Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

Riley Gets Promoted (Aired September 7, 1946) The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker."Beginning October 4, 1949, the show was adapted for television for the DuMont Television Network, but Bendix's film contracts prevented him from appearing in the role. Instead, Jackie Gleason starred along with Rosemary DeCamp as wife Peg, Gloria Winters as daughter Barbara (Babs), Lanny Rees as son Chester Jr. (Junior), and Sid Tomack as Gillis, Riley's manipulative best buddy and next-door neighbor. John Brown returned as the morbid counseling undertaker Digby (Digger) O'Dell ("Well, I guess I'll be... shoveling off"; "Business is a little dead tonight"). Television's first Life of Riley won television's first Emmy (for "Best Film Made For and Shown on Television"). However, it came to an end on March 28, 1950 because of low ratings and because Gleason left the show, thinking he could find a better showcase for his unique abilities. Groucho Marx received a credit for "story." THIS EPISODE: September 7, 1946. NBC network. Sponsored by: Prell Shampoo, Ivory Snow. "Riley Gets Promoted" to a desk job, but he thinks his physical exam shows that he's getting too old to do his job. Even his wife Peg is trying to send him to the old folks' home! Alan Lipscott (writer), Barbara Eiler, Irving Brecher (producer), Jack Brecher (writer), Ken Carpenter (announcer), Lou Coslowe (music), Paula Winslowe, Reuben Ship (writer), Tommy Cook, William Bendix. 30:04.

Strangers Three (Aired December 5, 1948) Rocky Jordan (Jack Moyles/George Raft) is the proprietor of the Café Tambourine located, according to the announcer, "not far from the Mosque Sultan Hassan," though he is originally from St. Louis. As an American restaurateur in a North African country, Jordan is somewhat similar to the Rick Blaine character in the film Casablanca, though the Café Tambourine is apparently a much less salubrious venue than Rick's Bar. The announcer describes it as being "Crowded with forgotten men, and alive with the babble of many languages". Each episode sees Jordan confronted with a "crime, a mystery, a beautiful woman, or a combination of the three". THIS EPISODE: December 5, 1948. CBS Pacific network. "Strangers Three". Sustaining. A shadow with a felt hat and tweeds introduces Rocky to lots of new people...living and dead! Jack Moyles, Bernard Gerard (writer), Cliff Howell (producer, director), Milton Charles (original music). 29:41. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Butcher Shop Protection Racket (Aired January 7, 1950 Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart. Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama. Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked on the head with a revolver butt or other items. His counterpart on the police force was Lt. Levinson who often accepted Diamond's help reluctantly. Levinson would claim to get stomach trouble whenever Diamond would call him and would take bicarbonate to settle his aching stomach. Although they always seem at odds with each other, Diamond and Levinson were best friends. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. THIS EPISODE: January 7, 1950. "The Butcher Shop Protection Racket" - NBC network. Sustaining. An Italian butcher asks Diamond to help break up a protection racket. Diamond is forced to use his fists...and his gun! After the drama, Dick Powell sings, "I Will Remember You." Dick Powell, Frank Worth (music), Edward King (announcer), Virginia Gregg, Ed Begley, Blake Edwards (writer, diector), Wilms Herbert, Nestor Paiva, Paul Frees, David Ellis. 29:29. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Flesh and Fantasy (Aired July 16, 1945) The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio broadcast from 1939 until 1952 with leading Hollywood actors performing in adaptations of popular motion pictures such as Going My Way and The Postman Always Rings Twice. The show had a long run, lasting for 14 seasons and 527 episodes. It initially was heard on CBS from January 8, 1939 until June 28, 1948, continuing on NBC from October 7, 1948 until June 29, 1950. It was broadcast on ABC from September 7, 1950 to May 31, 1951 and returned to CBS on March 13, 1952. It aired under several different titles: The Gulf Screen Guild Show, The Gulf Screen Guild Theater, The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater and The Camel Screen Guild Theater. THIS EPISODE: July 16, 1945. CBS network. "Flesh and Fantasy". Sponsored by: Lady Esther. A palmist tells a lawyer that he is going to murder somebody, and the palmist has been amazingly accurate in the past! The story was previously used on "The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre" on April 23, 1945 (see cat. #84706) and subsequently on September 3, 1945 (see cat. #84714). Different parts of the movie were dramatized each time. Edward G. Robinson, Vincent Price, May Whitty, Truman Bradley (announcer). 30:00. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Ape Song (Aired March 31, 1947) The Murder at Midnight series was a thirty-minute broadcast featuring tales of the supernatural. The actors included Mercedes McCambridge and Lawson Zerbe and the show was narrated using the spooky, creepy voice of Raymond Morgan and always opened using the same gripping signature; “the witching hour, when night is darkest, our fears are the strongest, our strength at its lowest ebb… Midnight! … when graves gape open and death strikes!” THIS EPISODE: March 31, 1947. Mutual network origination, syndicated. "The Ape Song". Commercials added locally. A big game hunter uses a captured ape to kill his wife. He then starts turning into an ape! The first broadcast of the series on Mutual. Raymond Edward Johnson, Brad Barker (as the ape), Alfred Shirley, Ruth Yorke, Anton M. Leader (director), Louis G. Cowan (producer). 26:55. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Stivics Go West MOVIE (Aired March 19, 1978) All in the Family is often regarded in the United States as one of the greatest television series in history. Following a lackluster first season, the show soon became the most watched show in the United States during summer reruns and afterwards ranked number one in the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976. It became the first television series to reach the milestone of having topped the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive years. The episode "Sammy's Visit" was ranked number 13 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time ranked All in the Family as number four. Bravo also named the show's protagonist, Archie Bunker, TV's greatest character of all time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked All in the Family the fourth-best written TV series ever. The show came about when Norman Lear read an article in Variety magazine on Till Death Us Do Part and its success in the United Kingdom. He immediately knew it portrayed a relationship just like the one between his father and himself. Lear bought the rights to the show and incorporated his own family experiences with his father into the show. Lear's father would tell Lear's mother to "stifle herself" and she would tell Lear's father "you are the laziest white man I ever saw" (two "Archieisms" that found their way onto the show). THIS EPISODE: March 19, 1978. Season 8 Episode 24. "The Stivics Go West" -Saying goodbye to Mike and Gloria proves traumatic for the Bunkers. Before they leave for their new life in California, Mike and Gloria share some long-hidden feelings, confused tears, and much, much more with Archie and Edith. 24:56.

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Gunsmoke" - Billy The Kid (Aired April 26, 1952) The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The radio version ran from 1952 to 1961, and John Dunning writes that among radio drama enthusiasts "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." The television version ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, and still remains the United States' longest-running prime time, live-action drama with 635 episodes ("Law and Order" ended in 2010 with 476 episodes). The half-hour animated comedy "The Simpsons", is slated for a 21st season in Fall 2010. In the late 1940s, CBS chairman William S. Paley, a fan of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe radio serial, asked his programming chief, Hubell Robinson, to develop a hardboiled Western series, a show about a "Philip Marlowe of the Old West." THIS EPISODE: April 26, 1952. CBS network. "Billy The Kid". Sustaining. The first show of the series. A Dutchman draws a lynch mob after the whole town accuses him of murder. A very well-written story with a surprise ending. Georgia Ellis plays the widow of the dead man, not Miss Kitty! Don Diamond, Parley Baer, Georgia Ellis, Howard McNear, Harry Bartell, Dick Beals, Paul Dubov, Mary Lansing, Rex Koury (composer, conductor), Norman Macdonnell (producer, director), William Conrad, Walter Newman (writer), Roy Rowan (announcer). 29:15. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Case Of The Magic Murder (Aired April 4, 1950) The show was at the top of the list among programs that had developed the technique of sound effects to a fine art. Each program was written with the sound in mind, not so much sound for sound's sake, but to advance the plot, add color or create atmosphere. Two sound effects men spent a reported ten hours in rehearsal for each broadcast, in addition to the time spent by the actors. East coast actors House Jameson, Don MacLaughlin, Phil Sterling and Lawson Zerbe [MBS] (Zerbe appeared as both David Harding and Harry Peters) were the only four actors to ever assume the role of David Harding--Jameson for the first two episodes only, replaced by Don MacLaughlin for the remainder of its twelve year run. Both Connecticut residents, House Jameson premiered in the role while Lord was still auditioning talent for the lead. By the third episode, Phillips H. Lord selected Don MacLaughlin for the role. MacLaughlin was by no means new to Radio, having already appeared in some 300 Radio productions since his debut over Radio in 1935. MacLaughlin's versatility, predominantly in action and straight dramatic roles, made him an ideal candidate among the twenty or so actors who auditioned for the part. Show Notes From The Digital Deli. THIS EPISODE: April 4, 1950. ABC network. "The Case Of The Magic Murder". Sponsored by: Pepsi Cola. Counterspy operative Peters is shot in the head while filling out a security questionnaire with a famous European jet engine scientist. Only a famous brain surgeon, who happens to be in Venezuela, can possibly save the agent's life! The system cue has been deleted. Leonard L. Bass (director), Paul Milton (writer), Don MacLaughlin, Mandel Kramer, Jesse Crawford (music), Jay Jackson (announcer), Phillips H. Lord (producer). 29:00.

Darrell James Entry (Aired August 10, 1948) Famous Radio and Television promoter Larry Finley produced and syndicated the program to at least some 94 affiliate stations throughout the U.S., Canada and Jamaica. As indicated in the sidebar to the left, most local or regional broadcasts were either sustained offerings by an independent affiliate, or were sponsored by spot advertisers ranging over a wide variety of offerings or services. The production didn't stint on talent, as hinted above. No less than Ivan Ditmars provided the music direction and in addition to Herb Lytton as 'Fate', the varying casts included Lurene Tuttle, Larry Dobkin, Hal Sawyer, Gloria Blondell, Frank Albertson, Jerry Hausner, Howard McNear, Peter Leeds, Ken Peters, Daws Butler and William Johnstone. All in all a superb well of talent from which to draw each week. While a bit difficult to document, the production remains quite collectable and the perspective of the presentation is also unique for the era--or since for that matter. Diary of Fate is one of Radio's little, oft-overlooked gems that demand pulling out, polishing up for better enjoyment, then dutifully returning them to their preserve for another airing one day in the future. THIS EPISODE: August 10, 1948. Program #35. ABC network, KECA, Los Angeles origination, Finley syndication. "Darrell James". Commercials added locally. Book and page not indicated. A young man succeeds on Wall Street, with the help of murder. The date is subject to correction. Herb Lytton (as "Fate" and co-producer), Virginia Gregg, Joe Forte, Byron Kane, Ray Ehrlenborn (sound effects), James Murphy, Hal Sawyer, Larry Finley (producer). 27:43. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

With Folded Hands (Aired April 15, 1950) Dimension X was first heard on NBC April 8, 1950, and ran until September 29, 1951. Strange that so little good science fiction came out of radio; they seem ideally compatible, both relying heavily on imagination. Some fine isolated science fiction stories were developed on the great anthology shows, Suspense and Escape. But until the premiere of Dimension X -- a full two decades after network radio was established -- there were no major science fiction series of broad appeal to adults. This show dramatized the work of such young writers as Ray Bradbury, Robert (Psycho) Bloch, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Kurt Vonnegut. In-house script writer was Ernest Kinoy, who adapted the master works and contributed occasional storied of his own. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. THIS EPISODE: April 15, 1950. NBC network. "With Folded Hands". Sustaining. The perfect "mechanicals" from another planet make humans unnecessary, and they are always "at your service." The script was used subsequently on "Future Tense" on May 28, 1974 (see cat. #13269). Philip Bourneuf, Peter Capell, Bryna Raeburn, Alexander Scourby, Jack Williamson (author), John Dunkel (adaptor), Van Woodward (producer), Norman Rose (host), Edward King (director), Bob Warren (announcer). 29:22. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

On A Trip To Yosemite Pt.2 (Aired February 11, 1940) During his early radio shows, there was no recurring theme, the program instead opening each week with a different then-current popular song. Throughout the Jello and Grapenuts years, announcer Don Wilson would announce the name of the show, some of the cast, then state "The orchestra opens the program with [name of song]." The orchestra number would continue softly as background for Don Wilson's opening commercial. Starting in the Lucky Strike era, Benny adopted a medley of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "Love in Bloom" as his theme music, opening every show. "Love in Bloom" was later the theme of his television show. His radio shows often ended with the orchestra playing "Hooray for Hollywood". The TV show ended with one of two bouncy instrumentals written for the show by his musical arranger and conductor, Mahlon Merrick. Benny would sometimes joke about the propriety of "Love in Bloom" as his theme song. On a segment often played in Tonight Show retrospectives, Benny talks with Johnny Carson about this. Benny says he has no objections to the song in and of itself, only as his theme. Proving his point, he begins reciting the lyrics slowly and deliberately: "Can it be the trees. That fill the breeze. With rare and magic perfume. Now what the hell has that got to do with me?" THIS EPISODE: February 11 1940. Red network. Sponsored by: Jell-O. Jack and the gang continue "On A Trip To Yosemite ." for the winter sports. Getting close but "No Cigar". Jack Benny, Eddie Anderson, Don Wilson, Phil Harris and His Orchestra, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone, Ed Beloin (writer, performer), Mary Kelly, Hilliard Marks, Blanche Stewart (doubles), Bill Morrow (writer). 29:26.

The Big Eavesdrop (Aired December 14, 1952) Dragnet was a long running radio and television police procedural drama, about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a Dragnet, meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Dragnet was perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in American media history. The series gave millions of Americans a feel for the boredom and drudgery, as well as the danger and heroism, of real life police Jack Webb's aims in Dragnet were for realism and unpretentious acting. He achieved both goals and Dragnet remains a key influence on subsequent police dramas in work. Dragnet earned praise for improving the public opinion of police officers. Actor and producer many media. THIS EPISODE: December 14, 1952. Program #182. NBC network. "The Big Eavesdrop". Commercials deleted. While waiting to make a narcotics buy, Sergeant Friday and Frank Smith overhear Sam Allison tearfully admit that he had committed murder. The cops use an impersonator to convince the killer to confess in a procedure that sounds highly unconstitutional. The program ending has been deleted. Jack Webb, Ben Alexander. 25:00. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Cowhide (Aired October 2, 1947) Crime club literary selections were all the rage during the first half of the 20th century. Doubleday was the first to form a literary Crime Club in 1928. Doubleday's distinctive 'Crime man' (left sidebar) was strategically imprinted on their Doubleday Crime Club selections. The Collins Publishing House in England had their Collins Crime Club launched in 1930, issuing Agatha Christie's first novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, as one of their first selections. The Collins Crime Club imprint (left sidebar) announced its Crime Club selections as "The sign of a good detective novel." Eno Fruit Salts, and the Columbia Basic Network joined forces in 1931 to air the Eno Crime Club. The program ran for two years over the Columbia Basic Network and for three years over NBC's Blue Network. During April 1933, the program was renamed Eno Crime Clues. Show Notes From The Digital Deli. THIS EPISODE: 3332. Mutual network. "Cowhide". Sustaining. A suitcase with a half million dollars in securities, and a missing old man lead a private detective to murder. Stedman Coles (writer), William Quinn, Joan Tompkins, Cameron Prud'Homme. 1/2 hour. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Day The Roof Fell In (Aired December 2, 1956) The CBS Radio Workshop aired from January 27, 1956 through September 22, 1957 and was a revival of the prestigious Columbia Workshop from the 1930s and 1940s. Creator William Froug launched the series with this powerhouse two-part adaptation of "Brave New World" and booked author Aldous Huxley to narrate his famous novel. "We’ll never get a sponsor anyway," CBS vice president Howard Barnes explained to Time, "so we might as well try anything." The CBS Workshop regularly featured the works of the world’s greatest writers. including Ray Bradbury, Archibald MacLeish, William Saroyan, Lord Dunsany and Ambrose Bierce. THIS EPISODE: CBS Radio Workshop. December 2, 1956. CBS network. "The Day The Roof Fell In". Sustaining. A psychological and funny look at the do-it-yourselfer. Berry Kroeger, Jackson Beck, Leon Janney, Joseph Julian. 25:00. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index

Blair Of The Mounties - 2 Episodes "The Cedar Lake Mystery" (03-14-38) and "The Train Wreckers" (04-18-38) Blair of the Mounties is the story of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police -- a fictional series based on the work of the Northwest Mounted Police before the World War I. It was a fifteen minute weekly serial heard every Monday for 36 weeks beginning January 31st, 1938 and running through the 3rd of October of 1938. It may have been on the air as early as 1935, although there’s no actual proof of this. Little is known of the series other than it followed the exploits of Sgt. Blair of the Northwest Mounted Police. and probably was the inspiration for Trendell, Campbell and Muir's Challenge of the Yukon. The series was written by Colonel Rhys Davies, who also played the Colonel Blair in the series. Jack Abbot played the Constable. Jack French, one of OTR’s best researchers says this about the series: “Blair is not restricted to Canada, as other Mounties, as we find him, in a few cases, in Great Britain, solving cases. Overall the series is amateurishly written, with the actor playing Blair coming accros as a bit stuffy.” THIS EPISODE: March 14, 1938. Program #7. Walter Biddick syndication. "The Cedar Lake Mystery". A doctor and his evil wife are on vacation. An attempt is made on the doctor's life. . 13 1/2 minutes. April 18, 1938. Program #12. Walter Biddick syndication. "The Train Wreckers". Back in 1914, Blair saves a troop train from sabotage. . 12 1/2 minutes.