call its own. But now all this has changed; radio comedy has become a disappearing art. Disappearing, but by no means dead—and for much of the life that remains, we must thank the comedy team of Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding. Through their own show on Mutual, as well as through their appearances on NBC’s Monitor, Bob And Ray have continued to provide us with some of the finest comedy available in our land today. They deal primarily in satire, that rare and precious commodity. Their aim is deadly; their level is high; and their material is fresh, original, imaginative, and terribly funny. In any year, radio listeners would have reason to be grateful to this team, but especially so in the arid twelve months just past when, by reason of their unrelenting excellence, Bob and Ray has stood as the lone magnificent palm tree in a vast and dreary desert. In recognition of these facts, the George Foster Peabody Award for outstanding radio entertainment goes to Bob and Ray.