Month: March 2020

A Look Back at the First 100 Episodes of the Amazing World of Radio

With Wednesday’s episode of the Whistler, we marked our 100th Episode of the Amazing World of Radio. The series launched in June 2016 to feature our first Summer Series of Patreon-chosen programming. That first series was only six episodes, but it has been followed by three longer Summer Series, four rounds of Christmas and Thanksgiving episodes, along with other various holiday programs and spring series. It’s not an every week series. It intermittently presents a wide variety of different radio programs.

We really aim to bring a wide variety of different programs, including some well-known shows as well as some more obscure offerings. Here’s a list of every series we’ve played so far:

Lux Radio Theater (17)
Les Miserables (7)
Cavalcade of America (6)
Suspense (6)
Screen Guild Theater (5)
Bold Venture (4)
Escape (3)
The Whistler (3)
Hallmark Playhouse (3)
You Are There (2)
Bing Crosby Show (2)
NBC University Theatre of the Air (2)
Proudly We Hail (2)
Stars Over Hollywood (2)
The Les Paul Show
Jackie Gleason and Les Tremayne Show
Diamond Dramas
Meet Corliss Archer
Hour of Charm
Columbia Workshop
Abbott and Costello Show
Stroke of Fate
Shakespeare Cycle
Humphrey Bogart Presents
Father Knows Best
Grand Central Station
The Big Show
Living
The Man Called X
Mr. President
The Quiz Kids
Elgin Holiday Special
Railroad Hour
Dr. Christian
Chicago Theatre of the Air
Coast to Coast on a Bus
Anthology
MGM Theatre of the Air
NBC Star Playhouse
The Great Gildersleeve
Here’s to Veterans
Bird’s Eye Open House
New World A Coming
Shirley Temple Time
Prudential Hour of Stars
CBS Network Special
The Jack Webb Show
One Out of Seven
Three for Adventure
Are These Our Children?

Lux Radio Theater is our top series because every episode in our Great Movies Over Radio series was an episode of Lux. Plus we brought four hour-long adaptations of Humphrey Bogart adaptations to you during our Summer of Bogart which also featured four weeks of Bold Venture. For our 2018 Spring Series, we played the entire seven-part Orson Welles-led Les Miserables.

Most of the other programs with a lot of play are anthology programs which produced episodes in a variety of themes. My goal is to share a sampling of a wide spectrum of radio programs. As a whole, we’ve played fifty series.

I continue to look for new and different programs to bring you on the Amazing World of Radio. Between now and Easter, I’ll have eleven more episodes of the Amazing World of Radio for you before I sign off until our summer series. Of those eleven episodes, only two come from a series we’ve featured frequently, and only three come from a series we’ve featured at all.

There were a whole lot of amazing programs produced during the Golden Age of Radio, and here’s hoping we get a chance to share many more.

EP3091: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Sidney Rykoff Matter (Rehearsal)

Edmond O'Brien

Johnny searches for a missing insured prize fighter.

Rehearsal for Program that Aired May 16, 1950

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com

(more…)

EP3090: Mystery is My Hobby: January-June Marriage Spells Murder

A mining engineer is murdered. The prime suspect is his lawyer,who was having an affair with his young wife.

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)

EP3089: The Man Called X: My Sweet Misses Me

George Raft

Ken sees an old friend in a music shop, and then follows him home to find him murdered. This leads Ken to Bulgaria.

Original Air Date: October 7, 1944

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715

(more…)

AWR0100: The Whistler: The Perfect Alibi (Jack Webb Centennial)

Amazing World of Radio

A private eye falls for a beautiful woman with thousands of dollars in gambling debts and a rich uncle.

Original Air Date: June 12, 1949

Go to http://amazing.greatdetectives.net to subscribe to the podcast.

Brought to you by the support of our Patreon listeners…http://patreon.greatdetectives.net

EP3088: It’s a Crime, Mr. Collins: The Green-Eyed Divorcee

Greg uncovers infidelity on the part of one of a client’ s wife. Her boyfriend convinces her to murder her husband. But who will actually commit the murder and who’ll end up the corpse?

Original Air Date: September 16, 1957

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)

EP3087: Box 13: The Better Man

A cynical wealthy man invites Dan into a competition for $100,000 and one of his competitors is a killer.

Original Air Date: February 27, 1948

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)

AWR0099: Suspense: You Take Ballistics (Jack Webb Centennial)

Amazing World of Radio

A police lieutenant is convinced a local hood (Jack Webb) has committed murder but doesn’t know how he can prove it.

Original Air Date: March 13, 1947

Go to http://amazing.greatdetectives.net to subscribe to the podcast.

Brought to you by the support of our Patreon listeners…http://patreon.greatdetectives.net

Book Review: Corpses are Where You Find Them


In Corpses are Where You Find Them, Michael Shayne is preparing to go out of town with his young wife Phyllis despite pleas from the Mayoral candidate he’s supporting. However, his plans change when a beautiful young woman shows up high. He deposits her in his apartment and drives his wife to the train station, but he returns to find her dead and is then accused of kidnapping by the political opponent of the candidate he’s supporting. Shayne has to solve the murder to not only save his candidate’s campaign but also to avoid going to prison.

Corpses Are Where You Find Them is a fast-paced, fun read with the body of the murdered woman disappearing and re-appearing, political intrigue, and hidden agendas.

The writing of Brett Halliday (aka Davis Dresser) is improved from the first book, where Shayne’s antics could be insufferable. Here Shayne doesn’t do anything too off the wall until late in the book where he steals the clothes of an insane asylum patient, but that turns out to have a good reason.

Overall, this is a solid 1940s mystery with hard-boiled overtones. For lovers of these sort of books, this makes for a fun, diverting read.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

This post contains affiliate links, which means that items purchased from these links may result in a commission being paid to the author of this post at no extra cost to the purchaser.

EP3086: Dragnet: The Big Child

Jack Webb
Friday and Smith investigate the suspicious death of a two year old child.

Original Air Date: April 26, 1955

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)

EP3085: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Harold Trandem Matter

Edmond O'Brien

Johnny goes to check on an insured man with a $1.5 million policy whose had an attempt on his life. Johnny soon finds himself investigating a murder.

Original Air Date: May 9, 1950

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com

(more…)

EP3084: Raffles: Murder Signs Its Name

A woman at a show asks Raffles to help her find jewels that were stolen while attending a show at the theater.

Audition Date: August 23, 1945

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)

AWR0098: Are These Our Children: Edith Hayes (Jack Webb Centennial)

Amazing World of Radio
A teenage girl drops out of school and falls into a car theft ring.

Original Air Date: November 17, 1946

Go to http://amazing.greatdetectives.net to subscribe to the podcast.

Brought to you by the support of our Patreon listeners…http://patreon.greatdetectives.net

EP3083: The Man Called X: The Quinine Contract Letter

George Raft
The Man Called X has to go to India after he found out a man he was delivering a contract to had been murdered.

Original Air Date: September 30, 1944

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715

(more…)

EP3082: It’s a Crime, Mr. Collins: The Dead White Lifeboat

While on a boat to England, Greg is asked to pretend to be a woman’s husband.

Original Air Date: September 9, 1957

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)