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Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve was a popular character appearing regularly on The Fibber McGee & Molly Show. On August 31, 1941, the character landed his own situation comedy show, The Great Gildersleeve, becoming radio's first spin-off. Gildy moved from the town of Wistful Vista to Summerfield, where he raised his orphaned niece and nephew, Marjorie (originally played by Lurene Tuttle and followed by Louise Erickson and Mary Lee Robb) and Leroy (Walter...
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The Stan Freberg Show ran on CBS radio for only fifteen episodes in 1957. It starred comedian Stan Freberg and featured his stock company of performers: Daws Butler, June Foray, and Peter Leeds. It also featured singing star Peggy Taylor, the vocal stylings of The Jud Conlon Rythmnaires, and the musical direction of Billy May. Despite its short run, the show developed running gags and stock jokes that are still remembered today, including Freberg's...
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Boston Blackie-the amateur detective who was the enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend!
Created by author Jack Boyle, Boston Blackie was a reformed jewel thief and safecracker, constantly suspected of crimes he did not commit and forced to play the role of detective to clear his name. His girlfriend, Mary Wesley, assisted Blackie from time to time, as did his pal Shorty. Forced to defend himself against the accusations...
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The Lux Radio Theatre was one of the most prestigious and longest-running shows from radio's Golden Age. It featured the greatest stars in Hollywood appearing in hour-long radio adaptations of their biggest motion pictures. Cecil B. DeMille was the host (from 1936-1945) for a lavish production of what was to become a veritable checklist of many of Hollywood's best films from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s. The stars of the movie usually appeared...
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Fibber McGee & Molly had a long and successful run on radio (1935-1959). The program showcased terrific comic and musical talent, headlined by its creators and stars, married couple Jim and Marian Jordan. Living in the fictional Midwestern town of Wistful Vista, Fibber was an American teller of tall tales and a braggart, usually to the exasperation of his long-suffering wife Molly. Life in Wistful Vista followed a well-developed formula but was always...
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"Around Dodge City and in the territory out West, there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers and that's with a US Marshal and the smell of ... GUNSMOKE!"
Radio westerns were aimed at kids until 1952 when Gunsmoke hit the radio airwaves. Produced for adult listeners, the stories were grim, the deaths brutal, and life on the plains was harsh. Radio audiences had never heard anything like Gunsmoke, and they made it the #1 Western on...
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Detective series Let George Do It came to radio in 1946. It starred Bob Bailey as ex-G.I. and detective-for-hire George Valentine. Clients came to Valentine's office after reading a newspaper carrying his classified ad: Personal notice: Danger's my stock in trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me. George Valentine. Valentine's secretary was Claire Brooks, a.k.a. Brooksie (played by Frances Robinson, Virginia Gregg,...
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A hilarious collection of episodes from the beloved radio show The Great Gildersleeve Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve was a popular character, appearing each week on the Fibber McGee & Molly radio show. On August 31, 1941, Gildersleeve landed his own situation comedy show, The Great Gildersleeve, which was radio's first spin-off. Gildersleeve moved from the town of Wistful Vista to Summerfield, where he oversaw his late brother-in-law's estate and took...
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The golden age of radio had incredible mystery shows that kept Americans glued to their radio sets. Families gathered around their living room radios to hear their favorite Hollywood stars in spine-chilling radio mystery and horror. In this collection of sixteen episodes, you'll hear episodes of Suspense starring Rita Hayworth, Joseph Cotten, Hume Cronyn, Lili Palmer, and Mark Stevens; Escape starring William Conrad and Paul Frees; three episodes...
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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...
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The Golden Age of radio featured many of the greatest comedy teams of all time, and this collection features the best of the best!
This seventeen-episode collection features duos including Abbott and Costello, the Bickersons, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Fibber McGee and Molly, Baby Snooks and Daddy, Lum and Abner, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and Phil Harris and Alice Faye. You'll laugh till your sides ache at these great comedy duos!
The...
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The golden age of radio had incredible detective shows that kept Americans glued to their sets. Families gathered around their living room radios to hear their favorite Hollywood stars voicing fiction's most famous gumshoes. This collection includes Dick Powell as suave detective Richard Diamond, Vincent Price as the Saint, Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday on Dragnet, Richard Kollmar as "enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have...
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Created by S. S. Van Dine, Philo Vance was quite popular in books, movies, and on radio. He was portrayed as a stylish, very intelligent, and cultured private detective-an Americanized Sherlock Holmes-working out of New York. In the movies, William Powell, Warren William, Paul Lukas, and Basil Rathbone starred as Vance. On radio, he was voiced by José Ferrer, John Emery, and Jackson Beck. Not that Vance needed any help solving a crime, he did work...
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Convinced they could build on the success of the already released motion-picture series, MGM Studios hired Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore to reprise their screen roles as Dr. James Kildare and Dr. Leonard Gillespie in a syndicated radio series. Kildare was the compassionate, caring physician at Blair General Hospital, New York City; Gillespie a crusty, lovable diagnostician. Kildare reminded listeners each week in the opening signature: "Whatsoever...
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I am the Whistler and I know many things, for I walk by night...many strange tales hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak!
The Whistler was one of radio's top mystery programs, airing from May 16, 1942, until September 22, 1955. Airing on CBS radio and sponsored by the Signal Oil Company, the Whistler (played by Joseph Kearns, Gale Gordon, and Bill Forman)...
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Information Please was a quiz show that aired on NBC radio from 1938 until 1951. Moderated by Clifton Fadiman, the show featured a panel of experts who would attempt to answer questions mailed in by audience members. Listeners were paid two dollars if the question was used and five dollars more if the experts could not answer the question correctly (when the show landed Canada Dry as a sponsor, the amounts were increased to five dollars and ten dollars,...