Adventures In Radio

An all new podcast!  This week's podcast looks at the career of the dean of radio comedy/satire - Fred Allen. Allen's career was virtually all radio once he left the comedy stage behind. Not only was radio Allen's medium, it was that medium that held onto him so fiercely that he could never move into television as did his counterparts like Jack Benny.This podcast will look at his Linit Bath Club Revue, Hour of Smiles, Town Hall Tonight and his final series on radio, The Fred Allen Show.

Repeat episode from August 2005."That was the shot that killed Harry Lime. He died in a sewer beneath Vienna...Yes that was the end of Harry Lime, but it was not the beginning. Harry Lime had many lives." Radio Adventures looks at "The Lives of Harry Lime" on this week's podcast. Episode: Ticket to Tangier"

Repeat performance (September 2005) while I take some time off.One of the best well written but darker radio series was Night Beat starring Frank Lovejoy. The story revolved around reporter Randy Stone and the seamier night side of Chicago as he looked for his nightly story. Here is one of the best written gritty, solid, of the streets drama.

One of NBC Radio's premier series was not even sponsored! The Radio Guild was an experimental series broadcasting Shakespeare as well as original radio material. One of the programs that offered quality drama was "The Ineffable Essence of Nothing" written by Ranald R. MacDougall (right).Final episode of "Clan of the Fiery Cross"I will be taking a couple of weeks off putting repeat podcasts here until I return.

This week a look at one of the better known short stories from the pen of Ray Bradbury. The story spawned not only a radio play, but a couple of films, a television episode as well as rock song by a well known band from the eighties.All that and more with episode 15 of the "Clan of the Fiery Cross."Background music by Human Response and Claire Fitch from Magnatunes.

A bookend complement to the Escape episode of "Leiningen Versus the Ants" this production of "Three Skeleton Key" is one of the best. It is difficult not to be over the top in this radio play, but Vincent Price seems to find a happy medium as those around him slowly go mad. The special effects by Cliff Thorsness make this one of the most horrific episodes from the long running series.Episode 14 of "Clan of the Fiery Cross" from The Adventures of Superman.

A special look at the talent of one of the greatest radio writers. Wyllis Cooper was noted more for his creations than his skill as a writer and director. This week, a special look at one of his Quiet, Please episodes and how he builds the sense of fear or discomfort in his stories. The episode is based upon Maurice Ravel's solo piano piece: Pavanne for  A Dead Princess.Also episode 13 of "Clan of the Fiery Cross."

To cover while I am taking a much needed vacation, two episodes of "Clan of the Fiery Cross" from the Adventures of Superman. This will take us up through episode 12 of 16 in this series that attacks hatred and racism - tough themes for a late forties kid's show.

This week the adventure takes us to another world where earthmen land on a planet in the middle of a dispute between two societies. The problem is that the intelligent life is not humanoid, but rather vegetable and the two societies are the Carrots and the Onions!A hilarious satire on human society by novelist Robert Nathan in his original story for the CBS Radio Workshop and called "A Pride of Carrots." You'll hear some well-known voices that you might only be familiar from cartoons of your childhood.Also, episode 10 of the "Clan of the Fiery Cross" from the Adventures of Superman.

This podcast marks our one year anniversary of one show each week!  The final look at big budget radio series with our look at one of the biggest. Lux Radio Theatre was on the air for twenty years and Lever Brothers spared no expense in producing the show. This episode is "Algiers" with Charles Boyer and Heddy Lamar.Episode 9 of the "Clan of the Fiery Cross"

A rather long podcast this week as I look at big budget radio programs. The Ford Theater was Ford's second big budget program from the forties. This one was ambitious and no expense was spared. The dramas cast big name talent and ran for sixty minutes with minimal commercial time. Episode 8 of "The Clan of the Fiery Cross."

A look at the literary figure Damon Runyon and how the Damon Runyon Theatre came to radio. Runyon characters were so well drawn as to spawn the term Runyonesque. The Damon Runyon Theatre was a delightful series.Episode seven of the "Clan of the Fiery Cross" from The Adventures of Superman.

I continue my theme of famous author's whose works were adapted for radio. Continuing with the impact of crime writer Cornell Woolrich, the father of noir fiction, a look at possibly one of the best adaptations of one of his works. "The Black Curtain" was a flawed novel that made it to both film as well as radio - at least once on Suspense.Episode 6 of The Adventures of Superman and its attack on the Ku Klux Klan with "Clan of the Fiery Cross."

Continuing with our famous authors whose works were adapted for radio - Cornell Woolrich, considered the father of noir fiction, was one of the most adapted authors. We'll listen to one of his adapted short stories from the Screen Directors Playhouse.Episode 5 of the "Clan of the Fiery Cross."

Beginning this week: a look at radio adaptations of works by famous authors. First up is Joseph Conrad whose short story "The Brute" was featured on the CBS series Escape in 1948. Conrad was best known for his themes of isolation, fear, madness and introspection. This week's episode from Escape fits those themes as you find yourself aboard a killer ship from which there is no Escape!Episode 4 of the "Clan of the Fiery Cross" on the Adventures of Superman.

A radio series that was created after the model of The Shadow was The Whistler. Running over radio for about ten years, there were at least six Whistler characters though Bill Forman (right) was the longest running Whistler. The Whistler was the voice of conscience and fate. A dark dis-embodied character who while he had no physical presence in the radio plays, he was very much a part of the episodes.Also, another series run with a conscience - episode three of the "Clan of the Fiery Cross" from the Adventures of Superman.

In the mid-forties, a popular juvenile radio series, the Adventures of Superman, seemed to suddenly develop a conscience and began to prove to critics that commercial and community interests could come together for the greater good. A look at one theme during the run of this marvelous series as Kelloggs and the producers took on the Ku Klux Klan in their series run "Clan of the Fiery Cross." Superman image (c) DC Comics

A look at the radio writing of John Dickson Carr, noted mystery writer from the forties who also wrote original radio scripts for Suspense and the BBC's Appointment With Fear. This week's episode is "Cabin B-13." The final episode of the I Love A Mystery serial "Temple of Vampires."

Continuing to focus on some of radio's better writers, a look at Ernest Kinoy (right). Kinoy's name is best known from Dimension X and X Minus One but his work goes well beyond that in radio as you can hear in this podcast. He is an award winning television writer known for Roots, Victory at Entebbe and Skokie. Episode 19 of the 20 part serial "Temple of Vampires."

This week the adventure focuses on the outstanding writing talent of one particular writer whose fame is actually from another medium. Besides being an award winning writer for the stage, he got his start writing radio scripts for outstanding radio series. The Cavalcade of America is one of those big budget productions that drew excellent writers as well as actors.