Showing results by author "Radio Shows of the Past!" in All Categories

Magic Island was a science-fantasy radio serial syndicated in the late 1930s and 1940s. The series had 130 15-minute episodes, and all episodes have survived.The storyline followed wealthy Patricia Gregory as she ended her 14-year search in the South Pacific for her long lost daughter Joan. When Joan was one year old, the Gregory yacht was shipwrecked near the 30th parallel south. Lashed to a lifeboat, Joan was presumed lost by all but Patricia. In the opening episode, she receives a tip about a white girl living on a mysterious island populated by scientifically advanced people in the ...

Written and directed by Robert Arthur and David Kogan, the radio series was sponsored by Adam Hats. It began on the Mutual Broadcasting System, December 5, 1943, continuing in many different time slots until September 16, 1952. The lonely sound of a distant locomotive heralded the arrival of the sinister narrator (portrayed by Maurice Tarplin), who introduced himself each week in the following manner:This is the Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the strange and terrifying.I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill you ...

Fu Manchu (Harold Huber) was a diabolical criminal mastermind. British official Nayland Smith (Hanley Stafford), assisted by Dr. Petrie (Gale Gordon), set out to stop Fu Manchu at any cost. In Radio Crime Fighters (2002), Jim Cox wrote:The plots of Rohmer's insidious figure and Smith and Petrie's attempts to thwart the archenemy formed a repetitive theme in the storyline.A stunningly exotic Karamaneh became the slave girl of the evil doctor; an objective of the combatants was to secure her release. The series, though brief, is memorable, and focused on one of the most effective villains to...

Although Mel Blanc "did countless character impersonations on other radio programs, as well as being the voice of many cartoon characters," he used his natural voice in this program and played himself – except that instead of being an entertainer, the Mel Blanc character in the show was "the bumbling owner of a fix-it shop that was never able to fix anything." The show's one regular outlet for another Blanc voice was the character Zookie, a stuttering helper. One website noted, however, "Many episodes required Mel to impersonate an exotic foreigner or other stranger in town, ostensibly for ...

The Casebook of Gregory Hood was a radio detective program in the United States. It existed in several versions - with different stars on different networks in different years. Hood was an importer in San Francisco who dealt in rare items. John Dunning summarized the show's premise as follows: "With his sidekick Sanderson ('Sandy') Taylor, Hood traveled the world seeking artifacts for his import house. Each item found by Hood had an intriguing history and was inevitably linked to some present-day mystery."The character of Hood was based on real-life importer Richard Gump, who lived in San...

The Mystery Project was produced by CBC Radio (Canada). It aired every Saturday night on CBC Radio One (6:30 p.m. for most of Canada, 7:30 p.m. Maritimes, 8:00 p.m. Nfld.), and was repeated at 3:30 p.m. the following Mondays on The Roundup, also on Radio One.The series ran from 1992 until 2002. Each week, casual listeners got to puzzle through a fully dramatized radio-play with a resolved plot, while regular listeners had the added fun of following familiar characters' further adventures. The series was created by the Executive Producer, Bill Howell. Barry Morgan was the ...

Abbott Mysteries was a comedy-mystery radio program adapted from the novels of Frances Crane (1896-1981). Initially a summer replacement for Quick As a Flash, the series was heard on Mutual and NBC between the years 1945 and 1955.The Mutual series, sponsored by Helbros Watches, debuted June 10, 1945, airing Sundays at 6 p.m. The scripts by Howard Merrill and Ed Adamson were in the lighthearted tradition of Mr. and Mrs. North. Julie Stevens and Charles Webster starred as Jean and Pat Abbott, a San Francisco married couple "who were habitually involved in various sorts of mayhem and in ...

This upload contains 74 episodes of the old time radio show, Voice of the Army. The show, which aired from the early 1940s to the early 1950s, was conceived as a recruiting vehicle for the United States Army and Army Air Corps (which became the United States Air Force in 1947). The evolution of the show is interesting. During WWII, the stories focused significantly on the heroism of the Army nurses to encourage women to volunteer for that assignment. In the immediate post-war period, the shows focused on encourage men to re-enlist in the standing army. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, ...

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented musicals, such as an adaptation of Show Boat,[1] and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, the series pioneered the use of anthology drama for company audio advertising.Cavalcade of America documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's ...

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961. John Dunning wrote that among radio drama enthusiasts, "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." It ran unsponsored for its first few years, with CBS funding its ...

Father Knows Best is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by Ed James, Father Knows Best follows the lives of the Andersons, a middle-class family living in the town of Springfield.The state in which Springfield is located is never specified, but it is generally accepted to be located in the Midwestern United States.[1]The television series debuted on CBS in October 1954. It ran for one season and was ...

Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking.He was shot in the leg during a gun fight which caused him to walk with a little "hop", hence the nickname.From the 1930s to the 1950s, the character became indelibly associated with actor William Boyd, who portrayed Cassidy first in a series of sixty-six films from 1935 to 1948, then in children-oriented radio and TV series, both of which lasted until...

The Adventures of Frank Race was an American radio adventure serial syndicated by Bruce Eells Productions. The 30-minute program's first East Coast broadcast was 1949, and the show ran 43 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 April 9, 1949. It "began running in some markets May 1, 1949. The series was broadcast on the West Coast from 1951–52.Each episode opened with a one-minute organ theme and then the following from announcer Art Gilmore:The war changed many things; ...

Dark Fantasy was an American radio supernatural thriller anthology series. It had a short run of 31 episodes, debuting on November 14, 1941, and ending on June 19, 1942. Its writer was Scott Bishop, also known for his work on The Mysterious Traveler. It originated from station WKY in Oklahoma City and was heard Friday nights on NBC stations. The stories found a nationwide audience almost immediately.

You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, and went to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950.Because of its simple format, it was possible to broadcast the show on both radio and television but not simultaneously. Many of the laughs on the television show were evoked by Groucho's facial reactions and other visual ...

Following a trend begun by the radio series Dragnet, The Lineup strove to portray realism in a police drama. The title indicated the show's focus, as each story began and ended with a lineup of suspects in a police station in San Francisco. Sergeant Matt Grebb, who was heard giving instructions to participants in each lineup, was "quick-tempered and often bored", while his boss, Lieutenant Ben Guthrie, was "soft-spoken and calm."The program portrayed most activities of the police as part of the job with "few heroics". Episodes were "fast, furious, and realistic." Each episode began with ...

Created, written, and directed by former law student Ed Byron, the series was inspired by the early years of New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey's public war against racketeering led to his election as governor. Phillips H. Lord, creator of Gang Busters, helped to develop the concept and coined the title. Byron lent an air of accuracy and immediacy to his scripts through close study of crime statistics, a library of criminology texts, following the newspapers and even visiting rough bars to gain tips, background and color from crooks and police.Produced throughout its run in New York...

The stories followed the 30th-century adventures of Commander-in-Chief Buzz Corry (Ed Kemmer) of the United Planets Space Patrol and his young sidekick Cadet Happy (Lyn Osborn), as they faced interplanetary villains with diabolical schemes. The show was targeted to children, but attracted a sizable adult audience. Many episodes featured commercial tie-in merchandise, like toys and mail-order premiums, that were advertised during commercial breaks. Many of the ads for corporate sponsor Ralston Purina's Chex cereals used the show's space opera motif in their pitches. A unique feature of...

21st Precinct (aka Twenty-First Precinct and Twenty First Precinct) was a police drama broadcast on CBS radio from July 7, 1953, to July 26, 1956. It was initially a summer replacement for My Friend Irma. The program was produced in cooperation with the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York and presented "adaptations from true criminal records in New York...from the policeman's point of view."Historically, the 21st Pecinct had been located near Gramercy Park in Manhattan but in 1929 the department reorganized the precinct numbering, and the 21st designation was ...

With Lon Clark in the title role, the series commenced 11 April 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Between October 1944 and April 1945, it was heard as a 30-minute program on Sunday afternoons at 3 pm, sponsored by Acme Paints and Lin-X, with a 15-minute serial airing four or five times a week in 1944 from April to September. In April 1945, the Sunday series moved to 6pm, continuing in that timeslot until June 1946, and it was also heard in 1946 on Tuesday from March to August.Sponsored by Cudahy Packing and Old Dutch Cleanser and later Acme ...