Showing results by author "Classic Radio Shows" in All Categories

Mail Call was an American radio program that entertained American soldiers from 1942 until 1945, during World War II. Lt. Col. Thomas A.H. Lewis (commander of the Armed Forces Radio Service) wrote in 1944, "The initial production of the Armed Forces Radio Service was 'Mail Call,' a morale-building half hour which brought famed performers to the microphone to sing and gag in the best American manner." The program featured popular entertainers of that day, such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, and Dinah Shore, performing musical numbers and comedy skits to boost the morale of soldiers ...

NBC's Mystery Theatre began airing with much fanfare on September 7, 1943. The series promised stories from the greatest classical and contemporary mystery authors--and production values to match. And it kept its promise. It was aided from the outset by the addition of an 'annotator'--as it was described in the 1940s--named Geoffrey Barnes.

Sears Radio Theater was a radio drama anthology series which ran weeknights on CBS Radio in 1979, sponsored by the Sears chain. Often paired with The CBS Radio Mystery Theater during its first season, the program offered a different genre of drama for each evening's

Buster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault. Adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904, Buster Brown, his sweetheart Mary Jane, and his dog Tige, an American Pit Bull Terrier, were well-known to the American public in the early 20th century. The character's name was also used to describe a popular style of suit for young boys, the Buster Brown suit, that echoed his own outfit. A Buster Brown radio series began in 1943 with Smilin' Ed McConnell on the West Coast NBC Radio Network. It included such characters as Froggy the Gremlin ("Plunk your ...

Murder By Experts ran on Mutual from June 1949 through December of 1951. Its total run consisted of 130 episodes of crime and mystery that quickly birthed a loyal following of listeners and swiftly gained the respect and approval from the radio world at large.

Charlie Chan was heard in several different series on three networks (the NBC Blue Network, Mutual, and ABC) between 1932 and 1948. Walter Connolly initially portrayed Chan on Esso Oil's Five Star Theater, which serialized adaptations of Biggers novels.

This series was written by Michael McCabe and was produced in South Africa. It was a replacement for another series McCabe produced, called SF68. That series adapted famous Sci-fi stories to radio, and it seems to have been the place where McCabe honed his craft. The subject matter to Beyond Midnight was more horror oriented, including madness, murder, and supernatural sleuths! What survives today doesn't involve a horror host per se, but a few include framing narration (by someone involved in the plot) while others just start up the story with no announcer or lead-in whatsoever. So it's ...

Let George Do It is an American radio drama series produced from 1946 to 1954 by Owen and Pauline Vinson. Bob Bailey starred as private investigator George Valentine; Olan Soule voiced the role in 1954. Don Clark directed the scripts by David Victor and Jackson Gillis. The few earliest episodes were more sitcom than private eye shows, with a studio audience providing scattered laughter. The program then changed into a suspenseful tough guy private eye series. Sponsored by Standard Oil of California, now known as Chevron, the program was broadcast on the West Coast Don Lee network of the Mutual...

***********SOME SHOWS SOUND QUALITY NOT GOOD********Jack Benny first appeared on radio as a guest of Ed Sullivan in 1932. He was then given his own show later that year, with Canada Dry Ginger Ale as a sponsor --The Canada Dry Program, beginning May 2, 1932, on the NBC Blue Network and continuing there for six months until October 26, moving the show to CBS on October 30. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933.Arriving at NBC on March 17, Benny did The Chevrolet Program until April 1, 1934. He continued with The General Tire Revue for the rest of that ...

Bulldog Drummond is a radio crime drama in the United States. It was broadcast on Mutual April 13, 1941 – March 28, 1954. Garyn G. Roberts wrote in his book, Dick Tracy and American Culture: Morality and Mythology, Text and Context, "With its trademark foghorn, Bulldog Drummond was one of the premiere mystery programs of its time."Bulldog Drummond was "a British investigator called 'Bulldog' because he was relentless in the pursuit of criminals." The character was created by British author H. C. McNeile. In addition to McNeile's books, Drummond was featured in a series of films from ...

Pat Novak, for Hire is an old-time radio detective drama series which aired from 1946–1947 as a West Coast regional program and in 1949 as a nationwide program for ABC. The regional version originally starred Jack Webb in the title role, with scripts by his roommate Richard L. Breen. When Webb and Breen moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles to work on an extremely similar nationwide series, Johnny Madero, Pier 23, for the Mutual network, Webb was replaced by Ben Morris and Breen by other writers. In the later 1949 network version, Jack Webb resumed the Novak role, and Breen his duties as ...

The Casebook of Jerry Browning, Private Detective" or "Calling All Detectives" was a crime drama radio show sponsored by Sealy Mattress company, and featured Paul Barnes who played all the roles including the role of detective Browning. During the show, Paul Barnes randomly dials a telephone number, then gives one of the audiences a chance to solve the mystery of the week. However, the random phone calls did not click so Barnes decided to dial only the numbers of the listeners. The telephone calls were removed from the program later on because it was used in syndicate. This two-man operation ...

Big John and Sparkie was a 1950’s radio show created by Jon Arthur. Although the show was intended for kids, many adults also became avid listeners due to its funny and very entertaining theme. The show is about Big John and his “little boy” Sparkie. Sparkie is said to be (and sounds like) an “elf from the land of make-believe,” but his thoughts and actions were like that of a little boy.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrpChartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

These fifteen minute episodes of mystery and espionage from the 1939 broadcasts begin with a prolonged organ intro so the local announcer could get in a couple of commercials for the local furniture store or dairy! Each single episode lasted about 12 and 1/2 minutes, but each "case" is really quite interesting and exciting. Walter PidgeonAgent K-7 is actually a rather mild-mannered narrator of these stories. He doesn't sound or seem very heroic or interesting... which would make him all the more effective as a spy! The spy's best disguise is a perfectly ordinary and uninteresting demeanor. The...

Classified as a juvenile crime drama but written and acted with more adult style than most of the breed, "The Green Hornet"---whose protagonist fought crime by infiltrating or even partnering (initially) with known criminal operations, which deceive police into believing him a wanted criminal himself---was the creation of George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, the brains and head writer behind "The Lone Ranger" (whose protagonist, according to storyline, was the great-uncle of Britt Reid, the heir who assumed control of the Daily Sentinel newspaper publisher and takes the crimefighting guise of ...

District Attorney is a radio crime drama, produced by Samuel Bischoff, which aired on NBC and ABC from April 3, 1939, to June 13, 1952 (and in transcribed syndication through 1953). The series focused on a crusading D.A., initially known only as "Mister District Attorney," or "Chief", and was later translated to television.

Quiet, Please! was a radio fantasy and horror program created by Wyllis Cooper, also known for creating Lights Out. Ernest Chappell was the show's announcer and lead actor. Quiet, Please debuted June 8, 1947, on the Mutual Broadcasting System, and its last episode was broadcast June 25, 1949, on the ABC

The Secrets of Scotland Yard was a successful crime drama series, initially airing internationally between 1949 and 1951. Selected episodes finally came to a US radio network for a brief run much later in 1957 over the Mutual Broadcasting System. The series boasted well over 100 episodes, one of which, "The Bone From A Voice Box", apparently served as the prototype for another well remembered Towers Of London dramatic series, The Black Museum. In both series, well known actors were employed as host / narrator, Orson Welles in The Black Museum and Clive Brook here. In fact, the shows were so ...

Wild Bill rode "Buckshot," and Jingles rode "Joker." Guy Madison played Marshal Wild Bill Hickok on radio and TV, with Andy Devine as Jingles. Hollywood actors did the bad guys and townsfolk. Charlie Lion did the announcing, and was "Panhandle Jim" for the Corn Pops commercials.

Frontier Town was an American radio adventure serial syndicated by Bruce Eells Productions. The 30-minute programme's first known broadcast was in 1949, and the show ran for 47 episodes. Because it was syndicated, it aired on different stations on different days. For instance, in New York City, the first episode ran on WINS on March 5, 1949