Meet Corliss Archer

Meet Corliss Archer is an American radio program from radio’s Golden Age that ran from January 7, 1943, to September 30, 1956. Although it was CBS’s answer to NBC’s A Date with Judy, it was also broadcast by NBC in 1948 as a summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show.

Despite the program’s long run, fewer than 24 episodes are known to exist.

The Stars

Perpetually perky, breathless and well-intentioned, Corliss Archer was portrayed successively by Priscilla Lyon and Janet Waldo on radio. Lugene Sanders also played Corliss briefly on radio and in the CBS version of the Meet Corliss Archer television show.

Corliss is constantly at the side of her next-door neighbor and boyfriend, Dexter Franklin, played by Bill Christy, Sam Edwards, and others. Clumsy, nerdy Dexter, with his nasal voice, is best remembered for his trademark phrase, “Holy cow” and his braying call, “Heyyyy, Corrrrrliiiiiss!”

Corliss’s father, Harry Archer, a lawyer who tolerates Dexter only when he wants to use him to help flaunt male superiority, was played by Bob Bailey, Fred Shields, and Frank Martin.

Corliss’s mother, Janet Archer, was played by Irene Tedrow, Monty Margetts, and Gloria Holden.

Key Dates

• Meet Corliss Archer debuted on January 7, 1943 a
• It ran until September 30, 1956.

Other Information

Meet Corliss Archer was written by F. Hugh Herbert, who first introduced the character and her friends in a Good Housekeeping magazine story “A Private Affair,” the first of a series of stories.

Herbert’s Meet Corliss Archer property was adapted to television in 1951 and 1952 with live broadcasts produced and aired by CBS. In 1954 and 1955.

Ziv Television Programs produced a syndicated telefilm series starring Ann Baker and Mary Brian.

The comic book series, published by Fox Feature Syndicate, came out in three issues from March to July 1948 and featured the artwork of Al Feldstein, who later became the editor of Mad magazine.