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Raymond Knight (radio), Raymond Knight broadcasting on The Cuckoo Hour in 1931.Raymond Knight (February 12, 1899 - February 12, 1953) was an actor, comedian and comedy writer, best known as a pioneer in satirical humor for network radio.Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Knight studied law at Boston University and passed the Massachusetts bar, but he returned to school to study theater and writing at Harvards 47 Workshop, followed by more studies at Yale. In 1927, he performed in the Broadway musical revue The Manhatters.Knight was writing continuity and commercials for NBC in 1929, when NBC programmer Bertha Brainard asked him to devise something cuckoo for the Blue Network. He responded with the zany The Cuckoo Hour, aka The KUKU Hour, as a showcase for his comedy. One of his characters on the series was Professor Ambrose J. Weems, who ran a radio station where he would give his views on current events and chat with his sidekick, Mrs. Pennyfeather.Radio historian Billy Jack Long described the unique aspects of Knights satirical series:This show was the forerunner to most of what America thought was funny afterwards. Ray, unlike most of the other radio personalities at the time, didnt have a background in vaudeville. He did all of his work within a short distance from home. Consequently, Ray had a good grasp on what people did when they were at home. Nothing was safe from Ray Knights sarcasm. It wasnt meant to be rude or upsetting. But The KUKU Hour was so different from anything that was going on at the time. He would bounce back and forth between networks. The show started on NBC and was there for a few years before moving to Mutual. The KUKU Hour did not always have the same characters but it would have the same elements in each show. One of these was a segment called The Firing Squad. In this, Ray would make comments about a person, a group or an idea, and then have everyone in the studio shoot at it with toy guns. Paper cap guns were provided for members of the studio audience, and even the technical people got involved in this!Knight replaced Aline and Peter Dixon when he took over the childrens series, Wheatenaville Sketches, sponsored by Wheatena. On this program, Knight portrayed editor Billy Batchelor, running a small town newspaper founded by his uncle. Wheatenaville Sketches and The Cuckoo Hour were both important influences on comedian Bob Elliott, who attended Knights show with his parents and later became friends with Knight.