Retro Radio Podcast

With suspicions raised, Lum and Squire think that Abneer is greedy, and wants their money from the pearl to himself. Squire admits that it sounds a little crazy, but Lum is convinced that the Voice is Abner. Lum is nervous, and talks about keeping his life insurance up to date, and his business rivalry with Luke Spears for the bus line trade only adds to his stress. Abner is seen prowling the street with a shotgun, and it doesn’t help Lum’s jittery state. Paranoia strikes, and Lum thinks everything Abner tells him is just a plot to lure him into a trap. Abner tries to get Lum to meet with bus line executives, or to rest in the rocking chair, but Lum isn’t believing any of it. Is Abner up to no good? Or is he just looking after Lum’s welfare?

Fibber is all set to write a slogan for a contest. Molly sees a problem in his plan, but Fibber won’t be distracted. The Old Timer adds to the fun when he visits to talk about walking on stilts. Milton the delivery boy visits to talk about his family. Fibber digs in his closet, then Billy Mills plays, Uncle Buck. Fibber tries to get his creative juices flowing with some inspiration by Molly. Doc Gamble visits and tells about his college days. In the midst of it, the audio cuts out. That’s why they call it a fragment.

That mysterious whispering voice has called Lum with a threat. Now he and Abner try to think of who might have it out for Lum. Could it be a jilted lover, a business rival? Lum begins to believe that since Abner had no qualms about keeping the money from the pearl, and not wanting to split it, that it could be him. When Cedric distracts Abner and they leave the store, Miss Emiline phones a grocery order. Squire enters, and is still afraid of those phone threats. Seperately, Lum and Squire plan to set a trap, while Abner and Cedric make their own plans. Suspicions fly, but who’s really behind it all?

Don raves about the success of Jacks first ever television show. Mary and Dennis enter to tease Jack about his television debut. Phil has some good words on the topic. Mary goes into flashback mode to tell about the events that took place after last week’s trip to the race track. Riding home in the Maxwell, Jack and Dennis discuss their winnings, and losses. Easy come easy go. They discuss the fiasco of last episode when Ronald Coleman was upset over the horses that he and Jack bet on. On the ride home, the Maxwell has a few problems, but none so bad to keep the jokes away, or get Jack and the gang to their destination. Along the way, they find Phil drinking orange juice. Also Don has the Sportsmen with him. Since the Sportsmen still need to work out a song, Dennis sings, Clancey Lowered the Boom. Mary, Phil, and the rest of the cast pitch in with customized verses. Jack tries to be sneaky and pull a trick on Phil, but it backfires on him. When the Maxwell seems to be running out of gas, Mr Kitzel is the attendant on duty to pump in a few more drops, and talks about cars to jack. Finally Jack gets home, and it’s time to relax. He dozes, and begins having a nightmare about the $4.75 he lost at the track. The characters are all scrambled up as they do a mini sketch of a typical race track sketch. Mary is the tout, Dennis is really Ronald Coleman, Frank Nelson is the horse, and other crazy mix ups. Eventually, Rochester rescues Jack from his dilerious nightmare, but there’s just one more dig at that big $4.75 loss.

Connie relates a little of her typical day, and her crush on Mr Boynton. Mrs Davis gives Connie an early wake up call. It seems Connie has been recommended as a model school teacher to Snap Magazine. Someone from the magazine will be following her all through her day. Who could have submitted her name for the recognition? Turns out Mrs Davis wrote a letter, but never mailed it. There seems to be a personality conflict between Connie and the magazine reporter. As Walter stops by to pick up Miss Brooks, the catty comments between Connie and the reporter keep up. It comes out that Walter, and Harriet both intended to submit Miss Brooks to the magazine, but for their own reasons, it never happened. Walter seems smitten by Stephanie, the female reporter. Now she has Harriet and Connie both as enemies. At school, Connie is certain that Mr Conklin will be against the publicity, and make the reporter leave. Suddenly he switches sides when he finds out that Snap magazine is the place that he also intended to submit a recommendation on Miss Brooks. So he’s the one? nope he forgot to submit it as well. Could the submission have come from Mr Boynton? There seems to be a mystery surrounding this, don’t worry the truth will be revealed by the end of the show. Meanwhile, Stephanie follows Connie to her class to the student meeting ran by Walter, to lunch, to the after school dance, and every where else she may go. As the guys all fawn over the reporter, Harriet and Connie share in their catty remarks and woes about the magazine reporter. As an epilog, Connie shares how her day didn’t turn out so bad after all, but then the magazine cover is released.

A scientist is killed by a poison that induces laughter before death. But it is a mystery to the Shadow on how it was administered.

The phone rings in Boston Blackies office, but nobody is there. Then theire’s a knock at the door, but nobody’s there. Only an envelope, but it’s empty too. What’s going on? A mystery for Bosston Blackie, of course. Elsewhere a gangster and his gal gloat over the fast one they just pulled to set up Blackie, as well as fill in some of the plot. They return to their boss, Charlie, to report what they just did with the envelope at Blackie’s. The scam involves bargaining with a Senator, and the listener is made privvy to the blackmail and extortion scheme. Too bad the small time thug underestimated the gang boss known as the Senator. Everybody thinks that Blackie has an envelope full of incriminating papers on the Senator, even Farraday thinks so. Nobody knows the truth but Johnny, the small time thug, and the Senator. It looks like the only losers here will be the gangsters as they set about knocking each other off. So, what is there for Blackie and Farraday to do? They need to take down the Senator, of course. As Blackie and Farraday are piecing together the phone call, and empty envelope incident, they learn of the gangster body count, the facts come clicking through Blackie’s mind in high speed. Now it’s a matter of putting the squeeze on the senator, and springing a trap. Mary gets to act as bait and pose as Ginger, the gunned down mobster’s gal. It’ll be dangerous, and risky, but Blackie assures Mary that he’ll be close bby to be her safety net. Can Mary pull this off? She’s awfully nervous. Farraday eventually comes around to close in on the bad guy, but will he be too late in closing in on the Senator, just when Mary is risking her life? Don’t worry. True to his form, Blackie has the situation under control.

Lumburgers are still popular, but Lum is worried that people might be losing their apetite for them. With the court trial, and the Meadowlark restaurant closed for most of it, business has been going back to Luke Spears Lunchroom. Can Lum win back his marketshare? What about that threatening voice that grandpap heard over the party line? Lum and Abner know it wasn’t either of them, but it has still put fear into grandpap. Who could have done it, and what’s it all about? Squire enters, and is jittery as he orders some pipe tobacco to calm his nerves. He shares that he also got a mysterious phone call to threaten him. Can Squire tell who the mystery voice was? Lum wants to know if it happens again. Should people in Pine Ridge be worried? Is Lum beginning to think it might be Abner?

A gangster is on the way to Blair General hospital, but Doctors Gillespie and Kildare aren’t in trouble. Actually Rico Marciano turns out to be a top violinist and his violin case is full of a violin, and not a machine gun. His wife needs medical attention for her cancer, and it’s a bad case. Why did they wait so long before coming in for treatment? The doctors discuss a few myths surrounding cancer and medical attention, mostly an attitude of the day that it’s necessary to pay first for medical treatment. The cancer is too far advanced to hope for a total recovery, and the good doctors do all they can to ease the pain of their patient. Listen to hear the heartwarming bedside manner as Kildare learns the story of the couple in love. Rico and his wife are such good people, it’s a shame there’s nothing that can be done. But wait… an idea from an unlikely source comes from the unpopular Dr Carew. It’s the one thing to bring comfort for the ailing woman and her worried husband. It may not save her, but it helps add a little extra comfort.

Richard and Hellen swap corny telephone greetings as they work out plans for their date tonight. Called out on a job, Richard finds himself forced into the company of Janet Collins. The desperate young woman has a brother who is to take the blame for a murder. The only one who can prove Bert is innocent is Tony Garabaldi. Where is he, and why didn’t he come forward as a witness at the trial? Comparing notes with his cop friend, Walt, Richard learns more details of the crime. The police can’t work the case any further, but if Richard can prove they have the wrong man, Walt is all for letting an innocent man out of the electric chair. It’s off to hit the streets, and check out the petty criminals there. Can someone shine some light on where Tony is hiding out? All that waits is a thump on the head. Our hero wakens to a petty crook named Sneezy. The pickpocket manages to have a lead for Richard. Is Tony actually in danger? Will he be safe if he were under police protection? If Richard can convince Tony’s mom of that matter, he might gain some ground. Tony has a secret that puts Richard over a barrel. The truth comes out, and the real crime here is exposed. A little extortion to pressure a false witness to set a killer free. Huh? That means that Richard is being used, and he takes a risky gamble, but he lives to see another date with his favorite gal. PS: Wow, another show with a thump on the head. Did they issue helmets that looked like a fedora to these radio detectives? They certainly could have used one.

In the Jot ‘Em Down store, Lum gets onto Abner for browsing through the mail order catelog. If he keeps going down that route, Abner won’t have any of his money left. The gents talk about why grandpap wasso upset at the settlement between the 4 of them. He had broken a tooth on that pearl, and wants extra money to pay his dental bill. Will grandpap be changing his mind anytime soon? Abner tells about his latest checker game and argument with grandpap that could indicate a change of heart. As they have another look at the mail order catalog, Lum tries to persuade Abner not to buy telescopes, or musical saws. Grandpap enters as cranky as ever to complain about a threatening phone call. Was it Abner?

A special 1 hour show full of NBC’s biggest radio stars. Harlow Wilcox reads some early reviews from 1935, then Fibber and Molly remember some early moments but are interupted by Mayor Latrivia. He gets the McGee’s confused between Dinosaurs, and Dinah Shore. And speaking of Dinah Shore… She offers congradulations and sings, I’m As Corny as Kansas in August. The flood of celebrities is cut loose, and Robert Young drops in to plug his new show, Father Knows Best, and he remembers how the McGee’s arrived at 79 Wistful Vista. How did they get that house anyway? Phil Harris and Alice Faye even pop in and swap a few jokes. Perry Como gets sentimental with the McGees and sings, Give Me Your Hand. Flashback time to a day in 1940, and Gildersleeve helps to recreate a few moments from an old script. With all the added fun, it’s time for a station break. But the stream of stars aren’t nearly over yet. Irene Dunn shares some kind words for Molly and Fibber. Dennis Day arrives, jokes around, and sings, I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen. Wallace Wimple tells about his birdwatching, and of course his large wife Sleety Face. Bill Thompson, the voice behind Wimple, and many other voices on the show shares a few sentiments in his natural voice. Bob Hope stops in for some fast one liners. The Kingsmen sing a special arrangement that tells a history of Fibber and Molly. Ole the Janitor arrives for a chat with the McGees. The Old Timer, yet another Bill Thompson character, visits for some cutting up. All during the episode, Fibber has been chomping at the bit to perform his musical masterpiece, and he finally gets to show off for a few bars. Fibber gets to do a quick ad-lib before signing off.

Glenda is two timing her casino owning husband. She ran away from Dan, who believed she was dead. Until now. Dan is an abusive man who wants his wife back, but can he be bought off by Glenda’s bribes? What can she do to keep her current husband, Phil, from finding out about her embarrassing past? When Dan is found dead, the secrets comes out with the cops investigation, but it makes Glenda look guilty. If she didn’t do it, then who else knew her past, and had a reason to knock off Dan? With the Amazing Mr Malone on her side, Glenda has a chance. Malone applies the muscle, and tracks down the blackmail angle. His hard work pays off, and the bad guy is nabbed.

With winning an odd amount of money, Lum and Abner debate at how to split the difference. Huh? Why do they need to split it in amounts of hundreds of dollars? It’s still divisible by 50’s. Squire and grandpap enter, and Lum shares his desire to split the money 4 ways. Grandpap is a little cantankerous at not getting the full amount, but Squire knows not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Can grandpap explain his objections? Will the sharing in the money make Lum feel any better? No doubt it makes Squire happy. Will the four gents all be reconciled and be friends again?

What makes a good impression on others? Is it accomplishments at work? Is it handsome, good looks? Is it being competitive, and coming out on top? As Russel and Vic brag, and tell about a few misfortunes of their friends and co-workers, Sade is just not impressed at all. She doesn’t understand their egos, and feels they are being too heartless.