Terry and the Pirates

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 Alan Young Show

The series began on NBC Radio as a summer replacement situation comedy in 1944, featuring vocalist Bea Wain. It then moved to ABC Radio with Jean Gillespie portraying Young's girlfriend Betty. The program was next broadcast by NBC for a 1946-47 run and was off in 1948. When it returned to NBC in 1949, Louise Erickson played Betty and Jim Backus was heard as snobbish playboy Hubert Updike III.

Richard Diamond

In 1945, Dick Powell portraid Phillip Marlowe in the movie "Murder My Sweet" based on Raymond Chandler's novel "Farewell My Lovely." This was a radical departure in character for Mr. Powell from a Hollywood song and dance man to a hard-boiled detective. On June 11, 1945, the LUX RADIO THEATER brought "Murder My Sweet" to radio, again with Dick Powell in the lead. These two performances prompted his selection for the part of Richard Rogue, in ROGUE'S GALLERY after his role for LUX and Richard Diamond four years later.

The Black Museum

Opening in 1875, the Crime Museum at Scotland Yard is the oldest museum in the world purely for recording crime. The name "Black Museum" was coined in 1877 by a reporter from "The Observer", a London newspaper, although the museum is still referred to as the Crime Museum. It is this museum that inspired THE BLACK MUSEUM radio series, produced in London by Harry Alan Towers.

The Whistler

The Whistler was one of radio's most popular mystery dramas, as indicated by the lengthy 13-year run of the series from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. Writer-producer J. Donald Wilson established the tone of the show during its first two years, and he was followed in 1944 by producer-director George Allen. Other directors included Sterling Tracy and Sherman Marks with final scripts by Joel Malone and Harold Swanton. A total of 692 episodes were produced, yet despite the series' fame, over 200 episodes are lost today.

X Minus One!

X Minus One holds the record for the longest running SF radio series ever produced, airing on NBC for almost three years (1955-58) and spanning 115 episodes, plus several remakes and one 'revival' show. However, as successful as it was, the popularity of radio drama was on the wane as the juggernaut of television inexorably took over the home. Low budgets and increasingly disinterested sponsors made production difficult, but these adversities were somewhat counterbalanced by a direct tie-in with Galaxy magazine, a popular SF digest of the period. Most of the stories were culled directly from the pages of Galaxy, or remakes of stories produced for Dimension X (of which X Minus One was originally a revival series).

Lights Out

Lights Out was an American old-time radio program featuring "tales of the supernatural and the supernormal."

It was immensely popular, and was one of the first horror programs, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. In its heydey, Lights Out rivalled the popularity of those shows.

Pat O'Daniel and his Hillbilly Boys

Pat O'Daniel and his Hillbilly Boys was a Texan Western swing band with its own radio program during the mid-1930s. Pat O'Daniel, the son of "Pappy" O'Daniel, was the band's leader. The Hillbilly Boys, associated with Pappy O'Daniel's flour company which produced Hillbilly Flour, helped catapult Pappy O'Daniel to the governorship of Texas (although this is often credited to Pappy O'Daniel's earlier band, the Light Crust Doughboys).

Gunsmoke

The radio show ran from 1952 until 1961 on the CBS radio network, with William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell, and Parley Baer as Deputy Chester Proudfoot. Doc's first name and Chester's last name were changed for the television program.

Gene Autry

From 1940 to 1956, Autry had a huge hit with a weekly show on CBS Radio, Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. His horse, Champion, also had a CBS-TV and Mutual radio series, The Adventures of Champion. He created the Cowboy Code, or Cowboy Commandments, in response to his young radio listeners aspiring to emulate him.