Summary: Balancing The Books (Aired December 28, 1945) Early in the show's life, however, its name was changed — first to Duffy's and, for four episodes, Duffy's Variety. A staffer for Bristol-Myers -- whose Ipana toothpaste was the show's early sponsor—persuaded the company's publicity director to demand the name change because the original title promoted "the hobby of drinking" too much for certain sensibilities. Bristol-Myers eventually admitted the staffer had little to go on other than a handful of protesting letters, and to the delight of fans who never stopped using the original name, anyway — the original title was restored permanently. The name change was often subverted by the Armed Forces Radio Network. When the AFRN rebroadcast those episodes for U.S. servicemen during World War II, the announcer referred to Duffy's Tavern. Radio's Duffy's Tavern didn't translate well to film or television. THIS EPISODE: December 28, 1945. "Balancing The Books" - NBC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. Archie tries to balance the tavern's books. He and Eddie take inventory, then try to bribe Mr. Schmidlap, the accountant. Ed Gardner, Eddie Green, Charlie Cantor, Sandra Gould, Howard Duff (AFRS announcer). 29:34. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.
