Showing results by author "original radio broadcast" in All Categories

William Bendix stars as Chester A. Riley in producer Irving Brecher's outstanding radio comedy series The Life of Riley. Co-starring with Bendix is Paula Winslowe as Riley's long-suffering wife, Peg, and John Brown performing in two roles, that of Riley's pal Gillis and, most memorably, as the hilarious "friendly undertaker" Digger O'Dell. This collection features 16 classic radio episodes, including rare and previously unavailable selections, all digitally remastered and restored for your listening enjoyment.

Mr. and Mrs. Piper are at it again - navigating the ebb and flow of postwar suburbia in The Couple Next Door. The head of the household takes up a new hobby, navigates changes at work, and faces a few domestic dilemmas - all while his lovely wife stands by...and stands her ground! Peg Lynch and Alan Bunce star in 32 consecutive episodes from 1959, featuring Margaret Hamilton as Aunt Effie!

In October 1964, as the "British Invasion" of pop music came into its own, Playboy Magazine assigned Jean Shepherd to travel with, and interview, the Beatles on their tour of the United Kingdom. Shepherd also took advantage of his assignment to further travel the UK on his own, exploring from Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands to London with a portable recorder to record material for use on his own syndicated radio program. The result is a fascinating audio documentary of the UK at a distinct point in time, with Shepherd offering commentary and musings uniquely his own on the popular culture and mores of the day.

Our Duffy's Tavern: Volume One is the very first in our Archives collection. Once again these fantastic episodes from the 1951 season are available - along with a bonus track: the series' 1940 audition performance on Forecast. Come on back to the place where "the elite meet to eat", and visit with Archie and the gang. There is never a dull moment at the tavern on New York's 3rd Avenue.

He'd rather use his head than his fists or a gun, but sometimes you can't be too choosy! Bob Bailey stars as freelance investigator George Valentine, roaming postwar California in search of adventure, mystery, and more! Wally Maher plays his contrary police contact, Lieutenant Riley, alongside many of radio's usual suspects: Joseph Kearns, Gloria Blondell, Howard McNear, Virginia Gregg, Larry Dobkin, Lurene Tuttle, and more.

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.

A supercharged engine thrums to life, a secret door swings open, and the streamlined Black Beauty buzzes forth into the crime-swept city streets for another battle against the forces of urban corruption! In this collection, our hero sets himself against racketeers, international agents, and his arch nemesis, Oliver Perry. Ride with Britt Reid and Kato in 20 high-powered, newly released radio adventures from the spring of 1949 - including rare episodes!

Sergeant Joe Friday of the LAPD was arguably the most pivotal figure in radio drama's postwar shift toward ultra-realism. Just an ordinary plainclothes cop doing his job, and doing it with a meticulous attention to detail that revolutionized the way radio told its stories. Jack Webb stars Friday, with Barton Yarborough as Ben Romero, Barney Phillips as Ed Jacobs, and Ben Alexander as Frank Smith in this collection of 20 absorbing crime dramas!

Mystery, adventure, and international intrigue surround Ken Thurston, The Man Called X! Radio's most enduring cloak-and-dagger drama presents suave stage and screen star Herbert Marshall in 16 tales of globetrotting espionage! Announcer John McIntire tells of the man "who crosses the ocean as readily as you or I cross town." Leon Belasco costars as Pegon Zellschmidt, with a supporting cast that includes Ge Ge Pearson, Steven Geray, Ted von Eltz, Frank Graham, Alan Reed, Cathy Lewis, William Conrad, and more.

Deck the halls and prop up the antenna - because Christmas is on the air! Here come all of your radio favorites in a holly-wreathed collection of priceless holiday moments. These classic episodes are accented with humor, tinged with adventure, and well-seasoned with all the good family feelings that fill our hearts during this season of the year! From Fibber McGee & Molly to Suspense, from Red Skelton to Marshal Matt Dillon, from Mr. Benny to St. Nick himself, tune in to 10 full hours of seasonal entertainment!

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!

Stand back! The closet door swings open once again and out tumble Fibber McGee and Molly! Join Jim and Marian Jordan and their regulars, Gale Gordon, Bill Thompson, Isabel Randolph, Billy Mills, the King's Men, and Harlow Wilcox for 20 laugh-filled half-hours from the very peak of their radio popularity!

It's the summer of 1944! The world is at war...America wonders what the future will hold...and down in the little village of Pine Ridge, Arkansas, eccentric relatives and mysterious strangers are wreaking havoc on the peaceful lives of Lum & Abner! Here are 36 consecutive quarter-hour broadcasts of radio's classic rural comedy serial, featuring Chester Lauck and Norris Goff as an entire townful of eccentrics. Elmore Vincent co-stars as Phinus Peabody, with Frank Graham as the enigmatic B.J. Webster!

The war might be over, but for daring publisher Britt Reid, there's one fight that never ends - the battle against organized crime! With mask in place, gas gun in hand, and faithful valet Kato by his side, The Green Hornet surges forth against postwar racketeers and crime lords in this collection of 20 original radio adventures!

From start to finish, Dragnet brings you a real-life police drama of unprecedented realism. When the series hit the air in 1949, there was nothing else like it, anywhere. In this collection, Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough star in 20 broadcasts from the earliest months of radio's landmark police procedural.

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!

You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout, we're telling you why! Great Radio Christmas is coming to town! Pour yourself an egg nog, break out the ribbon candy, and tune in for a whole stocking-full of radio favorites celebrating the holiday season.

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.

Father Peyton of the Holy Cross Fathers wanted to inspire his country with a radio program. Footing the expense of the show himself, he arranged for some of the biggest names in radio and film to donate their services, and for a network to provide the broadcast time. The series that resulted featured heartwarming stories for audiences nationwide. The commercial breaks were filled only with an earnest, non-sectarian appeal for family prayer, reminding listeners that "The family that prays together stays together."

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!