Two of the cruelest, most primitive punishments our town deals out to those who fall from favor are the empty mailbox and the silent telephone.

Expanding to 30 minutes on NBC Hedda Hopper was host of a variety series The Hedda Hopper Show broadcast from October 14 1950 to November 11 1950 on Saturdays then from November 19 1950 to May 20 1951 on Sundays This program featured music talk and dramatized excerpts from movies with well-known guests such as Broderick Crawford doing a scene from All the King's Men. Hearing that Edgar Selwyn was casting his play The Country Boy for a road tour Hedda Hopper went to his office and talked him into letting her audition for the lead. The similarity in names caused some friction as he would not always call Elda by her proper name but rather by the names of one of his previous wives.

Hedda Hopper (May 2 1885 – February 1 1966) was one of America's best-known gossip columnists notorious for feuding with her arch-rival Louella Parsons. In the McCarthy era Hedda Hopper named suspected communists.