Golden Age of Radio in 2005
Thursday 9-1-05
Father Knows Best, Part 2
Richard Diamond, Private Detective "The Fred Sears Murder Case" 6/19/49
Friday 9-2
The Shadow "The Valley of Living Terror" 10/13/46, a story inspired by the Island of Dr. Moreau
Bill Stern Sports Newsreel, guest: Jackie Robinson, 5/26/50
Monday 9-5
Tales of The Texas Rangers "The Wheelchair Killing" 10/7/51, an elderly man in a wheelchair is brutally killed
Red Skelton Show, Part 1, 2/19/50
Tuesday 9-6
Red Skelton Show,Part 2
Chandu the Magician "The Voice of Darkness" 4/14/49
Wednesday 9-7
Dimension X "Universe" 8/2/51, people have been in a space ship for so many generations they don't know there is a universe outside the hull or what "destination" means
Our Miss Brooks "Marriage Madness" Part 1, 7/31/55
Thursday 9-8
Our Miss Brooks, Part 2
Adventures of The Thin Man "The Case of the Trunk Murder" 10/1/44
Friday 9-9
The Whistler "Small Town Girl" 6/30/48
Sgt. Preston/Challenge of the Yukon "The Trial" 10/30/45
Monday 9-12
Lone Ranger "The Two Empty Graves" 6/30/41
Charlie McCarthy Show, guest: Edward Everett Horton, Part 1, 11/30/47
Tuesday 9-13
Charlie McCarthy Show, Part 2
Boston Blackie "The Chinatown Murder" 4/13/49
Wednesday 9-14
X Minus One "Hostess" by Isaac Asimov 12/12/56, a woman is delighted to host a fellow scientist, from another planet, but her husband seems increasingly hostile
Great Gildersleeve "Lella's Friend" Part 1, 10/21/45
Thursday 9-15
Great Gildersleeve, Part 2
The Line-up, 10/29/52
Friday 9-16
Academy Award "My Man Godfrey" 10/2/46, William Powell
Vic and Sade "Sweetcorn McBlock's Dismissal" 11/26/45
Monday 9-19
Fort Laramie "Shavetail" 3/4/56
Burns and Allen Show, guest: actor Chester Morris, Part 1, 6/2/49
Tuesday 9-20
Burns and Allen Show, Part 2
Big Town "The Fatal Chain" 11/9/48
Wednesday 9-21
Lights Out "The Word" 9/14/43, a couple at the top of the Empire State Building find themselves the last 2 people on Earth; Eve thinks it means God wants them to start over
Duffy's Tavern "A Date with Jan Bennett" Part 1, 1/5/51
Thursday 9-22
Duffy's Tavern, Part 2
Mysterious Traveler "House of Death" 1/30/44
Friday 9-23
Suspense "Present Tense" 3/3/57
Baby Snooks "At the Beach" 6/8/39
Monday 9-26
Cisco Kid "Gunman's Twin" 3/10/53
Bob Hope Show, guest: Red Skelton just back from serving in the Navy, Part 1, 11/27/45
Tuesday 9-27
Bob Hope Show, Part 2
The Saint "Sonata for Slayers" 6/18/50
Wednesday 9-28
Arch Oboler's Plays "Strange Morning" 4/5/45, what will V.E. Day be like? A black soldier worries that after the war, he'll be just another (N-word)
Lum and Abner "How to Build a Rocket Ship" Part 1, 10/28/42
Thursday 9-29
Lum and Abner, Part 2, they think Buck Rogers is real
Michael Shayne "The Party" 11/12/46
Friday 9-30
The Shadow "The Shadow's Revenge" 5/11/47
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Star of Capetown Matter" Part 1, 7/16/56
Monday 10-3
Have Gun, Will Travel "Blind Courage" 5/31/59, a blind man is taught to fire at the sound of a trigger when attacked by a gunman who's threatened him
Jack Benny Program "Break a Leg" Part 1, 10/24/48
Tuesday 10-4
Jack Benny Program, Part 2
Gangbusters "John K. Giles"
Wednesday 10-5
Inner Sanctum "The Dead Laugh" 9/23/46, a judge is haunted by a condemned man's laughter after over-ruling the jury
Fibber McGee & Molly Rent the Spare Room, Part 1, 10/5/43
Thursday 10-6
Fibber McGee and Molly, Part 2
Molle Mystery Theater "The Lady in the Morgue" 5/15/45, host Peter Lorre
Friday 10-7
The Whistler "Custom Built Blond" 7/15/46
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Star of Capetown Matter" Part 2, 7/17/56
Monday 10-10
Hopalong Cassidy "The Land of the Gunhawks" 3/7/51, a town of outlaws
Fred Allen Show, guests: Ozzie & Harriet Nelson, Part 1, 6/15/47
Tuesday 10-11
Fred Allen Show, Part 2
Casey, Crime Photographer "Photo of the Dead" 7/24/47, a fake seance racket
Wednesday 10-12
Dimension X "Report on the Barnhouse Effect" 4/22/50, a scientist that can destroy any nation's weapons by telepathy becomes the subject of a world-wide search
Life of Riley "Father's Day" Part 1, 6/19/48
Thursday 10-13
Life of Riley, Part 2
Green Lama "The Last Dinosaur" 7/3/49, the asian detective (Paul Frees) is suspicious of dinosaur tracks found near a murder victim
Friday 10-14
Screen Director's Playhouse "It Happens Every Spring" 4/14/50, Ray Milland's invention makes baseballs impossible to hit
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Star of Capetown Matter" Part 3, 7/18/56
Monday 10-17
Red Ryder "Indians on the Warpath" 2/28/42
Charlie McCarthy Show, Part 1, 10/26/47, guest: Richard Widmark (the giggling psycho in 1947's Kiss Of Death) decides Charlie needs to be scared strait. The movie itself will be shown on American Movie Classics in early November
Tuesday 10-18
Charlie McCarthy Show, Part 2
Nick Carter, Master Detective "The Make Believe Murder" 7/22/45
Wednesday 10-19
Creeps by Night "The Hunt" (for werewolves) Boris Karloff
Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show "Phil's Gray Hair" Part 1, 10/9/49
Thursday 10-20
Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show, Part 2
Mystery in the Air "The Queen of Spades" 9/11/47, Peter Lorre as a gambler who kills a woman for her perfect card system, then is haunted by her
Friday 10-21
The Shadow "Dead Men Talk" 9/24/39
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Star of Capetown Matter" Part 5, 7/20/56
Monday 10-24
Frontier Gentleman "Gentle Virtue" 3/30/58, he wins a Chinese mailorder bride in poker
Red Skelton Show "Red's Secret Admirer" Part 1, 2/12/50
Tuesday 10-25
Red Skelton Show, Part 2
Fat Man "Murder is the Medium" 7/22/49
Wednesday 10-26
Space Patrol "The Forgotten City" 3/28/53 (simulcast on TV at the time) Buzz & Happy explore a city on Saturn supposedly abandoned for 100 years
My Favorite Husband "Liz and Iris Have the Same Dress" Part 1, 4/23/50
Thursday 10-27
My Favorite Husband, Part 2
Pat Novak for Hire "Rory Malone" 3/20/49
Friday 10-28
Suspense "The Hitchhiker" 9/2/42, later adapted for The Twilight Zone
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Star of Capetown Matter" Part 4, 7/19/56
Monday 10-31
War Of The Worlds, the Halloween 1938 Orson Welles broadcast that caused some listeners to panic due to its realistic method of breaking in with a series of escalating news bulletins about an invasion of the eastern U.S. by machines from another planet. Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater star in this classic "invasion from Mars" production, originally broadcast on October 31, 1938. People tuning in late thought the U.S. was being attacked & invaded, an adaptation of H.G. Wells' fantasy about invaders from Mars landing on the East Coast of the United States.
It was so realistic when it was aired by the CBS Radio Network on Halloween Eve in 1938 it caused widespread panic and hysteria throughout the nation. Listeners mistook the radio play for an actual news broadcast!
Orson Welles and his cast reported the invasion as news bulletins to create the illusion of reality. There were reports of thousands killed, of raging fires, poison gas and of people being crushed in stampedes as they fled the Martian invaders. Police stations and newspapers were swamped with calls.
An announcer gave on-the-scene report of a "cylinder of unknown origin" hitting Earth "with almost earthquake forces" near Grover's Mill, New Jersey.
What many listeners had missed was the opening of the show when it was made clear that CBS was presenting a fictional drama
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For those interested in more trivia facts about radio drama, we suggest the book, On The Air: An Encyclopedia Of Old Time Radio," by John Dunning. The publisher is Oxford Press. It is one of the many books used in radio drama research.
These programs are made available by a guy who's nuts about old time radio and a retired CBS executive: More
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The show titles shown on this banner are for a nationally-syndicated version of this program with different radio shows.
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Turn your lights out now. The Shadow knows.
I'm the first person they look for and the last they want to meet.
I carry a badge. Hi-Ho Silver. Yes King, this case is closed
Inner Sanctum definition of Romeo & Juliet: "newlydeads"
