Radio America

The format of the series was similar to Skelton's radio program. Each show began with Skelton performing a monologue based on topical material, followed by a musical interlude. He would then perform in a series of blackout sketches featuring one or more of his characters. The sketches were a mixture of new material and old routines (including his popular "Guzzler's Gin") perfected over the years in vaudeville and in nightclubs. At the end of the program, Skelton would become serious and express his gratitude to his audience for their love and laughter. His signature closing line became "Good night and may God bless."

Born in Decatur, Michigan in 1903, Edgar Bergen developed a talent for ventriloquism at a young age. When Bergen asked a local carpenter to create a dummy, the wisecracking Charlie McCarthy was born. The duo began their career as talent show headliners, performing in Chicago while Bergen attended Northwestern University. Bergen eventually left Northwestern to concentrate on performing, but Charlie received an honorary degree from the school in 1938, a “Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comebacks.”

Serling has come to the top of his profession in a remarkably short span of time. He was born in Syracuse, New York, on December 25, 1924, the son of a wholesale butcher. He grew up in Binghamton, New York, and attended local public schools; he was president of his high school class and editor of the student newspaper. After his graduation in 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army as a paratrooper.

Every week 20 million listeners tuned in to catch the verbal antics of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello-two former vaudevillians who took rapid-fire repartee to a new level. Now you can relive the Golden Age of Radio with The Abbott and Costello Show, Radio Spirits' first big collection of Bud and Lou classics