The Good Old Days of Radio Show

This week, we're starting something we have meant to do for awhile: The Horn Blows At Midnight radio broadcast on The Ford Theater (starring Jack Benny and Claude Rains). It is an entertaining program by itself, but what makes this so special is the incredible build up on The Jack Benny Program that went for weeks prior to the broadcast, and was one of Jack's most hilariously written self-parodies. We’re starting with The Jac...

This week, John Tefteller and radio historian Dr. Joe Webb continue our Whistler series with a terrific 1944 episode titled "Death Sees Double." At the center of the story are identical twin sisters whose lives are torn apart by jealousy. One of them is determined to take over the other's life, including the man she loves, but things don't unfold quite the way she planned. John and Joe spotlight the incredible double performance of...

This week we have something unusual; two rare Henry Morgan broadcasts from the early days of World War II, both preserved from original transcription discs and unheard by collectors for decades. The first program aired on Christmas Day 1941, just weeks after Pearl Harbor. The broadcast is cut short for an interesting live report from Honolulu, offering a firsthand glimpse into life in Hawaii as the nation adjusted after the events ...

This week, John Tefteller and radio historian Dr. Joe Webb continue our Whistler series with a 1944 episode about an artist who commits the perfect crime,,, or so he thinks. When a wealthy woman provides him with an unexpected alibi, the two are drawn together in a relationship built on secrets and mutual suspicion. As the years pass, the past refuses to stay buried, and what starts as a murder mystery gradually turns into a tense ...

We've got another round of ridiculous comedy with a 1945 Armed Forces Radio Service broadcast of It Pays to Be Ignorant. Host Tom Howard and his panel of "experts", including Lulu McConnell and Harry McNaughton, take the stupid questions and from there pure chaos ensues. The puns come fast, and nobody is interested in getting the right answer. Originally distributed to American servicemen near the end of World War II, this episode ...

This week, John Tefteller and radio historian Dr. Joe Webb continue our journey through The Whistler with an early episode from June 1943. "Shadow of a Mind" comes from a time before the series settled into the style fans know today, making it an interesting glimpse at the show's experimental beginnings. The story follows a surgeon determined to save his dying daughter by attempting an extraordinary medical procedure involving her ...

We're headed to Camp Elliott in 1943 for a wartime broadcast of The Bob Burns Show, also known as The Arkansas Traveler. This episode has a little bit of everything: Bob Burns' down-home humor, a sketch about military training, and a real treat for Spike Jones fans performing the rarely heard "Zip Your Lip and Save a Ship," a song that was never commercially recorded. You'll also hear the kind of sponsor messages that instantly tra...

This week, we're joined once again by radio historian Dr. Joe Webb for a new 10-week series, this time dedicated to the popular thriller series, The Whistler. We’re starting off with a rare episode that few listeners have ever heard. Originally broadcast in 1946 from Chicago's WBBM, "The Croupier's Wife" was recently rediscovered, making this a lost-and-found treasure. The story follows a quiet casino roulette dealer whose li...

Today we wrap up radio's most creative late comedies with the final broadcast of The Stan Freberg Show from 1957. By this point, Stan Freberg had already made a name for himself as a voice actor and hit recording artist, but his radio show proved he was also one of the sharpest satirists of his generation. This farewell episode plays like a greatest hits collection, bringing back some of his funniest musical parodies and sketches, ...

Today it’s a 1947 episode of Escape featuring a radio adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic story, "The Country of the Blind." Starring the versatile Paul Frees, it's a social commentary dressed up as an eerie adventure story. It follows a mountain climber who stumbles into a hidden valley where everyone has been blind for generations. Certain that his ability to see will make him extraordinary, he quickly discovers that the peop...

It’s the first Tuesday of the month, and we are bringing you another “lost" program, the long-missing 1947 fall premiere of The Henry Morgan Show. Back from his summer break, Morgan wastes no time taking aim at everything in sight. Through a mix of topical jokes, satire, and absurd sketches, he pokes fun at the radio world of the time, including famous news commentators like Gabriel Heatter and H.V. Kaltenborn. You'll a...

Happy 4th of July again. This year, we are featuring yet another Norman Corwin production. This is a World War II-era Independence Day drama from 1944: "Home for the Fourth," featuring a score by Bernard Herrmann. It’s about a young soldier named Eddie who comes home on leave to spend the Fourth of July with his family and friends. But as the holiday unfolds, unexpected news changes the mood and reminds everyone just how deep...

We're taking a look at a weird piece of broadcasting history, a 1955 episode of The Edgar Bergen Show from the twilight years of network radio. If you're expecting classic Charlie McCarthy, you may be surprised. By 1955, radio entertainment was on life support, and many longtime stars were experimenting with new formats to stay on the air. In this version of the show, Edgar Bergen serves more as a host and disc jockey than a ventri...

We're returning to early Inner Sanctum this week to bring you a 1944 episode starring the incomparable Peter Lorre. Lorre plays a comedian who becomes convinced that he committed murder. As the story unfolds, paranoia takes over, leading to the kind of outrageous plot twists that made Inner Sanctum a radio favorite. This version comes from the Armed Forces Radio Service and includes a special intr...

Tuesday is occasionally reserved for the bizarre, and we've got that for you today. The CBS Radio Workshop was an experimental program, often with programs that defied conventional tropes. Originally broadcast in April 1956, "The Record Collectors" is an over-the-top satire hosted by John Dehner. The program introduces two eccentric (and fictional) record collectors who are convinced that music peaked with ...

Today we bring you Boris Karloff. He's appearing here on Great Scenes from Great Plays in a strange fantasy, in which he plays Mr. Brink, the personification of Death himself. The story follows an elderly grandfather who discovers a way to trap Death in a magical apple tree. This will be the second time we've presented this story, but with a completely different cast. You can find the other v...

It's episode 500, and if you will forgive a self-aggrandizing episode, we think we've earned a show where we talk about The Good Old Days Of Radio Show for almost three hours. You may not want to hear this, but we're going back beyond the podcast, to the show's early beginnings on early '90s local radio, and even get to hear what John Tefteller sounded like back then. Then in the second half of the podcast, we are joined by the Pre...

Today, we dig into a rare Inner Sanctum Mystery broadcast, with a very early 1941 episode starring Myron McCormick. According to most sources, only a fragment of this broadcast survived, but we have a transcription disc containing the entire story, making this a real treat for fans of early radio horror. The story takes us to a remote Arctic mountain shrouded in legend, where a group of climbers sets out to find a missing explorer....

This week, we’re spending some time with Jack Benny and the gang in a March 1947 episode of The Jack Benny Program, as Jack gets ready for a vaudeville tour that will take him to Chicago and New York. Jack's sophisticated neighbor Ronald Colman is his guest on this show, and is forced to ride in his famously worn-out car. John shares a little background on the show's writing team and the feud between Jack Benny and Fred Allen...