Bash prompt missing in screen

I use screen lots.

On my local machine it works great.

However, when I do remote log-in using ssh, I get a blank screen with no 
(bash) prompt. I can run commands, but I do not see any output.  For example, 
the following works and writes output to the file junk.txt:

    $ ls > junk.txt

but I see nothing, until I exit screen and view the file.

This problem only started to occur a few days ago.  Is it possible that I 
need to set or adjust the characteristics of my terminal, or maybe tell 
screen something it needs to know about my terminal?

My suspicion is that this is a problem with the host machine where I'm 
running screen.  But, I don't know what the problem might be, and so I do not 
know how to report it.

Can anyone give me a clue about how to diagnose this or collect more info?

Dave