Radio Programs beginning with "C"
"Better things and better living through chemistry!"
E.G. Marshall (no one knows what the initials stand for)
CBS Radio Mystery Theatre
Stars: E.G. Marshall, others
Sponsor: various
Network: CBS
Aired: 1974-1982 (aired 5-7 times a week with a different show
every night!)
Type of Show: Anthology (drama)
NB: Who said OTR had to be during the "Golden Age of Radio?"
This show was more successful than many of the popular shows during the
Golden Age! We could do it again. Had several "revivals" over
the years, including a syndicated run in 1989-90 (aired on KMPC
in Los Angeles and KAAM in Dallas, two of my favorite stations whose
places on the dial and formats soon faded away) and a huge return on CBS
Radio in 1998 (although we had a CBS affiliate on the island of Guam,
the show didn't air there; I would listen to it on the internet on station
KSL in Salt Lake City) with producer Himan Brown as host.
Was supposed to have another revival on NPR (National Public Radio)
in 2000 (?)
What the cops probably drove in Calling All Cars...
Calling All Cars
Stars: none (real police officers)
Sponsors: Rio Grande Oil (when was the last time you saw a Rio
Grande gas station?)
Network: CBS (West Coast only)
Aired: 1933-1939
Type of Show: Police Reality
NB: This preceded the Fox TV series Cops by about 55 years!
A wire recorder was used to get the actual sounds of police work in the
1930s! (Actually, after some research on my part, I found out this
show was a hoax! Yeah, they recorded what they heard but some of
the cases were phony. The hammed up acting should've given that away!)
The original cast of Candy Matson recreates an episode at an
old time radio convention in 1998. That 80ish year old woman at center
stage is blonde bombshell Candy!
Candy Matson
Star: Natalie Parks Masters
Sponsor: none (sustaining)
Network: NBC (West Coast only)
Theme Music: the Johnny Mercer song "Candy"
Aired: 1948-1951
Type of Show: Detective Drama (PI)
NB: Rembrandt Watson was the first character I remember
hearing on OTR who was openly gay, although there were probably others
before. Candy was one of the sexiest characters on radio.
Originated from station KNBC (former KPO, later KNBR)
in San Francisco. It uses some of the same sites heard on TheWhistler,
which, in its first few years on the air, was broadcast from station KSFO
in San Francisco. I'll never forget Candy's phone number at her Telegraph
Hill apartment: YUkon 2-8209. ("You need
a life, Bill!") I
later discovered that Candy also used the following phone numbers: EXbrook
2-9994 and YUkon 3-8309. I guess the phone company hasn't
changed its habits of changing phone numbers, prefixes, area codes, and
dialing patterns over the years!
Captain Midnight poster and cast in September 1943: Jack Bivans (age 16),
Ed Prentiss, and Marilou Neumayer
Captain Midnight
Star: Captain Midnight was either Ed Prentiss,
Bill Bouchey, or Paul Barnes
Sponsor: Skelly Oil, Ovaltine
Network: Local Radio (WGN), Mutual, Blue
Aired: 1938-1949
Type of Show: Juvenile Soap Opera (Fantasy/Action-Adventure)
NB: First broadcast from WGN
in Chicago (and sponsored by Skelly gas stations) in 1938, the daily
15 minute show went national the following year with Ovaltine
as sponsor. Same premiums Little Orphan Annie offered were
also offered by Captain Midnight.
Cavalcade of America
Stars: various movie stars
Sponsor: DuPont ("...better things and better living through
chemistry...")
Network: CBS, NBC (Red)
Aired: 1935-1953 (781 shows were broadcast. Wow!)
Type of Show: Anthology (historical drama)
NB: Program was used as an attack against isolationists prior
to the U.S. involvement in World War Two. When it aired on NBC, Cavalcade's
biggest competition was from the Lux Radio Theater on CBS, which
also used Hollywood movie stars in its cast.
Bandmaster Paul LaValle (1908-97) of the Cities
Service Concert program... He would later conduct the McDonald's
All-American Band at the Macy's Thanksgiving
Day and Tournament of Roses Parades
for
many years. He is known to tuba players as the composer of the march,
Big
Joe, the Tuba.
Cities Service Concert
Bandmasters: Edwin Franko Goldman, Rosario Bourdon, Dr. Frank Black,
Paul LaValle
Sponsor: Cities Service Gasoline (now known as Citgo),
after 1949 there were other sponsors
Network: NBC (Red)
Aired: 1927-1956
Type of Show: A band concert
NB: Soprano Jessica
Dragonette was an often heard soloist on the show. Frank
Black was in charge of all the music for many years at NBC. A former
school music supervisor in the state of Georgia, his resourceful talents
proved useful for the two decades he was at NBC. He got the network
to hire Arturo Toscannini to conduct the NBC Symphony Orchestra.
Command Performance
Stars: various
Sponsor: Sustaining (none)
Network: AFRS (broadcast only to U.S. military abroad)
Theme Music: "Over There" by George M. Cohen
Aired: 1942-1950
Type of Show: Anthology (musical variety)
NB: This was one of the best variety shows on the air and most
Americans never had the opportunity to hear it! The best known episode
from this series was Dick Tracy in B-flat
(an opera starring Bing Crosby). It was the biggest selling program
at Radio Yesteryear (I used a Yesteryear catalog as a database for
this list). Radio Yesteryear merged with Radio
Spirits in 1999 (Metacom, aka Adventures in Cassettes, was also
part of this merger.) You might be able to secure a copy of the show
from Radio Spirits on special order. There was another program called
Command
Performance on Mutual in 1940. I only know that it aired
from March through October. E-mail
me if you have any info about that show.
Counterspy
Star: Don MacLaughlin
Sponsors: Mail Pouch Pipe Tobacco, Pharmacraft, Schutter Candy,
Pepsi-Cola ("Pepsi-Cola hits the spot! 12 full ounces, that's a lot!"),
Gulf Oil, others, Sustaining (none)
Network: Blue, ABC, NBC, Mutual
Aired: 1942-1957
Type of Show: Crime Drama (Gmen)
NB: Originally about enemies abroad, this show was set in America
after the war. The writers seemed to use the show as a way to express
their displeasure with Communists and Communist sympathizers living in
the United States. (The show
is listed on the August 1945 radio schedule on the LoyalTubist website!)
Crime Classics
Host: Thomas Hyland (portrayed by Lou Merrill)
Sponsor: Sustaining (none)
Network: CBS
Aired: 1953-1954
Type of Show: Drama Anthology (historical police drama)
NB: More of a history program than a police show. This
was a very multicultural program with some stories coming from Asia, Africa,
Europe, and Australia, as well as the Americas. Stories go back to
biblical times.
Updated November 23, 2001
(This page is supposed to resemble an old Ovaltine jar!)
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