This is a 64 kbs version of a weekly program which began on a now defunct low power FM station (KSOW) in Cottage Grove, OR Since there seems to be some interest in the show I have decided to continue . In this connection I will post a new show by Tuesday or Wednesday of each week. I will post a new show by Tuesday or Wednesday of each week. There is also a 128 bit version.
In the main, each episode consists of four approximately 30-minute long programs (not always, as sometimes I use a longer form show, so it may be 3 or fewer) and some filler to bring them in at 120 minutes.
Crime Classics â How Supan got The Hook (01/13/54) Nightfall â Special Services (10/10/80) Escape â The Scarlet Plague (4/8/54) Theater Five â To Be or Not to Be, Maybe! (11/19/64)
Segment One: Crime Classics â How Supan got the hook (01/13/54) Crime Classics is sometimes called a, âDocudramaâ( I know Iâve been guilty of that myself). But I have come to think that this is a bit too grand a claim. To start off with you have, in the person of the host, a completely fictional âexpertâ. There is not now nor was there ever a ,â Thomas Hylandâ. Also, I have found while researching backgrounds of individual programs the historical content to be a bit dodgy; with the show willingly repeating legends and interesting anecdotes as well-established facts. Nonetheless, I will rise in defense of the program (of which I am very fond), to remind you that the entertainment industry of the 1950s was not different from that of our own time when inconvenient facts are simply not allowed to interfere with a good story. I do not think that producer/writer Elliott Lewis intended for these shows to be taken as historical documents. He was, after all, a producer of popular entertainment using the vehicle of tongue-in-cheek re-creations of some of historyâs more interesting crimes. The fact is Crime Classics freely mixes fact and fiction and tosses in apocryphal and anecdotal details as garnishments. I donât think the producers were attempting to create a historically accurate account but entertainment. In this they succeeded, for entertaining, they were and are.
For today we have a story of brotherly love, accented with a couple of sweet sisters-in-law, spiced by jealousy, and leavened with revenge.
To start things off there is a little push. The tiger doesnât come into things until right near the end.
Segment Two: Nightfall â Special Services (10/10/80) Nightfall, was a radio drama series produced by CBC Radio from July 1980 to June 1983. While primarily a supernatural/horror series, Nightfall featured some episodes in other genres, such as science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and human drama. The series became one of the most popular shows in CBC Radio history, running 100 episodes that featured a mix of original tales and adaptations of both classic and obscure short stories.
In this episode, a couple who are on their way to visit a sick aunt is run off the road by an ambulance. That might seem a lucky strike, I mean under the circumstances, at least there was an ambulance handy. Maybe it wasnât so lucky after all.
The gravely injured husband is rushed to a âspecial servicesâ hospital, which only treats the elite of society. Again, what seems like a lucky break becomes questionable as he dies suddenly. After a while the wife begins to suspect the doctors are lying about his sudden demise in the operating room.
Segment Three: Escape â The Scarlet Plague (4/6/54).
The Scarlet Plague is an adaptation by Escape of a post-apocalyptic novel written by Jack London published in London Magazine in 1912. The story takes place in 2073, sixty years after an uncontrollable epidemic known as, âThe Red Deathâ has depopulated the planet. Itâs a fairly long story, which takes the form of a reminiscence of the main character on the disaster and its aftermath as told to his grandchildren. The original story ends on a reasonably happy note. Escapeâs adaptation places the story in 1950âs San Francisco and changes the tone into that of a tense disaster epic. The focus is primarily on the professor as he and other frenzied survivors try to escape the chaos of a civilization that is crumbling. The other parts of the original story werenât incorporated and Escape doesnât end the episode on a happy note. Still, their adaptation is an interesting one. âThe Scarlett Plagueâ was adapted for Escape by Les Crutchfield and directed by Norman MacDonnell. Vic Perrin starred. Also appearing were Parley Baer, Greg Dehner, John Dehner, Eleanor Tanin, John Larch, Barney Phillips, and Sam Edwards. This episode aired on April 8, 1954.
The story is in the public domain and is available at the Gutenberg website.
Here is the link to that.
Furthermore, the story is available as an audio book on the Libervox project.
Here is the link for that.
Segment Four: Theater Five â To Be or Not to Be. Maybe! (11/19/64) Theater Five was ABCâs attempt to revive radio drama during the early 1960s. The series name was derived from its time slot, 5:00 PM. Running Monday through Friday it was an anthology of short stories, each about 20 minutes long. News programs and commercials filled out the full 30 minutes. There was a good bit of science fiction and some of the plots seem to have been taken from the daily newspaper. Theater Five ran between august the 3rd of 1964 and July 30th of 1965
Fred Foy, of The Lone Ranger fame, was an ABC staff announcer in the early 60s, who, among other duties was the announcer.
Among the Directors: Ted Bell, Warren Sommerville, Harry Nelson Producers: Sherman H. Dryer, Edward A. Byron, Lee Bowman Writers: Lillian Andrews, Richard McCracken, Sherman Dryer, Saul Panitz, Lawrence Weinberg, Frank Thomas, Robert Senadella, Robert Newman, and many others.
Cast: There were no regular cast members but featured were: George Petrie, Brett Morrison, Jackson Beck, Robert Dryden, Elliott Reid, Court Benson, Cliff Carpenter, Bryna Raeburn and others.
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