Showing results by narrator "Old Time Radio" in All Categories

It's a new season, a new network, a new bandleader, and a new sponsor - but it's still the same great comedy couple! Radio favorites George Burns and Gracie Allen laugh it up big time in 16 gag-packed broadcasts from 1940-41. The cast will crack you up with silly skits, a bonkers breach of promise suit, and the madness of a mink coat mistake. You'll hear bandleader Artie Shaw, a couple of special guests, and a few rare episodes, as well!

Is Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary), Summerfield's most notorious "bachelor on the prowl," about to adopt a third child? That's how it seems when he finds an abandoned baby girl in the backseat of his car. Informed that the child could be taken away from him because of his bachelor status, The Great Man proposes to Adeline…and her cousin…Gildy's old flame, Leila Ransom!

For Detective Danny Clover, Broadway is more than just a street - it’s a living, breathing creature with a mood and a style all its own. Radio’s most lyrical crime drama comes to life in this collection, Broadway’s My Beat, featuring 16 unique tales of murder along the main stem. The series’ purple prose is counterbalanced by the gritty realism that was a specialty of the 16th Precinct and its endearingly eccentric characters. Larry Thor stars as Clover, with Charles Calvert as Sgt. Tartaglia and Jack Kruschen as Detective Muggavan.

Multi-talented Irish tenor Dennis Day played a charmingly naïve young man (not at all unlike his character from The Jack Benny Show) in his very own series. Singing and working the soda fountain in the town of Weaverville, his lyrical voice and comical ways delighted listeners for five seasons (1946 - 1951). Although he bemoaned his humble position in life, his lack of funds, and his inability to impress the parents of his girlfriend, Mildred Anderson (Barbara Eiler), Dennis never gave up trying.

And now let's see what's going on down in Pine Ridge. It looks like con man B. J. Webster is about to get what's coming to him, Grandpappy Spears is in need of a new place to live, and Lum finds himself trapped on the wrong side of the law! There's plenty of intrigue, plenty of scheming, and plenty of laughs in these 36 consecutive episodes! Radio's lovable old fellers from the hill country, Chester Lauck and Norris Goff, star in these entertaining broadcasts from 1944.

Some people collect coins, some people collect stamps, but Barton Drake collects murders! He's an author, a bon vivant, and an expert in the dark corners of the criminal mind. There's no homicide he won't investigate, no killing he can't solve! Glenn Langan stars as Barton Drake, with Norman Field as Inspector Danton. Together, they crack 16 classic cases of radio mystery from 1945 to 1946!

Jack Benny's supporting cast - his "gang" - was the heart, soul, and success of his radio program. Mary Livingstone, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Frank Nelson, Mel Blanc, Artie Auerbach, and Ronald and Benita Colman delivered many of the best jokes - and earned biggest laughs - on the show. Many members of this talented ensemble went on to star in programs of their own - always with Jack's support. This collection includes some of the gang's best work - both on and off of Benny's program.

The final classic radio adventures of The Green Hornet were crafted for their times. In these exciting episodes, the Green Hornet (portrayed by Jack McCarthy) and Kato (Paul Carney) combat communism and communist sympathizers, take down crooked politicians, and smash rackets on the waterfront.

Lum and Abner meet Buster V. Davenport of Toledo, Ohio…but, he sure looks a lot like our old friend Grandpappy Spears of Pine Ridge! And, that's just one of the problems facing the proprietors of the Jot 'Em Down Store in this collection. There's a war on! The town's truck line is in trouble, "little" Pearl is leaving town to become a nurse, and the boys' secret recipe for making synthetic rubber is lost. Can the Golden Era Discussion Club study up a way to get things back to normal? Here are 36 serialized episodes from the winter of 1943!

Fanny Brice described Snooks as “my kind of youngster, the type I like. She has imagination. She’s eager. She’s alive. With all her deviltry, she still is a good kid, never vicious nor mean”. Perhaps, but Daddy and Robespierre may beg to differ. Neither Daddy’s time, pet projects, nor peace of mind are safe from Snooks’ reliably relentless intrusions. As for how she treats her younger siblings and what she thinks of them...well, the fact that she tries to trade them for cats pretty much says it all!

Dennis Day is a sweet-singing, well-meaning, constantly bumbling young man residing in the sleepy little town of Weaverville. The misadventures of this guileless innocent turned loose in the world are a comic delight, full of outlandish situations and genuine charm. Francis "Dink" Trout costars as his landlord Mr. Anderson, along with Paula Winslowe and Bea Benaderet as the outspoken Mrs. Anderson, Sharon Douglas and Barbara Eiler as girlfriend Mildred, and John Brown as boss Homer Willoughby in 16 laugh-packed episodes.

This anthology of post-World War II crime radio drama presents fictionalized crime, dramatizations of actual crimes, and programs that presented on-the-spot recordings of real police investigations. Radio Spirits is proud to present 20 adventures from 15 of the best (and most unusual) programs broadcast in the last dozen or so years of commercial network dramatic radio. Series include Gang Busters, The Line Up, Broadway's My Beat, Man from Homicide, Night Watch, and more!

Created and written by Philip Rapp, Mr. and Mrs. Bickerson were the first married couple on radio to have a truly adversarial relationship. Scathing, sarcastic and comical, John and Blanche would fight about anything. Although they often argued about Blanche’s good-for-nothing brother, she would certainly insist that the big troubles were caused by John’s snoring and her resulting insomnia. There was nothing sweet or tender about their pillow talk, but it sure was funny!

Carrol Naish stars as earnest Italian immigrant Luigi Basco - proud of the Old Country, yet eager to become an American. Attending night classes to prepare for his citizenship test, he mingles with a smorgasbord of funny fellows who teach him how quickly friendship can cross cultural boundaries. Alan Reed co-stars as the jolly, conniving restaurateur Pasquale - consistently capitalizing on his friend's confusion about American ways. He's wily, willful, and says he wants to do whatever he can to make Luigi's life better…as long as that means marrying him to his robust daughter Rosa!

In 1946, Life Magazine declared, "Dashiell Hammett's Fat Man is suave, witty, hardboiled and provides better than average radio entertainment." By 1948, The Fat Man was one of the top 10 shows on Friday nights, with more than six million listeners every week. And, starring as Brad Runyon, the "Fat Man" of the title, was J. Scott Smart, a 270-pound actor who sounded every pound the part.

The Green Hornet and Kato return in this exciting collection of digitally remastered and restored radio adventures, working outside the law to battle kidnappers, rackets, fraud, and other sinister and nefarious enterprises of the criminal underworld. Featured in these programs is Al Hodge, the first actor to play the role of millionaire newspaperman Britt Reid, alias The Green Hornet.

The unpredictable adventures of freelance troubleshooter George Valentine entertained West Coast audiences for nearly a decade. Bob Bailey delivers a definitive performance in the title role, with able support from Frances Robinson as Brooksie, Eddie Firestone as Sonny, Wally Maher as Lieutenant Riley, and Joe Kearns as Caleb the Elevator Man. Together, they gave radio one of its most distinctive private-eye programs. Come experience the exciting exploits of an intelligent investigator who'd rather think than throw down...but, who could certainly handle himself in a scrap!

Reality isn't all it's cracked up to be - at least not whenever Gracie's around! That means that things are always hopping down at the Burns house in this collection of 16 laugh-packed episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show! Pitchman Bill Goodwin is on hand, and so is a whole gang of famous guests (including Charles Laughton, Eddie Cantor, Herbert Marshall, Bob Burns, and Claudette Colbert). Join the stars, along with Elvia Allman as Tootsie Sagwell, Clarence Nash as Herman the Duck, and Mel Blanc as "The Happy Postman" for eight solid hours of logically-illogical fun!

Racketeers and swindlers, thieves and killers - they all feel the sting of The Green Hornet! World War II might be over, but there’s more crime than ever in Britt Reid’s corner of the world. That means action for the crusading publisher turned masked avenger - apprehending scheming crooks, corrupt politicians, and Communist spies. Jack McCarthy wields the gas gun as the streamlined Black Beauty prowls the streets in 20 exciting 1948 adventures - many of which have not been available since their original broadcasts!

There's nothing like The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, radio's best-written situation comedy - and here's 10 full hours to prove it! The show's sense of the absurd, its anything-goes anarchy, is as sharp and funny today as it was 70 years ago!