| 1926-1927 | 1927-1928 | 1928-1929 | 1929-1930 | 1930-1931 | 1931-1932 | 1932-1933 | 1933-1934 | 1934-1935 | 1935-1936 | 1936-1937 | 1937-1938 | 1938-1939 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No shorts released | No shorts released | No shorts released | 6 Gramercy Comedies (1rl) | 6 Broadway Headliners (2rl) | 6 Broadway Headliners (1rl) | 26 Aesop Film Fables (1rl) | 2 Amos 'n' Andy Cartoons (1rl) | 5 Blondes and Redheads Comedies (2rl) | 13 Easy Aces (1rl) | 9 Disney-Mickey Mouse (1rl) | 3 Condor Musicals (1rl) | 18 Disney Cartoons (1rl) |
| 6 Gramercy Comedy Featurettes (2rl) | 6 Dane-Arthur Comedies (2rl) | 6 Chic Sales Comedies (2rl) | 6 Charlie Chaplin Reissues (2rl) | 6 Blondes and Redheads Comedies (2rl) | 4 Chick Chandler Comedies (2rl) | 6 Edgar Kennedy Comedies (2rl) | 9 Disney-Silly Symphonies (1rl) | 18 Disney Cartoons (1rl) | 6 Edgar Kennedy Comedies (2rl) | |||
| 7 Gramercy Dramatic Tabloids (2rl) | 12 Humanettes (1rl) | 6 Liberty Short Stories (1rl) | 6 Clark & McCullough Comedies (2rl) | 6 Charlie Chaplin Reissues (2rl) | 4 Clark & McCullough Comedies (2rl) | 6 Headliners Comedies (2rl) | 6 Edgar Kennedy Comedies (2rl) | 6 Edgar Kennedy Comedies (2rl) | 4 Headliner Comedies (2rl) | |||
| 7 Gramercy Novelties (1rl) | 6 Louise Fazenda Comedies (2rl) | 6 Mickey McGuire Comedies (2rl) | 6 Edgar Kennedy Comedies (2rl) | 8 Clark & McCullough Comedies (2rl) | 20 Dumb-Bell Letters (1rl) | 12 March of Time (2rl) | 6 Headliner Comedies (2rl) | 3 Headliner Comedies (2rl) | 6 Leon Errol Comedies (2rl) | |||
| 13 Mickey McGuire Comedies (2rl) | 8 Mickey McGuire Comedies (2rl) | 6 Ned Sparks Comedies (2rl) | 6 Harry Sweet Comedies (2rl) | 13 Cubby the Bear Cartoons (1rl) | 6 Edgar Kennedy Comedies (2rl) | 104 Pathé News (1rl) | 12 March of Time (2rl) | 6 Leon Errol Comedies (2rl) | 13 March of Time (2rl) | |||
| 13 Record Breakers (2rl) | 6 Nick and Tony Comedies (2rl) | 6 Nick Harris Mysteries (2rl) | 6 Masquers Comedies (2rl) | 6 Edgar Kennedy Comedies (2rl) | 5 Four Star Comedies (2rl) | 7 Pathé Topics (1rl) | 104 Pathé News (1rl) | 13 March of Time (2rl) | 11 Nu-Atlas Musicals (1rl) | |||
| 12 Toby the Pup Cartoons (1rl) | 6 Roscoe Ates Comedies (2rl) | 6 Mickey McGuire Comedies (2rl) | 6 Gribbon-Kennedy Comedies (2rl) | 5 Headliner Comedies (2rl) | 6 Radio Flash Comedies (2rl) | 7 Pathé Topics (1rl) | 13 Nu-Atlas Musicals (2rl) | 104 Pathé News (1rl) | ||||
| 13 Tom and Jerry Cartoons (1rl) | 13 NBC Musical Broadcasts (1rl) | 6 Headliner Comedies (2rl) | 104 Pathé News (1rl) | 6 Radio Musical Comedies (2rl) | 6 Radio Flash Comedies (2rl) | 104 Pathé News (1rl) | 11 Pathé Sportscopes (1rl) | |||||
| 6 Olsen and Johnson Comedies (2rl) | 6 My Bridge Experience (2rl) | 7 Pathé Topics (1rl) | 6 Smart Set Comedies (2rl) | 6 Radio Musical Comedies (2rl) | 7 Pathé Parade (1rl) | 3 Radio Flash Comedies (2rl) | ||||||
| 104 Pathé News (1rl) | 104 Pathé News (1rl) | 12 Pathé Review (1rl) | 6 Superba Comedies (2rl) | 6 Smart Set Comedies (2rl) | 12 Pathé Review (1rl) | 4 Ray Whitley Comedies (2rl) | ||||||
| 7 Pathé Review (1rl) | 7 Pathé Review (1rl) | 3 Radio Musical Comedies (2rl) | 13 Rainbow Parade Cartoons (1rl) | 13 Sports with Bill Corum (1rl) | 9 Pathé Sportscopes (1rl) | 14 Reelisms (1rl) | ||||||
| 13 Tom and Jerry Cartoons (1rl) | 8 Musical Comedies (2rl) | 10 Rainbow Parade Cartoons (1rl) | 7 Sports with Bill Corum (1rl) | 6 Struggle to Live (1rl) | 7 Pathé Topics (1rl) | 1 Speciality (Sheila Barrett, 1rl) | ||||||
| 6 Vagabond Adventures (1rl) | 4 Ruth Etting Musicomedies (2rl) | 4 Ruth Etting Musicomedies (2rl) | 6 Struggle to Live (1rl) | 6 Superba Comedies (2rl) | 3 Radio Flash Comedies (2rl) | |||||||
| 13 Soglow's The Little King Cartoons (1rl) | 1 Toddle Tales Cartoons (1rl) | 7 World on Parade (1rl) | 13 World on Parade (1rl) | 2 Radio Musical Comedies (2rl) | ||||||||
| 6 Vagabond Adventures (1rl) | 7 Vagabond Adventures (6x1rl, 1x2rl) | 3 Smart Set Comedies (2rl) | ||||||||||
| 2 Specials (Grand National Irish Sweepstakes, reels unknown; So This Is Harris, 3rl) | 3 Specials (La Cucaracha, 2rl; A Day with the Dionne Quintuplets, 1rl; A Trip through Fijiland, 2rl) | 1 Special (A Day with the Dionne Quintuplets, 2rl) |
Among the vertically integrated “big five” studios, only RKO and Fox demonstrated a sustained commitment to live-action comedy shorts in the decade following sound, and for structurally similar reasons: both inherited the production/distribution slates of companies strongly associated with the genre (Educational in the case of Fox, Pathé in the case of RKO). What made the difference, however, was the longevity of RKO’s commitment: whereas Fox kicked Educational to the curb in 1938 and immediately cut all two-reel subjects from its yearly slate, RKO would soldier on until long after the war years. Particularly notable in this respect were the Edgar Kennedy and Leon Errol series of domestic comedies, both launched in the 1930s and continued until the two comedians’ deaths, in 1948 and 1951 respectively.