Zoomer Radio's Theatre of the Mind

We begin tonight with a listen to some sci-fi radio that was popular in the mid Nineteen fifties. The series was called X Minus One. It was broadcast from April 24, 1955 to January 9, 1958 in various timeslots on NBC. Known for high production values in adapting stories from the leading American authors of the era, X Minus One has been described as one of the finest offerings of American radio drama and one of the best science fiction series in any medium. Tonight’s episode is entitled “No Contact”

After, stay tuned for a visit with a guy who is better known as The Great Gildersleeve, but tonight, Harold Peary inhabits the character Honest Harold, a DJ in a small radio station. The episode is entitled “Shark Repellent which was first broadcast in 1950.

"The James Clayton Matter" - Your Truly Johnny Dollar (1952) & "Character References" - Life with Luigi (1949)

Let’s begin tonight’s fare by going back to 1952 for a visit with Johnny Dollar, an insurance investigator who notates every little expense at the end of each case. Tonight’s episode is entitled The James Clayton Matter.

After, let me take you back to 1949 for a listen to a very gentle comedy series that dealt with Luigi Basco, a new immigrant to Chicago, trying to make his way in a new land. Tonight’s episode is called Character References.

"Nightfall" - X Minus One (1955) & "Hopalong Cassidy" - The Martin & Lewis Show (1949)

Tonight we hear another strange story from the series X Minus One. This episode is entitled “Nightfall”.

And stay tuned for for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis on a trip back to 1940 and show starring two talented guys on the way to a fantastic career.

"Red Beard" - Bold Venture (1947) & "Jr. Goes to the Department Store" - The Red Skelton Show (1948)

Tonight, Humpfrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in the show Bold Venture!

And stay tuned for the Red Skelton Show. How can one man have so many weird and funny characters in the same body? That’s the genius of Red Skelton who tonight portrays Junior as he goes to a department store!

"Eight to Twelve" - The Whistler (1947) & "Gildy Arrested" - The Great Gildersleeve (1942)

You're walking alone on the street at night, but then you hear another set of footsteps and a haunting tune being whistled by an unseen stranger. Fritz Lang used an similar premise in his 1930s German movie with Peter Lorre playing M, a psychopathic murderer of children. But the American radio series was even creepier. The unseen Whistler didn't kill anyone (that we know of), but he certainly loved watching murders take place, narrating them for us, and chuckling at the suffering of others instead of doing anything to stop it. Unlike M, he was never caught. He kept walking the streets every week for thirteen long years, whistling his ominous thirteen notes and telling us another tale of bizarre fate. Perhaps Fate is who the Whistler really was? He never provided any sir name, and the killer was usually punished by some twist of fate that only The Whistler seemed to expect. It is very likely The Whistler was inspired by The Shadow, which began nearly a decade earlier. Like the Shadow, the

Whistler seemed to enter and exit the criminal underworld without ever being seen. He would watch the evil doers carry out their schemes, yet they never saw him, even though he would tell us what they were thinking in their presence. His voice sounded equally sinister to The Shadow, too. It was was a slithering tenor, hissing the "S's" and often laughing at the foolishness of the guilty. Tonight we hear the episode “Eight to Twelve” which first aired in 1947.

And stay tuned for Harold Peary as the Great Gildersleeve who tonight, gets arrested!

"The Ghost Who Came to Dinner" - The Saint (1951) & "Hillbilly Feud" - The Jack Benny Program (1940)