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

Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on August 5, 1924, in the New York Daily News.The plot followed the wide-ranging adventures of Annie, her dog Sandy and her benefactor Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks. Secondary characters include Punjab, the Asp and Mr. Am. The strip attracted adult readers with political commentary that targeted (among other things) organized labor, the New Deal and communism.Following...

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 ...

The Saint began its life on radio in January 1945. Most old time radio reference books list the initial broadcast date as January 6, 1945, probably because that was when the program aired in the Eastern United States. In an initial story about The Saint, however, Billboard reported, "Series tees-off over NBC January 4 on 7 Western stations, with a repeat skedded for Saturday to hit 15 Midwestern and Eastern stations at 7:30 p.m. EWT." That Saturday was January 6. The article noted the involvement of the character's creator, saying: "All scripting will be under the supervision of ...

The Five Mysteries Program is an audience participation radio series broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System August 10, 1947 – March 27, 1950. In 1947-48 it aired on Sundays at 2 p.m. Such mysteries were produced and syndicated (1945-48) to individual local radio stations as a "barter-trade" program to sell advertising to local merchants or trade the advertising announcements for goods, services or premiums, such as prizes awarded to listeners in radio station contests or promotions. To facilitate personalizing the shows to individual stations and insert the local ads, the producers...

Box 13 is a syndicated radio drama about the escapades of newspaperman-turned-mystery novelist Dan Holiday, played by film star Alan Ladd. Created by Ladd's company, Mayfair Productions, Box 13 aired in different cities over different dates and times. It first aired in several United States radio markets in October 1947.

Bogart began acting in Broadway shows. Debuting in film in The Dancing Town (1928), he appeared in supporting roles for more than a decade, regularly portraying gangsters. He was praised for his work as Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936). Bogart also received positive reviews for his performance as gangster Hugh "Baby Face" Martin in William Wyler's Dead End (1937).His breakthrough came in High Sierra (1941), and he catapulted to stardom as the lead in John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941), considered one of the first great noir films.[4] Bogart's private detectives,...

The Stories of Sherlock Holmes was a South African radio show series of 47 or 50 episodes, produced by Michael Silver and aired on Springbok Radio (Johannesburg, South Africa) between 1979/1980 and 1985, starring Graham Armitage as Sherlock Holmes and Kerry Jordan as Dr. Watson. The episodes were around 20-30 minutes each and broadcasted on Sunday evenings at 6pm.

The Zero Hour (aka Hollywood Radio Theater) was a 1973–74 American radio drama anthology series hosted by Rod Serling. With tales of mystery, adventure and suspense, the program was broadcast for two seasons. Some of the scripts were written by Serling.The radio series debuted on September 3, 1973, in syndication, and was picked up by the Mutual Broadcasting System in December. The original format featured five-part dramas broadcast Monday through Friday with the story coming to a conclusion on Friday. Including commercials, each part was approximately 30 minutes long. Mutual affiliates were...

This series, "the longest-running cooking program on radio," began November 7, 1933 on CBS and concluded October 9, 1954 on NBC. The CBS episodes were initially fifteen minutes long and devoted to cooking tips and recipes. Before the show switched to NBC in 1948, it had expanded to thirty minutes, and there it became part of the "NBC Saturday morning parade of stars". The new version, introduced informally by the announcer as "Mary Lee on NBC," was an unusual but effective generic hybrid. Each episode begins with "The Story of the Week", a light domestic drama about fifteen minutes in length ...

For his entire life though, Welles's obsession was Shakespeare. He produced and starred in Shakespeare plays on Broadway and directed and starred in multiple versions of Shakespeare's work on film, including Chimes at Midnight.

The True Adventures of Junior G-Men was a radio show that featured true crime stories from the FBI. The show was hosted and produced by Melvin Purvis, a former FBI agent who later became a Hollywood star. The Junior G-Men was a program that was part of a larger "war on crime" campaign that was promoted by the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover. The program was designed to give boys a sense of participating in the adult world of crime-fighting. The Junior G-Men clubs were supported by police departments and non-profit organizations, and their activities were intended to instill law-abiding attitudes ...

After the attacks at Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Los Angeles where ground forces around Los Angeles were firing hundreds of rounds at something - no one really knows - that flew over the Los Angeles - Long Beach area in the middle of the night. This Unidentified Flying Object was reported to move too slowly for a plane.Because of these events, people on the Pacific Coast and the government were very worried about a Japanese attack on California, Oregon, or Washington and the Ground Observation Corps was created - citizens would receive training on aircraft identification and with radios, ...

The years of the great radio networks spanned from 1926 to 1962, with their heyday in the 1930s and ’40s. Millions of Americans would gather round the radio to laugh with Fred Allen or Jack Benny, follows the travails of soap opera heroines on Painted Dreams and The Romance of Helen Trent, or hide under the covers to escape the frightening stories on Lights Out and The Shadow.Capitalizing on the rising popularity of western swing in the 1940s, the Riders of the Purple Sage became staples on radio, appearing with the Andrews Sisters and on Roy Rogers’ weekly series.Fans of B-westerns ...

The storyline revolves around neighbors helping neighbors, and using their faith in their daily lives. Believed to have been made in the early 1930s, the series is accented with the main characters practicing their choir hymnals. It was a much simpler time and given today’s atmosphere, it would be great to have that time return. You can go back, if only for 30 minutes at a time.

A Life in Your Hands provides you with an unbiased view of murder stories, by interviewing witnesses on both sides in order to learn the truth. The fictitious hero in this show, Jonathan Kegg, represents neither the defense nor the prosecution.

The Raleigh Cigarette Program (alternatively known as The Raleigh Cigarette Program Starring Red Skelton) was an American old-time radio comedy program that starred comedian Red Skelton.Skelton was, at the time, an up-and-coming comedian who made it big with an appearance on The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour (a.k.a. The Rudy Vallée Show), in 1937 and for hosting Avalon Time on NBC for several months after the departure of country singer Red Foley in 1939. Other principal performers on the program included actors Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and comedian Wonderful Smith. Ozzie Nelson ...

It was a climatic end of old time radio when two of the most beloved programs ended on the same night. Although there was other programming on the radio, there was a dramatic shift away from the radio dial and towards the television screen in American homes.

Life of Bliss is the story of shy young bachelor David Bliss as he lives the sweet single life. Produced in the United Kingdom, George Cole plays the lead character David Bliss. Famed bird imitator, Percy Edwards, filled the role of Psyche the dog.

This groundbreaking series starred Jack Webb. Devised as a radio docudrama, it selected actual news articles and quotations to argue the progressive agenda of racial equality. Listen to the Feb 6, 1946 show unmasking the now-forgotten Sen. Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi—one of America’s most despicable racists-to get just a hint of what civil rights workers were up against. This is actual American history, not the fantasies of Glenn Beck or other Fox Television pundits. Powerful stuff.

This series is also known as The Player, and all roles are played by Paul Frees. This is a great example of early 20th century detective and crime radio.