Month: August 2010

EP0222: Jeff Regan: The Two Little Sisters

A 6 foot tall 200 pound man is stabbed. A lady knife thrower confesses, but Regan doesn’t believe she did it.

Original Air Date: November 16, 1949

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EP0221: Box 13: Speed to Burn

Dan Holiday goes undercover at a chop shop to find the brother of a woman who asked for his help.

Original Air Date: November 3, 1948

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Johnny Staccato Paroled onto DVD

Back in May, I wrote about TV detectives locked in Copyright jail. (i.e detective shows that are unavailable as they are under copyright and not being actively marketed by their copyright owners.) We can strike one detective from the list. All 27 episodes of Johnny Staccato, that Jazz Pianist Private eye played by John Cassavettes are being released on DVD this October 12th.

Kudos to Timeless Media Group for another great DVD release. From Crime Dramas like Checkmate to Westerns like the Virginian and Branded, they are doing great work in preserving some of the great forgotten shows of years past. Hopefully, Johnny Midnight and Felony Squad will get their chance soon.

EP0220: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Port Au Prince Matter

Edmond O'Brien

Johnny Dollar goes to Haiti to investigate the case of a man who appears to be dying from voodoo.

Original Air Date: May 30, 1950

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EP0219: Sherlock Holmes: The Indiscretion of Mr. Edwards

Basil Rathbone

Holmes is called in by the foreign office to investigate a lady bareback rider who has captured the heart of an English prince.

Original Air Date: February 4, 1946

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EP0218: Let George Do It: One Against the City

 Bob Bailey

At the request of a crusading newspaper editor, George is called to a growing small city that is being dominated by local crime bosses. 

Original Air Date: February 7, 1949

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EP0217: Jeff Regan: The Little Man’s Lament

International is retained by a Southern Family with old money to prevent a murder-but who’s?

Original Air Date: November 9, 1949

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Quote of the show: “It looked empty, like a beer can after a picnic.”

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EP0216: Box 13: Killer at Large

A man pays someone $50,000 to find someone to kill him. He changes his mind about wanting to be killed, but the go-between he paid is dead, and he doesn’t know who’s gunning for him. He turns to Dan Holiday.

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Original Air Date: October 27, 1948

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EP0215: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Earl Chadwick Matter

Edmond O'Brien

On a tip, Johnny Dollar goes to Bermuda to find a dead man whose policy the company paid off on, but is reported to be alive.

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Original Air Date: May 23, 1950

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EP0214: Sherlock Holmes: The Strange Case of the Demon Barber

Basil Rathbone

An actor who is playing Sweeney Todd believes he’s becoming a murderer offstage and begs Holmes to prove it.

Original Air Date: January 28, 1946

(Also known as Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber)

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EP0213: Let George Do It: Mayhem By Experts

Bob Bailey

A surprise birthday party for George turns deadly when a man who was to pretend to be dead as a joke turns out to have actually died.

Original Air Date: January 31, 1949

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Candy v. Nero

In the course of planning the schedule. I have reasons for the show’s I pick, but this time, I’m letting the listeners decide between two great detectives to be our regular Tuesday Night show after Jeff Regan and Father Brown are finished with their runs in November.

The two shows you’ll get to choose between are Candy Matson and Nero Wolfe.  Below is a brief run down of the shows and the characters, as well as a link to a Sample episode, you can listen to of each show off of Archive.org:

Candy MatsonNero Wolfe

(Candy Matson photo courtesy of OTRR, Nero Wolfe courtesy of Digital Deli.)

Name Candy Matson Nero Wolfe
Gender Female Male
Network NBC (SF) ABC, Mutual, and NBC
Episodes Produced 93 118
Episodes in Circulation 14 27
Primary Lead Natalie Masters Sidney Greenstreet (25)
School of Detection Hard Boiled Soft Boiled
Sidekick Rembrandt Watson Archie Goodwin
Love Interest Lt. Ray Mallard, San Francisco Homicide Beer and Orchids
Packs Heat? Yes No
Hometown San Francisco New York
Sample Episode Click here Click here.

How you vote:

NO VOTING BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1st will be counted.

Vote for the show on Podcast Alley in the month of September and in the comments section, include your vote  You can do this by simply including the first name of your choice, “Nero” or “Candy” or even the initials. “CM” or “NW.” Even if you don’t normally leave a comment, just leave these initials along with your vote and it will be counted for your favorite.

Feel free to “campaign” for your show in Podcast Alley comments, or by leaving a Voice Mail at 208-991-4783. Please keep your comments brief and to the point, and they’ll be shared on the show.

The winner will be announced on a special results podcasts on October 2nd

UPDATE

Fan vote is 40-19.

EP0212: Jeff Regan: The Man in the Black Suit

A priest hires International to find a missing prized fighter.

Rehersal of show that aired November 2, 1949

Original Release Date: August 27, 2010

Quote: I began to feel nervous-like a hula dancer in a forest fire.

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EP0211: Box 13: The Dead Man Walks

Dan Holiday sees a man dead in a pawn shop. He reports it to Lt. Kling, only to find out the dead man reported for parole.

Original Air Date: October 20, 1948

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Better Living Through Radio

How effective can radio advertising be? Could a radio ad sell a product 75 years after it aired? The answer is a surprising yes.

Vintage radio ads often vary between enduring brands that exist to this day and continue to be brand name staples  such as Chevron Gasoline, Wrigley Gum, Camel Cigarettes, or Pepsodent to the brands you can’t find anywhere. There’s nowhere you can buy Petri Wine (at least not the Petri Wine by the original Petri family) and good luck finding a Clipper Craft suit anywhere.

Most radio ads are of value only for a nostalgic value, a recapturing of the values of the era in which it was produced, the music, the phrases, the culture. No one listening to an episode of Richard Diamond today is going to be more likely to find their way to a Rexhall Drugs. And of course, it should be noted that its quite easy for some radio ads to wear on listeners. Hearing about how its wise to smoke Fatimas week after week can be irritating and repetitive.

However, one radio ad was so effective, it sold me on trying on the product.

As I’ve written before, I’ve become quite the fan of Lum and Abner. One of the show’s early sponsors was Horlicks, a maker of malted milk. They sponsored Lum and Abner five days a week, and they did radio sponsorship right. Unlike other shows that would repeat the same messages, they included original ads in each episode, so no two ads were the same.

The announcer, Carlton Brickert would read an a testimonial, or occasionally, there’d be a little drama performed to illustrate the point. Some of the more powerful segments included testimonials from parents with sickly children who had given their children Horlicks.

In some ways, there seemed to be some contadictory claims in Horlicks in ads. The sponsors said that Horlicks could help the obese lose weight, while helping sickly babies gain weight, and sickly adults gain it. It said it could increase your energy in the daytime, while helping you sleep better at night.

While, Petri Wines may merit a passing curiosity, I had to learn more about Horlicks, and what I learned about it was that Horlicks is no longer sold in mass quantities in the United States. It was acquired by a British company and it was more popular in the developing world than anywhere else. However, I actually went to the trouble to find a bottle of Horlicks for sale on Amazon and I bought a copy.

I did find that Horlicks had changed since its radio days. They’d boasted that Horlicks was made from whole milk, not skim milk as other “inferior brands” were. But 21st Century Horlicks is made with skim milk.

Beyond that, I tried Horlicks and found it to be good tasting. The one claim I can confirm is that it will help you get to sleep. The first night I had some Horlicks before bed and I was out like a light and I’m not usually the sound-sleeping sort. Of course, I’m told there’s not a scientific basis for the conclusion, however I think perhaps science hasn’t explained it.

I finished my experiment with Horlicks and found I’d learned a little, but not a whole lot. It’s really hard to tell from a 300 mg container. I’d need to order more, but was reluctant. My wife asked if we were going to get more. She enjoyed the malted milk. I didn’t tell her about the Horlicks Order I’d put in and she picked up some Nesquick brand. Following the advice of the Horlicks ads, I teased my wife about having bought a lesser brand.

Of course, whether we contine the Horlicks experiment really depends. Even if it’s good, it’s still expensive to ship and to buy. I could be getting “inferior brands” for some time. Still, I have to tip my hats to the folks who made the Horlicks commercials. It takes talent to come up with an ad that makes your listeners curious enough to buy…seventy-five years  after the fact.