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

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

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 ...

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.

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.

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 ...

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...

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952. Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal, to track them down.

"... A series of true stories of the unceasing search for enemy spies in War Time, based on the memoirs of Lieutenant Oreste Cornel Pinto of the Allied Counter-Intelligence service ..."Oreste Pinto was a Dutch Intelligence Officer whom General Eisenhower called "the greatest living expert in security." The radio program, Spy Catcher, was based on Pinto's work in the Allied Counterintelligence Service. Each episode has Pinto interrogating a political refugee or seeming Allied Serviceman. Using all the psychological and verbal tricks at his command, Pinto tries to prove that the subject is a ...

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 ...

In 1943, the United States Office of War Information (OWI), in cooperation with The Council on Books in Wartime, and the National Broadcasting Company combined to suggest a Radio program dramatisation some of the more important of these books.Words At WarThe Council on Books in Wartime was a non-profit organization founded in the Spring of 1942 by booksellers, publishers, librarians, and authors, with the purpose of channeling the use of books as “weapons in the war of ideas,” the Council’s motto. Its stated aims were “the promotion of books to influence the thinking of the American ...

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 ...

Exploring Tomorrow was an American old-time radio series which ran on the Mutual Broadcasting System from December 4, 1957, until June 13, 1958. An advertisement described it as "the first science-fiction show of science-fictioneers, by science-fictioneers and for science-fictioneers - real science fiction for a change!"Exploring Tomorrow was narrated by John W. Campbell, editor of Astounding Magazine. Campbell guided the career of many of the great science fiction writers of the era.

Nightfall is the title of a radio drama series produced and aired by CBC Radio (see Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) from July 1980 to June 1983. While primarily a supernatural/horror series, Nightfall featured some episodes in other genres, such as science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and human drama. One episode was even adapted from a folk song by Stan Rogers. Some of Nightfall's episodes were so terrifying that the CBC registered numerous complaints and some affiliate stations dropped it. Despite this, the series went on to become one of the most popular shows in CBC Radio history, running...

Blackstone, the Magic Detective, otherwise known as Blackstone, the Magician, was based on the life story of Harry Blackstone, who is considered as “the world’s greatest magician.” Ed Jerome starred as Blackstone, alongside Ted Osborne and Fran Carlon as John and Rhoda, respectively.The show’s format was pretty much similar to Orson Welles’ Black Museum, where he picks an object kept in a museum, then explain the crime story about it. In Blackstone, the Magic Detective, the John picks an item at Blackstone’s studio, then Blackstone and Rhoda will tell John their adventure with that...

Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short story writer. The Damon Runyon Theater radio series dramatized 52 of Runyon's short stories in weekly broadcasts running from October 1948 to September 1949 (with reruns until 1951). The series was produced by Alan Ladd's Mayfair Transcription Company for syndication to local radio stations. John Brown played the character "Broadway", who doubled as host and narrator. The cast also comprised Alan Reed, Luis Van Rooten, Joseph Du Val, Gerald Mohr, Frank Lovejoy, Herb Vigran, Sheldon Leonard, ...

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

Fort Laramie is a CBS Radio Western series starring Raymond Burr as Captain Lee Quince. It aired Sunday afternoons January 22–October 28, 1956, at 5:30pm ET. Produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell, this Western drama depicted life at old Fort Laramie during the 19th Century.

Calling all Cars ran from 1933-1939. It's generally considered to be the inspiration for the old time radio great, Dragnet. Calling All Cars chronicles the L.A. Police Department cases. Although this is an earlier version of the same type of show Dragnet was, there are some differences.Calling All Cars was introduced at a time when Americans became much more mobile because of the automobile. Criminals could get into a waiting car, and if they got lucky enough, get lost in traffic! Dragnet came out much later, but they both gave a thorough and detailed account of the crime and the criminals ...

The Avengers was most certainly not a household name in South Africa prior to the radio series. With no national television service until 1976, the mechanism simply was not present in the country to show television programmes to mass audiences. While many other countries revelled in the filmed adventures of John Steed and co., South Africa was not equipped to join in the fun. The series took Britain by storm and also made a major impression in the American markets, being that greatest of rarities, a British series given a network transmission slot. However, as a filmed series (rather than a ...

The Falcon radio series premiered on the Blue Network on April 10, 1943, continuing on NBC and Mutual until November 27, 1954. Some 70 episodes were produced. Like the Falcon film series, the radio plots mixed danger, romance and comedy in equal parts. Each show began with a telephone ringing and Michael Waring, the Falcon, answering the phone. Speaking with a woman whose voice was never heard, Waring would explain that he had an urgent situation in which he had to deal with criminals. This led into the standard opening, followed by the week's tale of adventure. Often, incompetent police were ...