Old Time Radio Blog

Fibber McGee & Molly was a long-running situation comedy / variety show. One of my favorite things about this series is the cast of loony characters that somehow end up in almost every episode. This one also features a war time message about conservation and buying war bonds. In fact, Fibber McGee & Molly both did a HUGE amount to promote the sale of war bonds and the war effort in general. Class acts all the way.

You Bet Your Life was a quiz show in the late 1940's and early 1950's, starting on radio and then moving to TV over time. Although the show was billed as a quiz show, it was really just a vehicle for Groucho to ad lib with the contestants based on their answers to his ice breaker questions. By the way, you might recognize the theme song as "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" from the Marx Brothers stage show and movie "Animal Crackers."

This show, starring James Stewart as Britt Ponsit, only ran for one season and featured a totally different approach to the western yarn. Supposedly a gunman, Britt almost never actually draws his gun. Instead, he lets his reputation do most of the talking and uses his brains in every other case. James Stewart plays the part with a great deal of humor and tries to bring realism to the role, without going overboard.

If there's one thing I love on a Halloween, it's a clever sci-fi episode. And that's exactly what this is. Lulu is a machine that was made to control a rocket on its intergalactic trips. Somewhere along the way, "she" falls in love with "her" human crew. And when they seem to shun "her," "she" makes a new robot to love "her."

A long-running "adult western," Gunsmoke is routinely considered to be one of the best shows that ever aired.

This episode of Jack Benny's show features quite a few surprises. If you listen closely, you'll hear some news about progress in WW-II. You'll also hear Mel Blanc. And Fred Allen shows up to help Jack carry on the long-running feud they pretended to have. There's even a visit to Allen's Alley, more or less, from Fred Allen's show. Speaking of their feud, I've read that there was a time when both Allen and Benny got hundreds or even thousands of letters per week from people begging them to bury the hatchet and end their feud. Of course, the feud was just a gag between these two dear friends, who simply played it up to increase their ratings.

Martin and Lewis met by accident one night as they played at the same club. Knowing a possibly good thing when they saw it, they formed a partnership that still amuses and amazes today. This episode features the boys getting tickets to see the musical South Pacific.

NBC ran the Rocky Fortune series for 25 episodes beginning in October 1953. This show was a "sustaining series," which means the network paid for all production costs so they could take care of Frank Sinatra's growing superstardom. Each episode features Frank as a detective in the style of the day...part hardboiled and part comic relief. I hope you enjoy.

Fred Allen's variety show included a cast of oddball characters that all lived on Allen's Alley. In general, Fred would ask some sort of topical question and would get a funny answer by characters ranging from Senator Claghorn, who inspired the Foghorn Leghorn character, to Mrs. Nussbaum, a stereotypical Jewish lady from the 1940's. This episode features guest star Jack Haley, who you might recall as the Tin Woodman in the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz."

This is the sixth episode of a great series featuring James Stewart as a gunfighter that never draws his gun. Relying completely on his reputation and his brains, Britt Ponsit takes care of business with a little humor and a lot of style.

Today features another episode from the science fiction series X Minus One. Most often, the shows were adapted from short stories in Galaxy magazine, written by the best sci-fi authors of the day. And very often those authors became legends in that genre.

The long running Fibber McGee and Molly program typically included a cast of hilarious characters who somehow always managed to knock on the door and drop by 79 Wistful Vista. The interchanges with Fibber were often spiced up by Jim Jordan's finely honed ad lib skills, as evidenced by Molly's uncontrolled laughter. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Henry Morgan shows usually featured a few different parts. Sometimes, Henry would comically comment on some current events, which actually adds to the historical value of each episode. And Henry was frequently toeing the line with his sponsors and the network. Once, after the network moved his show to an unpopular time slot, he opened with "Good evening ANYONE, it's Morgan." And thus a legend was born.

"Gunsmoke" is routinely considered one of the best radio series ever produced. The quality of scripts, acting and production overall rank among the tops. One thing that set this series apart is its intention to be an "adult western" in stark contrast to the kiddie westerns that were also on the air. And this episode is especially adult in nature, featuring a battered woman who handles the situation on her own.

One of my favorite old time radio episodes of all time, "Sorry Wrong Number" stars Agnes Moorehead as an invalid who accidentally overhears a murder plot and can't get anyone to agree with her that it must be checked out. There are obviously parts of this show that haven't aged well, but if you turn off the lights and closed your eyes...it's a GREAT show.

Fred Allen's show was a variety show similar to others of the day. Fred was one of the best ad libbers of his time and often the best jokes in the show are the ones Fred ad libs after a scripted joke flops. A wacky cast of characters, including the inspiration for Foghorn Leghorn...a pompous southern Senator, voiced by Kenny Delmar.

"The Six Shooter" series starred James Stewart as the gunfighter that very rarely ever drew his gun. Usually, he used his brain instead and let his reputation help him avoid the use of force. Any fan of James Stewart will be delighted to hear all the shows in this series.

This science fiction series features some of the more imaginative minds in sci-fi history. Typically, the stories had been featured in Galaxy magazine and then dramatized on-air. This story features preparations for leaving in search of a new planet to inhabit.

Just a few months out of the war and Fibber McGee and Molly were showing a lightheartedness in this show. There's a place where Doc (played by Arthur Q Bryan, who also voiced Elmer Fudd) makes a mistake and Fibber subtly picks on him and causes the entire cast to lose it completely in front of the audience. You might wonder why they didn't just edit that part out. It's because Fibber McGee and Molly was broadcast live, coast to coast, until at least 1948, based on what I've found.

Typically set in Madison High School, "Our Miss Brooks" featured Eve Arden as an English teacher, Richard Crenna as the squeaky voiced Walter Denton, Gale Gordon as the pompous (and eventually LOUD) Mr. Conklin, and Jeff Chandler as Mr. Boynton. In this episode, William Conrad makes a cameo as a gambler, who calls Conklin's phone by accident when the phone company crosses wires.