Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Fibber McGee & Molly - The New Fire Truck (4-19-49)

The New Fire Truck (Aired April 19, 1949)


Fibber McGee and Molly premiered in 1935. The program struggled in the ratings until 1940, when it became a national sensation. Within three years, it was the top-rated program in America. Few radio shows were more beloved than Fibber McGee and Molly. The program’s lovable characters included Mayor LaTrivia, Doc Gamble, Mrs. Uppington, Wallace Wimple, Alice Darling, Gildersleeve, Beulah, Myrt, and the Old Timer. 79 Wistful Vista was one of America’s most famous addresses and Molly’s warning to Fibber not to open the hall closet door (and his subsequent decision to do it) created one of radio’s best remembered running gags that audiences expected each week. Jim Jordan (Fibber) was born on a farm on November 16, 1896, near Peoria, Illinois. Marian Driscoll (Molly), a coal miner’s daughter, was born in Peoria on November 15, 1898. After years of hardship and touring in obscurity on the small-time show biz circuit, they arrived in Chicago in 1924, where they eventually performed on thousands of shows and developed 145 different voices and characters. Broadcast to the nation from WMAQ/Chicago, the show entertained America until March 1956, and continued on NBC’s Monitor until 1959. Jim Jordan died on April 1, 1988. Marian Jordan died on April 7, 1961. Fibber McGee and Molly was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. First Broadcast date April 16, 1935. Last Broadcast date September 6, 1959.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Campbell Playhouse "Escape" (10-15-39)

Escape (Aired October 15, 1939)


The Campbell Playhouse was a sponsored continuation of the Mercury Theater on the Air, a direct result of the instant publicity from the War of the Worlds panic. The switch occurred on December 9, 1938. In spite of using the same creative staff, the show had a different flavor under sponsorship, partially attributed to a guest star policy in place, which relegated the rest of the Mercury Players to supporting cast for Orson Welles and the Hollywood guest of the week. There was a growing schism between Welles, still reaping the rewards of his Halloween night notoriety, and his collaborator John Houseman, still in the producer's chair but feeling more like an employee than a partner. The writer, as during the unsponsored run, was Howard Koch.

THIS EPISODE:
October 15, 1939. CBS net. "Escape". Sponsored by: Campbell's Soup. A good story about a man unjustly jailed for 5 years for accidentally killing a policeman. After escaping his prison, the man has several fascinating adventures while eluding recapture. Bea Benaderet, Bernard Herrmann (composer, conductor), Edgar Barrier, Ernest Chappell (announcer), Everett Sloane, Harriet Kaye, J. Scott Smart (billed as Jack Smart), Mabel Albertson, Orson Welles (host), Ray Collins (narrator), Wendy Barrie. 53:26.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Buck Rogers In The 25th Century "The Mechanical Mole" (Parts 4-5-6-7)1939

The Mechanical Mole (Parts 4,5,6 and 7) 1939 * Exact Dates Unknown


In 1987 NASA launches a manned probe on a 5 month trip around the solar system. The probe's pilot is Captain William "Buck" Rogers. Something goes awry causing the ships life support systems to freeze Buck in a cryogenic suspension. The malfunction sends Ranger 3 in a deep space orbit that will return the disable spacecraft to Earth in the year 2491. Buck awakens from his deep cryogenic sleep to find himself 500 years in the future. Earth is still recovering from the aftermath of a late 20th Century nuclear holocaust which nearly destroyed the planet. Due to his incredible fighter pilot skills Buck becomes a valuable member of the Earth's Defense Directorate, which is headed by Dr. Elias Huer. Captain Rogers also finds himself a part of a fighter squadron headed by the beautiful Colonel Wilma Deering. Among his other compatriots are Twiki -- a likable robot who becomes Buck's pal -- and Dr. Theopolis -- a mechanical brain in a box who is part of Earth's Computer Council.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Bonanza "Enter Mark Twain" (10-10-59)

Bonanza "Enter Mark Twain" (10-10-59)


Lorne Greene). He had three biological sons, each by a different wife: the oldest was the intelligent and moody Adam Cartwright (Pernell Roberts); the second was the fun and lovable Eric, better known to viewers by his middle name: "Hoss" (Dan Blocker); and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe" (Michael Landon). The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing (Victor Sen Yung). The family lived on a thousand-square-mile ranch called "The Ponderosa", on the shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada; the name refers to the Ponderosa Pine, common in the West.

THIS EPISODE Samuel Clemens arrives in Virginia City to write for the Territorial Enterprise at the same time a crooked politician tries to lay claim on the Ponderosa.
Guest Stars: Sam Clemens...Howard Duff,...Judge Jeremy Clarence Billington...John Litel,...Minaie...Dorothy Green,...Rosemary Lawson...Ann Whitfield,...Blurry Jones...Percy Helton,...Bill Raleigh...Patrick McVey,...Lash's Foreman...Lane Bradford,...Marshal...Robert Carson,...Daniel Lash...Edmund Ryan,...Dr. Efriem Lovejoy...Arthur Lovejoy,...Hop Sing...Victor Sen Yung,...Bill Clark (uncredited; townsman).Written by: Harold Shumate and Directed by Paul Landres.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Amos & Andy "Kingfish's Tourist Service" (11-22-53)

Kingfish's Tourist Service (Aired November 22, 1953)





Amos 'n' Andy, still written entirely by the two stars, was the top-rated program of all in 1930, with a 54.4 rating and 30 million listeners (compare that to the Super Bowl's 44.2 rating in 2004). By this time, the wily, coniving Kingfish was becoming a major personality, eventually supplanting sensible Amos as star of the show (Freeman Gosden gave voice to both characters while Charles Correll played Andrew H. Brown).
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Duffys Tavern "Archie's Old Teacher Visits" (12-14-51)

Archie's Old Teacher Visits (Aired December 14, 1951)


Duffy's Tavern, an American radio situation comedy (CBS, 1941-1942; NBC-Blue Network, 1942-1944; NBC, 1944-1952), often featured top-name stage and film guest stars but always hooked those around the misadventures, get-rich-quick-scheming, and romantic missteps of the title establishment's malaprop-prone, metaphor-mixing manager, Archie, played by the writer/actor who co-created the show, Ed Gardner. In the show's familiar opening, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," either solo on an old-sounding piano or by a larger orchestra, was interrupted by the ring of a telephone and Gardner's New Yorkese accent as he answered, "Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat. Archie the manager speakin'. Duffy ain't here — oh, hello, Duffy." Duffy, the owner, was never heard (or seen, when a film based on the show was made in 1945 or when a bid to bring the show to television was tried in 1954). But Archie always was — bantering with Duffy's man-crazy daughter, Miss Duffy (played by several actresses, beginning with Gardner's real-life first wife, Shirley Booth); with Eddie, the waiter/janitor (Eddie Green); and, especially, with Clifton Finnegan (Charlie Cantor), a likeable soul with several screws loose and a knack for falling for every other salesman's scam.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Mr. IE Moto "Project 77" (7-01-51) Episode7

Project 77 (Aired July 1, 1951)


Mr. Moto is small in stature but strong and an expert in judo. He was the title character of a series of books, beginning with No Hero (1935; British title: Mr Moto Takes a Hand, reprint title: Your Turn, Mr. Moto), and of eight films between 1937 and 1939, in which he was portrayed by Peter Lorre. With the beginning of World War II, Mr. Moto fell out of favor with Americans, and no new books or movies about him appeared between 1942 and 1957. A dedicated and cold-blooded spy for Imperial Japan, Moto is not a conventional hero. He does not look for opportunities to commit violence but has no problem with killing people who obstruct his plans, and he would not hesitate to take his own life if necessary. But he is a master of concealing his true nature while under cover, and usually appears dull, naive, utterly harmless. He does not try to correct the bigoted attitudes of Westerners toward him and other Asians, and is not above encouraging such condescension. It often works to his advantage, leading Westerners to ignore or underestimate him.

THIS EPISODE:
Mr. I. A. Moto. July 1, 1951. NBC net. "Project 77". Sustaining. Not auditioned. A scientist is tortured to revealed the secrets of, "Project 77." John P. Marquand (creator), Harry W. Junkin (writer, director), Carol Irwin (producer), Bill Smith, Connie Lembcke, Bill Lipton, James Monks, Fred Collins (announcer), Scott Tennyson, Ian Martin. 29:35.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Whistler "Legacy Of Death" (2-14-43)

Legacy Of Death (Aired February 14, 1943)


The show first broadcast its fantastic thirty-minute crime mystery series in May 1942 and did not finish until September 1948. There were more than 450 shows of murder and intrigue in all. Although it ran for 6 years it was broadcast for only one year on a national network. The show opened to the sound of footsteps and an eerie whistle, which went on throughout the introductory music. The Whistler always began the show with the opening lines; I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak…”
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Speed Gibson International Secret Police "4 Episodes" (1-02-37)(1-09-37)(1-16-37)(1-23-37)

"The Octopus Gang Active" (1-02-37) " Secret Police" (1-09-37) "Hong Kong" (1-16-37) and "A Shooting Attempt" (1-23-37)


Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police is a shining example of a 1930s aviation adventure Serial. Join our hero, 15-year-old Speed Gibson, as he is inducted into the International Secret Police and hunts down the dreaded Octopus and his worldwide gang. Thrill to exciting aeroplane and shortwave radio sequences! Listen as Speed travels to exotic far-off locales like the South Pacific islands, China, Hong Kong, Tibet, and the Sahara desert! This was a weekly serial that ran from 1937 through 1940.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Bob Hope Show "Guest Judy Garland" (3-07-39)

Guest Judy Garland (Aired March 7, 1939)


Hope first appeared on television in 1932 during a test transmission from an experimental CBS studio in New York. His career in broadcasting spanned sixty-four years and included a long association with NBC. Hope made his network radio debut in 1937 on NBC. His first regular series for NBC Radio was the Woodbury Soap Hour. A year later The Pepsodent Radio Show Starring Bob Hope began, and would run through 1953. Hope did many specials for the NBC television network in the following decades. These were often sponsored by Chrysler and Hope served as a spokesman for the firm for many years. Hope's Christmas specials were popular favorites and often featured a performance of "Silver Bells" (from his 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid) done as a duet with an often much younger female guest star (such as Olivia Newton-John or Brooke Shields). His final television special was in 1996 with Tony Danza helping Hope present a retrospective about presidents of the United States. He also made a guest appearance on the NBC show The Golden Girls in the late 1980s.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Let George Do It "Tunnel Under The River" (5-03-48)

Tunnel Under The River (Aired May 3, 1948)




Let George Do It. May 3, 1948. Mutual-Don Lee net. Sponsored by: Standard Oil. George and Brooksie become sandhogs under the river. Sabotage and buried treasure are dredged to the surface. Bob Bailey, Frances Robinson, David Victor (writer), Herbert Little Jr. (writer), Bud Hiestand (announcer), Don Clark (director), Francis X. Bushman, Herb Lytton, Ruth Perrott, Joseph Du Val, Franklyn Pinky Parker (?), Leo Cleary, Eddie Dunstedter (composer, conductor). 29:29.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Columbia Workshop "The Wonderful Day" (11-30-39)

The Wonderful Day (Aired November 30, 1939)


The Columbia Workshop is an excellent show reflecting the mores of the public during the era in which it was made and distinguishing itself as a artistic medium separate from other forms of entertainment especially film. This is high art radio at its finest with expert writing and direction by a slew of talented, but relatively unknown people of the moment. The show’s goals included separating itself from popular radio’s overuse of film celebrities and general triviality of commercial orientated radio shows. This lead to several revolutions in the method in which a show is made including the development of a soundboard with complicated noises now considered essential to radio production. The seriousness of Columbia Workshop and of radio as a unique art form was well received by radio audiences and the show remained popular for decades. Because Columbia Workshop was extremely radio and sound based, its era came to an end with the advent of the television as the most popular form of home entertainment.
Show Notes From

www.otrcat.com

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Exploring Tomorrow "How Big Is A Man" (Ethan) 2-12-58

How Big Is A Man (Ethan) Aired February 12, 1958




Starting as a replacement show for Gangbusters and Counterspy, the series premiered December 11, 1957 and it ran until June 13, 1958. Quoting from Astounding Magazine, "Exploring Tomorrow is the first science fiction radio show of science-fictioneers, by science- fictioneers, and for science-fictioneers" The shows were narrated by the editor of Astounding Magazine, John W. Campbell, Jr., with scripts written by Gordon Dickson, Robert Silverberg and many other notable science fiction writers.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Escape "The Man From Tomorrow" (8-23-53)

The Man From Tomorrow (Aired August 23, 1953)


Escape was radio's leading anthology series of high adventure, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like Suspense, it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950. Despite these problems, Escape enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with the introduction, intoned by Paul Frees and William Conrad: “Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!” Of the more than 230 Escape episodes, most have survived in good condition. Many story premises, both originals and adaptations, involved a protagonist in dire life-or-death straits, and the series featured more science fiction and supernatural tales than Suspense. Some of the memorable adaptations include Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven," George R. Stewart's Earth Abides, Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," John Collier's "Evening Primrose", later adapted to TV as a Stephen Sondheim musical starring Anthony Perkins. Vincent Price and Harry Bartell were heard in the chilling "Three Skeleton Key," the tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats. The half-hour was adapted from an Esquire short story by the French writer George Toudouze.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - CBS Radio Workshop "Cops And Robbers" (3-16-56)

Cops And Robbers (Aired March 16, 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.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Lux Radio Theater "Blood & Sand" (10-20-41)

"Blood & Sand" (Aired October 20, 1941)


Lux Radio Theater strove to feature as many of the original stars of the original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000 an appearance to do the show. It was when sponsor Lever Brothers (who made Lux soap and detergent) moved the show from New York to Hollywood in 1936 that it eased back from adapting stage shows and toward adaptations of films. The first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady, with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. That was followed by a Lux adaptation of The Thin Man, featuring the movie's stars, Myrna Loy and William Powell.

THIS EPISODE:

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 screwball comedy film starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple. Sidney Sheldon was awarded the 1948 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for this film in his first and only Academy Award nomination during his career in Hollywood. The film was directed by Irving Reis and was one of the few non-film noir outings for noted cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Big Town "Prelude To Christmas" (12-21-48)

Prelude To Christmas (Aired December 21, 1948)


Big Town was perhaps the most famous series of reporter dramas. It featured the adventures of Steve Wilson, the crusading editor of The Illustrated Press. The show was written by Jerry McGill, an ex-newspaperman, and his reporters were diligent, sober champions of justice, zealously pushing freedom of the press, creating a memorable slogan; “Freedom of the press is a flaming sword! Use is justly … hold it high … guard it well.” The shows occasionally attacked juvenile delinquency, racism and drink driving amongst other soapbox related incidents.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Archie Andrews "Christmas Shopping" (12-13-47)

Christmas Shopping (Aired December 13, 1947)


With all the time spent looking for it throughout history, who would have thought the secret of eternal youth would be found in Riverdale? That's where it is, though, and Archie Andrews and his friends seem happy enough to keep that secret to themselves while sharing their trials, tribulations and milkshakes with generations of readers. Montana's characters were heard on radio in the early 1940s. Archie Andrews began on the Blue Network on May 31, 1943, switched to Mutual in 1944, and then continued on NBC from 1945 until September 5, 1953. Archie was first played by Charles Mullen, Jack Grimes and Burt Boyar, with Bob Hastings as the title character during the NBC years.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Dragnet "Big Little Jesus" (12-22-53)

Big Little Jesus (Aired December 22, 1953)


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 debuted inauspiciously. The first several months were bumpy, as Webb and company worked out the program’s format and eventually became comfortable with their characters (Friday was originally portrayed as more brash and forceful than his later usually relaxed demeanor). Gradually, Friday’s deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged, described by John Dunning as "a cop's cop, tough but not hard, conservative but caring." (Dunning, 210) Friday’s first partner was Sgt. Ben Romero, portrayed by Barton Yarborough, a longtime radio actor. When Dragnet hit its stride, it became one of radio’s top-rated shows. While most radio shows used one or two sound effects experts, Dragnet needed five; a script clocking in at just under 30 minutes could require up to 300 separate effects. Accuracy was underlined: The exact number of footsteps from one room to another at Los Angeles police headquarters were imitated, and when a telephone rang at Friday’s desk, the listener heard the same ring as the telephones in Los Angeles police headquarters.
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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Bold Venture "Ghost Ship" (1951)

Ghost Ship (1951) *Exact Date Is Unknown



The Hollywood husband and wife team of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall set sail for adventure in the Bold Venture radio series in early 1951. There were well over 400 stations that aired the program. Since thiswas syndicated * the starting date varied from station to station but Mar 26, 1951 was the official date of the first show. Humphrey Bogart portrayed Slate Shannon, owner of a rundown Havana hotel, Shannon's Place. The action took place on land as well aboard Slate's boat, The Bold Venture, thus the title of the series. Lauren Bacall was his ward Sailor Duval, a stubborn and flirtatious young woman whose late father had willed her to Slate for her protection. Together the duo found adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean.
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