Morning Walk: Stuff "Boston Blackie" thinks about [#01]

My friend "Boston Blackie" seems to be a bit like me in that he is preoccupied with old-time radio a lot. He may not listen to it all the time but he thinks about it all the time - something I certainly find myself doing more and more.

He's agreed to occasionally share those thoughts with us. Here's the first installment of "Morning Walk."


What Is So Charming About Old Time Radio?

I asked this question to myself on my morning walk.  The first thing that came to my mind is the sex content, or lack of it.  Well, not really lack of it, but, just simplified.  We get a daily dose of more raw sex in our daily tv shows and the movies we might go and see.  But, in old time radio we get kisses.  Yes, kisses.  I really get a kick of the Cisco Kid who often kisses the young maiden at the close of the show.  That is it, a kiss.  No jumping in the bed and you know what after that.  But, the Cisco Kid kiss is just as moving.  Other ways OTR handles sex is by ‘Stuff Pat Novak says'.  He describes the young gals he meets with descriptions of their shapes and color of the hair and whatever.  No bed jumping, though.  Same goes for the other detectives.  Philip Marlowe is what I call the ‘Great Describer.’  He paints the pictures of sunset, sunrises, ocean waves and the young ladies.  But, that is far as it gets.  We know these detectives have interest in sex, but, at best, the hint of something that might happen and we never find out. 

Another charm of old time radio is the way violence is handled.  Only on occasion are things blown up.  But nothing like the tv show Hawaii Five-O where things get blasted regularly and rely on shock value.  Not so for OTR.  Oh, our beloved detectives get hit on the head over and over and over again.  They wake up, say it hurts and move on.  I hate to think of the concussions they suffered and quality of life they suffer in later years.  But, it is not done for shock value.  TV seems to try to out-do each other to the extent of violence they can show.  Bodies are carved up and shown to the viewer.  OTR just has detectives hit in the head.  Yes people are shot, but, they just drop.  Violent, yes.  But, at the same time not shocking.  They are shot but not for shock value.  Even then, how many people did the Lone Ranger ever blast to their death?  I do not think it was many.  You can go to bed after listening to any of these shows and not have nightmares as you might get from watching Criminal Minds. 

Somewhat related to the charm of OTR is the word ‘gay.’  Every night I hear someone mentioning gay.  Gay was not what it means today.  I do not need to tell you what today's definition is.  Back during the time of OTR, gay was used routinely for those that are happy.  I believe My Favorite Husband used the word for every opening of the show.  The gay couple.  Yes, the gay couple.  Isn’t that charming???  Now, you would raise an eyebrow.  (By the way, I have nothing against ‘so called gay couples’ as known today.  But, just pointing out it is kind of charming to see how often that work was used in otr shows. ) 

©Jimbo 2010/2011