The show Tales of the Texas Rangers was a Dragnet-type show but done with one Texas Ranger (Jace Pearson) running the show. For those who don't know, the Texas Rangers have a history of being very relentless and are pretty much equivalent to the FBI as far as crime fighting.
In this series, Jace Pearson (played by Joel McCrea) seems to have all the answers. No crime is unsolvable. Of course you know he's going to solve every crime - this is 1950's radio.
Is it fun? Yeah it is. Even though a lot of the stories seem similar, there's a Western flair in the stories that you don't get from the other real-crime shows on OTR. This at least makes the show different than Dragnet, yet the similarities remain. We get to "see" some of the behind-the-scenes crime fighting, such as lab work. The cases are based on real cases that happened in Texas, most seem to be from the 1920's or 1930's.
The one drawback - and it's a major one - is how bad the sound can be throughout the whole series. Very few of the files I have heard are easy to listen to. Whoever transferred them over from tape did a horrible job at it. The bass is booming and well, it just sounds bad most of the time.
It's really too bad because I like the series a lot. I've actually tried to fix the files but it's no use... I'll give the show 4.5 stars but since the files are all horrible sounding, it gets marked down to a 2.5. It can be a trying experience listening to the show.
©Jimbo 2010/2011
Showing posts with label Tales of the Texas Rangers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tales of the Texas Rangers. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Hodge-podging about my listening habits
I try to save bits and pieces of information for a weekly Hodge-podge, hoping to write a nice little post for everyone to enjoy but I see that I haven't produced a Hodge-podge in a while and my notes are nearly dry.
So maybe I'll just mainly get some stuff off my chest.
I have found that I enjoy serials a lot. The cliffhanger at end always makes me want to listen to 2 episodes a day instead of just one.
I am listening to Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police. I am on number 165 of 179 episodes. The Secret Police look like they are doomed and the Octopus will finally be rid of them. Yesterday, I snuck in an extra episode.
In The Adventures of Superman serial, Superman/Clark Kent are on the planet Apollo - anyway, I had to listen to 2 episodes yesterday, I just couldn't help myself.
The Johnny Dollar serials - I just listen to a whole week's worth at once.
I guess you could call Lum and Abner a serial. Somedays, I listen to 4-7 episodes. (Often this is to get material for the Lum and Abner Dictionary.) But they are just so darn funny. Yesterday, I found plenty of new words for the dictionary in just one episode - but I wanted to listen to more.
--
It took me a year to finally come up with a listening schedule. Before, I was just listening to things at random (except the serials.)
Everyday is serial day. My goal is just to listen to one episode of a serial a day. Once a day I listen to Jack Benny and Fibber McGee and Molly as well.
Sunday is 'Western Day.' I listen to Gunsmoke, The Six Shooter, Have Gun Will Travel, Doctor Sixgun, Frontier Gentleman, Fort Laramie and maybe The Lone Ranger or The Cisco Kid.
Monday is 'Quiz Day.' I listen to You Bet Your Life, The Quiz Kids, Information Please, College Quiz Bowl and whatever else I can throw in there quiz-wise that I haven't heard before.
Tuesday is 'Detectives Day.' It might be Boston Blackie, Philo Vance, Sam Spade, Richard Diamond, The Saint, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Sherlock Holmes, etc.
Wednesday is 'Weird Day.' This is where odd shows are listened to, like Mr. President, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, Drama of the Courts, Escape, Suspense, Lux...
Thursday is 'Comedy Day.' The Aldrich Family, Dennis Day, Our Miss Brooks, The Life of Riley, etc.
Friday is 'Crime Day.' Dragnet, I was a Communist For the FBI, FBI in Peace and War, This is Your FBI, Epic Casebook, etc.
Saturday is 'Hodge-podge Day.' Anything I had planned on listening to during the week but didn't get to, or I fell asleep or was too busy - this is the night I listen to this stuff. Usually, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar (either the serial or the non-serial version) will be a part of Saturday as well.
---
After 5 or 6 shows a night, I tend to get very comfortable and sleepy. It's hard to stay awake past a certain point. What's funny: I'll go to bed and set the iPod to shut off in 2 hours and I'll lie there and listen to various stuff (some nights) or fall fast sleep and won't know what I listened to until the next morning.
I have a genre set up on the iPod called 'SLEEP.' SLEEP is where I keep the programs that I enjoy falling to sleep to - generally quiet programs but I do have the whole Nightbeat series in there to remind me of childhood - and listening to Nightbeat in bed as a kid.
---
For years I had been listening to my OTR with headphones, ear buds or some such ilk. Then I did the smart thing and bought a pair of amplified computer speakers - mounted them on the wall and my life has changed for the better. Those squeaks and pops in some programs are really tough on the ears and with speakers, the damage to the hearing is far less.
---
I noticed that at verious points (usually near the end) of Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, there is a musical cue that is the very same as one found in Tales of the Texas Rangers. We can deduce that Tales of the Texas Rangers must have been made up entirely of (except for the Theme which is The Eyes of Texas are Upon You) stock music to save money; we know this because we have found 3 different programs now that use the same NBC stock music at certain musical cues.
By the way, the producer of Tales of the Texas Rangers was Stacy Keach Sr. - not to be confused with Keach Jr. (Mike Hammer on tv.)
So maybe I'll just mainly get some stuff off my chest.
I have found that I enjoy serials a lot. The cliffhanger at end always makes me want to listen to 2 episodes a day instead of just one.
I am listening to Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police. I am on number 165 of 179 episodes. The Secret Police look like they are doomed and the Octopus will finally be rid of them. Yesterday, I snuck in an extra episode.
In The Adventures of Superman serial, Superman/Clark Kent are on the planet Apollo - anyway, I had to listen to 2 episodes yesterday, I just couldn't help myself.
The Johnny Dollar serials - I just listen to a whole week's worth at once.
I guess you could call Lum and Abner a serial. Somedays, I listen to 4-7 episodes. (Often this is to get material for the Lum and Abner Dictionary.) But they are just so darn funny. Yesterday, I found plenty of new words for the dictionary in just one episode - but I wanted to listen to more.
--
It took me a year to finally come up with a listening schedule. Before, I was just listening to things at random (except the serials.)
Everyday is serial day. My goal is just to listen to one episode of a serial a day. Once a day I listen to Jack Benny and Fibber McGee and Molly as well.
Sunday is 'Western Day.' I listen to Gunsmoke, The Six Shooter, Have Gun Will Travel, Doctor Sixgun, Frontier Gentleman, Fort Laramie and maybe The Lone Ranger or The Cisco Kid.
Monday is 'Quiz Day.' I listen to You Bet Your Life, The Quiz Kids, Information Please, College Quiz Bowl and whatever else I can throw in there quiz-wise that I haven't heard before.
Tuesday is 'Detectives Day.' It might be Boston Blackie, Philo Vance, Sam Spade, Richard Diamond, The Saint, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Sherlock Holmes, etc.
Wednesday is 'Weird Day.' This is where odd shows are listened to, like Mr. President, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, Drama of the Courts, Escape, Suspense, Lux...
Thursday is 'Comedy Day.' The Aldrich Family, Dennis Day, Our Miss Brooks, The Life of Riley, etc.
Friday is 'Crime Day.' Dragnet, I was a Communist For the FBI, FBI in Peace and War, This is Your FBI, Epic Casebook, etc.
Saturday is 'Hodge-podge Day.' Anything I had planned on listening to during the week but didn't get to, or I fell asleep or was too busy - this is the night I listen to this stuff. Usually, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar (either the serial or the non-serial version) will be a part of Saturday as well.
---
After 5 or 6 shows a night, I tend to get very comfortable and sleepy. It's hard to stay awake past a certain point. What's funny: I'll go to bed and set the iPod to shut off in 2 hours and I'll lie there and listen to various stuff (some nights) or fall fast sleep and won't know what I listened to until the next morning.
I have a genre set up on the iPod called 'SLEEP.' SLEEP is where I keep the programs that I enjoy falling to sleep to - generally quiet programs but I do have the whole Nightbeat series in there to remind me of childhood - and listening to Nightbeat in bed as a kid.
---
For years I had been listening to my OTR with headphones, ear buds or some such ilk. Then I did the smart thing and bought a pair of amplified computer speakers - mounted them on the wall and my life has changed for the better. Those squeaks and pops in some programs are really tough on the ears and with speakers, the damage to the hearing is far less.
---
I noticed that at verious points (usually near the end) of Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, there is a musical cue that is the very same as one found in Tales of the Texas Rangers. We can deduce that Tales of the Texas Rangers must have been made up entirely of (except for the Theme which is The Eyes of Texas are Upon You) stock music to save money; we know this because we have found 3 different programs now that use the same NBC stock music at certain musical cues.
By the way, the producer of Tales of the Texas Rangers was Stacy Keach Sr. - not to be confused with Keach Jr. (Mike Hammer on tv.)
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Whistler and Rocky Fortune and Tales of the Texas Rangers and The Black Museum
The oddest thing I have heard is the distinctive theme of The Whistler heard somewhere during the middle of this Rocky Fortune episode (episode 531117.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
