Showing results by author "Original Radio Broadcasts" in All Categories

Let's play ball! Or hit the track! Or roam the links! Or lace on the gloves! You name the sport, Jack Benny's a fan...and maybe even a participant! Whether he's sitting in the stands or standing in the thick of the action, it all adds up to clutch classic radio comedy! Cheer on Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Kenny Baker, and Don Wilson in 16 half hour episodes filled with equal parts rah-rah-rah and ha-ha-ha!

The voice of Bob Bailey conjured both the weariness of the world and all its kindness. You may know him best as Johnny Dollar or George Valentine, but he was so much more. Sample the breadth of Bob Bailey's talent in this tribute collection. Here are 10 hours of classic radio dramas, comedies, mysteries, and even a science fiction tale…all of which feature the talented thespian. You'll also hear wonderful performances by an array of outstanding co-stars, including Shelley Winters, Raymond Burr, Mercedes McCambridge, Burgess Meredith, John Dehner, and many more.

Get out the vote! It's no-holds-barred, winner-take-all small town politics at its best as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve sets his sights on high office! But can Gildy's mayoral aspirations stand up against the competition? And can he balance his campaign against his developing romance with the local school principal? All's fair in love and at the polls in 16 fun-filled 1944 episodes starring Harold Peary as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve!

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.

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!

In one corner: Connie Brooks (Eve Arden), the teacher who elevated education to a plateau never before realized from a transmitter! In the other corner: Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), the pompous principal of Madison High School who is the undisputed champion of the slow burn! On hand for the main event is a charismatic cast of characters, including squeaky-voiced student Walter Denton (Richard Crenna). As both the romantic interest of Conklin's daughter, and as one of Miss Brooks' leading co-conspirators, he was viewed with a jaundiced eye by the omnipresent principal.

Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons was one of the best loved of all radio shows, and often one of the most listened to programs on the airwaves. The public loved the caring, fatherly sleuth who could resolve any problem and knew just how to handle any situation. Bennett Kilpack and Philip Clarke star as "The Kindly Old Tracer," in 20 digitally remastered tales of the missing and the murdered. James Kelly co-stars as Mike Clancy, the Irish former cop who not only assists the sleuth, but considers himself the old gentleman's bodyguard.

Connie Brooks (Eve Arden) rewrote the textbook on how popular culture looked at teachers - with a fresh, funny, and always human take on the pedagogic profession. Come and study these 16 terrific episodes from 1954-1956. If you travel with her through the halls, you might encounter adolescent blunderer Walter Denton (Richard Crenna), the principal’s bobby-soxer daughter Harriet (Gloria McMillan), or the fumbling frog-obsessed science teacher Philip Boynton (Robert Rockwell). Principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon) was her outstanding comic foil.

Catch the buzz - before the buzz catches you! Britt Reid, daring young publisher, masks up against organized crime and urban corruption as The Green Hornet! Join our hero and his stalwart valet Kato for another collection of 20 classic adventures from the 1948-49 seasons, including several previously uncirculated episodes not heard since their original broadcast.

Based on the famous detective created by Rex Stout, The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe stars Sydney Greenstreet as “the balkiest, bulkiest, smartest, and most unpredictable detective in the world...that brilliant eccentric private detective, orchid fancier and gargantuan gourmet.” Nero Wolfe, armchair detective in the classic tradition, and Archie Goodwin, wisecracking hard-boiled investigator, shine in eight radio tales from this classic detective series first broadcast in 1950-1951.

Where there's trouble, you'll find him. Where there's mystery, there he is. And when there's romance, look out! He's Michael Waring to those who know him - and to those who fear him, he's The Falcon! Les Damon stars in this collection of 16 fast-moving adventures. With a little bit of a hard-boiled edge, a little bit sarcasm, and a whole lot of charm, The Falcon solves crimes, helps the helpless, and makes time with femmes-fatale all in equal measure.

"If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me." Whatever your problem, he's the solution! George Valentine is sardonic yet sympathetic as he solves mysteries, unravels crises, and gets to the bottom of whatever's complicating the lives of his paid-up clients. Bob Bailey made his first big impression on radio audiences in this series of tightly-packed, thought-provoking thrillers! Here are 16 of his most fascinating exploits, with Virginia Gregg co-starring as Claire "Brooksie" Brooks.

Radio's longest-running private detective wasn't a smart-mouthed, gun-toting wise guy. He was the gentle, dignified, soft-spoken Mr. Keen. Bennet Kilpack stars as the intelligent investigator in this 16-episode collection. The "kindly old tracer" didn't get into gunfights with thugs on foggy waterfront nights, he simply solved crimes…with a dogged determination. And he was always accompanied by his dense-but-loyal sidekick Mike Clancy (Jim Kelly). Join them as they uncover secrets and crack cases.

Natalie Park stars as Candy Matson, a San Francisco private investigator who is not only smart, sassy, and sexy, but tough, too! Candy's best friend and trusted assistant is photographer, and confirmed bachelor, Rembrandt Watson. Candy and her boyfriend, Police Detective Ray Mallard (Henry Leff), usually end up working the same case, but Candy always figures things out first. Known for its exceptional writing and sound effects, Candy Matson is popularly thought of as the best female detective show ever on radio. Includes eight digitally restored and remastered episodes.

He's a real character! In fact, Red Skelton's a whole lot of real characters! He's Clem Kadiddlehopper and Sheriff Deadeye...he's Willie Lump-Lump and Cauliflower McPugg...and, of course, he's Junior The Mean Widdle Kid! Skelton's material is broad, his creations are wild, and his catch-phrases go straight for the breadbasket. Even his rehearsals - some of which are included in this collection - are stunningly silly. Join Red, Rod O'Connor, Pat McGeehan, Lurene Tuttle, Dick Ryan, and Martha Wentworth for eight hours of fast and furious fun!

Before the dawn of television, radio ruled the airwaves. The sting of The Green Hornet! Tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense! U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon and the smell of Gunsmoke! The irrepressible charm and laughter of The Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show! There's something for everyone in this digitally remastered and restored set, including two previously uncirculated episodes (one each of The Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show and The Green Hornet) that are available here for the first time anywhere!

Unsettling accounts of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances, the weight of which carry them to an inevitable fate, are presented here by the grim-voiced Father Time. This omniscient and ominous host, portrayed by both Charles Webster and William Conrad, lends the proceedings an appropriate atmosphere of foreboding. The Clock brings you the desperate obsessions, investigations, attractions, nightmares and violence of the underhanded, the unsuspecting, and the insane.

Chester A. Riley: A husband. A father. A lovable, working-class bumbler with the proverbial heart of gold. William Bendix stars as this simple (and sometimes simple-minded) man who starts out with the best of intentions, and ends up making a big mess of things. Scaling the mountainous molehills alongside him are his patient wife Peg (Paula Winslowe), his typical American kids, and his eclectic aggregation of friends, including Gillis and Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker - both played by John Brown.

The impeccably dressed Charlie McCarthy was as sarcastic as he was stylish. His country cousin Mortimer Snerd was buck-toothed, bucolic...and just as fondly remembered. But it was the egalitarian and exquisitely entertaining Edgar Bergen who brought them to life. Enjoy this Peabody Award winning team in 16 digitally restored and remastered episodes - many of which have not been available since their original broadcast in 1942! Hear performances by Rita Hayworth, W. C. Fields, Harold Peary, Hedy Lamarr, Don Ameche, Dale Evans, and more....

A favorite recurring feature of the Burns and Allen radio program involved George's fruitless efforts to defend himself against the schemes of the Beverly Hills Uplift Society, "an organization of women…for women…by women. This gathering of gossipy females embark on ill-advised escapades - from matchmaking to hijacking the show - all to George's dismay. The society sweethearts are played by Bea Benaderet and Elvia Allman, with jocular gentlemen Mel Blanc, Hans Conried, Elliott Lewis and Gale Gordon as part of an ensemble that set a benchmark for character acting in radio comedy.