Enjoy two free comedy episodes of Life With Luigi w/ J. Carrol Naish

A) 5/2/50 “Sootho Cough Syrup”

B) 7/4/50 “July 4th Parade"

For five years, character actor and two-time Academy Award nominee J. Carrol Naish played Luigi Basco, the hard-working Italian immigrant owner of an antique store who attended night school classes in order to become a fully-fledged American citizen. Set in Chicago’s Italian community in the postwar era, the adventures of inexperienced young Luigi were hilarious and heart-warming in equal measure. Luigi’s ‘friend’ spaghetti-restaurant owner Pasquale was constantly attempting to marry Luigi off to his overweight and dim-witted daughter Rosa. Luigi, on the other hand, was equally determined not to have Pasquale as a father-in-law. Many episodes took place in Luigi’s citizenship class where he and Schultz, a German immigrant and fellow classmate, tested the patience of kindly teacher, Miss Spaulding. Every episode opened and closed with a touching letter dictated by Luigi to his beloved Momma-Mia Basco, back home in Italy. Alan Reed (the voice of Fred Flintstone) played Pasquale, Jody Gilbert was Rosa, Hans Conried was Schultz and Mary Shipp was Miss Spaulding. The show was created by Cy Howard, who also gave us My Friend Irma. Its radio run was September 21, 1948 until March 3, 1953 (some of that time it was sponsored by Wrigley’s gum) and made a short-lived transition to television in 1952.

Enjoy two free mystery episodes of Escape w/ William Conrad

A) 7/11/48 She

B) 9/12/48 Evening Primrose

Escape was radio's leading anthology series of high-adventure, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 until September 25, 1954. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with this introduction, as intoned by Paul Frees or William Conrad: Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape! Following the opening theme, a second announcer (usually Roy Rowan) would add … Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half-hour of high adventure! Like its first cousin Suspense, many of the Escape stories, both originals and adaptations, involved the protagonists in dire, life-or-death straits. For most of its seven-year run Escape did not have a sponsor, so CBS only sprung for name stars on rare occasions. Instead, Escape relied on radio’s row for lead and supporting roles, including Eleanor Audley, Parley Baer, Harry Bartell, William Conrad, Ted de Corsia, John Dehner, Sam Edwards, Virginia Gregg, Lou Merrill, Howard McNear, Jeanette Nolan, Alan Reed, Bill Johnstone, Berry Kroeger, Vic Perrin, Elliott Lewis, Peggy Webber and Will Wright. Music was supplied by Del Castillo, Ivan Ditmars, Cy Feuer, Wilbur Hatch and Leith Stevens. The announcers were Paul Frees and Roy Rowan.

Enjoy two free western episodes of Wild Bill Hickok w/ Guy Madison and Andy Devine

A) 6/3/51 The Missouri Kid

B) 7/29/51

James Butler Hickok, better known as “Wild Bill” Hickok was a folk hero of the American Old West known for being a lawman, gunfighter, gambler and showman. He earned a great deal of notoriety in life and in death. His life has been depicted numerous times in literature, radio, television and film. His death is also quite notable – he was shot and killed while playing five-card stud. He was holding two pairs, black aces and black eights, which has become known as “Dead Man’s Hand.” In 1951, Kellogg’s cereals brought Wild Bill Hickok to radio and television starring Guy Madison as U.S. Marshal Wild Bill Hickok and Andy Devine as his gravel-voiced comedy sidekick Jingles P. Jones. The series used a familiar western scenario enjoyed by producers of “Hopalong Cassidy” and “The Cisco Kid” in which a strong, fearless hero is accompanied by a comic sidekick. During the 1950s, several episodes of the television shows were spliced together and released as 16 feature films by Monogram Pictures.

Enjoy two free detective episodes of Pat Novak, For Hire w/ Jack Webb

A) 4/2/49 Father Leahy

B) 6/12/49 Georgie Lampson

Beginning in 1946, Jack Webb portrayed Pat Novak, a tough, wisecracking, and cynical amateur detective, firmly in the tradition of Philip Marlowe. Just about every one of Novak’s clients attempted to double-cross him or frame him for murder. Whether he was hired to act as a bodyguard or ride shotgun on a cross-country trip, the ever-suspicious Novak knew things would get complicated. A crime would take place, and Novak would be in the frame. Somehow, he always managed to come out on top and clear his name. The episodes were fast-moving with plenty of action. The dialogue was hardboiled, the soliloquies poetic, and cynical Novak had a never-ending stock of one-liners. For clarification, Pat Novak wasn’t really a detective. He owned a waterfront boat shop on Pier 19 in San Francisco. He rented out boats and, on occasion, accepted odd jobs when offered enough money. Police Inspector Hellman, played by Raymond Burr, was constantly trying to lock Novak up and throw away the key. After the two had traded the usual insults, Novak set off to save himself by tracking down the guilty party and bringing him or her to justice. The radio program was first heard as a regional West Coast offering. It was produced at KGO in San Francisco and featured genuine sound recordings of the city’s waterfront to add realism. From 1949, when the program moved to ABC for nationwide coverage, sound effects were created in the studio. Near the end of the run, Ben Morris replaced Jack Webb, who went to Los Angeles to work on other detective dramas including Johnny Madero, Pier 23, and Dragnet. Morris did not have the same ability as his predecessor to deliver rapid-fire dialogue and by 1949 the program (suffering from stiff competition) was cancelled.

Enjoy two free mystery episodes of Suspense w/ Ronald Reagan

A) 3/8/54 Circumstantial Terror

B) 4/5/55 Zero Hour

Conceived as a potential radio vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock to direct, Suspense was a radio series of epic proportion. Hitchcock directed an audition show but was unable to avail himself for its radio run on CBS (1942-1962). Considered by many to be the best mystery/drama series of the golden age, Suspense was known as “Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills” and focused on suspenseful stories starring the biggest names in Hollywood. Early in the run, the episodes were hosted by “The Man in Black” who, from an omniscient perch, narrated stories of people thrown into dangerous or bizarre situations with plots that, at the very end, usually had an unseen twist or two. Suspense had the ability to “stir your nerves and withhold solutions until the last possible moment.” Hollywood’s finest actors jumped at the chance to appear on Suspense, including Cary Grant, James Stewart, Alan Ladd, Henry Fonda, Ronald Colman, Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Ford, Robert Montgomery, Bette Davis and Orson Welles. Agnes Moorehead was dubbed “The First Lady of Suspense” for having starred in more episodes than any other actor. Music for Suspense was by Bernard Herrmann (Lucille Fletcher’s husband from 1938-1948) and scripts were by John Dickson Carr, E. Jack Neuman, Robert Tallman, Mel Dinelli, Lucille Fletcher, James Poe, Ray Bradbury and many others. Running more than 20 years, Suspense aired nearly 1,000 radio broadcasts. It made the transition to television in 1949, but it was much better suited for radio, where thetheatre of the mind could run free.

Enjoy two free true-crime episodes of The Black Museum w/ Orson Welles

A) 5/10/53 The Brass Button

B) 3/18/52 The Pink Powder Puff

Produced in the UK and starring Orson Welles, The Black Museum specialized in recreating colorful true murder cases taken from the annals of Scotland Yard. At the real Black Museum, located at the Metropolitan Police headquarters in London, artifacts from famous criminal trials are displayed. These curious and sometimes gory relics – a yellowed tooth, a battered trunk, a blood-stained knife – gave Welles the opportunity to dramatize the murder cases in which they played vital roles. The series, which emphasized crime-solving techniques, offered American listeners the chance to observe how British “Coppers” tracked down culprits. Released through MGM Radio Attractions and broadcast over Mutual, the series eventually gained a sponsor, General Mills. NBC was initially approached by the producer, Harry Alan Towers, but decided to create its own in-house version, Whitehall 1212 – the phone number of Scotland Yard. Wyllis Cooper, the writer and director of the NBC series, beat Mutual to the punch and Whitehall 1212 went on air two months before The Black Museum. For a period of six months, radio listeners could hear two semi-documentary murder stories from the case files of Scotland Yard, on two separate networks. Gripping and well-paced, The Black Museum outranked its competitor, with its horror value upped by Welles’ portentous narration, which bridged the plot sequences. Recording the program in the UK, with British actors playing all the roles also gave authenticity to the dramatizations of crimes that took place abroad. Producer Harry Alan Towers maintained a high level of consistency and quality throughout the series, and the venture was profitable enough for him to convince Welles to star in another radio vehicle, The Lives of Harry Lime.

Enjoy two free detective episodes of The Fat Man w/ J. Scott Smart

A) 1/21/46 The 19th Pearl (premier episode in the series)

B) 7/8/46 The Black Angel

Building on the radio successes of The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective and The Adventures of the Thin Man, Dashiell Hammett came up with the concept for The Fat Man in 1946. Although Hammett is said to have disliked the radio incarnations of Sam Spade and The Thin Man, he grew to appreciate the sizable checks sent to him by radio producer E. J. Rosenberg (especially since Hammett was said to have been experiencing writer’s block at this time). Unlike the preceding radio programs, The Fat Man was not adapted from a novel, but was inspired by a fictional character – Casper Gutman the overweight villain in The Maltese Falcon. In the radio series, the witty ladies’ man and rotund private detective went by the name of Brad Runyon. He weighed 240+ pounds and solved crimes in the time-honored manner of a 1940s detective. Runyon’s extra weight did not impede him in this sleuthing, in fact he used it to his advantage, often successfully pinning down a henchman or gunman. Jack Scott Smart, (he went by J. Scott Smart) a performer from the earliest days of radio drama, played the title role. Smart looked the part and willingly participated in many publicity photo shoots. When Dashiell Hammett was named in the notorious Red Channels report in the summer of 1951, executives at ABC feared retribution from Hollywood and quickly disassociated themselves from the suspected Communist. Within three months of the report’s publication, The Fat Man was dropped from the air.

Enjoy two free western episodes of Have Gun-Will Travel w/ John Dehner

A) 7/26/59 The Wager

B) 8/9/59 Finn Alley

The Have Gun-Will Travel radio series starred John Dehner and followed the adventures of Paladin, a soldier of fortune-turned-hired gunfighter. Paladin was a former Union cavalry officer, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, and a veteran of the American Civil War. Taking his name from that of the foremost knight warriors in Charlemagne’s court, Paladin preferred to settle problems without violence, yet, when forced to fight, excelled. He lived at the swanky Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where he dressed in formal wear, ate gourmet food, attended the opera and enjoyed the company of beautiful women. When working as a gun-for-hire, he dressed in all black, gave out business cards imprinted with “Have Gun Will Travel” and wore a holster, decorated by a characteristic chess knight emblem. The knight symbol was in reference to his name and his occupation as a champion-for-hire. Paladin charged steep fees to clients who could afford him and provided his services for free to those who could not. A western favorite, Have Gun-Will Travel began as a television show in 1957 starring Richard Boone. It became one of the few TV series to spawn a radio version. Have Gun-Will Travel ran on radio from 1958 until 1960 and was televised from 1957 through 1963. Most of the 106 radio episodes were adapted for television. Of the 225 television episodes, Gene Roddenberry (future creator of Star Trek) wrote two dozen.

Enjoy two free comedy episodes of The Burns & Allen Show w/ George Burns & Gracie Allen

A) 3/7/44 w/ guest, Alan Ladd

B) 2/1/50 w/ guest, Al Jolson

George Burns and Gracie Allen – a real-life married couple – performed a comedy routine with Gracie as the funny woman and George as the straight man. Millions of radio listeners truly believed Gracie was as dumb as she sounded which was a tribute to both her comic brilliance and the top-notch scripts. For two decades the duo had a weekly following on radio, which culminated with a decade-long television show. George and Gracie continually revised their act, moving from vaudeville crossfire to full-stage situation comedy. At first, their characters were not romantically linked. In 1936, Gracie decided to help educate singer Tony Martin about the opposite sex by flirting with him. Actor Paul Douglas, then an announcer, was also on the receiving end of Gracie’s affections in 1938. It was only later that George’s character began pursuing Gracie. By 1942, Gracie’s flirtations with other men had been shelved and the program evolved into a husband and wife situation comedy series with occasional guest stars. Ever the businessman, George Burns (and wife Gracie) left NBC and signed a lucrative contract with CBS that included television. Gracie was hesitant about TV at first but quickly discovered that she was a pro in front of the camera. On TV, George would often break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience while Gracie continued to play dumb. In 1958, after eight years on television, Gracie retired and after her passing, George kept himself busy by acting in films. He earned an Oscar for his role in The Sunshine Boys and starred as “God” alongside John Denver in the Oh, God! films.

Enjoy two free horror episodes of The Mysterious Traveler w/ Maurice Tarplin

A) 12/29/46 If You Believe

B) 7/27/47 The Man the Insects Hated

The Mysterious Traveler was a malevolent male figure (in one episode he described himself as a retired doctor) who rode the same passenger train every week. He invited listeners on a “journey into the realm of mystery and the unknown” that might involve ghosts, time travelers, death-row inmates, crooked lawyers, or made scientists. Created by Robert Arthur and David Kogan, The Mysterious Traveler came Mutual radio in 1943 and was mostly broadcast without a sponsor. Maurice Tarplin was the voice of the traveler, who could also be heard in supporting roles (if you listened closely). Supporting casts included Santos Ortega, Ross Martin, Art Carney (who would later play Ed Norton on “The Honeymooners”), Lon Clark, Jackson Beck, Lawson Zerbe and Joseph Julian. Arthur and Kogan would often recycle scripts for The Mysterious Traveler that they wrote for their two other series, The Strange Dr. Weird and The Sealed Book. In 1952, the last year it was on the air, the series won the Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Mystery Radio Show of the Year.