Enjoy two free comedy episodes of Duffy’s Tavern w/ Ed “Archie” Gardner A) 1/5/51 w/ guest, Vincent Price B) 2/9/51 w/ guest, Shelley Winters Managing a fly-infested dive-of-a-tavern that had pretensions to be something much more was a weekly struggle for Archie the barkeep of Duffy’s Tavern. His unhappy conversations with his boss, Duffy (who was an absentee owner) occurred over the telephone at the beginning of each episode. Miss Duffy, Duffy’s man-hungry daughter and would-be singer,...

Enjoy two free true-crime episodes of Tales of the Texas Rangers w/ Joel McCrea A) 11/12/50 Blood Relative B) 1/27/52 Night Chase Hopping on the adult western bandwagon, NBC radio presented a semi-documentary based on authentic case files of the select 50-member federation known as the Texas Rangers.  Screen actor Joel McCrea was well-cast as the calm, cool and collected Ranger Jace Pearson.  Given an assignment each week by superior Captain Stinson, Pearson investigated crimes and hunted...

Enjoy two free comedy episodes of The Abbott & Costello Show A) 11/16/44 School Play B) 10/3/46 Breaking up the Act Bud Abbott and Lou Costello started in vaudeville in the early 1930s and by 1938 they were appearing as regulars on The Kate Smith Hour. By the fall of 1942, they had their own weekly radio program which topped the popularity polls of Radio Daily and Radio Guide. At first, radio listeners had trouble telling them apart, so they quickly adapted by Bud lowering his voice a...

Enjoy two free mystery episodes of Suspense w/ Vincent Price, Ida Lupino and Henry Fonda A) 6/1/44 Fugue in C Minor w/ Vincent Price and Ida Lupino B) 10/18/45 Summer Storm w/ Henry Fonda Conceived as a potential radio vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock to direct, Suspense was a radio series of epic proportion. It aired on CBS from 1942 to 1962, and is considered by many to be the best mystery/drama series of the golden age.  Known as Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills it focused on suspenseful...

Enjoy two free comedy episodes of The Life of Riley w/ William Bendix A) 10/8/48 Better Husband w/ William Bendix B) 12/8/50 Lawn-mowing Business w/ William Bendix Created by Irving Brecher, the popular family sitcom The Life of Riley featured the comic misadventures of Chester A. Riley, an inept blue-collar factor worker and father of two, played by screen actor William Bendix. Riley’s wife, Peg, tried in vain to prevent her hot-headed husband’s interventions, which only made matters worse...

Enjoy two free detective episodes of Sherlock Holmes A) 10/12/46 The Adv. of the Stuttering Ghost w/ Tom Conway B) 10/19/46 The Adv. of the Black Angus w/ Tom Conway Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective genius, Sherlock Holmes, came to NBC radio in 1930 starring Richard Gordon.  By 1939, Basil Rathbone was heard as Holmes with Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson.  The duo were simultaneously starring in a popular series of Sherlock Holmes features for Fox, and later for Universal.  By the end of the...

Enjoy two free thrilling adventures of The Green Hornet A) 10/31/39 The Parking Lot Racket w/ Al Hodge B) 11/24/46 Giuseppi’s Secret w/ Robert Hall By day, Britt Reid was a successful newspaperman and publisher, by night he was The Green Hornet, a masked avenger determined to combat crime and hand out his own brand of justice.  As the publisher of the Daily Sentinel, Reid had access to inside information from both police and criminal sources, and he made full use of it to combat his foes. ...

Enjoy two free horror episodes of Murder At Midnight A) 6/7/46 Nightmare w/ Elspeth Eric B) 11/1/46 The Ape Song w/ Raymond Edward Johnson Produced in New York, “Murder At Midnight” came to ABC radio in September of 1946 and featured crime dramas and supernatural thrillers. Raymond Morgan, a former long-Island Minister, who had left the cloth For the excitement of radio, was the foreboding host who each week uttered the lines: "Midnight, the witching hour when the night is darkest, our fears...

Enjoy two free comedy episodes of The Great Gildersleeve A) 4/25/43 Raising Rabbits w/ Hal Peary B) 8/29/43 Vacation at Grass Lake w/ Hal Peary Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve was a popular character appearing regularly on The Fibber McGee & Molly Show.  On August 31, 1941, the character landed his own situation comedy show, The Great Gildersleeve, becoming radio’s first spin-off.  Gildy moved from the town of Wistful Vista to Summerfield, where he raised his orphaned niece and nephew,...

Enjoy two free detective adventures of Boston Blackie A) 10/1/46 The Undersea Murder w/ Dick Kollmar B) 5/28/47 The Ghost of Florence Newton w/ Dick Kollmar Horatio Black was known to friend and foe as Boston Blackie -- an ex-jewel thief and safecracker constantly suspected of crimes he did not commit and forced to play the role of detective to clear his name.  His girlfriend, Mary Wesley, assisted Blackie from time to time, as did his pal Shorty.  Forced to defend himself against the...

Enjoy two free comedy/quiz episodes of You Bet Your Life A) 4/13/57 w/ Groucho Marx B) 3/30/57 w/ Groucho Marx Created by John Guedel, You Bet Your Life was one of the best-loved quiz show to air on both radio and television.  It was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman.  It debuted on radio in 1947 and lasted until 1960.  For much of this time it was also seen on television.  Contestant teams usually consisted of one male and one female,...

Enjoy two free exciting adventures of Box Thirteen A) 2/27/48 The Better Man w/ Alan Ladd B) 1/9/48 Damsel in Distress w/ Alan Ladd Movie star Alan Ladd played Dan Holiday, retired newspaperman turned fiction writer and adventurer extraordinaire. To gain ideas for his books, Holiday placed an ad in the Star-Times newspaper "Adventure wanted – will go anywhere, do anything – Box 13." It wasn’t long before his Box 13 became jammed with adventures galore.  Holiday always had more adventure than...

Enjoy two western adventures of Hopalong Cassidy A) 2/17/51 Black Gross Fever w/ William Boyd B) 12/29/51 The Killers of Lion Canyon w/ William Boyd Fictional cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy was created in 1904 by author Clarence E. Mulford in a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Beginning in 1935, William Boyd starred as Hoppy in 66 popular films. On screen, the white-haired Bill “Hopalong” Cassidy was clad strikingly in all black, rode a white horse named “Topper”...

Enjoy two mystery episodes of The Whistler A) 11/25/46 Two Year Plan w/ Lurene Tuttle B) 4/1/46 Three Times a Sinner w/ Joseph Kearns The Whistler was one of radio’s top mystery programs airing from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955 sponsored by the Signal Oil Company. The Whistler was an ominous narrator who opened each episode with: I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have...

Enjoy two detective adventures of Philip Marlowe A) 9/15/50 The Final Payment w/ Gerald Mohr B) 9/8/50 The Fifth Mask w/ Gerald Mohr Raymond Chandler's celebrated hardboiled private eye, Philip Marlowe, made his radio debut in 1945 on The Lux Radio Theatre with “Murder My Sweet” starring Dick Powell. Two years later, NBC would bring the character to the air in his own weekly series starring Van Heflin in The New Adventures of Philip Marlowe. A summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show,...

Enjoy two comedy episodes of My Favorite Husband A) 11/6/48 Liz and Katie Switch Identities w/ Lucille Ball B) 4/1/49 April Fool’s Day w/ Lucille Ball My Favorite Husband began on CBS Radio July 23, 1948, starring Lucille Ball and Richard Denning as Liz and George Cugat. Midway into the first season, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Liz and George Cooper. The cheerful couple lived at 321 Bundy Drive in the fictitious city of Sheridan Falls and were billed as...

Enjoy two western episodes of Have Gun, Will Travel A) 7/5/59 Comanche w/ John Dehner B) 7/12/59 Young Man w/ John Dehner Have Gun, Will Travel followed the adventures of Paladin, a soldier of fortune-turned-hired gunfighter, played by John Dehner. Paladin preferred to settle problems without violence, yet, when forced to fight, excelled. He lived at the swanky Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where he dressed in formal wear, ate gourmet food, attended the opera and enjoyed the company of...

Enjoy two horror episodes of Inner Sanctum Mystery A) 10/2/45 Shadow of Death w/ Richard Widmark B) 1/31/49 The Devil’s Fortune w/ Karl Swenson Taking its name from a popular series of mystery novels, Inner Sanctum Mystery debuted over NBC’s Blue Network in January 1941. Inner Sanctum Mystery featured one of the most memorable and atmospheric openings in radio history: an organist hit a dissonant chord, a doorknob turned and the famous “creaking door” slowly began to open. Every week,...

Enjoy two true-crime episodes of Dragnet A) 10/26/54 The Big Key w/ Jack Webb B) 9/8/53 The Big Lift w/ Jack Webb Starring Jack Webb, Dragnet was the most famous and influential police procedural drama of all-time.  It dramatized cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. Actor and producer Jack Webb took Dragnet to new highs and insisted on realism in every facet of the show. The dialog was clipped, understated and sparse, influenced by the...

Enjoy two comedy episodes of Fibber McGee & Molly A) 2/3/48 Fibber Makes a Lamp w/ Jim & Marian Jordan B) 2/10/48 Repairing a Sled w/ Jim & Marian Jordan Fibber McGee & Molly had a long and successful run on radio (1935-1959). The program showcased terrific comic and musical talent, headlined by its creators and stars, married couple Jim and Marian Jordan. Living in the fictional Midwestern city of Wistful Vista, Fibber was an American teller of tall tales and a braggart,...

Enjoy two high-adventure episodes of Escape A) 8/18/47 The Fourth Man w/ Paul Frees B) 2/1/47 The Vanishing Lady w/ Joan Banks Escape was radio's leading anthology series of high-adventure, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 until September 25, 1954. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with this introduction, as intoned by Paul Frees and/or William Conrad: Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away...

Enjoy two sci-fi adventures of X Minus One A) 5/1/56 Sea Legs w/ William Redfield B) 8/1/57 End as a World w/ Peter Fernandez X Minus One was a half-hour science fiction radio series broadcast from April 24, 1955 until January 9, 1958 over NBC. Initially a revival of NBC's Dimension X (1950-51), X Minus One is widely considered among the finest science fiction dramas ever produced for radio. The first 15 episodes were new versions of Dimension X episodes, but the remainder were adaptations by...

Enjoy two comedy episodes of Our Miss Brooks A) 10/30/49 Halloween Pary w/ Eve Arden B) 3/25/51 Buying a Parcel of Land w/ Eve Arden Our Miss Brooks was a situation comedy show heard on radio and seen on television and films. It starred Hollywood film and New York stage veteran Eve Arden, who had specialized in playing the wisecracking friend to the heroine. She often did it better than anyone else, receiving an Oscar nomination for 1945’s “Mildred Pierce.” Arden’s skill with the wicked...

Enjoy two detective episodes of Sam Spade A) 6/20/48 The Deathbed Caper w/ Howard Duff B) 9/12/48 The Lazarus Caper w/ Howard Duff The detective character, Sam Spade, was created by Dashiell Hammett for his crime novel “The Maltese Falcon.” Spade was a hard-boiled detective with cold detachment, a keen eye for detail and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice. The character is most closely associated with Humphrey Bogart who played Sam Spade in the third and most famous film...