Previously, we’ve done multi-network, ABC, and Mutual Programs in this series.

NBC’s best detective shows are clumped between 1949 to the mid-50s.  NBC had fallen behind CBS which had raided much of its talent.  Well-known is the raid on NBC’s comedy teams including Jack Benny and Burns and Allen, but Mr. and Mrs. North had also moved to CBS.

Several great detective dramas had stopped in at NBC for Summer runs including Rogue’s Gallery (1945-47) and The Man Called X (1945 and 1946) before heading off to other networks.

This changed in 1949, Richard Diamond was introduced in April,  Dragnet in June and Dangerous Assignment in July. In the fall, NBC brought Sam Spade over from CBS and in 1950, The Saint came over Mutual.  Other shows would follow that would give NBC a place in the mystery market. While NBC never produced anything that rivaled CBS’ anthology franchises, this era saw NBC turning out some of the most memorable detective shows of the golden and silver era.

As always, we asked our Facebook fans their opinions and received 53 votes which we’ll share below.

5) The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe

Aired: 1950-51

This series was marked by the inspired casting choice of Sidney Greenstreet as Nero Wolfe. There were also seven different Archies during the show’s 26 episode run. The show’s difficulty in finding an Archie as well as its  digressions from the traditional Wolfe characters.

The show remains beloved by fans and characters due to Greenstreet’s characterization of Wolfe, decent mysteries, and the chance to see Wolfe-Archie interplay over the radio. While the show had trouble keeping Archie’s, the list of actors who played the role was impressive including three actors who had played leads in other detective shows (Wally Maher of Mutual’s Michael Shayne, Larry Dobkin of Ellery Queen, and Gerald Mohr of Philip Marlowe) which meant listeners got to enjoy a variety of Archie Goodwin interpretations.
Fan Vote:  32%

Timothy Dunning said, “I have to vote for Nero Wolfe because I loved the books and the radio shows were good adaptations.”

4) Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator

Aired: 1951-55

Barrie Craig was a different kind of detective show and Craig as played by Gargan was a different type of detective: a big gentle easy going guy who always believed his clients until evidence proved otherwise.

In some ways, it poked fun at the private detective genre by giving Craig police-type powers and duties such as filling out making arrests and filling out paperwork. This played off the wide variety of functions and investigations that other PIs took on that were really police functions.  Another time, Craig began his voice over narration by saying, “Manhattan’s my beat,” a clear reference to CBS’ Broadway’s My Beat.

Other episodes took a serious turn such as Craig’s poignant caper with a mentally ill young woman.

Gargan’s light and easy going style make each episode of Barrie Craig is like a visit with an old friend talking about his detective adventures. Listeners were more than happy to visit for four years.

Fan vote: 4%

3) Dangerous Assignment with Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell

Aired: Summer 1949, 1950-53

Donlevy reportedly told his agent that he wanted to play nothing other than unambiguous he-man roles. Certainly, the role of Steve Mitchell was cut from that cloth. Mitchell was an international troubleshooter working for an unknown government agency. Each week he’d go to the office of the Commissioner (played by Herb Butterfield) who would end the interview by saying something like, “Well Steve, you’ve got your assignment. Good luck.”

Mitchell would then be off to an exotic location where he’d usually be undercover as a journalist. He’d encounter mystery and adventure as he protected U.S. interests and peace. Much like The Man Called X,  Dangerous Assignment had a similar feel to other detective shows but with higher stakes, although Dangerous Assignment steered clear of Cold War plots that were popular on The Man Called X.

Dangerous Assignment came to television in 1952 with Donlevy in the lead. The television version wasn’t as good. Donlevy was sliding towards 50 and not looking the action hero part. More importantly, early television could not capture the richness of foreign locales that the imagination of radio listeners could conjure up.

Fan Vote: 8%

2) Nightbeat starring Frank Lovejoy as Randy Stone

Aired 1950-52

“Stories start in many ways…”

With these words, Randy Stone begins telling how he came to write his latest Nightbeat column to the Chicago Star about his late night adventures searching for news. The show starred radio veteran Frank Lovejoy who had been the second choice for the lead, with Edmond O’Brien auditioning for the part in 1949.

Nightbeat stories are full of suspense and mystery, but unlike traditional detective shows, the solution is far more likely to be psychological and driven by the human element. While most traditional detective shows focused on finding murders, Stone would be more likely to try and prevent a murder or a suicide. In one episode, Randy has to find a businessman who decided to commit suicide after being falsely diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Nightbeat didn’t require a body to get a story. In one episode, Randy investigates an apartment building where everyone is terrified due to threatening notes they’ve received with the words, “I know your secret,” in them.

Randy Stone did make it to television in one episode of Dick Powell’s Four Star Playhouse. Frank Lovejoy starred in two TV detective series, Meet McGraw
and a mid-50s revival of the show, Man Against Crime, but neither achieved the depth or quality of Nightbeat.

Fan vote: 6%

Said Kent in support of Nightbeat, “The show has a captivating quality as Randy has many insights into the people with whom he is involved moving toward his story. SO REWRITE–C O P Y B O Y as music fades until another episode.”
Fan Vote: 6%

1) Dragnet starring Jack Webb as Joe Friday

Aired: 1949-55

Dragnet began out of conversation that radio detective star Jack Webb had with a police officer who objected to the lack of realism in the portrayal of police on the radio.

Webb remembered this conversation when he needed a summer project when ABC put Pat Novak for Hire on Summer hiatus. What Webb produced was a masterpiece that would redefine crime dramas and the treatment of police in popular media,

Webb made a study of the police: how they talked, worked, and solved cases, and used this knowledge to create the framework for Dragnet.

Dragnet was based on actual police cases. At first, there was nothing new about this as several other crime dramas such as, This Is Your FBI, Gangbusters, and Calling All Cars.  What made Dragnet different was that most prior procedurals spent as much if not more time following the criminals as it did the police. Dragnet’s took you “on the side of the law” from start to finish which meant that most episodes of Dragnet were mysteries as all we knew was what the police knew.

More than just mystery, Dragnet gave a feel for what life was like for the working policeman and it introduced us to the resources they used in a way that was captivating to audiences across America.

Dragnet also created compelling and real characters: victims, witnesses, or perpetrators, they all demanded the audience’s attention in unique ways. From the fiancé of a dead traffic officer, to an 8 year old boy who saw his best friends die from a gun shot wound, to a train-loving hijacking victim, no show ever did better at characterization.

Dragnet also sounded better. Webb’s dedication for details didn’t stop with the finer points of police procedure, when Webb used five sound effects men on this show.  They made every scene come alive, so that whether the show was taking place in a warehouse or at a grocery store, you were transported there. Webb’s policemen interact with people in their daily lives and those sounds don’t stop because a policeman wants to ask a question.

Dragnet also served the public by taking on topics that were often taboo such as child abuse and drug use.  In addition, Dragnet’s practice covering multiple departments gave powerful lessons to the public on how to remain safe and avoid con games.

Dragnet came to television for eight seasons in the 50s and staged a four season revival from 1967-70 and became a motion picture in 1954.  Dragnet’s realism has shaped crime dramas to this day. It gave the police a new level of respect that carried over to other networks and even to the private detective genre. For most of the 1950s, the old stereotypes of domineering, corrupt, or stupid cops were replaced by smart cooperative cops. The Radio,Crime and Peter Chambers and Television’s Lock Up were good examples of this, both featuring intelligent and sincere police officers who were friends with the hero. Also, new programming begin to air that chronicled the work of law enforcement such as Treasury Men in Action and Man Behind the Badge.

Fan Vote: 51%

Honorable Mentions:

Tales of the Texas Ranger: This police procedural followed the adventures of Ranger Jayce Pearson and were based on real case files from the Texas Rangers. This was probably the best of the Dragnet imitators.

A Life In Your Hands: This fascinating series came from the mind of Erle Stanley Gardener, the creator of Perry Mason. The series focused on Jonathan Kegg, a lawyer who had already made his fortune. He inserted himself into cases by acting as an Amicus Curiae, a lawyer who represented neither the prosecution or the defense, but rather cross-examined or called witnesses with the sole goal of getting at the truth. Each case would pivot on Kegg calling a disinterested witness whose memory of a seemingly inconsequential fact. The series was meant to teach the public to be good and observant witnesses as they could stumble on to a crime at any time and they could have “a life in your hands.”

Next week, we take a look at CBS.

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In past parts of this series, we’ve looked at multi-network and ABC shows.  Now we turn to the Mutual Broadcasting Company. Mutual had many fine detective shows and with good-sized budgets.

There’s probably a good case that could be made that prior to  1948, Mutual had the best Mystery-Suspense line-ups in radio bar none.  Mutual had Sherlock Holmes for three years, and brought to radio the first adaptations of Hercule Poirot, Father Brown, Michael Shayne, and much later, Mike Hammer. They also had the iconic Shadow, and the often mysterious Superman on their network. Sadly, much of Mutual’s fine work has been lost.  What remains gives us an idea of what we’re missing.

Still, there’s some outstanding radio that’s available. Now it’s time to get into the list.

5) The Adventures of Michael Shayne starring Wally Maher

Aired: 1944-47

This is not the best known of the Michael Shayne adaptations. The syndicated hard boiled detective version starring Jeff Chandler was. However, Maher’s characterization of Shayne in the five surviving episodes from his era as the great detective is well-done, a bit lighter, somewhat more in the mold of Let George Do It with a much lighter feel than its hard boiled successor.  Cathy Lewis does a good job as a girl Friday.

These shows are particularly gratifying to listen to as Wally Maher spent much of his career playing the secondary detective who usually got it wrong such as in Let George Do It as Lieutenant Riley and in The Line-up at Matt Grebb, it’s gratifying to hear him in a program where he gets to solve the case.

Fan vote: 12%

4) Hercule Poirot starring Harold Huber

Aired: 1945
Americans were interested in Hercule Poirot going back several years. Orson Welles first brought the character to the radio in a Campbell’s Playhouse presentation of “The Murder of Roger Akroyd.” In 1942-43, 3 Hercule Poirot Short stories were adapted for the Mutual program, Murder Clinic.

Poirot got his own show in 1945 with Harold Huber in the lead. The opening program from February of that year featured pre-recorded audio of Agatha Christie welcoming listeners to the program.

The mysteries were fairly good and Huber’s characterization of Poirot is wonderful. It’s not as perfect as David Suchet’s but was far better than many that would come in years to follow. His portrayal was as someone who was kind and charming, but also a very smart detective who outmaneuvers his opponents.

Some Christie purists are not fans of the series, partially because actual Christie stories weren’t used and partially because Poirot was transplanted to America. The first episode has him struggling to find an apartment in America. The humor in that is not at Poirot’s expense. America was already beginning to face a housing shortage during World War II. The message of the radio program seemed to be, “Housing is so hard to find, even the great Hercule Poirot couldn’t easily uncover the location of a vacant apartment.”

Poirot appears to have ended in 1945. I did stumble across a Billboard magazine report indicating stating that CBS did an evening serial of Poirot stories. However, like most 15 minute mystery serials, these episodes are lost to the ages, so we don’t know if they were ever aired.

Fan Vote: 19%

Beatrice said, “I voted for Hercule Poirot partly because it is so hard to find, making it a treasure to hear. Are there many episodes?”

There are actually nine 30 minute episodes in circulation as well as two audition recordings from 1944 for a 15 minute-a-day serial. That’s about one quarter of the show’s in circulation which, when compared to some of the other shows on this list, isn’t too bad.

3) The Casebook of Gregory Hood starring Gale Gordon and then Elliot Lewis

Aired: 1946-47, 1948-49

The Casebook of Gregory Hood began as a Summer replacement for Sherlock Holmes with Gale Gordon as San Francisco-based antiques dealer Gregory Hood.

Despite being set in the 1940s, the show had a lot in common with the Holmes program that preceded it. The show had the same sponsor (Petri Wine), the same announcer (Harry Bartel), and the same writers (Dennis Green and Anthony Boucher.) The show’s feel was somewhere between that of Sherlock Holmes and Nick Carter, but much more in the gentleman detective tradition.

Mutual signed Basil Rathbone to play in Scotland Yard when he wasn’t interested in playing Holmes, and kept the Casebook of Gregory Hood, changing the lead to rising young radio star Elliot Lewis (picture courtesy of the Digital Deli).

Both portrayals are interesting in  that Gordon, while a talented character actor, was best known for his comedic roles particularly as a foil to Eve Arden in Our Miss Brooks and Lucille Ball in The Lucy Show on television. In the Casebook, Gordon got to show his versatility.

The Lewis episodes are interesting in that this was his only lead role in a detective series. Lewis did the most portrayals of Hood, however only five of his programs survive. The Casebook of Gregory Hood shut down in May of 1947 and Lewis starred in Voyage of the Scarlet Queen until March 1948 when he resumed his role as Hood over the Don Lee Mutual Broadcasting system. This entire 52 episode 1948-49 run is missing, as is ABC run that ran from 1950-51.

Still, what we do have in circulation are 15 episodes featuring two of radio’s most noted actors in the role of the suave and always clever amateur detective from the less seedy side of San Francisco.

Fan Vote: 2%

2) Nick Carter starring Lon Clark

Aired: 1943-55

*Knocks  at the door*

A woman opens the door. “What’s the matter? What is it?”

A male voice says, “It’s another case for Nick Carter, Master Detective!”

Que the organ music.

This early opening for Nick Carter was one of radio’s best, as was the program it followed. “Master Detective” may sound kind of old fashioned, but the character was actually older than Sherlock Holmes, having debuted in 1886.

Nick Carter had his origins in dime novels, and the show reflected that with cases that included not only mystery but adventures with often unusual perils, and titles such as, “Body on the Slab” and “Nine Hours to Death.” In the pre-hard-boiled era, there was no detective on radio who was as tough or as resourceful in a jam as Nick Carter.

While the supporting cast changed throughout the run, Lon Clark continued to star throughout the entire run. 125 episodes are in common circulation, but that’s only a fraction of the more than 700 episodes that were produced. The show was enduringly popular and so was the character. Nick Carter continued to appear in movies and novels until the 1990s, with the character regeared towards cold war spying.

Fan Vote: 7%

1) Let George Do It starring Bob Bailey

Aired: 1946-54?

The story of Let George Do It is the story how one of radio’s weakest comedies became one of its finest detective shows. Let George Do It began in 1946 as a detective comedy that took its comedy way too far.  Shows like Leonidas Witherall, The Thin Man, and Mr. and Mrs. North included comedy in their mysteries. None of them thought of including a laugh track.

The show began featuring Bob Bailey as George Valentine, a World War II veteran returned from the war who puts out an ad to take any difficult including wife-spanking (a popular comedic trope of the day). He’s assisted by his secretary, Claire Brooks and her brother and George’s assistant, Sonny (played by Eddie Firestone, Jr.) The first two cases involve George trying to find a wife for his hayseed cousin who is a pig farmer and wants a wife who likes pigs, and then George needing to fill in for a movie cowboy who has become afraid of horses but fears disappointing an orphanage.

Due to the fact that only one episode between November 1946 and April 1948 is an existence, no one knows quite when it hits stride, but the show had already begun to right a little bit, by the 1946 episode, “The Robbers” with a real to goodness mystery. But that would be nothing compared to what the show became.

Let George Do It by 1948 was one of the best detective programs. There was still endearing bits of humor, but the show also featured:

• Dangerous situations that would make Sam Spade sweat.
• Baffling mysteries that were on occasion worthy of Sherlock Holmes.
• Real human dramas that are mixed in with the mysteries.
• The best-written and best developed female assistant on the radio who provided the show with plenty of romantic tension.

These would be sprinkled throughout the episodes. Each episode of Let George Do It is a surprise. You never know what exactly you’re going to get, whether it will be  an exciting murder mystery that borders on the hardboiled, a psychological thriller, or a lighter story. Regardless of what it is, nine times out of ten you’re going to get a great story.

The writing on this show was superb with David Victor  teaming up with Herbert Little, Jr. and then the great Jackson Gillis (who later wrote for Columbo and Superman)to create some of the most memorable  radio mysteries ever produced.

Bob Bailey was fantastic in the lead, creating the perfect d detective characterization that would later make him a success on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Both actresses who played Brooksie were superb, as was Wally Maher in the supporting role of Lieutenant Riley.  Even the show’s commercials for Standard Oil are pleasant and informative to this day.

The show is less known because it only aired on the West Coast, but thanks to the Internet, many people are discovering the show, and are quite happy to listen and find out what happens when they “Let George Do It.”

Fan Vote:  60%

Timothy Dunning summed the reason this show garnered so much support, “Let George do it” survived a shaky first season as an ill-conceived comedy to become one of the best (and long-lasting) OTR detective shows. It had consistently good writing, performances, and production values.”

Enough said.

Next week, we turn to NBC-based shows.

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