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Amos 'n' Andy
(1929-60)
This 15 minute daily situation comedy was probably the most popular radio show of
all time. The listening audience was estimated at 40 million, almost one-third of Americans
living at that time. The story was of Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll playing Amos and
Andy as black men from Harlem who owned the Fresh Air Taxi Company, so called because its
only cab had no windshield. Amos and Andy were the commonest of common men: they symbolized
the poor Joe with no money, no job and no future. It was the first significant serial
utilizing the elements of sympathetic characters, comedy and suspense.
Title: Marriage Proposal Mix-up
Date: 17th November 1944
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Box 13 (1948 to
49)
This popular detective adventure stars Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday, a former newsman
who now writes mystery novels. To get plots for his books he runs an advertisement that reads
"Adventure wanted; will go anywhere, do anything - Box 13. Each episode sees him head out on
a brand new mystery.
Title: The Professor and the Puzzle
Date: 9th January 1949
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I Love a Mystery
(1939-1952)
I Love A Mystery weaves a spell over its fans. I was a tale of three partners, Jack
Packard, Doc Long and Reggie Yorke who had formed the A-1 detective agency. They were
adventurers who traveled the world in search of action, thrills and mystery, battling the
evils of natural and supernatural and rescuing women in distress. The episode below is part
one of a multi-part story, so don't get too hooked or you might have to become a member to
hear how it ends.
Title: Million Dollar Curse Part 1
Date: 12th December 1949
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Fred Allen and Jack Benny in the Jack
Benny Program
A classic episode from one of the longest-running comedy shows in radio history.
This episode is classic Benny and Allen at their very best.
Title: How Jack and Fred Allen Met
Date: 15th January 1950
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Life of
Riley Each evening after dinner Chester A Riley (played by William Bendix) sits down and
relaxes with the evening paper. Whatever is lacking in our daily lives the evening newspaper
can provide. For the stout and sedentary businessman there’s the sports page. For the meek and
mild spinster there’s the latest axe murder and for Riley - happily married for 18 years -
there’s the divorce news.
Title: Riley Talks in His Sleep About Gertrude
Date: 2nd April 1949
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Sherlock Holmes
(1930-1960s)
The famous Sherlock Holmes detective stories appeared on radio for more than 25
years, with a long list of performers playing the parts of Holmes and Dr. Watson. They
stories were written by Edith Meiser, a self-confessed Holmes addict. At first she used
Arthur Conan Doyles’ original stories, but, after the series outlived the original material,
she created her own new stories. These were so well written that she was warmly praised by
Arthur Conan Doyle’s widow and son.
Title: Murder by Moonlight
Date: 29th October 1945
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Dragnet (1949
-1957)
Dragnet was an incredible radio series for many reasons. It represented the apex of
police procedural broadcasting. It used sound effects to an extent that had rarely be seen
before and it extended the boundaries of what was classed as acceptable broadcasting with
some of its controversial storylines. In this episode Detective Sergeant Friday is assigned to robbery detail. A ruthless fiend roams the
streets of the city masquerading as a police officer. For months helpless citizens have been
robbed, beaten senseless and kidnapped. The criminal is a twisted genius with cunning. It's
up to Detective Sergeant Joe Friday to get him.
Title: Red Light Bandit
Date: 14th July 1949
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Life with Luigi (1948
-1954)
This wonderful comedy series was originally called The Little Immigrant, but
the name was changed before the first broadcast. The lead character was a recent Italian
immigrant called Luigi Basco played wonderfully by J. Carrol Naish, an Irishman in real life.
Luigi had moved from Rome to run an antique shop next to Pasquale's Spaghetti Palace in the
Little Italy section of Chicago and the stories revolved around his efforts to discover and
integrate into his new environment.
Title: Luigi Discovers America
Date: 21st September 1948
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Escape (1947 -1954)
When Radio Life wrote "These stories all possess many times the reality that most
radio writing conveys" it hit the nail on the head. Escape is everything that was good
about old time radio drama rolled into one. The title itself almost sums up the very essence
of what radio drama is all about. Each and every episode was a micro drama carefully planned
to capture the listeners attention for thirty minutes.
Title: Country of the Blind
Date: 26th November 1947
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X Minus 1 (1955
-1958) A thirty-minute science fiction series totalling 113 episodes and throughout its three
years of broadcasting, it always used the same opening, a rocket-launch countdown. The stories
were strict science fiction striking out into deep space, exploring thousands of other galaxies
and the power struggles with aliens and alien worlds, but the stories were not always human
triumphs, sometimes the aliens won!
Title: The Green Hills of Earth
Date: 7th July 1955
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Couple Next Door (1957
-1960)
This light-hearted situation comedy about a young couple was first broadcast between
1935 and 1937. It was revived in 1957 and ran through to 1960. Peg Lynch and Alan Bunce
played the same characters as they had in Ethel and Albert, but throughout the complete
revival they didn't once refer to each other by name, always calling each other
"dear".
Title: Union Rules
Date: 16th September 1958
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