{"id":48895,"date":"2026-05-27T00:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T06:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/?p=48895"},"modified":"2026-05-29T10:47:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T16:47:03","slug":"great-scenes-from-great-plays-the-farmer-takes-a-wife-awr0296","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/great-scenes-from-great-plays-the-farmer-takes-a-wife-awr0296\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Scenes from Great Plays: The Farmer Takes a Wife (AWR0296)"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_8227\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-48895-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/greatdetectives\/s\/www.greatdetectives.net\/awr\/awr0296.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/greatdetectives\/s\/www.greatdetectives.net\/awr\/awr0296.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/greatdetectives\/s\/www.greatdetectives.net\/awr\/awr0296.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/greatdetectives\/s\/www.greatdetectives.net\/awr\/awr0296.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/?powerpress_pinw=48895-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/greatdetectives\/s\/www.greatdetectives.net\/awr\/awr0296.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"awr0296.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/otr-detective-the-great-detectives-of-old-time-radio\/id335549005?mt=2&amp;ls=1#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.greatdetectives.net%2Fdetectives%2F%3Fp%3D48895\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_itunes\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Apple Podcasts\" rel=\"nofollow\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/7GUQWid20SBBSGRyZrPjhq\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_spotify\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Spotify\" rel=\"nofollow\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/otrdetectives\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_amazon\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Amazon Music\" rel=\"nofollow\">Amazon Music<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/podcast\/269-otr-detective-the-g-29542022\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_iheart\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on iHeartRadio\" rel=\"nofollow\">iHeartRadio<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribebyemail.com\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe by Email\" rel=\"nofollow\">Email<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/The-Great-Detectives-of-Old-Time-Radio-p329374\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_tunein\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on TuneIn\" rel=\"nofollow\">TuneIn<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/AWR-Cover-Art-1400.jpg\" alt=\"Amazing World of Radio\" width=\"202\" height=\"202\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"65\" data-end=\"301\">Welcome to another summer miniseries on <em data-start=\"105\" data-end=\"133\">The Amazing World of Radio<\/em>! This time around, we\u2019re featuring actors who played memorable killers on <em><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Columbo<\/span><\/span><\/em> and revisiting their work from the Golden Age of Radio.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"303\" data-end=\"656\">Our first featured performer is <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Eddie Albert<\/span><\/span>, who appeared in the Season One <em>Columbo<\/em> episode \u201cDead Weight\u201d as Major General Martin Hollister. Before television audiences knew him as a military legend with deadly secrets, Albert starred in this moving adaptation of <em data-start=\"593\" data-end=\"618\">The Farmer Takes a Wife<\/em> from <em data-start=\"624\" data-end=\"655\">Great Scenes from Great Plays<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"658\" data-end=\"997\">Originally broadcast on January 14, 1949, this radio drama captures a vanished chapter of American life along the Erie Canal, as changing times threaten an entire way of living. Co-starring Albert&#8217;s wife <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Margo<\/span><\/span>, the play explores love, loyalty, and the painful challenge of embracing change in a rapidly modernizing world.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"999\" data-end=\"1312\">Then, after the drama, we take a deep dive into the <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Columbo<\/span><\/span> episode \u201cDead Weight,\u201d examining Eddie Albert\u2019s nuanced performance, the production troubles behind the scenes, and the fascinating emotional undercurrents that make the episode more compelling than its reputation suggests.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"1314\" data-end=\"1317\" \/>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"11j7og5\" data-start=\"1319\" data-end=\"1337\">In This Episode<\/h2>\n<ul data-start=\"1339\" data-end=\"2012\">\n<li data-section-id=\"lior74\" data-start=\"1339\" data-end=\"1411\">The origins of the \u201cColumbo\u2019s Killers in Old Time Radio\u201d summer series<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1ktjwc0\" data-start=\"1412\" data-end=\"1478\">Inspiration from Shauna\u2019s <em data-start=\"1440\" data-end=\"1462\">Watching It For Days<\/em> YouTube channel<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"13hc5an\" data-start=\"1479\" data-end=\"1528\">Eddie Albert stars in <em data-start=\"1503\" data-end=\"1528\">The Farmer Takes a Wife<\/em><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"whjuy1\" data-start=\"1529\" data-end=\"1576\">Life and culture along the Erie Canal in 1835<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1yp7kvx\" data-start=\"1577\" data-end=\"1639\">Themes of change, progress, and stability in postwar America<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"q4eode\" data-start=\"1640\" data-end=\"1691\">Eddie Albert\u2019s performance and career reflections<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"avc24g\" data-start=\"1692\" data-end=\"1773\">A discussion of the <em><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Columbo<\/span><\/span><\/em> episode \u201cDead Weight\u201d<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"xhufu5\" data-start=\"1774\" data-end=\"1824\">Production problems during Season One of <em>Columbo<\/em><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"nw679w\" data-start=\"1825\" data-end=\"1879\">Character analysis of Major General Martin Hollister<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"iir2h2\" data-start=\"1880\" data-end=\"1923\">Suzanne Pleshette\u2019s role as Helen Stewart<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"wip7nx\" data-start=\"1924\" data-end=\"2012\">Why \u201cDead Weight\u201d works better as a character study than a traditional Columbo mystery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr data-start=\"2014\" data-end=\"2017\" \/>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"ybj0k0\" data-start=\"2019\" data-end=\"2035\">Featured Cast<\/h2>\n<ul data-start=\"2037\" data-end=\"2236\">\n<li data-section-id=\"16uh11\" data-start=\"2037\" data-end=\"2076\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Eddie Albert<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"btvcid\" data-start=\"2077\" data-end=\"2116\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Margo<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"u21111\" data-start=\"2117\" data-end=\"2156\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Walter Hampden<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1j40yc5\" data-start=\"2157\" data-end=\"2196\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Suzanne Pleshette<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"4w1vzp\" data-start=\"2197\" data-end=\"2236\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Peter Falk<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr data-start=\"2238\" data-end=\"2241\" \/>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"i15qxe\" data-start=\"2243\" data-end=\"2264\">Series Information<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"2266\" data-end=\"2382\">Program: <em data-start=\"2275\" data-end=\"2306\">Great Scenes from Great Plays<\/em><br data-start=\"2306\" data-end=\"2309\" \/>Episode: \u201cThe Farmer Takes a Wife\u201d<br data-start=\"2343\" data-end=\"2346\" \/>Original Broadcast: January 14, 1949<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"2384\" data-end=\"2387\" \/>\n<p data-start=\"2389\" data-end=\"2527\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Listen for more entries in our \u201cColumbo\u2019s Killers in Old Time Radio\u201d series throughout the summer.<\/p>\n<p>Go to <a href=\"http:\/\/amazing.greatdetectives.net\/\">http:\/\/amazing.greatdetectives.net<\/a> to subscribe to the podcast.<\/p>\n<p>Brought to you by the support of our Patreon listeners\u2026<a href=\"http:\/\/patreon.greatdetectives.net\/\">http:\/\/patreon.greatdetectives.net<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Support the show monthly at <a href=\"http:\/\/patreon.greatdetectives.net\/\">patreon.greatdetectives.net<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Support the show on a one-time basis at <a href=\"http:\/\/support.greatdetectives.net.\/\">http:\/\/support.greatdetectives.net.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/greatdetectives\/s\/www.greatdetectives.net\/awr\/awr0296.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio | Email | TuneIn | RSS &nbsp; Welcome to another summer miniseries on The Amazing World of Radio! This time around, we\u2019re featuring actors who played memorable killers on Columbo and revisiting their work from the Golden Age of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1067,6],"tags":[1075,6212,131,6207,6202,6206,5160,6203,7,6208,6211,6213,6215,288,4617,6209,6204,6214,6205,6210],"class_list":["post-48895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amazingradio","category-podcast","tag-amazing-world-of-radio","tag-classic-radio","tag-columbo","tag-columbos-killers","tag-eddie-albert","tag-erie-canal","tag-golden-age-of-radio","tag-great-scenes-from-great-plays","tag-old-time-radio","tag-old-time-radio-programs","tag-patreon-supporters","tag-podcast-series","tag-radio-adaptations","tag-radio-drama","tag-radio-history","tag-shauna","tag-the-farmer-takes-a-wife","tag-vintage-radio-shows","tag-walter-hampden","tag-youtube-channel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pECdK-cID","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48895"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48947,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48895\/revisions\/48947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdetectives.net\/detectives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}