Return with us now,
to those thrilling days of yesteryear...

Fidelis Radio
Theater

Discover the Future of Radio in Her Past

Chicago Radio Theater proposes the return of radio comedy and drama, presented before a live theater audience, seven nights a week, with an initial 44-week season.

       Carefully researched.

       Meticulously scripted.

       Intelligently produced.

       Professionally performed.

       Thoroughly entertaining.

Return with us now, to those thrilling days of yesteryear…

Executive Summary

Chicago Radio Theater proposes the return of original radio drama and comedy programs, presented live in front of a theater audience. The programming will start with five nights a week, and will eventually encompass seven nights of two hours of original live drama and comedy radio shows each week.

Chicago Radio Theater will be presented live in front of a theater audience utilizing actors dressed in 1930’s and 1940’s costumes. The presentation will feature a sound effects team creating original and live sound effects the way they were performed in the 1930s and 1940s. Digital sound effects will be avoided where possible.

Chicago Radio Theater will also feature a live orchestra, including live program openings and closings, and commercial spot bumpers. Live on-stage announcers will introduce each program.

Chicago Radio Theater will be presented twice nightly: from 7:00PM to 9:00PM Central Time (8:00PM to 10:00PM Eastern Time), for a live satellite feed to the East Coast; and again from 8:00PM to 10:00PM Pacific Time, for a delayed satellite feed to the rest of the country.

Chicago Radio Theater will include re-creations of the best of yesteryear, as well as new and original creations. A suggested show schedule is included on the accompanying pages. Many of these programs must be vetted for rights. Royalty payments for comic book characters may be required.

Chicago Radio Theater is expected to be produced under AFTRA and WGA employment guidelines. The programs will be audio- and video-taped for later off-season broadcasts.

Chicago Radio Theater will utilize Internet streaming, as well as a satellite-fed audio feed, with a subscription-based pre-show download for members. Members will also receive discounts for tickets to the live nightly shows.

Chicago Radio Theater is expected to be produced before a live studio audience.

Theater Venue and Premier Date

Chicago Radio Theater will be performed on stage in front of a live theater audience. We are negotiating the use of one of the AMC, Regal, or United Artist theaters in Chicago as the future home of the Chicago Radio Theater. The video portion of our production will be taped in HDTV format for future release on cable or satellite, and will include a live, stereo feed to radio stations and a delayed feed to our our Internet web theater.

Management

Chicago Radio Theater is managed by experienced producers and line staff who follow a hierarchal command structure that guarantees the timely development and production of all shows.

Chicago Radio Theater consists of not less than five nights of original radio programming presented live before a theater audience. There is zero room for mistakes.

Beginning on Monday night at 7:00PM Central Time (8:00PM-10:00PM Eastern Time), four original 30-minute programs follow one another in rapid succession in a two-hour time block, interrupted only by commercial spots, many of which will also be performed live by an announcer at a special “sponsor’s mike” podium.

On Tuesday night, a completely new set of four original 30-minute programs follow one another in a two-hour time block, just like Monday night.

And so throughout the week, our 2-hour program blocks are performed live from 7:00PM-9:00PM Central Time (8:00PM-10:00PM Eastern Time), and are then repeated again via tape delay for our Western states. Each night, it’s a different set of four 30-minute shows. See our tentative Program Roster for details.

Production Management

Production is managed by a Senior Producer, a Script and Story Producer and a Staging Producer. Two other executives, the Sound Director and a Casting Director get their assignments through the Executive Story Consultant and, working with the Night Runners under the two Senior Producers, prepare the production elements that are their responsibilities. All of these positions get their scripts from the Executive Story Consultant—the “Head Writer,” if you will—who works directly with the Senior Producers. The Senior Producer reports directly to the Executive Producer.

Our Line Producers

The Script and Story Producer is indirectly responsible for seeing that five nights of programs are properly scripted and readied for production. The Script and Story Producer supervises five of the seven Night Runners, who handle the particular details of the shows for Monday through Friday.

The Staging Producer is responsible for seeing that the house (i.e., the theater) is ready for production, including all stage management and lighting effects. The Staging Producer is also responsible for two nights of programs (Saturday and Sunday) and supervises two of the seven Night Runners, who handle the particular details of the shows for Saturday and Sunday.

The Sound Producer is responsible for all sound effects. In addition, the Chicago Radio Theater Orchestra Director reports to the Sound Producer so that all live orchestrated music, including bumper music, scene transition, “stings” and other musical elements are ready for live insertion into the program. The Sound Producer is also responsible for seeing that the audio portion of the program is delivered to the house headphones (for our live theater audience) and to the satellite network feed.

The Casting Director is responsible for finding that particular voice to make the scripted characters, including our guest villains, guest victims, and other name stars, come to life on stage and in the ears of our listeners. This will be a full-time job.

Each of these four individuals has a salaried assistant to share the work load, which is expected to be heavy.

Our Night Runners

The Night Runners report directly to the two Senior Producers. Each Night Runner handles the details of the programs for the night that he or she is responsible for. Each Night Runner has seven calendar days to prepare the four programs for his/her night.[1]

Each of the other six Night Runners have similar charts and responsibilities with his or her show night.

Our Directors

Each Director is responsible for the script, the sound, and the over-all performance of his or her show. The Director has seven calendar days to prepare his/her program. This includes identifying all sound effects and, working with the Sound Producer, preparing the sound effects for production. The Director is also responsible for identifying the costume needs and submitting costume requirements to the Costume Designer. Performers appear in costume on stage for the benefit of our theater audience and for the live video taping that is done for each performance.

Video Production

Each 2-hour night is video taped in HDTV format for later use on cable television and to provide additional tax benefits for investors. The actual production is sub-contracted to a separate production company on a work-for-hire basis.

Scripts and Stories

Chicago Radio Theater will require 520 separate 30-minute radio scripts over its 26-week Monday-Friday night run. Each script is 24 pages in length.

Further, assuming the series runs seven nights a week, Chicago Radio Theater will require an additional 52 60-minute scripts for both of the Saturday “Who Done It?” night programs in the Perry Mason and Ellery Queen series.

And Sunday night’s The Jack Benny Show will require an additional 26 30-minute scripts. (Note that Jack Benny will require at least three writers and will have a script budget three times as high as the other programs.) The Stand Up Tonight and the Talent America programs will not be fully scripted, and will require a minimum of bridge segment scripting.

Our Senior Producer and Executive Story Consultant

Our Senior Producer and “Head Writer” is Tony Palermo,[2] a radio dramatist and composer living in Los Angeles, California. Besides radio and internet broadcasts, he has written, adapted and scored numerous radio plays for the Museum of Television & Radio in both Los Angeles and New York, the United Nations, the Playwright’s Project, the Thousand Oaks Public Library, international radio festivals, and various educational publishers. He also appears with the Wells Fargo Radio Theater, the Liquid Radio Players, 30 Minutes to Curtain and other radio troupes.

Mr. Palermo has produced dozens of original radio dramas in the classic “old-time radio” style of the 1930s-1960s. He writes the scripts, composes the scores, assembles the sound effects, and directs performances to recreate the lost art of the radio’s “theater of the mind.” His dramas cover the classic radio genres of soap operas, science-fiction, detective shows, westerns, horror stories, historical dramas, and even super-hero spoofs. Mr. Palermo’s radio plays have been performed by groups ranging from children’s workshops to community theater troupes to professional Hollywood actors to international casts for the United Nations.

Mr. Palermo has directed hundreds of radio productions since 1996 and worked with a variety of old-time and new-time radio talents, including Norman Corwin, Art Gilmore, Janet Waldo, Fred Foy, Yuri Rasovsky, Roger Gregg, Sue Zizza, Barbara Watkins, James Napoli, as well as sound effects greats, Bob Mott, Ray Erlenborn, and the late Cliff Thorsness—sound effects artist for Orson Welles and Jack Benny. As a specialty, Mr. Palermo carries on the tradition of radio sound effects as a performer, inventor, and educator.

Mr. Palermo also teaches groups to produce radio plays in a workshop setting. In the space of two hours, he can cast, rehearse, and produce a 30 minute program of near-professional quality—even with children. Mr. Palermo employs his own pre-recorded musical scores and directs the performances in the manner of a orchestra conductor—coordinating the voices, sound effects, and music cues. In these workshops, 15 to 20 participants handle all acting roles as well as provide the many sound effects ranging from footsteps and door knocks to rumbling thunder, ray guns, sword fights and more. 

Mr. Palermo boasts that his audio productions feature the “world’s biggest special effects budget.”  He uses live, manual sound effects and the listening audience’s imagination to crash airplanes in the Amazon, have Crusaders wade through an ocean of bones, sink pirate ships, launch Indian attacks, and even steal Los Angeles’ Getty Center Art Museum. Says Mr. Palermo, “In radio, you can do anything, and that’s my motto—do the impossible! My scripts would cost Steven Spielberg millions, but on radio, I can destroy the world for about five bucks worth of sound effects. We create a whole world before your very ears—and then, tear it down.”

Since 1996, Mr. Palermo has provided the scripts, musical scores, and manual sound effects devices for weekly radio workshops at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills, California and New York City. Nearly every weekend throughout the year, one of his radio plays is being produced on both coasts. The MT&R workshops have allowed thousands of students, and even senior citizen groups, to explore the imaginative realm of radio drama. Mr. Palermo also conducts workshops for the Thousand Oaks Public Library, which has an extensive collection of radio programs and related materials, as well as for the United Nations.[3]

Estimated Production Budgets

Our estimated production budgets are available for download from the Executive Producer. The email address to request the spreadsheet is fidelisradio@sbcglobal.net.

Estimated Income and Expenses Projections

Our estimated Income and Expense Projections are available for download from the Executive Producer. The email address to request the spreadsheet is fidelisradio@sbcglobal.net.

Thumbnail Sketches and Histories of the Radio Programs

Monday 8:00PM-10:00PM – Pulp Fiction Night

The Shadow Returns (30 min)

Show Description

From the spring of 1931 until the summer of 1949, a slim figure cloaked in black fought mobsters, evil scientists, crazed old men and foreign invaders with two blazing auto­matics and a laugh that chilled the hearts of evil. Now The Shadow returns in a series of 2-part episodes, set in the 1930s. Our show ends with a cliff-hanger. Tune in again on Wednesday night to see if our hero can escape the clutches of the evil…

Show History

On July 31, 1930 a sinister voice came over the radio into American homes. The voice of the Shadow appeared for the first time. In the beginning, the Shadow was not a crime fighter. He was a mysterious narrator of mystery tales taken from the pages of Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine. The publisher Street & Smith began to use radio as an advertising medium to promote their fiction publications. The Shadow was a perfectly creepy teller of tales promoting Street & Smith.

This format continued until 1935 when creative differences between Street & Smith and NBC called a halt to The Shadow on the air.

In December of 1930, a young writer named Walter Gibson was approached to write fiction accounts of Shadow adventures. It would begin an incredible writing career for Gibson. He wrote 283 Shadow novels totaling over 15 million words. Gibson’s Shadow was a mysterious nocturnal creature who fought crime with a mirthless laugh and two .45 automatic pistols. His black cloak and glowing red girasol ring brought terror to criminals. He worked with a network of agents who brought him information and assisted in the pursuit of justice.

On September 26, 1937, The Shadow reappeared on radio with the voice of Orson Welles playing the part. The Shadow was now a full-fledged character on radio, not just narrating and introducing stories. The Shadow had an identity as Lamont Cranston, a wealthy man about town. He was accompanied by Margo Lane, originally played by Agnes Moorehead. Margo Lane was the only person who knew that Lamont Cranston and the Shadow were one and the same. No other agents assisted the Shadow, as did in the Walter Gibson fictional accounts. This radio Shadow had hypnotic power to make himself invisible to those around him and he possessed mental telepathy to read minds. Orson Welles played the Shadow from 1937 through March 1938. The Shadow became the highest rated radio show on the air at that time.

In September of 1939, a new voice of the Shadow appeared in the form of radio actor Bill Johnstone. Later in 1939, Agnes Moorehead left the show and was replaced by Marjorie Anderson as Margo Lane. The plot lines began to follow the standard formula of Margo Lane being in danger and the Shadow rescuing her from the clutches of evil. Bill Johnstone would be the voice of the Shadow for five seasons, until March 1943.

Bret Morrison took over the Shadow role in 1943 for one season. John Archer and Steve Courtleigh took the Shadow role through the 1944-45 season. Bret Morrison then returned to be the Shadow for the duration of the program’s run which lasted until December 26, 1954.

The Shadow radio program became a part of American culture with its mystic phrase, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” The show used its popularity to try and deter crime with its admonition, “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay!” Every listener knew that the Shadow was out there, fighting the forces of evil and bringing wrong-doers to justice.[4]

The Green Hornet (30 min)

Show Description

Another challenge for the Green Hornet, his aid Kato, and their rolling arsenal the Black Beauty. On police records a wanted criminal, Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner-publisher of the Daily Sentinel, his duel identity known only to his secretary and the DA. Our show ends with a cliff-hanger. Tune in again on Wednesday night to see if our hero can escape the clutches of the evil…

Show History

On January 31, 1936, The Green Hornet radio program aired on WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. Al Hodge played the part of the Green Hornet from 1936 through January of 1943. The program was created by George W. Trendle, the same man associated with the creation of The Lone Ranger radio show.

The premise of The Green Hornet was that of a modern day Lone Ranger. The main character was Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher of the Daily Sentinel by day and the Green Hornet by night. Britt Reid was supposed to be the great-nephew of the Lone Ranger. Britt Reid’s war against crime was an extension of his family history. The Green Hornet fought crime with his high-powered car, the Black Beauty. He also utilized a gun that fired knockout gas instead of bullets. His fists also came in handy on a regular basis. He was assisted by his Filipino valet, Kato. Kato would drive the Black Beauty, keep watch out for the police or the bad guys and sometimes lend a helping fist to the fighting. The Green Hornet pretended to be a villain while really battling the forces of crime in the big city. This would make for some interesting plot twists as the Green Hornet would be actively avoiding detection by the police while at the same time attempting to destroy criminal activity in the city. Many times the Green Hornet would lead the police to believe that the Green Hornet had been the mastermind of the case at hand. The police would receive an anonymous tip of where they could pick up the now subdued crooks with the Green Hornet just barely making his escape from the scene.

The Green Hornet would be alerted to criminal activity through his job as editor of the Daily Sentinel. The crime stories would lead Britt Reid to transform into the Green Hornet to battle crime at night.

The Green Hornet program began in January of 1936 and played to December 5, 1952. The shows typically ran thirty minutes and ran twice a week in the beginning years. They later reverted to being broadcast once a week. The last season of the show in 1952 the show reverted back to a twice a week schedule. As mentioned above, Al Hodge played the role of Britt Reid for seven years. Fran Striker, a co-creator of the Lone Ranger, wrote all of the scripts for The Green Hornet until April 1944. After that, several other writers were brought in to script the show. The writing output of Fran Striker was incredible. While he was scripting The Green Hornet he was also writing the scripts for The Lone Ranger program.

Following Al Hodge, three other radio actors played Britt Reid. Donovan Faust took the role for the 1943 season. Robert Hall played the part for three years, from 1943 to 1946. Jack McCarthy finished the last years of the series from 1946 through 1952. Thus ended a tremendous 16-year radio program full of action, high-speed chases, and the overcoming of evil by the Green Hornet.[5]

The Spider (30 min)

Show Description

In October of 1933, the character of man-about-town Richard Went­worth, saw his debut as The Spider. Wentworth is aided in his crime-fighting work chiefly by the lovely Nita Van Sloan, his trusted Hindu servant Ram Singh, his butler Ronald Jackson, and the unwitting Inspector Kirkpatrick. Our new show ends with a cliff-hanger. Tune in again on Wednesday night to see if our hero can escape the clutches of the evil…

Show History

On the heels of the success of Street and Smith’s The Shadow, Popular Publications brought another black hat and black cape wearing hero to the pulps -- The Spider, Master of Men! He was the seventh pulp character to get his own magazine.

Readers met another “wealthy, young man-about-town” who in reality was crime buster, Richard Wentworth, in “The Spider Strikes,” October 1933.

Initially penned by R. T. M. Smith, The Spider’s exploits began as run-of-the-mill battles against typical racketeers and criminal masterminds.

But that changed as quickly as the author’s name on the magazine’s cover. Beginning with the third issue, December 1933, Grant Stockbridge was credited with the writing and The Spider’s adventures began to take on mythic proportions. His struggles pitted him against foes such as “The Mad Horde,” “The City Destroyer,” “Serpent of Destruction” and “The Devil’s Death Dwarfs.” And, the character of The Spider changed from simply a nickname for detective Wentworth into a shocking, caped and fanged wild man that Wentworth dressed up as.

During this time, Norvell W. Page took the reigns as head writer. He shared the Stockbridge monicker with four other writers, including Emile Tepperman.

In the adventures, Wentworth was aided chiefly by the lovely Nita Van Sloan, his trusted Sikh servant Ram Singh and his butler Ronald Jackson. And Inspector Kirkpatrick unwittingly helped out during The Spider’s 118-issue run from 1933 to 1944.[6]

The Adventures of Captain Midnight (30 min)

Show Description

Captain Midnight is the undercover name of Jim Albright, a pilot who seeks out enemy agents and various bad guys for a government agency. He is constantly trying stop the plans of the nefarious Ivan Shark and his daughter Fury, a marvel­ously evil female lead. He is helped in his exploits by his mechanic, Tools Morton, and his girl, Peggy. Our show ends with a cliff-hanger. Tune in again on Wednesday night to see if our hero can escape the clutches of the evil…

Show History

The series had its beginnings in 1938 on Chicago radio station, WGN. Created by Robert M. Burtt and Willfred G. Moore, the creators of The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen, the series was sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company.

In the beginning, “Captain Midnight” was simply an undercover name for Jim “Red” Albright, who regularly piloted cargo and passengers. As an undercover agent, Albright was trying to gather information on a gang of criminals. However, by the end of the first run, ending in a summer hiatus, the Captain Midnight persona was beginning to stick and many knew him only by that name. Captain Midnight was constantly trying to stop the plans of the evil Ivan Shark and his daughter Fury. Shark remained as Midnight’s evil nemesis throughout the length of the radio run.

Captain Midnight was helped in his efforts by Chuck Ramsey, who was a member of his Secret Squadron and Patsy Donovan (later, Joyce Ryan). In the national versions (though he appeared briefly in the Skelly shows), there was also Ichabod Mudd, Midnight’s mechanic. There were a number of different actors playing the various roles over the long run. The series grew in popularity and was broadcast over the Mutual Network beginning in 1940 sponsored by Ovaltine. Ovaltine had recently dropped its long-running sponsorship of another juvenile staple—Little Orphan Annie. That show was tired and was beginning to wane when The Wander Company, makers of Ovaltine, brought the regional Captain Midnight series to a national audience.

With the network show, there were some cast changes. The announcer for Ovaltine, Pierre Andre, came over from the Little Orphan Annie series to do Captain Midnight . Don Gordon was out. The character of Patsy Donovan became Joyce Ryan and Ichabod Mudd was added as a regular. Jack Bivans took over the role of Chuck Ramsey when Billy Rose left to join the army in 1941. Bivans left in 1944 when he turned 18 and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Johnny Coons took over the role of Chuck until Bivans returned from military service in 1946.

Captain Midnight was one of many series to offer exciting premiums (see example at the right, plus a Flight Patrol Newspaper). Young listeners could also be a part of the Secret Squadron by signing up usually via the premiums and receiving decoder badges, etc. Despite the adult sponsor, Skelly advertised by telling the kids to be sure their dads go to the gasoline stations to get the premiums and, of course, Skelly products. Ovaltine continued the premiums via their foil tops and labels. Often the premium played a big part in the series. Chuck would use his Code-o-graph to contact Washington to get the duo out of a difficult situation. As a part of the Secret Wing of the Secret Squadron, each person who received their code-o-graph was encouraged to sign the pledge within the manual. Other than Midnight who was designated SS-1, Chuck Ramsay and Joyce Ryan were the only agents of the Squadron to have numbers lower than 10: Ramsey was SS-2 and Joyce SS-3. Agent (William) Lyle Kelly, who was Captain Midnight’s contact to Major Steele was assigned SS-11 and was usually referred to “Agent SS-11, Kelly” in the series.

Eventually, the series moved from radio to film and finally to television. The films were created by Columbia Pictures and directed by James Horne, a Laurel & Hardy director. Midnight was portrayed by former stuntman Dave O’Brien. The essence of Captain Albright’s history and his relationship to Major Steele was retained, though “Captain Midnight” became more of a secret identity. Sometimes the character would be masked and other times not. Ivan Shark returned though he did not appear as evil and ruthless as the radio Shark. Chuck Ramsay was portrayed by radio actor Sam Edwards (Gunsmoke, Six Shooter, Speed Gibson). One fifteen episode serial was created wherein Shark meets a shocking death.

Many know the character from the television run starring Richard Webb. If you have an opportunity to view some of the old television shows, note the actor playing Tut, the scientist for the Secret Squadron. This is the great radio actor Olan Soule (Mr. Firstnighter, One Man’s Family, and others).[7]

Tuesday 8:00PM-10:00PM – Night of Suspense

Suspense (30 min)

Show Description

When it left the air in 1962, Suspense was the only remaining regularly scheduled drama on commercial network radio. We’re bringing it back with “Sorry, Wrong Number”, the classic tale of an invalid who overhears a call where her own murder is planned.

Show History

Considered one of the best mystery series on radio, Suspense was broadcast by CBS. The weekly anthology show ran for twenty years, from 1942 to 1962. The radio program was broadcast weekly from Hollywood. Scripts were generally of high quality and featured at least one well-known stage or film performer. The famous broadcast of 1948 entitled “Sorry Wrong Number” starred Agnes Moorehead in a thrilling tale of an invalid woman who accidentally overhears a telephone conversation in which arrangements for her own murder are being discussed. For the rest of the program, she tries frantically to telephone someone for help. A stunning concept for the aural medium, the episode was later made into a film.

One of the premier programs of the Golden Age of Radio, Suspense advertised itself as “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills” and was heard in one form or another from 1942 through 1962. There were approximately 945 episodes broadcast during its long run.

Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by its hosts, sponsors and director/producers. The show was so popular that over 900 of the original episodes are extant in high-quality recordings. Alfred Hitchcock directed the audition show — an adaptation of The Lodger, that Hitchcock had filmed in 1926 — in a 1940 program called Forecast, starring Herbert Marshall. In the early phase, the program was hosted by “The Man in Black” (played by Joseph Kearns or Ted Osborne) and many episodes written or adapted by the prominent mystery author John Dickson Carr.

The sponsor became Roma Wines and then Autolite Spark Plugs; eventually Harlow Wilcox (of Fibber McGee and Molly) became the pitchman. William Spier, William N. Robson, and Anton M. Leder were among the producers and directors. The program’s heyday was in the early 1950s, when the great radio actor, producer and director Elliott Lewis took over (still during the Wilcox/Autolite run). Here the material reached new levels of sophistication. The writing was taut, and the casting, which had always been a strong point of the series (featuring famous film stars like Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Colman, Cary Grant and many others), took an unexpected turn when Lewis expanded the repertory to include many of radio’s famous drama and comedy stars, such as Jack Benny and Jim and Marian Jordan (aka Fibber McGee and Molly). The highest production values enhanced Suspense, and many of the shows retain their power to grip, entertain and move.

The single most popular episode of Suspense is “Sorry, Wrong Number,” written by the premier radio scribe Lucille Fletcher, in which a panicked, bedridden woman (played by veteran radio actor Agnes Moorehead) tries to convince a telephone operator she has overheard a murder plot on a crossed line. First broadcast on May 25, 1943, it was repeated seven times (last on 2/14/60) and spawned the 1948 film with Barbara Stanwyck in the lead role. Another noteworthy episode was Orson Welles’ “The Hitchhiker”. But there are literally hundreds of extant episodes considered by fans to be of equal or greater quality.[8] In addition to such fine writing, the radio Suspense featured outstanding music by Bernard Herrmann and excellent production values. The program attracted a loyal following of listeners until September 1962.[9]

The Whistler (30 min)

Show Description

“I am the Whistler and I know many things, for I walk by night.” Our new stories deal with time honored themes of greed, revenge, jealousy, betrayal and murder. And, yes, the bad guy or girl never gets away with the crime. The finely-crafted plot twist at the end metes out justice.

Show History

The Whistler was one of radio’s most popular mystery dramas, as indicated by the lengthy 13-year run of the series from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. Writer-producer J. Donald Wilson established the tone of the show during its first two years, and he was followed in 1944 by producer-director George Allen. Other directors included Sterling Tracy and Sherman Marks with final scripts by Joel Malone and Harold Swanton. A total of 692 episodes were produced, yet despite the series’ fame, over 200 episodes are lost today.

At night, glowing car radios illuminated dashboards, and drivers traveled dark highways while the Whistler began his ominous narration: “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.” That opening was intoned along with the echo of footsteps and Wilbur Hatch‘s haunting theme, whistled weekly by Dorothy Roberts for 13 years. Spike Jones provided the parody: “I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I have to – I can’t sleep.”

Bill Forman had the title role of host and narrator. Others who portrayed the Whistler at various times were Gale Gordon, Joseph Kearns, Marvin Miller, Bill Johnstone and Everett Clarke. The stories followed an effective formula in which a person’s criminal acts were typically undone by their own stupidity; ironic twist endings were common. The Whistler narrated, often commenting directly upon the action in the manner of a Greek chorus, taunting the criminal from an omniscient perspective. Unlike Suspense, The Whistler never featured any major Hollywood stars. But the quality of its writing and performance made it a radio mainstay that is greatly admired to this day.[10]

The Mysteries of the Inner Sanctum (30 min)

Show Description

This horror series features probably the most famous opening in the history of radio. After the greeting, “Good Evening...” a door creaks slowly open and the listener is greeted by the host, a gruesome joke and then the introduction to the story for the evening. A strange mixture of horror and humor.

Show History

Inner Sanctum Mysteries was a popular old-time radio program that ran from January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952. Its creator was Himan Brown,[11] who later created the long-running CBS Radio Mystery Theater. It featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense told, in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler, with a broad tongue-in-cheek approach. A total of 526 episodes are known to have been produced, a great many of which are lost today.

Each show opened with a jovial greeting from the host, Raymond, played initially by Raymond Edward Johnson and then by Paul McGrath beginning in 1945. Speaking in an exaggeratedly “spooky” voice, Raymond would spout jokes and puns over a melodramatic organ score that one can easily imagine being played by a skeleton. As the series progressed, even the advertisers would get into the act, trading banter with Raymond before the story proper began.

Its campy comedy notwithstanding, the stories were often effective little chillers, mixing horror and humor in equal doses. Memorable episodes include “Terror by Night” (9/18/45) and “The Tell-Tale Heart” (8/3/41) with Boris Karloff. More than a few established stars appeared over the years, including Mary Astor, Helen Hayes, Peter Lorre, Burgess Meredith, Claude Rains and Frank Sinatra.[12]

Lights Out! (30 min)

Show Description

From it’s first show to its last, Lights Out was billed as “The ultimate in horror.” Never had such sounds been heard on the air. Heads rolled, bones were crushed, people fell from great heights and splattered wetly on pavement. Few shows had ever combined the talents of actors and imaginative writers so well with the graphic art of the sound technician. The thrills are back at network radio!

Show History

Lights Out was an American old-time radio program featuring “tales of the supernatural and the supernormal.” It was immensely popular, and was one of the first horror programs, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. In its heyday, Lights Out rivaled the popularity of those shows.

Lights Out ran through several series and networks, from January 1, 1934 to August 6, 1947. The principal sponsor was Ironized Yeast. Most episodes were broadcast at midnight. Lights Out then made the transition to television in 1949, where it was broadcast until 1952.

Lights Out was created in Chicago by Wyllis Cooper in 1934, and the first series of shows ran 15 minutes on a local station. In 1935 the show was picked up by NBC and was reformatted to the standard half-hour length. Cooper stayed on the program for a while as writer, but when another writer on the show, Arch Oboler, was promoted to director and host the series took off in popularity. (Cooper later wrote a few movies, and created Quiet, Please, another fine radio program.)

Each episode of Lights Out began with an ominously tolling bell, over which Oboler read the cryptic tagline: “It... is... later... than... you... think.” This was followed by a dour “warning” to listeners to turn off their radios if they felt their constitutions were too delicate to handle the frightening tale that was about to unfold. Naturally, the intended—and successful—effect of this was more tantalizing than off-putting. While many of the episodes may seem dated today, more retain their ability to generate chills.

Oboler’s horror tales made effective use of sound effects and atmosphere. Listeners were treated to the ghastly sounds of skulls being crushed and people being eaten. One episode, 1937‘s “Chicken Heart”, is said to have frightened listeners almost as badly as Orson Welles‘ Mercury Theater presentation of The War of the Worlds did the following year. Bill Cosby‘s 1966 album Wonderfulness relates his humorous account of staying up late against his parent’ wishes and being frightened by this episode.

A winking sense of self-referential, metafictional humor sometimes enlivened the proceedings; in “The Coffin in Studio B”, two Lights Out script typists become trapped in their building after hours as frightening, unexplained events occur.

After Lights Out’s radio run, Oboler went on to Hollywood to write and produce a number of films, including the notorious 3-D schlock-fest Bwana Devil. Prized by collectors today, extant episodes of Lights Out are nonetheless sparse: much of Oboler’s run survives, but many early episodes under Cooper’s direction are presumed lost.[13]

Wednesday 8:00PM-10:00PM – Western Night

The Return of the Lone Ranger (30 min)

Need we say more?

Gunsmoke

Matt Dillon (the U.S. Marshall, not the actor), Kitty, Doc, and Chester are back in a series of all new adventures. Where's my six shooter?

Have Gun, Will Travel

More than a hired gun, Paladin rights the wrongs in the Old West.

The New Adventures of Red Ryder

From out of the West comes America's famous fighting cowboy -- Red Ryder. This western adventure is based on the 1938 Fred Harmon comic strip. The Red Ryder entertained radio audiences for nearly a decade and surpassed other wild west heroes in popularity.

Thursday 8:00PM-10:00PM – Tough Guy Night

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (30 min)

Show Description

Raymond Chandler’s most famous “tough guy” creation steps out of the pulp novels of the 1950’s and into today’s radio. Phillip Marlowe confronts crime & criminals, where greed, treachery and bru­tality are the major driving forces behind his opponent’s actions. Watch out for those femme fatales.

Show History

“Get this and get it straight! Crime is a sucker’s road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave. There’s no other way, but they never learn.” With these curt words, Gerald Mohr opened the phenomenally successful radio program, The Adventures of Philip Marlowe.

Based loosely on a character created by Raymond Chandler, Philip Marlowe had two lives on radio. The first was a series in 1947 that starred the film actor Van Heflin. The second series had the perfectly cast Gerald Mohr as the lead.

“From the pen of Raymond Chandler, outstanding author of mystery, comes his most famous character and crime’s most deadly enemy. Listen as we present The Adventures of Philip Marlowe.” The series was produced and directed in its second life by the then young Norman MacDonnell who always would make sure of a tight script and a cast of competent actors. At the same time he was working on this show, he was also in charge of the highly regarded Escape series. Many of the actors from these series would find themselves in a few years working with Norman on his Gunsmoke shows. (Which was also a sustaining show during its first two seasons)

Gerald Mohr was perfect as the tough PI working in and around LA and Hollywood for $50.00 a day. He worked alone but would let us tag along with him on all his cases. He would also keep up a running description of the things that were happening to him while he tooled around town trying to break the case. With no side kicks (Margo Lanes, Harringtons or Mike Axfords) to get in the way, we get to take their place. At the end of the show we light up a cigarette with him as he tells us where the bad guys made their mistakes and how he closed the case.

Marlowe’s character is typical of a genre of hardboiled crime fiction that originated with Dashiell Hammett and Black Mask magazine in the 1920s where the private eye is a pessimistic and cynical observer of a corrupt society. Yet the enduring appeal of Marlowe and other “hard-boiled dicks” like Hammett’s Sam Spade lies in their tarnished idealism.

Underneath the wisecracking, hard-drinking, tough private eye, Marlowe is quietly contemplative, chess-playing, and philosophical. While he is not afraid to risk physical harm, he does not dish out violence merely to settle scores. Morally upright, he is not bamboozled by the genre’s usual femme fatales, like Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep. As Chandler wrote about his detective ideal in general, “He might seduce a countess; he would not despoil a virgin.”

Marlowe has been played on the screen by Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Elliot Gould, Danny Glover, and James Caan. On radio, in The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the character was portrayed by Van Heflin on NBC (June 17-September 9, 1947) and by Gerald Mohr on CBS (September 26, 1948-September 15, 1951).

Marlowe has proved such a complex and attractive character that he has appeared in short stories and novels by writers other than Chandler, such as Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe: A Centennial Celebration (1988).[14]

The Falcon (30 min)

Show Description

Michael Waring is The Falcon, a detective with a penchant for getting set up for crimes he doesn’t commit. The series moves smoothly from one week to the next week as new dilemmas are intro­duced at the end of one episode for solving the following week. 

Show History

The Falcon was a radio series based on a number of popular motion pictures from the early 1940’s. It premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years. It was here that his transition into a private eye was finalized, with The Falcon, originally called Guy Lawrence, but now called Michael Waring working as a hardboiled insurance investigator, with an office and a secretary, Nancy. It was on different networks with different days and time slots, but always a 30 minute show. Barry Kroeger was the first radio voice of The Falcon, followed by James Meighan, Les Tremayne, George Petrie, and Les Damon. Nearly all the shows were broadcast from New York.

Each show usually started out with a telephone call to The Falcon from a beautiful woman. Answering in his slightly British accent, he would reply to her and another adventure would follow. Waring was snappy and sarcastic with the incompetent police who were inevitably unable to solve the mysteries without his help. Like the films, the radio plots mixed danger, romance and comedy in equal parts. A total of about 70 shows, representing the length of the run, are available today.

It was this version of The Falcon that was made into another short series of films, three in all, with John Calvert as Waring, produced by Film Classics. And it was this film version of The Falcon that was adapted, in the mid-fifties, for a brief syndicated television series, starring Charles McGraw now as a slightly more hardboiled, and less dashing Falcon. but again, his occupation had changed. He was now a “famous undercover agent” who “operates around the world on his hazardous missions,” as the promos put it.[15]

The New Adventures of Sam Spade (30 min)

Show Description

Sam Spade is Dashiell Hammet’s most famous creation. Set in the 1940’s before computers and the Internet, Sam’s colorful PI character solves crimes, keeping one step ahead of the bad guys. Assorted guest stars will make this re-creation of the classic mystery drama a hit.

Show History

In the 1940’s, Sam Spade was a staple of the airwaves, thanks to The Adventures of Sam Spade, a popular radio show, featuring Howard Duff in the lead role, and sponsored by Wildroot Hair Oil. In fact, a series of single-page comic strip/hair tonic ads appeared in magazines, newspapers and comic books, featuring Spade shilling for Wildroot Hair Oil. (The ads were drawn by Golden Age artist Lou Fine, who later went on to do the Peter Scratch comic strip.)

In fact, the only real sequel to The Maltese Falcon was not produced for either prose or film, though, but for radio. Both The Adventures of Sam Spade and the great mystery anthology show Suspense were both produced by the same man, William Spier. During the first year or two that Sam Spade was on the air, Suspense was an hour show, hosted by Robert Montgomery. To get fans of Suspense listening to Sam Spade, Speir produced a special one-hour Spade episode called “The Khandi Tooth Caper” and aired it on Suspense.

The episode is a direct sequel to The Maltese Falcon, with Spade once again meeting Gutman, Cairo, and another “gunsel.” It explains what happened to the real Falcon, alludes to Brigid O’Shaugnessy’s fate, and sets Spade and the bad guys at odds as they again contend in the search for another quest object, the fabled Khandi Tooth. As an inside joke, host Montgomery, who played Philip Marlowe in the screen version of The Lady in the Lake made a cameo appearance as Marlowe in the episode. Later, the episode was presented as a two-parter on Sam Spade’s own series.[16]

The New Night Beat (30 min)

Show Description

Randy Stone is a reporter for the Chicago Star. He works the night shift, looking for human interest stories and the people who suffer through life’s hard knocks. There are tales of trouble, tender­ness, crime and races against time, updated for the 21st century.

Show History

Nightbeat was an radio drama series that aired from on NBC from February 6, 1950 to April, 1952. Frank Lovejoy starred as Randy Stone, a reporter who covered the “nightbeat” in Chicago for the Chicago Star, encountering criminals and troubled souls. Listeners were invited to join Randy Stone as he “searches through the city for the strange stories waiting for him in the darkness.” Sometimes the capers are cops and robbers. Or just normal people in trouble. Sometimes they deserve it. Sometimes fate twists their arm. Sometimes they’re just too scared or confused to know the difference.

Randy Stone’s heart is in the right place, and sometimes he can make a difference. Sometimes it’s just too late. And too bad. But he tells the story. That’s life on the Nightbeat. As he finishes setting it down in words, Randy yells out, “Copy boy!” and the story rolls to print, and the newspaper hits the street as the sun come up.

Orchestra and sound effects are excellent. Frank Lovejoy is a seasoned pro of radio and film with an honest, gripping delivery. Solid supporting casts maintain the intensity of the noir theme. Good writing and direction keep the show moving, allowing the listener to witness another story from the Nightbeat.[17]

Friday 8:00PM-10:00PM – Adventure Night

Ludington’s Ride (30 min)

Show Description

Based on the upcoming motion picture and series of young readers novels, our series follows the exploits of Sybil Ludington, a 16-year-old patriot during the American Revolutionary War. Nancy Drew meets The Wild, Wild West—on the radio! A teen hero, and female!

Proposed Show Story Threads

This Ludington's Ride series has never been broadcast. Sybil Ludington is the spirited 16-year-old daugh­ter of Colonel Henry Ludington, the commander of the Seventh Regiment of Militia for Dutchess County, New York. Caught up in the turmoil of the American Revo­lution, Sybil’s actions and choices are shaped by historic events outside her control.

British General William Tryon orders the burning of Danbury and there is no one to muster the 400 troops under Col. Ludington’s command. Alone at night in a driving rain storm and riding her trusty steed Star, Sybil braves 40 miles of treacherous lonely backwoods roads, pursued by a half dozen marauders out to stop her at any cost.

All of this takes place against the backdrop of a girl maturing into young womanhood. Sybil is drawn by the magnetism of two young men. One represents for­bid­den fruit, for he is the son of the great Chief Nimham, head of the Nochpeem Nation and ally to General Washington. The other is her heroic rescuer, Edmond Ogden. 

Sybil is trained to defend herself by the dashing David Nimham. And she learns to play a dangerous game of cat and mouse, deceiving the British with a series of signals designed to alert Enoch Crosby, a spy working for Col. Ludington and General Washington.

For her 16th birthday, Sybil is given a remarkable birthday present: Star, the horse that she will need when circumstances require her to ride through the backwoods of New York to summon her father’s troops to battle.

Pursued during her ride by six very menacing bad guys out to stop her at any cost, she must elude her pursuers and complete her task before dawn. Her route takes her through a local grave yard and other unpleasant places. And just when her task seems complete, she must confront the leader of her pursuers in an exciting confrontation at her father’s mill at the end of her ride.

Exciting, gripping, and very politically incorrect with its message of patriotism, youthful responsibility and respect, Ludington’s Ride is based on a true story. Ludington’s Ride is a historical radio series for today’s audience with action, adventure, romance and danger mixed with commitment and loyalty to family and country.

For additional story threads, see “Sample Story Lines“, below.

X-Minus One (30 min)

Show Description

Science fiction anthology of the 1950’s at its best, recast for the 21st century. In our pilot episode (“A Logic Named Joe”), robots are full of information, and can tell you anything you need to know¾like, how to kill your spouse without any worry of being caught. But a crime spree hits that can’t be stopped.

Show History

X Minus One was a half-hour radio program broadcast in America from April 1955 to January 1958 on NBC.

A revival of Dimension X, X Minus One is widely considered among the finest radio dramas ever produced. The first fifteen episodes were new versions of Dimension X episodes, but the remainder were adaptations of newly published science fiction stories by respected writers such as Frederik Pohl, Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, with a few original scripts.

Among the best episodes are Pohl’s “Tunnel Under The World”, J.T. McIntosh‘s “Hallucination Orbit”, and Fritz Leiber‘s “A Pail of Air.”

The X Minus One series was cancelled in 1958, but the early 1970’s brought a wave of nostalgia for old-time radio. NBC tried broadcasting the old recordings, but their irregular once-monthly scheduling kept even devoted listeners from following broadcasts.[18]

The Rocketeer (30 min)

Show Description

This comic book hero never graced the radio waves of the 30’s or 40’s. Set in the 30’s, young pilot Cliff Secord stumbles on a top secret rocket-pack and with the help of Peevee, his mechanic and mentor, he attempts to save his girl, always in peril, and stop the bad guys as The Rocketeer. And famed aviator Howard Hughes makes regular appearances, too.

Show History

It all began with Dave Stevens’ illustrated novel, in serial chapters, about the adventures of Cliff Secord — ace pilot, dreamer, and daring Rocketeer!

The Rocketeer publishing history is spread out over several years with fans waiting and waiting and waiting for each installment. It was published by several companies which leads to some confusion in collecting by installment numbers. Pacific Comics (PC), Eclipse, and Dark Horse (DH) all published various installments. PCs numbers were reprinted in an Eclipse compilation both in hardcover and softcover editions. This is all that was available at the time the film went into production.

The film’s writers brainstormed the film’s spectacular ending. It’s worth tracking down the paperback novel based on the screenplay to catch a couple scenes deleted from the screenplay.

Stevens subsequently developed his own story line and ending which was published in three DH “Rocketeer Adventure Magazine“ issues which they subsequently complied in the single “The Rocketeer: Cliff’s New York Adventure“ (1996). At that point, Stevens had planned to let others develope and illustrate further Rocketeer stories. The plan went nowhere. There have been no new installments since the NYA concluded in 1995.

Dave Stevens readily acknowledges his Rocketeer character was inspired by a late 1940s, early 1950s matinee serial adventure hero — Rocketman. It should be noted that a “King of the Rocketmen” graphic novel was printed subsequent to the Disney film.

The Invisible Man (30 min)

Show Description

The Invisible Man! On the radio?! Well, this is the theater of the mind! And what better challenge to the imagination than to use “hollow” sound effects when our hero goes unseen? Alex Cordell solves problems, big and small. But his “gift” has its own twist: he can’t control when he’ll reappear.

Show History

This series has no broadcast history, as it is an original creation of Chicago Radio Theater. The concept, of course, is based on the novel by H. G. Wells. But everything else is new.

Saturday 8:00PM-10:00PM – Who Done It? Night

Perry Mason (60 min)

Show Description

Perry Mason is generally regarded as the greatest fictional attorney of all time. And owing to his stature, Perry Mason will be the first one-hour drama in the Chicago Radio Theater line up.

Our favorites are back. Della Street, Mason’s confidential and gorgeous secretary is back. And so is Paul Drake, dashing and thorough head of the famed Drake Detective Agency. And our favorite loser, District Attorney Hamilton Burger, never quite seems to beat Perry at his own game. But he’ll come very close as plot twist after plot twist keeps our listeners on the edge of their seats. And don’t forget Lt. Tragg, the crusty veteran police detective who always shows up at the wrong time to arrest Perry’s hapless client.

And yes, that stirring theme song by Fred Steiner is performed live every Saturday night by our theater orchestra. It’s goose bump time!

Show History

The general plot involves Perry Mason unmasking the actual murderer in a final dramatic courtroom showdown. As such it is a highly unrealistic portrayal of the criminal justice system, and some of the structure of the radio television show was dictated by the motion picture and television codes of the 1950s which required an ending in which justice was served and in which the police and judicial institutions were not questioned.

Each Perry Mason episode is a carefully structured detective puzzle that both establishes and perpetuates a number of conventions associated with most television detective series. Perry Mason uses the legal profession and the trial situation as a forum for detective work. Although strictly formulaic, each episode is guided by the elements of the variations that distinguish one episode from another. For example, since nearly every episode began with the guest characters rather than with the series regulars, these guest characters set the tone for the rest of the episode. If it is going to be youth oriented, these characters are young. If it is going to be a contested will, the heirs are introduced.

Perry Mason's title song, “Park Avenue Beat” by Fred Steiner, is one of television’s most recognizable themes.[19]

Nearly everyone is familiar with the Perry Mason in the hard-hitting novels of Earl Stanley Gardner and his ten year run on CBS television starring Raymond Burr. But radio’s Perry Mason was very different. This 15-minute show was on the air five times a week on CBS at 2:15 pm, sandwiched between The Second Mrs. Burton and Lone Journey and it was sponsored by “new Tide, the amazing washday miracle.” In other words, it was a soap opera!

Like most soap operas, Perry Mason ran a very long time, from October 1943 to December 1955. Many actors played Mason over the years, including Barlett Robinson, Santos Ortega, Donald Biggs, and John Larkin. His secretary, Della Street, was the voice of Gertrude Warner, and later, Jan Miner and Joan Alexander. It was not written by Gardner (although he got royalties for every show) so various other script writers handled this task, including Ruth Borden and Irving Vendig. The organist was William Meeder.

Perry wasn’t in the courtroom a great deal as he was usually knocking down doors with Lt. Tragg and arresting bad guys. But since this was a soap opera, there was little time wasted on male action. In a typical episode, Mason and Tragg are trying to capture killer Bill Barker and, as they knock on his door, the announcer breaks in with: “But let’s join Lt. Tragg’s wife, Harriet, as she says to her neighbor, Martha....” The next twelve minutes have Harriet and Martha discuss whether Martha should remarry after the WW II death of her husband. And we get back to Mason and Tragg only for the lead-in to the closing Tide commercial.

For those few who love detectives in a soap opera, over 320 episodes of Perry Mason have survived.

Some notable trivia: in 1956 Gardner spliced off the melodramatic drama from the detective show, and brought the cast, crew and format to television in as the soap opera, The Edge of Night, one of television’s longest-running soaps. And a year later, Perry Mason made its television debut.[20]

The Ellery Queen Mysteries (60 min)

Show Description

If Perry Mason is the greatest fictional attorney of American literature, Ellery Queen is arguably the greatest fictional detective of American lit­erary creation.

Each Ellery Queen episode begins with a opening sound montage, in which the announcer says something like, “This famous song-writer is about to be murdered. Who is guilty? Is it...” Each suspect is profiled in a brief sound bite, speak­ing a short phrase (some­times deliberately skewed to sound off-beat and humor­ous), then: “Or is it… someone else? Match wits with Ellery Queen and see if you can guess… who done it!”

Adding to the authentic feel of the radio series is the “challenge to the listener” in which Queen turns to the in-theater audience and then invites them to add up the clues and name the guilty party. These are based on the “Challenge to the Reader” sections in the various Ellery Queen novels.

Show History

For nine years The Adventures of Ellery Queen was a weekly favorite on the radio; and in 1950 TV Guide gave the Ellery Queen program its national award for the best mystery show on TV. Ellery Queen has won five annual Edgars (the national Mystery Writers of America Awards, similar to Hollywood’s Oscars), including the Grand Master award in 1960, and both the silver and gold Gertrudes awarded by Pocket Books, Inc.[21]

Ellery Queen was one of two brainchildren of the team of cousins, Fred Dannay and Manfred B. Lee. Dannay and Lee entered a writing contest, envisioning a stuffed-shirt author called Ellery Queen who solved mysteries and then wrote about them. Queen relied on his keen powers of observation and deduction, being a Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson rolled into one. But just as Holmes needed his Watson—character with whom the average reader could identify—the character Ellery Queen had his father, Inspector Richard Queen, who not only served in that function but also gave Ellery the access he needed to poke his nose into police business.

Dannay and Lee chose the pseudonym of Ellery Queen as their (first) writing moniker, for it was only natural—since the character Ellery was writing mysteries—that their mysteries should be the ones that Ellery Queen wrote. They placed first in the contest, and their first novel was accepted and published by Frederick Stokes. Stokes would go on to release over a dozen “Ellery Queen” publications.

At the beginning, “Ellery Queen” the author was marketed as a secret identity. Ellery Queen (actually one of the cousins, usually Dannay) would appear in public masked, as though he were protecting his identity. The buying public ate it up, and so the cousins did it again. By 1932 they had created “Barnaby Ross,” whose existence had been foreshadowed by two comments in Queen novels. Barnaby Ross composed four novels about aging actor Drury Lane. After it was revealed that “Barnaby Ross is really Ellery Queen,” the novels were reissued bearing the Queen name. Even after the cousins’ identities were disclosed, their novels continued to be published under their now-famous pseudonym.[22]

In a rare development, the character of Ellery Queen was adapted to radio by its creators. Dannay and Lee, as former advertising writers, knew the promotional power of radio. The authors brought to the new medium the “challenge to the reader” from their earlier books. This said, in essence, “You now have all the clues; can you solve the crime?” On radio, this took the form of the fictional Ellery stopping the action and delivering the challenge in person to the listener at home and, in some incarnations, to a celebrity sleuth there in the studio. The Ellery Queen radio show ran in one form or another on CBS, NBC, and ABC. Scripts were by Dannay and Lee, and later by Lee assisted by others, most notably Anthony Boucher. Ellery was played by Hugh Marlowe (who would later take the role on television, as well), Larry Dobkin, Carleton Young, and Sidney Smith. Marion Shockley was the first actress to portray Nikki Porter, Ellery’s secretary and low-key love interest. This character appeared in films, short stories, and novels, but was created for radio.[23]

Sunday 8:00PM-10:00PM – Comedy/Music Night

The All New Jack Benny Show (30 min)

Show Description

Jack Benny comes to life again in this recreation of an old favorite by a Benny impersonator. The gang is recreated, too, with actors portraying Mary Livingstone, Rochester, Dennis Day, Phil Harris and Don Wilson. The feeling is nostalgic, the setting is today. Fully scripted, like the shows of yesterday.

Show History

Jack Benny was among the most beloved American entertainers of the 20th century. He brought a relationship-oriented, humorously vain persona honed in vaudeville to radio in the 1930s, and to television in 1950, and continued starring in his own television series from that year until 1965. Benny’s radio program spent most of its run on NBC. In 1948, the entertainer, who had just signed a deal with the Music Corporation of American (MCA) that allowed him to form a company to produce the program and thereby make more money on it, was lured to CBS, where he stayed through the remainder of his radio career and most of his television years.

The format of The Jack Benny Show was flexible. Although each week’s episode usually had a theme or starting premise, the actual playing out of that premise often devolved into a loose collection of skits.

Benny played a fictional version of himself, Jack Benny the television star, and the program often revolved around preparation for the next week’s show--involving interactions between Benny and a regular stable of characters that included the program’s announcer, Don Wilson, and its resident crooner, Dennis Day. Until her retirement in 1958, Benny’s wife, Mary Livingstone, portrayed what her husband termed in his memoirs “a kind of heckler-secretary,” a wise-cracking friend of the family and the television program.

The main point of these interactions was to show off Benny’s onscreen character. The Jack Benny with whom viewers were familiar was a cheap, vain, insecure, untalented braggart who would never willingly enter his fifth decade. Despite his conceit and braggadocio, however, Jack Benny’s video persona was uniquely endearing and even in many ways admirable. He possessed a vulnerability and a flexibility few male fictional characters have achieved.

His myriad shortcomings were mercilessly exposed every week by his supporting cast, yet those characters always forgave him. They knew that “Jack” was never violent and never intentionally cruel--and that he wanted nothing (not even money) so much as love. The interaction between this protagonist and his fellow cast members turned The Jack Benny Show into a forum for human absurdity and human affection.

“Human” is a key word, for the Benny persona defied sub-categorization. Benny had shed his Jewish identity along with his Jewish name on his way from vaudeville to radio. The character he and his writers sustained on the airwaves for four decades had no ethnicity or religion.

He had no strongly defined sexuality either, despite his boasts about mythical romantic success with glamorous female movie stars and his occasional brief dates with working-class women. In minimizing his ethnicity and sexuality, the Benny character managed to transcend those categories rather than deny them. Beneath his quickly lifted arrogant facade lurked an American Everyman.

The Jack Benny Show further crossed boundaries by being the only program for decades that consistently portrayed Americans of mixed races living and working side by side. Jack Benny’s ever-present butler/valet/nanny, Rochester (portrayed by Eddie Anderson), had first appeared on The Jack Benny Show as a Pullman porter but had pleased audiences so universally that he moved into Benny’s fictional household. Unlike the popular African-American radio characters Amos and Andy, Rochester was portrayed by a black actor, Eddie Anderson, rather than a white actor in blackface.[24]

Stand Up Tonight (30 min)

Show Description

Four stand up comics are introduced each week, with an intro monologue by our host. The emphasis is on clean comedy, but we’re not afraid to skewer politicians and popular figures of our day.

Show History

This program is new and does not have a broadcast history.

Talent America: the Radio Search (60 min)

Show Description

Like a radio version of American Idol, but without the flashy hype. Good people. Clean fun. Serious music. And all of it new. Only registered listeners can vote to choose the winners of the Best Male and Best Female Vocalist of the week.

Weekly winners move on to the last Sunday of the month, where they can perform a new number. The winners of the last Sunday day show move on to the finals. The prize for the winner is a recording contract.

Show History

This program is new and does not have a broadcast history.

Programs Under Consideration for Development

Space Patrol

Show Description

Space Patrol! High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice! Travel into the future with Buzz Corry, Commander-in-Chief of the… Space Patrol!

Show History

Space Patrol debuted on March 9, 1950 as a fifteen minute television show on KECA-TV in Los Angeles, a little over 6 months before the Tom Corbett series began. The first half hour Saturday show began on December 30, 1950 and lasted until February 26, 1955. The fifteen minute shows were kinescoped for broadcast outside of the Los Angles area within a week or two of the California broadcast. In June of 1952, the Saturday shows were broadcast live from coast to coast and the daily 15 minute shows continued to be broadcast on the West Coast for at least three years after the coast to coast syndication had ended.

The show's creator, Mike Moser, was a Navy veteran of World War II who had trained hurricane-hunter squadrons. In a 1952 Time article, Mr. Moser said the show was inspired while he was flying over the Pacific and thinking about the universe. He wanted kids to grow up with the same sense of wonder for the future he had experienced during his childhood with Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.

The show was also broadcast twice a week on the radio during the run of the TV show, resulting in a hectic schedule for its crew. A week of Space Patrol involved 5 local 15-minute TV shows, 2 radio shows, and the half hour Saturday network show. An estimated total of 210 Saturday half-hour shows, 200 radio programs and at least 900 fifteen minute TV shows were broadcast during the run of the show. The shows ran consecutively from March 9, 1950 till July 2, 1954.

In addition to the TV & Radio shows, Space Patrol appeared in a short two issue comic book run by Ziff Davis (Summer 1952 & November 1952). The stories were scripted by Phil Evans with both covers drawn by Norman Saunders with some of the interior artwork done by Bernie Krigstein. Norman Saunders artwork for Ziff Davis had a great sense of wonder reminiscent of the great pulp SF covers of the 30’s,40’s and 50’s.

Gunsmoke

Show Description

One of old time radio’s most famous and endearing radio programs, Gunsmoke ran in reruns through as late as 2003 on the CBS flagship station in Los Angeles, KNX. We’re bringing it back with a new cast, but an old sound.

Show History

Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, Kansas, between 1872, when the Santa Fe Railroad reached town, and 1885, when local farmers forced the end of the Texas cattle drives along the Western Trail. Dodge City, known as the “Queen of the Cow Towns,” the “Wicked Little City,” the “Gomorrah of the Plains,” had a reputation as a hostile, lawless town where the “fastest gun” ruled. As the opening of the show proclaimed: “Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there’s just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers and that’s with a U.S. Marshal and the smell of gun smoke.” That marshall, Matt Dillon, was modeled after the real lawmen who “tamed” (or at least kept a lid on) Dodge City: US Deputy Marshall Wyatt Earp (1848-1929), Sheriff Bat Masterson (1856-1921), Sheriff Bill Tilghman (1854-1924), and Sheriff Charlie Bassett.

Gunsmoke was on radio for nine seasons, from 1952 to 1961. Six of those seasons coincided with the television series. There were 413 radio stories, broadcast 480 times.[25]

Foot step sound effects were superbly done on radio’s Gunsmoke . So well were they planned, that the same number of footsteps were used every time Dillon walked from the front of his office to the jail in back. The same was true for the trip from Dillon’s desk to the stove, but the number of steps used from the jail to the Long Branch were sometimes varied according to whether the show was on schedule or running late![26]

Sample Story Lines

Ludington’s Ride

The Ludington’s Ride series continues as our franchise departs from the historical adventure of Ludington’s Ride and becomes an action adventure where Nancy Drew meets The Wild, Wild West.

Sybil and Enoch, with the help of their new friend Morton Quincy Franklin, a nerdy inventor who lives in an amazing tree house, work with David to discover the whereabouts of a shipment of Tory gold.

Enoch discovers that a British captain, about to switch sides, has smuggled a cryptic message that describes the hiding place of a cache of Tory gold.

While Prosser and his gang of Skinners arrange the transportation of the hidden gold, Sybil works to decode the message.

Using some feminine logic that goes way over the heads of her male companions, Sybil solves the mystery of the cipher. But it’s not good news: the gold has been concealed in a gravesite at the local cemetery.

David, Enoch, Quincy and Sybil decide to create a diversionary tactic, with Sybil taking another daring ride as she leads the British troops under the command of Major Winslow into a trap to be sprung by Chief Nimham’s warriors. During the skirmish, Quincy demonstrates the viability of his inventions, including camouflage and hand grenades.

Later, in a reprise visit to the Hill Cemetery, Sybil literally stumbles across the location of the Tory gold. Or has she?

The final script in the second tier of our Ludington’s Ride franchise ends in a spectacular cliff-hanger, with Sybil tied to a log in her father’s sawmill by Ichabod Prosser and Vixen, a new female villain, who is Prosser’s sister.

Will Sybil escape from certain death at the hands of Prosser and Vixen? Our audience will have to wait to find out, because the third tier of Ludington’s Ride 3 has the answer.

The third tier in our Ludington’s Ride franchise, Sybil escapes from the sawmill and is subsequently inducted into the Nochpeem tribe as an honorary warrior.

Afterwards, Enoch, Sybil, Edmond, and David learn that the Tory gold is fake and that Major Winslow is behind a plot to destroy the fledgling American economy with counterfeit currency. We find that the counterfeits are being printed by Prosser and Vixen.

We are introduced to some new spy toys invented by Quincy, including a glow-in-the-dark compass and an amusing but deadly horse-drawn carriage with a few tricks hidden inside.

Enoch presents Col. Ludington with a plan to infiltrate a card game at a public inn frequented by Major Winslow. Colonel Ludington reluctantly agrees to the plan. He invites Enoch to visit Mordecai, an amusing Jewish apothecary who is on the side of the Colonials. Mordecai provides Enoch with some sleeping potion that they can use on some unsuspecting Tory guards.

Meanwhile, Edmond and David discover the hidden meeting place of Prosser and his gang of cutthroats. They are captured and trussed up together in a desolate cabin, facing certain death. An amusing dialog between Edmond and David concerning Edmond’s love for Sybil ensues, and the two rivals find that they must work together to escape so they can disclose the whereabouts of the real Tory gold.

After Enoch and David escape to warn the Colonials of Winslow’s plan to move the real gold, Enoch orders Sybil to take the carriage back home. Disappointed, she reluctantly but loyally follows her orders, just like one of her father’s soldiers.

On her way home, she crosses paths with a hearse filled with the real Tory gold. A wild chase ensues, and Sybil uses all the deadly weapons hidden inside the spy carriage.

Finally, Sybil defeats Vixen in a spectacular girl fight at the end of our third film in the franchise.

Will there by a fourth tier in our Ludington’s Ride series? Well, if so, Sybil confronts the deadly mystery of the Tory Ghost Riders, a ghastly gang of other-worldly figures that come out during the full moon to bring terror to people in the countryside. Is the Devil’s work to blame, or is it just part of Prosser’s plan to exact some deadly, but profitable revenge?

Suspense

“The Five W’s of Murder” is five plays in one. The keeper of a newspaper morgue shares stories of murder. The five stories illustrate the newspaper reporter’s five “W’s” of a good story: who, what, when, where, and why, with the morgue keeper linking the mini-dramas with appropriate comments.

      Who is answered by our first vignette. “Killed by Kindness” tells who is capable of murder. Leroy, a mugger, stalks an elderly woman, Lavinia, timing an ‘accident’ to get to know her so he can kill her and rob her house.

         What drives a person to kill is answered in the vignette, “Natural Fury.” John’s wife, Marilyn, has been having an affair with Louis Barton and has helped Barton to ruin John financially.

         When is answered by “The Shaft,” a tale that goes back to the old west to illustrate when murder was at its worst and life was cheap. Roy and Luke, two dishonest miners, have developed a plan to swindle their employer out of his gold, stopping at nothing to make their dreams come true.

         Where is answered by “Retribution,” which shows where murder can happen anywhere, at any time, by any methods. In a foreign land, Tatiania and her mother plot revenge when Tatiania’s beloved husband is framed for thievery and allowed to die a shamed man.

         Why is answered by the final story, “Death’s Last Dance,” which tells why Charles Ridgeway, a mild mannered man, would murder his beloved wife, Ethel, and asks a few extra “Why’s” as well.[27]