Month: December 2022

My Top 10 Old Time Radio Podcast Episodes of 2022

In 2022, we played 312 regular daily episodes of the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio, plus several specials and also twenty-nine episodes of the Amazing World of Radio. From these, I’ve chosen my top 10 podcast episodes of 2022:

10) Sam Spade: Caper with Two Death Beds (EP3849)

Sam is hired by a client who needs a deathbed statement to clear himself of a murder. Then everything goes sideways. This is actually a really clever mystery, with Spade doing some great detective work and coming up with a clever way to catch the real killer.

9) Burns and Allen: Gracie Sends Sam Spade to Jail (EP3950s)

Gracie Allen hears an episode of Sam Spade on the radio and becomes convinced that Sam got the solution wrong. She sets out to harass Sam (as actor Howard Duff) into clearing the innocent radio murderer. Gracie is at her most hilarious, and plays well of Duff. The production is great to start to finish and all the little touches, including Bill Goodwin working a pitch for Maxwell House coffee right into the story.

8) Dangerous Assignment: Find Champlin and his Reel of Tape (EP3923)

Steve is sent to Istanbul to find a reporter and listen to a reel of tape with sensational information on it. However, the reporter is found dead and the reel of tape provides a clue of some danger but leaves Steve with a lot of questions and very little time to find the answers. This episode has a lot going for it. Steve has to do some of his cleverest detective work as he’s racing against the clock. The ending is superb with an exciting high-stakes race to the finish. Easily the best Dangerous Assignment episode we played this year.

7) Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Paul Gorrell Matter (EP3829)

An insurance company has a lead on a man guilty of robbery and murder. They could turn this information over to the police, but the insurance company is afraid they won’t get their money back. Instead, they have Johnny take a cross-country road trip with the killer and two other motorists. Johnny knows this is a bad idea, but the insurance company insists, and Johnny gets to find out how bad an idea it is.

6) Man Called X: The Plot to Kill the NATO Pact (EP3737)

The Man Called X has to thwart an ex-Nazi scientist to stop the mass extermination of NATO leaders at a conference in Lisbon. Great action and a superb high-stakes story.

5) Mr. Chameleon: The Titled Husband Murder Case (EP3802)

By the fall of 1950, Mr. Chameleon had become a highly popular but also ludicrous program, full of the over-the-top characters that were typical of programs produced by Frank and Anne Hummert. In this one, the series really leaned in, and the lead character played to the maximum the absurdity of fake noblemen, gold diggers, and the social-climbing wealthy family that deserves them.

4) Suspense: The Khandi Tooth Caper (EP3795)

This hour-long episode of Suspense was an adaptation of two episodes of Sam Spade from 1946, in which two characters from The Maltese Falcon, Kasper Gutman and Joel Cairo, return with a brand-new MacGuffin to hunt – a valuable piece of dental work. Oh, and because the showrunner of Suspense was Robert Montgomery (who starred in the film Lady in the Lake), we got a Philip Marlowe cameo in a Sam Spade story. While the story isn’t equal to the original and repeats a lot of the same beats, it’s nonetheless an entertaining hour of radio. It also serves as a nice exploration of Spade as a character, and we get to see differences between Howard Duff’s take on Spade and the previous literary and cinematic takes on the character.

3) Sam Spade: The Dry Martini Caper (EP3885)

Sam is called by a lawyer who wants Sam to protect him, but the man is gunned down right before Sam’s eyes. Sam has to figure out which of the horrible people in his would-have-been client’s life committed the murder. This story walks a really fine line because it manages to be entertaining while featuring characters who are the worst. Yet, it manages to do this in an entertaining way, with some of the greatest insults uttered this side of Pat Novak for Hire. Howard Duff does a great job portraying how irritated Spade gets in this episode.

2) Tales of the Texas Rangers: Cactus Pear (EP3704)

Ranger Jace Pearson is one tough hombre. We have played multiple episodes where he continues on despite having been shot and requiring hospitalization. This episode best showcased the strength of Pearson and the Texas Rangers. The first part of the episode is a standard criminal investigation. The second part is an epic hunt for Jace to get his man before he crosses the Mexican border. Jace’s quarry is a cunning criminal with a big head start. This is an episode that shows that while you can evade the Texas Rangers, you have no margin for error when facing them.

1) The Man Called X: Operation Cabal (EP3785)

“Operation Cabal” ended The Man Called X’s eight-year odyssey as an on-again network-hopping radio spy/adventure program. The episode left open the possibility of a return but no episode could have beaten this one for a thrill-packed, insane finale. The Man Called X, the paragon of Democracy, faced his most dangerous and diabolical opponent in a shocking twist that makes for one of our most wild episodes.

Do you disagree or have other episodes you enjoyed more? Feel free to comment here or on social media.

Sherlock Holmes: New Year’s Eve Off The Scilly Isles (Encore) (EP3962)

Today’s Mystery:

Sherlock Holmes and Watson race to save a luxury liner from being blown up.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 28, 1947

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Candy Matson: Valley of the Moon (Encore) (EP3961)

Natalie Masters

Today’s Mystery:

Candy goes on vacation at a dude ranch at the Valley of the Moon after Christmas and quickly runs into murder.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 17, 1949

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Sherlock Holmes: The Second Generation (Encore) (EP3960)

Today’s Mystery:

The daughter of Irene Adler has a favor to ask of Sherlock Holmes that involves attempted burglary.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 17, 1945

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Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia (Encore) (EP3959)

Today’s Mystery:

A king hires Sherlock Holmes to get a compromising picture back from “the woman.”

Original Radio Broadcast Date:December 10, 1945

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Sherlock Holmes: The Paradol Chamber (Encore) (EP3958)

Today’s Mystery:

A female scientist wants Dr. Watson and his wife to invest in her invention, a metal that facilitates human teleportation.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: May 21, 1945

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Sherlock Holmes The Bruce Partington Plans (Rathbone-Bruce Version) (Encore) (EP3957)

Today’s Mystery:

Sherlock Holmes’s brother Mycroft calls on Holmes to help find stolen top secret papers relating to submarine plans.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: November 6, 1939

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Richard DIamond: A Christmas Carol (Encore) (EP3956s)

Dick Powell

Today’s Mystery:

The characters on Richard Diamond take a week off from mysteries to perform a modern version of the Christmas Carol.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 24, 1949

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Tales of the Texas Rangers: The Christmas Payoff (EP3956)

Today’s Mystery:

Jace sets out to find out why a beloved small-town doctor was murdered on Christmas Day.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 23, 1951

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Telefilm Review: A Nero Wolfe Mystery: Christmas Party

“Christmas Party,” is set in the 1950s. Archie Goodwin (Timothy Hutton) agrees to create a fake marriage license to allow an enchanting dancing partner to press her boss and hot and cold romantic interest to give her a firm answering on marrying her. She invites Archie to the Christmas party of the design company her boss owns. When his boss, legendary private detective Nero Wolfe gets too pushy in insisting Archie instead drive him to an appointment, Archie to uses the license to make Wolfe believe he’s about to get married and to Wolfe’s horror, bring a woman to live in Wolfe’s house or leave Wolfe’s employ for good.

Things go wrong for Archie when the boss is murdered and the license (which could prove Archie a forger) is missing and could be found by police. It’s only when he arrives home that Archie finds how bad things are and that the honor and dignity of Nero Wolfe are at stake if they don’t solve the murder…and quickly.

This is a bit of an oddity in my Christmas viewing habits. I tend to go for uplifting traditional feel-good Christmas stories. However, “Christmas Party” is in the words of the froggy-voiced victim, “My secret public vice” entertainment-wise as I mention watching it on Twitter nearly every year.

Part of the pleasure is having an excuse to touch base with one of the best TV mystery series ever. I’d argue it’s the last great faithful adaption of old school detective fiction that we’ll ever see. The high points of the series are all present in this episode: There’s the stylish costuming and generally elegant set design that gives the series an authentic feel. There’s the marvelous ensemble cast that make up the bulk of guest characters each week. And there’s the writing that faithfully conveys Stout’s stories with a minimum of tampering.

As for the plot itself, it’s a pretty standard Rex Stout plot. Stout is the master of creating all these little worlds (usually within the realm of New York City) which are civilized on the surface but one homicide away from all the pent up hostility and petty rivalries within the group exploding to the surface. The solution is stylistic and bold, but not particularly brilliant. What makes this story standout is the Wolfe-Goodwin relationship. Despite Archie’s constant ribbing and the way they get on each other’s nerves, it transcends the mere employer-employee relationship. Mentor/mentee and Surrogate Father/Son are certainly fair ways to describe it. This story highlights the hidden warmth of what’s often a tempestuous relationship in a way that’s true of the clever subtlety of Rex Stout, and that aspect does more than anything else to make it fit the season.

There are minor quibbles to be had with it. The portrayal of Lilly Rowan, a semi-important recurring character in the books, as jealous of Archie having a dance partner on another night is far from book-accurate, although it does serve to provide the episode a nice TV original bookend. And of course, the plant rooms appear and reminds fans of the one way the early 2000s series fails in comparison to its much less-regarded 1980s predecessor: in its portrayal of Wolfe’s famous room full of orchids.

This doesn’t detract from its status as a solid entry in the TV show.

Rating: Satisfactory

Note: In a crime against great television, A Nero Wolfe Mystery is not available legally on any streaming service and the DVDs are all out of print. However, the series is worth seeking out however you can find it whether through your local library, an eBay auction, or fan-posted YouTube video.

Guest Star: First Song: Orpheus Takes a Holiday (AWR0210)

Amazing World of Radio

A program of holiday music featuring David Rose and his orchestra, and Frank Sinatra.

Radio Broadcast Date: December 19, 1948

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Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Jan Brueghel Matter (EP3955)

John Lund

Today’s Mystery:

Johnny goes to Detroit to make a deal for the return of a stolen painting.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: July 6, 1954

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Philo Vance: The Grey Glove Murder Case (EP3954)

Today’s Mystery:

Philo Vance is called to investigate the report of a man strangled by a grey glove in mid-air.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: Decemmber 13, 1949

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AFRS Christmas 1947 (AWR0209)

Amazing World of Radio

Today’s Golden Age of Radio Episode:

Servicemen stationed in Germany after World War II plan a Christmas Party for local children.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 25, 1947

Written by Steve Allen

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Dangerous Assignment: Get Gouda Before the Gunrunners (EP3953)


Today’s Mystery:

Steve goes to Bombay to get in touch with the key witness who got an American businessman convicted of gunrunning.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 23, 1950

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