20 Nightbeat - A show I've been listening to since childhood; I recently uncovered 8 shows I hadn't heard before.
19 Frontier Gentleman - Always a favorite; I have been spacing these out over time and still have 11 shows to go before I am finished. I like this show so much that I am careful to only listen about twice a month or so.
18 Damon Runyon Theatre - A show that always satisfies. The stories are wonderful.
17 Halls of Ivy - I appreciate this show more and more as time goes on. It's no means my favorite but there are deep meanings here.
16 New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - I happen to like both Basil Rathbone and Tom Conway and am happy to hear either play Holmes. There isn't a bad show in either bunch.
15 Black Museum - Here's another show that I am careful how much I listen to because it's too good to lose. I might listen bi-weekly. Tremendous crime drama.
14 Great Gildersleeve - Not too far from finishing my second run through the show. It never gets boring.
13 You Bet Your Life - Unless you've heard the shows, you just never know what's coming next. Always funny, even after repeated listenings.
12 Information Please - Trivia is never boring to me. The panel on the show is not only classy but funny.
11 Dragnet - I haven't found an episode yet that wasn't a gem.
10 Fibber McGee and Molly - I will be listening to Fibber and Molly until the day I die, I suppose.
9 Suspense - A show which keeps climbing my charts as there are very few shows in the series that I don't like. If you haven't checked out the OTRR's recent release, you should as the shows sound FANTASTIC! They really did a super job on them.
8 Baby Snooks - Snooks is always funny!
7 Words at War - War anthology series keeps climbing my list; this show is very unappreciated... this is one of the best series I have found.
6 I Was a Communist for the FBI - Another show that I haven't gotten all the way through yet; taking my time with it and enjoying each episode.
5 21st Precinct - This show keeps climbing my list - not only because it's good but I recently found about 50 shows I didn't have before. Superb drama, very well acted.
4 Six Shooter - I recently finished the series and it was a joy the whole way through; looking forward to another listen through the series soon.
3 Adventures of Superman - I'll grant you, some of the story arcs are not great but there's so many to begin with that you can't go wrong. Superman on radio isn't just for kids!
2 Gunsmoke - Still working my way through the series; haven't found a thing not to like about it...as a matter of fact, it gets better and better.
1 Vic and Sade - I'll let my 3 blogs dedicated to this series speak for me.
©Jimbo 2010/2011
I haven't heard I Was a Communist for the FBI or Nightbeat, but both sound great - I'll have to track them down.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy looking at your list. I can never rank shows as I have trouble putting any of them in any kind of order. First I should suggest to Skinner to listen to both Night Beat and I Was A Communist for the FBI. Good shows. I would have placed Gildersleeve above Fibber and Baby Snooks. I like all three of them, but, Gildersleeve is my favorite. Gunsmoke ranks high for me as well. I did not see Milton Berle on your list as I know you liked him.
ReplyDeleteSkinner - Hi thanks for the comment, good to see you here as well as Twitter...
ReplyDeleteNightbeat is the show that really got me interested in OTR as I used to yearn to hear it as a kid in the 1970's revival. Finding new shows has kind of revived it a bit for me.
The central character is a newspaper reporter who roams the streets of Chicago at night looking for stories.
I Was a Communist - This used to be ranked number 2 for me; it's still a great show. Sound is not perfect and that's disappointing.
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Hi BB!
I still listen to Milton Berle, although once I am finished with the series (maybe 3 more to go) I may not listen to it again. I find Berle to be quite repetitive (I noticed this after about 25 episodes) and the show follows the exact same format week after week.
There are some things to like about the show but my fandom has certainly faded - as has my fandom for Jack Benny (as of right now... I'm not even to 1940 in my Jack Benny listening now.)
Gildersleeve vs Fibber - You can't go wrong either way.
There isn't one show on that list that doesn't deserve to be there, but on the other hand I can think of three or four others that do too. But every show on that list is good. I didn't listen to Baby Snooks for ages because I expected to really dislike it but it turns out I like it. That show is funny!
ReplyDeleteHi bmj2k and thanks for the comments...
ReplyDeleteSnooks was something I hadn't heard until I had XM Radio.
I don't generally have much good to say about XM Radio's coverage of OTR except it did introduce me to many programs I was unaware of: Snooks, Phil Harris and Alice Faye and a few others.
I do believe some people think Baby Snooks is a kid's show (that's what I thought before XM) and they won't bother to check it out. Once they do hear the show, they will probably find the same joy we have found in it.