Quarreling about 1946 radio: Saturday

Mostly non-funny teenage buffoonery and sometimes angst parlayed against a live audience of other loud voice-changers; show is straight from the Archie Comics. Worth listening to as a time-killer, don't expect much enjoyment from your 30 minutes spent. No pyramids - hmmm...okay - a half of a pyramid.

Fine production with killer theme song that's always stuck in my head. Along the vein of other tough crime shows like This is Your FBI and Gangbusters, although this one not as tough (seems to focus more on scams and frauds than murder.) Still, I'd almost put this one up there with any of those shows, although it's probably on the bottom of that list. 2 pyramids.

Same as above except Gangbusters seems to be harassed by poor sound quality in every other episode. Not as good as Dragnet et al., but certainly worth listening to.

Another bad thing is many episodes are missing are some two-parters. Barely 2 pyramids.

Not one of those shows I can't really stomach at all; in the line of Alan Young and Life With Luigi. Not a horrible show but not one I even bother with, simply because the entertainment value is so low. 1/2 a pyramid.

Quarreling about 1946 radio: Friday

(Note: If you are wondering what happened to Thursday, I somehow included it with Wednesday)

Had possibilities and sometimes has Richard Widmark on the show as a reporter; but the show seems too slow and too melodramatic for my tastes. (Plus there are only a few of the entire serial available.)

It would not be hard for me to say that The Aldrich Family is the most underrated show in old-time radio. There's not any episode I can think of that I haven't enjoyed, the show is funny and the characters can be associated with.

The only drawback (I hesitate to call it that) is that it doesn't have that *one thing* to knock it out of the park every show. It's close, real close to being one of the top 10 best shows - if it had a cleanup batter.

For instance, add a Walter Tetley-type to the show as a bully. Or take away House Jameson (who I really like) and replace him with Gale Gordon.

Everyone on the show is sooooooo nice.  I think that's the "problem."

Another one of those shows that just misses... not a great show but certainly not a bad show at all - as a matter of fact, it's lots of fun. I think the thing I would change (looking back 65 years) is that either I would have had better guest stars or none whatsoever. 

The storylines are dumb and you never feel like these are real people.

I often wonder how the show got someone like Bing Crosby to guest star on it.

A very intelligent show with Danny Kaye doing nothing but being funny. He was just too busy to put his all into the show or it could have been one of the best ever.

The few epsodes that survive show off only about a tenth of the guy's talents. Too bad.

Quarreling about radio 1946: Wednesday

The 1930's Lone Ranger is almost not worth listening to. During the 1940's, we can listen and enjoy; the sound quality has improved greatly.

The Lone Ranger may be the best of the kid Westerns, but that's not saying a whole lot. One pyramid. (By the way, interesting choice of the way to spell, "poppa.")

Uneven light detective fare in the Thin Man vein. Sometimes this is a very good show, other times, I shrug my shoulders.

The acting is pretty good, so the writing must be the culprit. (TV series of same name is not bad either - you can find free episodes available at The Internet Archive.) One and half pyramids.

This was a very popular show in the 1940's and I am stunned as to why.

Repeated listenings for me reveal no magical qualities; show is a snoozer. One pyramid.

Sometimes (and usually) known as Mr. Keen: Tracer of Lost Persons, this might actually be my pick for least-well-known American gem. Two and a quarter pyramids.

I can assume everyone reading this has heard this show. Great production values and weekly superstar acting bore one intelligent show after another.

While there are a few boners, many of the shows are genuinely frightening. I look at Suspense, however, as more of (tv's) The Twilight Zone of radio and that's a compliment. Two and 3/4 pyramids.

A hard-to-find series. I have had the opportunity to listen to several shows. Giving the show two stars is a lot like giving Cloverfield the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. No pyramids.

Another uneven show with the occasional superlative gem sprinkled in. You might have to listen to five shows before you utter the word, "Wow" but you will be rewarded occasionally. One and a half stars.

Quarreling about radio 1946: Tuesday

A somewhat entertaining program that lacks that something or that someone that would have made it great. Bob Hope is not bad but Jerry Colonna is by far the best thing on the show and he's on way too infrequently. Definitely not 3 pyramids. I have a hard time giving it 2 pyramids. But I will anyway.

To be honest, the best thing about Inner Sanctum is Raymond's intros and exits. He's sly, punny and memorable. I find it funny how Lipton Tea advertising is mixed up with this show and how the commercials are so primly and properly (and feminiely) presented before what was probably a frightful show in 1946.

The dramas themselves are usually stuffed with bad acting and scripts that lack criminal ingenuity. One pyramid.

The Falcon is one of those shows clearly above most of it's genre of it's time. It's basically a copy of Boston Blackie but done a wee bit better. Two pyramids.

Alan Young was made to play Mr. Ed's owner. No pyramids.

This version of Big Town is a different program with the same name as one from the late 1930's-early 1940's that starred Edward G. Robinson and Claire Trevor (that one is a power-packed, three pyramid humdinger.) 

This flimsy impersonator lacks wit, drama and intrigue -- and comes out as pedestrian as you can get. 1/2 of a pyramid.

The class act of Tuesday radio was clearly Fibber McGee and Molly, but I chose not to review it because anyone who frequently reads this blog would know the outcome of my review anyway.

Quarreling about radio 1946: Monday

Whoever wrote these, obviously doesn't follow Superman very closely. Obviously, we are looking back at this series and 1946 was 65 years ago - but Superman was different from anything else on the air at the time as far as kid's shows. It was on the edge politcally and socially speaking; not to mention it was also awesome as an adventure series. And this was a series for kids!

TAOS was way ahead of it's time - at least by ten years.

I suggest the one pyramid rating given here is out of pure ignorance. TAOS can easily be summed up in one word: groundbreaking.

Again, I have to think the writer of this was just ignorant. Lum and Abner is not a serial that you can just listen to once a week. It must be studied over a long time.

While not the most exciting serial by any stretch of the imagination, Lum and Abner will take you off into a different world. The humor is slow and easy (sometimes corny but it's backwoods as you can get) but it was way ahead of it's time (see similar productions such as television shows like Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies made in the 1960's - L&A began in the early 1930's.)

Easily three pyramids.

Finally they get one right. COA was a well-produced series that holds up well today; it's close to LUX Radio as far as production value. It also is fine as an historical story teller.

History has shown us this Sherlock Holmes team of Rathbone-Bruce is the most well-received of the entire lot. I'm not sure it's worthy of more than 2 pyramids either, however.

Information Please had been on the air for 9 years when this review came out. There's no question that the reviewer does not like quiz programs and IP was the king of that genre.

It's an intelligent and often witty program as minds meld over impossible-to-answer questions (yet they know the answer, more often than not) and are able to finish silly limericks with ease as well. There is a lot of intelligent humor in IP and that's why the show stands up so well 74 years after it began.

OTR history has clearly shown that Dr I.Q. remains one of the best loved of the quiz shows. Audience particpation shows such as this are never dull because Joe Regularguy is almost always petrified to be on the live microphone and the questions aren't easy. While we don't have but a only a few offerings to listen to, what we do have show clearly that this was a fun show.

Quarreling about radio 1946: Sunday

Radio shows below are rated by triangles. Three triangles is as good as it gets. My commentary follows:

Agreed. But this show got WAY better in future years after losing Bea Benaderet (whom I greatly admire as an actress but her character was just lousy on this show.)

I have been through the entire series. The first few years (including 1946) are the best. I seriously can't think of anything on the show (pre-William Waterman, who took Gildy's place in 1950) that I would consider corny. As stated before in this blog, Walter Tetley does a superb job as Leroy and Harold Peary's other supporting cast do a marvelous job as well. The show holds up as well today as any.  Three triangles.

While this show is not horrible, it's one of those shows I usually skip in my listening rotation. Bergen's McCarthy is usually fine but the other dummies are not very entertaining. Guide calls the show "fast-moving" and "slick"; I'd say there's far too much music and the guest stars are usually of the who-cares variety.  

By the time 1946 came around, this show was as stale as old black market bread.

Granted, we don't have very many episodes to listen to - so judging this program properly is pretty much impossible.  However, I've heard what's available and if that is any indication of what the series was like, the show was just plain rotten. It's not funny, plain and simple.  Beulah here was nothing like Beulah on FM&M.

Allen's Alley has proven to be historic and Fred Allen is brilliant. But Allen is the straight man almost always and his wife Portland's VERY annoying voice kills any joy the show brings. It's worse than nails on a chalkboard. Even if she wasn't on the show, the highest I'd rate the show would be one and a half pyramids.

Three pyramids for opera?

Finally, they get one right. This show is sadly over very quickly. It's fun and funny both. Usually, a guest star shows up and proves just how dumb they are. It's too bad so few of these shows are available to listen to because this is great radio.