Terry and the Pirates was a radio serial adapted from the comic strip of the same name created in 1934 by Milton Caniff. With storylines of action, high adventure and foreign intrigue, the popular radio series entralled listeners from 1937 through 1948. With scripts by Albert Barker, George Lowther and others, the program's directors included Cyril Armbrister, Wylie Adams and Marty Andrews.

The central character, Terry Lee, was portrayed at various times by Jackie Kelk, Cliff Carpenter, Owen Jordan and Bill Fein. Terry's buddy Pat Ryan was played by Bud Collyer, Warner Anderson, Bob Griffin and Larry Alexander. Others in Terry's Far East entourage were Flip Corkin (Ted de Corsia), Elita (Gerta Rozan), Burma (Frances Chaney), Hotshot Charlie (Cameron Andrews) and Connie the coolie (Cliff Norton, John Gibson, Peter Donald). Throughout the Orient, they encountered plenty of evildoers, including the Dragon Lady (Agnes Moorehead, Adelaide Klein, Marion Sweet), in such adventurous episodes as "Pirate Gold Detector Ring," "Deadly Current," "The Mechanical Eye" and "The Dragon Lady Strikes Back."

When the late afternoon series began, it was heard at 5:15pm, three times a week, sponsored by Dari-Rich, airing on NBC's Red network from November 1, 1937 to June 1, 1938. It switched to NBC Blue on September 26, 1938, continuing until March 22, 1939. Absent from the airwaves for over two years, it returned shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack, heard in the midwest on the Chicago Tribune's WGN. That series, sponsored by Libby's, aired five days a week from October 16, 1941 to May 29, 1942.

With increasing popularity during the WWII years, the show next took off at a fast pace on ABC Blue, airing daily for 15 minutes on weekday afternoons beginning February 1, 1943. The Quaker Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice "shot from guns" commercials often had a patriotic pitch. Douglas Browning was the announcer during the mid-1940s. After 1945, with no wartime villains for Terry and his pals to fight, ratings began to drop in the post-WWII period until the final episode on June 30, 1948.

Volume 1 Episode List

41-12-01 0041 41-12-02 0042 41-12-03 0043 41-12-04 0044 41-12-05 0045 41-12-08 0046 41-12-09 0047 41-12-10 0048 41-12-11 0049 41-12-12 0050 41-12-15 0051 41-12-16 0052 41-12-17 0053 41-12-18 0054 41-12-19 0055 41-12-22 0056 41-12-23 0057 41-12-24 0058 41-12-25 0059 41-12-26 0060 41-12-29 0061 41-12-30 0062 42-01-26 Dl Tries To Escape 42-01-27 Loudspeakers Scare 42-01-28 Firing Squad For Three 42-01-29 Truck Crashes In River 42-01-30 Under The Waterfall 42-02-02 Cheery Takes Sing-sing 42-02-03 Sing-sing Captured 42-02-04 Down Cliff On Rope 42-02-05 Burma Goes Up The Cliff 42-02-06 Dragon Lady Goes Up 42-02-09 Pat Shoots 42-02-10 Single File On Ledge 42-02-11 Captain Blaze Considers 42-02-12 Making A Smokescreen 42-02-13 Hennick Saves Blaze 42-02-16 Orphanage On Fire 42-02-17 Mrs.Finch Tells Why 42-02-18 Han Kidnaps April 42-02-19 Capt Blaze 42-02-24 Terry Pilots 42-02-25 Jap Soldiers Approach 42-03-04 From Irrawady To Hanoi 42-03-05 Hanoi Train Station 42-03-06 Pat Tells Slugger 42-03-09 Slugger Delivers Crate 42-03-11 April Arrives 42-03-12 Dillon Kane Found 42-03-13 Message To Yellow-hair 42-03-16 Escape From Temple 42-03-23 Using A Net 42-03-24 Sanjack Holds April 42-03-25 Baron And Slugger 42-03-26 Following The Baron 42-03-27 Baron And Slugger 42-03-30 Sanjacks Island Burns 42-03-31 Rescued From River 42-04-01 Smythe Heatherstone 42-04-02 Terry Nurses Dl 42-04-03 Dragon Ladys Secet 42-04-06 April Will Sing 42-04-07 Dragon Lady Comes 42-04-08 April And Fu Ling 42-04-09 Kidnapping 42-04-10 Slugger Uses Rainbow 42-04-16 Mind Reading Act 42-04-20 Jigger 42-04-21 Pat And Terry Captured 42-04-22 Rescued By Slugger 42-04-23 Smiley Knocked Out 42-04-24 Pat To Lead Chinese 42-04-27 Capturing Invader Car 42-04-28 Pat Addresses Troops 42-04-29 Dude Teaches Terry 42-04-30 Searching For Fu Ling 42-05-01 Rescuing Fu Ling 42-05-04 Dude Leaves 42-05-05 Terrys Plane-spotter 42-05-06 Plane Spotting Contest 42-05-07 Japs Plan A Trap 42-05-08 Japs Use Pat And Terry 42-05-11 Dude And Terry 42-05-12 Dude Terry Captured 42-05-13 Klang Uses Plane 42-05-14 Plane Shot Down 42-05-15 Dude Terry Escape 42-05-18 Teaching Slugger 42-05-19 Escaping From Yankuk 42-05-20 Jap Patrol Boards Junk 42-05-25 Driving Invader Tank 42-05-26 Enemy Marching 42-05-27 Bridge Collapses 42-05-28 Planes Heard Overhead 42-05-29 Pat Appointed Colonel 42-07-06 The Baron Von Krell 42-xx-xx Burma Working in Hospital 42-xx-xx In Calcutta India 43-xx-xx Calcutta Spies 44-01-10 The Baron in Disguise 44-01-27 Pat's Disguise Uncovered 44-02-03 Real Baron Is Alive 44-09-27 The Search for Abner Kane 44-10-19 Jap Attack 45-05-08 Planning a Vacation 45-09-24 The Adventure of the Thirteen Keys 46-12-02 The Bugged Hotel Room 46-12-04 Representative Moss Bunker 46-12-11 Aprehending Cuthney 46-12-13 Cuthney Drops Dead 46-12-20 The Search for Dr Quill 46-12-23 The Search for Dr Quill 46-12-25 Christmas in Rhyme 47-01-15 Abduction of Ginger Lee 47-07-14 TCOT Goofy Gosling 47-08-01 Under A Pile of Hay 47-10-12 The Pirate Gold Detector Ring 47-10-14 The Dragon Lady Strikes Back 47-10-20 The Dragon Lady Strikes Back 47-10-24 The Dragon Lady Strikes Back 47-10-31 The Dragon Lady Strikes Back 47-11-xx The Dragon Lady Strikes Back Dragon Lady Strikes, part 1 Dragon Lady Strikes, part 2 The Mechanical Eye