Gunsmoke

William Conrad as Matt Dillon

This great western series was first broadcast in 1955. It is one of the best-remembered Western adventure series because of it's excellent writing and acting and the remarkable realism of the sound effects, right down to the clink of th spurs and the creaking of the floorboards whenever anyone walked across the saloon floor. William Conrad starred as Matt Dillion, U.S. Marshall and Parley Baer starred as his deputy, Chester Goode. The supporting cast included Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell and Howard McNear as Doc Adams. Did you know Chester’s character had no surname until Parley Baer ad libbed “Proudfoot” during an early rehearsal. The amiable character was usually described as Dillon’s “assistant,” but in the December 13, 1952, episode “Post Martin,” Dillon described Chester as Dillon’s deputy. Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, Kansas between 1872 and 1885.  Dodge City, known as the "Queen of the Cow Towns," the "Wicked Little City," the "Gomorrah of the Plains," had a reputation as a hostile, lawless town where the "fastest gun" ruled.

Chester and Matt on patrol

By the way, one of my favorite character actors, John Denner made numerous guest appearences on Gunsmoke, but also starred in his own radio western, Have Gun, Will Travel.

Program Opening: 

ANNOUNCER; “Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there’s just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers and that’s with a U.S. Marshal and the smell of gunsmoke!
"GUNSMOKE" starring William Conrad. The story of the violence that moved west with young America -- and the story of a man who moved with it. (MUSIC: OUT)
MATT:  I'm that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshall -- the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancy job -- and it makes a man watchful...and a little lonely."
You can purchase excellent sets of Gunsmoke from MyRadioClassics.com.  All of these programs are full-length, uncut original radio broadcasts from the original transcriptions. A word of advice; stay away from the MP3 download versions that are available for purchase or download on the internet. These versions are all poor quality and all the warmth and life as been sucked out of them through compression to be able to cram hundreds of shows into one file. The source I just mentioned provides excellent quality, digitally remastered and restored, full broadcast quality Classic Radio Programs.

Burns and Allen - George Burns and Gracie Allen

George Burns and Gracie Allen

The Burns and Allen Radio show, of course, starred George Burns and Gracie Allen. They were among the many vaudevillians who attained great success in radio. George was essentially the straight man for Gracie's addled responses. Often, when their time was up or his patience was exhausted, George would end their comedy routines with "Say good night, Gracie," which Gracie would cheerfully do. One of the best-remembered characters on the program was "The Happy Postman," played by Mel Blanc. Speaking in a voice just on the verge of tears, he spoke of cheerful things in a most depressing tone. Mel Blanc played many characters on numerous radio programs including the Jack Benny Program and later starred on his own show "The Mel Blanc Show." By the way, George and Gracie first performed on radio in 1929 over the BBC while touring England after an NBC executive rejected their act insisting that "Gracie’s voice is too squeaky—absolutely unfit for radio."
Show introduction: (Doorbell)…. “Well Hello, come right in, Oh George, we’ve got company!” The Adventures of George and Gracie premiered on CBS on September 19,1934.

Gracie for President (1940)

One of the most famous running gags was “Gracie Allen for President.” During the election year of 1940, Gracie represented the fictitious Surprise Party and advocated nonsense as part of her platform. The “campaign” was so successful that Gracie actually received numerous write-in votes on election day. You can purchase a CD set of these rare original radio broadcasts from MyRadioClassics.com. In 1950, Burns and Allen transitioned to television with The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. An immediate success, the half-hour situation comedy was broadcast October 12, 1950 – September 22, 1958, on CBS.

List of Sponsors:
Campbell's Tomato Juice (1935
Campbell's Soup (1936)
Grape Nuts (1937)
Chesterfield Cigarettes (1938)
Hinds Honey and Almond Cream (1940)
Hormel and Spam (1940)
Swan Soap Flakes (1941)
Maxwell House Coffee (1945)

Cast:
George Burns and Gracie Allen
The Happy Postman - Mel Blanc
Tootsie Stagwell - Elvia Allman
Mrs. Billingsley - Margaret Brayton
Waldo - Dick Crenna
Herman, the Duck - Clarence Nash
The show also featured:
Gale Gordon, Hans Conried, Henry Blair.
Vocalist: Tony Martin, Jimmy Cash, Dick Foran
Orchestra: Jacques Renard, Ray Noble, Paul Whiteman, Meredith Willson
Theme: Love Nest
Announcers: Ted Husing, Harry Von Zell, Jimmy Wallington, Bill Goodwin, Toby Reed.

Amos 'n' Andy

Godsden and Correll in character

Amos 'n' Andy  - starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll

Gosden and Correll made their debut on radio on January12, 1926, as the blackface characters Sam 'n' Henry. The program was carried over WGN Chicago. On March 19, 1928, over WMAQ Chicago, they introduced Amos 'n' Andy, which went on to become one of the most popular and longest running programs in radio history.  The series ran six nights a week for a while, then five nights, first at 11:00 p.m. and later at 7:00 p.m. The first network broadcast was over NBC on August 19, 1929. During the height of it's popularity almost the entire country listened to Amos 'n' Andy. Department stores open in the evening piped in the broadcasts so shoppers wouldn't miss an episode; movie theaters scheduled their features to end just prior to 7:00 p.m. and to start again at 7:15, while they too piped in Amos 'n' Andy; and the program was frequently referred to in the Congressional Record.
"Amos," "Andy," and many of the characters belonged to the "Mystic Knights of the Sea Lodge," of which "George Stevens" was "The Kingfish." "Amos" and "Andy" ran the "Fresh-Air Taxi Company," with the more stable, married "Amos" doing most of the work while "Andy" chased girls. One of the best remembered sequences was the time "Andy" almost married "Madame Queen." Each year at Christmas time, "Amos" interpreted the Lord's Prayer for his little daughter Arbadella in a perennially popular sequence.

An early photo of Godsden and Correll during a program

In 1930, RKO Radio Pictures starred Gosden and Correll in an Amos 'n' Andy feature film, Check and Double Check. The cast included a mix of white and black performers including Duke Ellington and his orchestra with Gosden and Correll playing Amos 'n' Andy in blackface.
During the first years of its run Amos 'n' Andy was a fifteen-minute program. It was sponsored by Pepsodent from 1929 to 1937 and by Campbell's Soup from 1937 to 1943. Later the program ran once a week, was thirty minutes long, and was sponsored by Rinso and then Rexall. In the 1950s Amos and Andy performed in a weekly half-hour series called The Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall.
The Amos 'n Andy Show was adapted for television and began it's short-lived run June 1951 to April 1953 with 78 filmed episodes. The television series used black actors in the main roles. Almost immediately the show was attacked by the NAACP as racist and the sponsor Blatz Beer, was targeted as well with the company discontinuing it's sponsorship in 1953. You can still see the Amos 'n' Andy show on DVD. It is available on this website. Two wonderful volumes of the Amos 'n' Andy radio broadcasts are available from MyRadioClassics.com. These are the original broadcasts, uncut, full-length with the original commercials for Rinso. Enjoy!

Amos 'n' Andy Radio Cast:
Amos Jones - Freeman Gosden
Andy (Andrew H. Brown) - Charles Correll
Kingfish (George Stevens) - Freeman Gosden
Lightnin' - Freeman Gosden
Henry Van Porter - Charles Correll
Ruby Taylor - Elinor Harriot
Madame Queen - Harriette Widmer
The Little Girl (Arbadella) - Terry Howard
Shorty, the barber - Lou Liubin
Sapphire Stevens - Ernestine Wade
Stonewall, the lawyer - Eddie Green
Miss Genevieve Blue - Madaline Lee

Orchestra and Chorus: Jeff Alexander
The Jubalaires singing group: George McFadden, Theodore Brooks, John Jennings, Caleb Ginyard
Announcers: Bill Hay, Del Sharbutt, Olan Soule, Harlow Wilcox.

Themes: "The Perfect Song," "Angel's Serenade."

Catch-phrases:
I'se rregusted!
Ow wah, ow wah, ow wah!
Buzz me, Miss Blue!
Check and double-check.
Now ain't that sumpin'?
Holy mackerel, Andy!

The Beulah Show - Old Time Radio

Marlin Hurt as Beulah

The Beulah Show

The Beulah Show  ran on CBS Radio from 1945 to 1954. The character of Beulah, a Negro maid, was first portrayed by Marlin Hurt, a white man, on Fibber McGee and Molly. One of the peculiarities of radio was that it was possible for such a situation to occur—a white man playing a Negro woman—with no one the wiser among the home audience. As a matter of fact, great use was made of the surprise element on Fibber McGee and Molly since Hurt stood quietly with his back to the mike as Beulah's entrance neared and then suddenly on cue whirled around and screamed out her opening line, "Somebody bawl for Beulah?" The studio audience never failed to register surprise, laughter, and applause.
Later, as a "spin-off," Beulah became the central character on the Beulah Show as a half-hour, once-a-week CBS program sponsored by Tums. It was also know as The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show. Following Hurt's death in 1947, the program was revived on ABC, also in a half-hour, weekly format. Finally, it moved to CBS as a fifteen-minute, three-times-a-week, early evening broadcast with the startling innovation of letting an actual Negro woman play Beulah. Later Beulah came to television on ABC from 1950-52 before finally being canceled during the accusations of racism by the NAACP which also led the protest against Amos 'n' Andy. Ethel Waters starred as Beulah in the first year, then Hattie McDaniel the second year. However Hattie only filmed six shows before falling ill. The McDaniel episodes were shelved pending an improvement of her health, and so the second season began in April 1952 starring the Louise Beavers. Only seven of there rare TV classics are known to exist on DVD. 87 episodes were filmed in 35mm for syndication and have been archived somewhere, probably in an underground bunker so they will never see the light of day since they are not considered totally taboo and politically incorrect. If you'd like to see the seven existing episodes on DVD you can visit MyVideoClassics.com.

Beulah Radio Cast:

Beulah - Marlin Hurt, Bob Corley, Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers, Lillian Randolph.
Bill Jackson, Beulah's Boyfriend - Marlin Hurt, Ernest Whitman.
Harry Henderson - Hugh Studebaker, Jess Kirkpatrick
Alice Henderson - Mary Jane Croft, Lois Corbett
Donnie Henderson - Henry Blair
Oriole - Ruby Dandridge
Mr. Jenkins - John Brown

Vocalist: Carol Stewart, Penny Piper
Orchestra: Buzz Adlam, Albert Sack
Announcers: Hank Weaver, Ken Niles, Marvin Miller, Johnny Jacobs

Catch-phrases:

BEULAH. Love dat man!
BEULAH. Somebody bawl for Beulah?
BEULAH. On the con-positively-trairy!

The show opening had Beulah singing:
Got the world in a jug, Lawd
Got the stopper in my hand! (Chuckles)