We start off tonight with a murder as investigated by those charming amateur sleuths, “Mr. and Mrs. North.”  Then we get seasonal with “Fibber McGee and Molly,” as Fibber attempts to celebrate Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday, aka Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras) by serving his wife a pancake breakfast in bed.

Episodes

Mr. and Mrs. North
September 1, 1953
“No Vacation From Murder”
1:35

Fibber McGee and Molly 
Pancake Day
February 26, 1952
27:54

This late January marks both the birth and death of actor J. Carrol Naish, who was born on January 21, 1896 and died just shortly after his 77^th birthday on January 24, 1973.  Naish received two Oscar nominations for his supporting roles in the films “Sahara” (1943) and “A Medal for Benny” (1945), the latter of which also earned him a Golden Globe.  But he also had an extensive radio career.  Most prominently, he was the star of “Life With Luigi,” which cast him as a naïve Italian immigrant, Luigi Basco.  For all its stereotypes, and – because it was a comedy, its exaggerations – the series reflected the affection immigrants held for their new nation and home.  “Life With Luigi” is ultimately about making a new life in a land of infinite possibilities, and the desire to truly integrate one’s self into the best of American culture.  Tonight, we present two very different performances by Nash.  The first is someone the polar opposite of the sweet Luigi.  In this episode of “Suspense,” Naish plays a conniving, murderous husband.  Will crime pay?  Then on “Life With Luigi,” our hero’s quest to become a citizen is thwarted by his countryman, Pasquale (played by Fred Flintstone himself, Alan Reed).

Episodes

Suspense
August 1, 1946
“Commuter’s Ticket”  
2:44

Life With Luigi
January 10, 1950
“Luigi’s First Citizenship Papers"
32:41

I like to start off the new year with these adaptations by “The Lux Radio Theater.”  Tonight, Leslie Howard reprises his 1934 starring role as the original secret identity hero, “The Scarlet Pimpernel.”  Here, Olivia de Havilland plays his wife.  A year later, the two would appear as husband and wife again, in “Gone with the Wind,” as Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton.  Radio lends itself well to “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” which began life as a 1903 play, and so, from the start, has always relied heavily on dialog. 

Episode

The Lux Radio Theater
December 12, 1938
“The Scarlet Pimpernel”
2:40

Here’s two more Christmas episodes to round out this December.  We’ll start off with a drama, then some comedy.  “This Is Your FBI” ran on ABC radio from April of 1945 to January of 1953.  It dramatized real cases from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  No less than the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, praised the show, calling it “the finest dramatic program on the air.”  Then for comedy, who else but the crew from “The Jack Benny Program.”  This episode is from December 1937.  The show had been on the air for five years, and this is the first of what would become a regular holiday feature, Jack going Christmas shopping.  It doesn’t feature Jack being indecisive over a gift, which I always thought they overused, but it does have the usual stable of crazy fellow shoppers and employees, including Frank Nelson as the floorwalker.

Episodes

This Is Your FBI
December 24, 1948
“The Return of St. Nick”
2:18

Jack Benny
December 12, 1937
“Christmas Shopping”
33:41

All December it’s Christmas episodes on “PTTF.”  We’ll start off tonight with a mystery and then a comedy. These Christmas episodes are from the same year, and, as it happens, only one day apart.  First up, we hear from that sultry-voiced PI, “Candy Matson.”  Then we’ll see what Eve Arden as “Our Miss Brooks” has planned for Christmas. 

Episodes

Candy Matson
December 19, 1949
“Jack Frost”
2:40

Our Miss Brooks
December 18, 1949
“A Letter to Santa”
32:27

As we approach Thanksgiving, we’re going to start off with a Turkey Day-themed crime drama and then then a comedy.  “Jeff Regan, Investigator” starred Jack Webb as a private investigator working for the International Detective Bureau.  The show just barely pre-dates “Dragnet,” and Webb’s Regan is even drier in delivery than Joe Friday, and more sarcastically verbose.  In tonight’s episode, he’s dispatched to retrieve a turkey from a mysterious estate, and finds murder and mayhem.  Then “My Friend Irma” was one of those radio comedies that spawned a whole franchise.  The series centers on the comic mis-adventures of two single girls sharing an apartment in the big city.  Each episode is narrated by the bright, reliable Jane Stacy.  It’s never long before her friend and roommate, the pretty, but scatterbrained, Irma Peterson, gets everyone into some sort of wacky situation.  This time, it’s planning a Thanksgiving dinner.

Episodes

Jeff Regan, Investigator
November 20, 1948
“The Pilgrim’s Progress”
2:38

My Friend Irma
November 15, 1948
“Thanksgiving Turkey” aka “Thanksgiving is Approaching”
33:54

It’s a Karloff-fest tonight as we prepare to celebrate Halloween.  We start off with an episode of “Information Please” that originally aired on Christmas Eve, but features Boris Karloff as one of the guests.  Are you up on literary skulls, crossers of the English Channel, and poems that feature murder?  Then Boris drops by “Duffy’s Tavern” in an effort to scare off a potential buyer.

Episodes

Information Please
December 24, 1945
“Guests:  John Mason Brown and Boris Karloff”
2:00

Duffy’s Tavern
October 5, 1951
“Duffy Wants to Sell the Tavern”
32:17

We start off tonight with an episode of “Broadway Is My Beat.”  If you think the sophisticated avenues of Time Square to Columbus Circle are free from murder and crime, you’re dead wrong.    It’s “the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world."  “Broadway Is My Beat” ran from February of 1949 to August of 1954 on CBS.  For most of that run, it starred Larry Thor as New York City detective Danny Clover, whose assigned “beat” was the theater district.  Not that that made his job any easier.  Then we drop in on “The Great Gildersleeve.”  Tonight, Gildy stumbles upon the upcoming wedding of a young lady and Marine about to ship out.  They just want a nice, quiet, simple wedding.  Of course, that soon balloons into … well, you can guess.  This is actually a very sweet story with some really good laughs.  And we get to hear Lillian Randolph as Birdie sing.  That’s always a treat.

Episodes

Broadway Is My Beat
February 17, 1950
“Dion Hartley”
3:44

The Great Gildersleeve
May 27, 1953
“Witness at the Wedding”
33:33

Sixty years ago today, September 30, 1962, is the date generally accepted as the end of the Golden Age of Radio.  On the same night, the final episodes of “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar” and “Suspense” were broadcast.  “Johnny Dollar” after 13 years and “Suspense” after 20 years.  I couldn’t let that pass without observing it by presenting those two final episodes.  Don’t worry, those shows will appear again on this show.

Episodes
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
September 30, 1962
“The Tip-Off Matter”
2:40

Suspense
September 30, 1962
“Devilstone”
26:52

We start off tonight by trying to match wits with that amateur detective who’s also a mystery writer, the eponymous star of “The Adventures of Ellery Queen.”  This episode is another twisty one of multiple murders that requires you to really pay attention.  Then on “The College Quiz Bowl,” the best brains of Washington and Lee University go up against The University of Pittsburgh.  Although the material is from 70 years ago, this episode is packed with lots of questions that even we 21^st century listeners should be able to answer and have fun with.  Are you up on types of nuts, adjectives from literature, and the finer points of women’s clothing?

Episodes

The Adventures of Ellery Queen
November 7, 1945
“The Message in Red”
1:41

The College Quiz Bowl
March 21, 1954
“Washington & Lee University vs The University of Pittsburgh”
32:17