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"Command Performance" was a radio show that aired during the 1940s and 1950s and was broadcast to American troops serving overseas during World War II and the Korean War. It was produced by the Armed Forces Radio Service and featured popular entertainers of the time, such as Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland. The show was known for its high-quality production and its ability to bring a touch of home to the soldiers stationed abroad. It was broadcast from various locations, including military bases, theaters, and even aircraft carriers, and was hugely popular with the troops . In...
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Request letters give its musical performances a vivid social frame, preserving variety radio as entertainment addressed to specific servicemen.
Command Performance turns servicemen's request letters into brisk variety bills where songs share the microphone with comedy sketches, celebrity introductions, and occasional sports reports.
A soldier's letter calls for a star, and you get the feeling the microphone salutes back.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A brisk wartime variety hour built around Clifton Fadiman, jokes, songs, and requests.
Command Performance plays as a brisk wartime variety hour, opened by a serviceman's request for Clifton Fadiman and then moving quickly through introductions, jokes, songs, and short bits.
A fast wartime request broadcast that turns audience wishes into polished, noisy payoff.
Command Performance turns a wartime request show into a swift Hollywood showcase, with servicemen's letters setting the pace and the studio answering in kind. Jean Tierney gets the star treatment, Arthur Q.
A lively wartime request show where banter, patriotism, and crowd energy keep the pace moving.
Command Performance USA is a wartime request-line variety show built around letters from service members. The episode opens with an Army nurse in Australia asking for Adolphe Mongeau, then settles into comic banter and quick pivots that keep the broadcast moving.
A brisk wartime variety hour where patriotism, patter, and nonsense keep colliding.
Command Performance plays like a wartime stage door left open: a serviceman's request brings Pat O'Brien in, and the hour keeps moving from salute to skit to comic derailment.
A fast wartime request show where star turns, letters, and jokes keep the momentum moving.
Command Performance treats a wartime request show as a brisk parade of stars, bits, and patriotic cheer. It has the snap of a live broadcast, and the golf sketch lands because the comedy stays plainspoken before the next handoff arrives.
This 1942 episode of Command Performance features Clifton Fadiman hosting a variety of entertainers for U.S.
Command Performance USA opens with its familiar wartime request format and moves briskly into celebrity greetings and performance cues.
This April 1942 episode of Command Performance features Hollywood stars like Jean Tierney, Gary Cooper, and Betty Hutton entertaining troops with music, comedy, and sports updates.
This 1942 episode of Command Performance features Pat O'Brien hosting a variety show for troops, with comedy sketches by Frank Morgan and George Burns & Gracie Allen, musical performances, and sports news.
This 1942 episode of Command Performance features host Adolphe Mongeau presenting musical acts and comedy sketches requested by troops overseas, including Virginia O'Brien singing 'Deep in the Heart of Texas', Red Skelton's humorous family sketch, and Fibber McGee's tall war tale, all aimed at boosting morale during World War II.
Command Performance USA, broadcast April 1, 1942, is hosted by Kay Kyser, who reads letters from servicemen in the Caribbean, Newfoundland, Ireland and the Canal Zone and fills each request with a performer.
Command Performance No.
Kate Smith hosts this March 13, 1942 Command Performance, built from letters written by soldiers, sailors and marines asking for specific performers.