the grand ole opry was a theater production but also a live radio show that had been ongoing and pretty much unchanged since the twenties : some old-fashioned commercials for potato chips and ice cream , an elderly man in a sequined cowboy getup telling jokes about his sex life , a musical act-often bluegrass rather than country-that had been an opry staple for decades but never made it big , and finally a newbie the record companies were trying to promote , or a genuine star .