Classic Radio Theater

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

Fiction
**Classic Radio Theater**

RETURN WITH US NOW TO THOSE THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR!
Listen to the greatest radio broadcasts of the 1930s, 40s and 50s absolutely free! Each week, The Bradford Exchange presents the Classic Radio Theater, hosted by nostalgia radio expert Carl Amari.
Each and every week, we’ll bring you three hours of theater-of-the-mind radio entertainment, including The Jack Benny Program, Suspense, Gunsmoke, Dragnet, The Abbott & Costello Show, Sherlock Holmes and many more!

Latest Episodes:

The Bickersons Ep. #41 Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free comedy episodes of The Bickersons

A) 3/30/47 w/ Don Ameche and Frances Langford

B) 4/13/47 w/ Don Ameche and Frances Langford

The characters of John and Blanche Bickerson were created by Phil Rapp. They lived up to their name, exchanging verbal crossfire that was sharp, quick, and always hit the mark. A radio comedy consisting of a married couple arguing in short skits fared well and provided comic relief on a variety programs. Initially heard as brief sketches, The Bickersons eventually evolved into a weekly half-hour sitcom. With real bite in the dialogue and the husband usually getting the short end of the stick, the battle of the sexes was never more fun. John, a bowling-ball salesman by occupation, was a member of the Bourbon of the Month Club and suffered from a chronic case of snoring. Blanche, an insomniac, usually managed to wake him in the small hours and the familiar arguments would begin: Blanche wanted a baby, John didn’t; Blanche suspected John of cheating; John enjoyed “bachelor” parties organized for his friends. John and Blanche were introduced to radio audiences in 1946 on The Drene Show, starring Danny Thomas. Don Ameche and Frances Langford would play the bickering couple for a brief sketch and on a number of occasions, Thomas also played the role of Blanche’s obnoxious brother Amos. A year later, the warring pair starred in The Old Gold Show, named for its sponsor, Old Gold cigarettes. Subsequently, Blanche and John became a weekly feature on The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show, with Hollywood actress Marsha Hunt temporarily replacing Frances Langford. The characters returned in 1951, starring Lew Parker as John with Frances Langford as Blanche. Attempts to adapt the characters for television were unsuccessful but some experts believe that Married With Children was based on The Bickersons.

Gunsmoke Ep. #40 Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free western episodes of Gunsmoke

A) 3/21/53 Pussy Cats w/ William Conrad

B) 4/18/53 Bum’s Rush w/ William Conrad

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 … GUNSMOKE! In the late 1940s, CBS chairman William S. Paley, a fan of the Phillip Marlowe radio series, asked his programming chief to develop a hardboiled Western series. Several attempts were made but the project was shelved until three years later when Norman Macdonnell and John Meston were brought in. Produced for adult listeners, Macdonnell and Meston set Gunsmoke in Dodge City, Kansas, during the thriving cattle days of the 1870s. Few radio westerns gave any inkling of how brutal the Old West was in reality. On Gunsmoke, the stories were grim, the deaths violent and life on the plains was harsh. Radio audiences had never heard anything like Gunsmoke and they made it the #1 western on radio drawing critical acclaim for unprecedented realism. The dialogue was often slow and halting, and due to the outstanding sound effects, listeners had a nearly palpable sense of the prairie where the show was set. The effects were subtle but multilayered, giving the show a spacious and authentic feel. Gunsmoke soon made a successful transition to television (with a completely different cast) becoming the longest-running dramatic series in TV history. Many times, the radio scripts were adapted for the television show. Join William Conrad (U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon), Parley Baer (Deputy Chester Proudfoot), Georgia Ellis (Kitty Russell) and Howard McNear (Doc Adams) in the continuing story of the violence that moved west with young America and the story of a man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.

The Man Called X Ep. #39 Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free comedy episodes of The Jack Benny Program

A) 3/26/50 w/ Jack Benny and guest, Bob Hope

B) 4/27/52 w/ Jack Benny and guest, James Stewart

Born in Chicago, February 14, 1894, Benjamin Kubelsky would later become known as Jack Benny. As a boy, he was encouraged by his Jewish immigrant parents from Poland to become a concert violinist. He learned to play quite well and hit the vaudeville stage, where he played popular songs and honed a suave-but-fragile personality, telling self-deprecating jokes. Benny guested on Ed Sullivan’s radio show March 19, 1932 and was an instant success. Canada Dry signed him to a contract that same year and soon Jack Benny was broadcasting each week on CBS. His radio career included a long run on NBC and then a return to CBS through his final radio days. His all-star supporting cast included his wife Mary Livingstone, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Mel Blanc, Frank Nelson, announcer Don Wilson and The Sportsmen Quartet. As Jerry Seinfeld would emulate years later on Seinfeld, Benny’s cast received the best jokes – many pointed at the show’s star. Expert scripts constantly reminded listeners of Benny’s portrayal of himself as a lovable, vain, miser, concerned about his receding hairline and insistence that he was no older than 39. His sponsors over the years included Canada Dry, Chevrolet, Jell-O, Grape Nuts Flakes and Lucky Strike. The Jack Benny Program made a successful transition to television with his entire supporting cast in tow. Benny’s radio and television shows ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as the high-water mark in 20th century American comedy.

The Jack Benny Program Ep. #38 Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free comedy episodes of The Jack Benny Program

A) 3/26/50 w/ Jack Benny and guest, Bob Hope

B) 4/27/52 w/ Jack Benny and guest, James Stewart

The Adventures of Nero Wolfe, Detective Ep. #37 Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free episodes of The Adventures of Nero Wolfe, Detective

A) 1/19/51 The Case of the Calculated Risk w/ Sydney Greenstreet

B) 2/16/51 The Case of the Party for Death w/ Sydney Greenstreet

Among the colorful cast of private and not-so-private-eyes who populated the airwaves over the years, perhaps the most unusual was Nero Wolfe. The radio program was loosely based on Rex Stout’s novels and numerous incarnations of the character featured on network radio. J.B. Williams played the part for just three months, Santos Ortega for more than a year, and even silent-screen actor, Francis X. Bushman, found work behind the microphone as Wolfe. But no one was more suited to the gargantuan gourmet than Sydney Greenstreet, former Warner Brothers contract player. Greenstreet, despite his advanced years, was a smooth operator in the sleuthing business. His clipped, thunderous tones had an authentic ring and reflected Wolfe, the man, and his hobbies. Here was a gumshoe who solved mysteries from his armchair, leaving the legwork to his assistant, Archie Goodwin. Wolfe was the undisputed master at tracking down killers, conspirators, and assorted accomplices. Author Rex Stout said on one occasion that of all the actors in the role, Greenstreet came the closest to the character he had created. Yet the NBC series lasted just one season and the cause is still unclear. At the time, radio was a saturated market so advertising money may have been scarce. However, Greenstreet’s harsh treatment of his co-stars resulted in many cast changes and a frustrating search for replacements by director J. Donald Wilson. Greenstreet, indispensable and with a cast-iron contract, was suffering from Bright’s Disease – a possible reason for his aggressive behavior toward his fellow cast members. The exasperated producers may have finally called time on the program, but for the legions of whodunit fans, Greenstreet’s Nero Wolfe was in a class of his own.

The Cisco Kid Ep. #36 Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free western episodes of The Cisco Kid

A) 4/17/58 Stage to Silver City w/ Jack Mather and Harry Lang

B) 1959 Robbery on the Railroad w/ Jack Mather and Mel Blanc

O. Henry’s outlaw followed a trail that led sometimes to adventure, often to danger, and always to beautiful senoritas. On the silver screen the Cisco kid was a sensation -- on radio his bandit characteristics were toned down for a younger audience. Riding through the Tex-Mex borderlands, the Cisco Kid dispensed justice in the manner of a Mexican Robin Hood. Like the English outlaw, the kind-hearted champion of the poor and downtrodden aimed to right wrongs and restore law and order. The Kid’s cheerful, rotund sidekick, Pan Pancho (Cisco called him “Chico”), was a master of the bullwhip and a hilarious misuser and mangler of the English language. The Cisco Kid came across as something of a bad-guy when the series was first broadcast from the studios of New York City in 1942, with Jackson Beck playing the title role. This cowboy Casanova seemed to spend more energy pursuing glamorous senoritas than punishing the mean-spirited hombres. The Cisco Kid’s second incarnation in 1946 proved not only more popular but also a landmark in radio broadcasting. Between 1946 and 1956 (airing longer through syndication), a total of 636 episodes of The Cisco Kid were produced and an unusual contract clause ensured the highest quality in the live broadcasts. This stipulated that should the episode fall below par, the cast was required to perform it off-air a second time (without additional pay) to meet syndicated recording requirements. The Cisco Kid’s audience share was as big as that of The Lone Ranger and Hopalong Cassidy. And of all the programs produced and syndicated by Frederick W. Ziv, from Boston Blackie to Bold Venture, none was more financially successful than this children’s western.

Bold Venture Ep. #35 Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free adventure episodes of Bold Venture

A) 6/11/51 The Tears of Siva w/ Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

B) 8/13/51 Sunken Spanish Gold w/ Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall were pitched radio program ideas by ad agencies, networks, sponsors and syndicators on a regular basis. One of those pitches included an adventure series set in Cuba reminiscent of Key Largo, called Bold Venture. Beginning in 1951, Bogart played the role of “Slate Shannon,” the proprietor of a small, quasi-respectable hotel in Havana, inhabited by a motley, shifting cast of characters. Shannon’s motorboat, the Bold Venture, was on stand-by, ready to roar to the rescue of a friend or track down an enemy. Bacall played “Sailor Duval,” ostensibly Shannon’s ward and given a seductive edge by the glamorous actress. With its exotic Cuban background and Latin-American flavor, the weekly seafaring adventure program was loaded with gunfights, pirates, questionable characters and romantic intrigue. The Bogarts’ busy schedule demanded that the series be pre-recorded, so mega-producer Frederick W. Ziv funded a syndicated series with a big operating budget ($12,000 per episode) with a fees-plus-royalties deal for each broadcast. Written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin, Bold Venture was produced by the Bogart’s picture company, Santana Productions (named after a boat they owned) and recorded in Ziv’s Hollywood studio. The series made a fortune and was syndicated to more than 400 radio affiliates, but after a season and a half, Bogart sank it … “I got tired of it. I never listened to it, but Betty did.”

My Friend Irma Ep. #34 Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two comedy episodes of My Friend Irma

A) 1/3/49 The Double Date w/ Marie Wilson

B) 3/7/49 Will Al Marry Irma w/ Marie Wilson

Some might remember My Friend Irma as a 1949 movie that served as the launching pad for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Others recall a television show of the same name but My Friend Irma originated as a radio sitcom, created by Cy Howard, that aired on CBS from 1947 to 1954. Talented comedienne Marie Wilson became synonymous with the character of Irma Peterson, the archetypal “dumb Dora.” Dragging her roommate, the sensible and often exasperated Jane Stacy (played by Cathy Lewis and later by Joan Banks), into a series of hilarious misadventures, Wilson managed the role with the skill of a Gracie Allen. Irma worked as a stenographer for a lawyer, Mr. Clyde (played by Alan Reed), and was fired on many occasions … but always re-hired within hours because the filing system made no sense to anyone other than Irma. Irma’s scatterbrained character was certainly a source of comedy but she had a warmth and openness that endeared her to radio audiences. Irma’s boyfriend, Al (played by John Brown), was the deadbeat most mothers preferred their daughters to avoid at all costs, but Irma was crazy about him. Jane dated her millionaire boss, Richard Rhinelander III (played by Leif Erickson), and dreamed of one day marrying him. The radio sitcom was popular enough to warrant a motion picture starring Marie Wilson and Diana Lynn, produced by Hal Wallis, followed by a sequel, My Friend Irma Goes West (1950). A newspaper comic strip (scripted for a time by Stan Lee of Marvel fame) and a series of comic books soon followed. It also made a transition to TV (1952-1954).

The Screen Director’s Playhouse Ep. #33 Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free episodes of The Screen Director’s Playhouse

A) 3/3/50 The Paleface w/ Bob Hope and Jane Russell

B) 11/11/49 Body and Soul w/ John Garfield

In 1948, CBS launched what are now considered “the notorious talent raids” on NBC’s highest-rated comedians, convincing them to switch networks in exchange for lucrative contracts. In a counter offensive, executives at NBC created multiple in-house programs, produced and owned by the network. Among these was the Screen Director’s Playhouse, a weekly drama anthology featuring Hollywood actors reprising their screen roles ‘a la Lux Radio Theatre. The primary focus of the program was the original movie’s director, who not only served as a guest host but also participated in an interview towards the end of the broadcast. Unlike Lux, which featured Cecil B. DeMille as a regular host, the Screen Director’s Playhouse had a different director every week. NBC poured a considerable amount of money into the productions. On one particular week, John Wayne and Claire Trevor reprised their screen roles in an adaptation of Stagecoach, with director John Ford chatting about his experiences making the movie. Tallulah Bankhead came back to star in Lifeboat, with director Alfred Hitchcock at the helm – rather surprising when you consider the two never got along well during filming. Edward G. Robinson revisited his role in The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Dick Powell replayed his part in Pitfall, and in this episode, Dorothy McGuire reprised The Spiral Staircase. The program was an immediate success and the most profitable of the network’s ventures during the two years NBC and CBS were vying for ratings. After 18 months, the program was extended from 30 to 60 minutes, which gave the network more time to sell sponsorship.

Fort Laramie Ep. #32 Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

Enjoy two free western episodes of Fort Laramie

A) 2/11/56 The Woman at Horse Creek w/ Raymond Burr

B) 6/24/56 The Loving Cup w/ Raymond Burr

Fort Laramie aired on CBS radio for just one season in 1956. It starred Raymond Burr as Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry at Fort Laramie, on the Wyoming frontier during the 19th Century. The fort had 400 troops in all but they had to keep their eye on a nearby Indian reservation with 4,000 Cheyenne camped there. Producer/Director Norman Macdonnell saw Fort Laramie as “a monument to ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times” with their enemies being “the rugged, uncharted country, the heat, the cold, disease, boredom, and, perhaps last of all, hostile Indians.” Men died at Fort Laramie: some died of drowning, some of freezing, some of typhoid and smallpox “but it’s a matter of record that in all the years the cavalry was stationed at Fort Laramie, only four troopers died of gunshot wounds.” The stories focused as much on atmosphere and mood as on violence and action. Macdonnell made it clear to his writers that historical accuracy was essential to the integrity of the series. Correct geographic names, authentic Indian practices and true military terminology was insisted upon. Macdonnell relied on John Meston and Les Crutchfield, his Gunsmoke writers, for the Fort Laramie scripts. Vic Perrin was Sgt. Gorce, Harry Bartell was Lt. Seiberts and Jack Moyles was Major Daggett. Supporting roles were voiced by John Dehner, John McIntire, Virginia Gregg, Parley Baer and Barney Phillips.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected