The Old Time Radio Show

This article started as a blog post  and is continued here.

Did you get the Cisco Kid?    One thing I recall — the show always ended with the two characters saying to one another:  “Oh! Cisco!”  “Oh! Pancho!”   My dad and my uncle used to say that to one another whenever they would get together.

Alright, ready for another one?

This was considered a western variety, music and drama.

• It was produced in Hollywood
• It aired from 1944 through 1954
• The show was named for the star
• The star of the show was a singer
• The star’s horse was a palomino
• The name of the cowboy’s ranch was the Double-R-Bar

This one was too easy. My guess is you can even sing the opening theme song.

Here is the clip:

Old Time Radio Western — Mystery Theme Song  & Opening #2

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Okay.  You had that one early on.  This one is a little tougher.

This old time radio western was produced in Hollywood and was only on for one year:  1953-1954

• The hero was slow talking and easy going.
• The theme music was written by Basil Adlam.
• Chesterfield offered to pick the show up for a second year but the star  did not want to work for a tobacco company
• The star of the show was an academy award winning actor
• The announcers were Hal Gibney and John Wald.

This was a classic show, and ranks high among my favorites.

Here’s the clip:

Old Time Radio Show:   Mystery Western Theme Song and Opening #3

The next show originated on television in 1957, but didn’t come to radio until 1958.  It was a CBS show that lasted for six years on television but only two years on radio.

• The show took place in San Francisco
• The main character was a West Point graduate and Civil War veteran.
• He wined and dined beautiful women.
• His only friends were a bellhop and a Chinese hotel worker named Missy Wong
• The show was named after the printed message on his business car
• John Dehner played the lead roll on the radio.  Richard Boone on television.

Old Time Radio Show — Mystery Western Theme Song and Opening  #4

Here is the TV Theme Song which was not used on radio.  It’s great!

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The next show was a juvenile western that aired from 1948 through 1952.  The first two years it was broadcast on mutual.  The last two on CBS.

• The radio show was based on a series of B-movie westerns originally released in the 1930s.
• The hero introduced in those 1930s films became a matinee idol in more than 50 films released between 1943 and 1946.
• The star of the radio show had been a silent film star who was married five times.
• Even though the star was 52 years old, his likeness was pasted on everything from pajamas to lunch pails and created a marketing frenzy.
• The hero dressed in black and white and had silver hair.
• He owned a white horse named Topper.

Old Time Radio Show — Mystery Western Theme Song and Opening #5

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The next show was also a juvenile western that was broadcast on Mutual and the Blue Network between 1942 to 1951.  It was mostly a west coast show because of its regional sponsor – Langendorf Bread.

• The series was based on a comic strip
• The hero lived with his aunt – “The Dutchess”
• His sidekick was named Buckskin
• His child ward was named Little Beaver (and was played by YUSA’s own Frank Bresee for four years!)
• The hero’s horse was named Thunder.
• The hero had red hair and wore a red shirt.
• The theme music was:  O bury me not on the lone prairie….

Old Time Radio Show — Mystery Western Theme Song and Opening  #6

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This show was only on for one year – 1956.  It was a CBS show that aired on Sundays at 5:30 pm.

The producer of this show, Norman Macdonnel worked simultaneously on the Gunsmoke radio show.  This show had the same realism as Gunsmoke and focused on the mood and atmosphere of an army fort in Wyoming during the mid to late 1800s.

This show also used the same writers, including John Meston and Les Crutchfield.   And they also used the same great sound effects team of Ram Kemper, Bill James and Tom Hanley.

The cast included:

• Harry Bartell as Lt. Sieberts
• Vic Perrin as Sgt Gorce
• Jack Moyles as Maj Daggett
• The star of the show went on to fame the following year as a TV lawyer.

You guessed it.   Here’s the opening:

Mystery Western Openings Theme Song #7

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This next one was on NBC from 1950 to 1952.   The producer was Stacy Keach Sr., and the announcer was Hal Gibney.

This show is a little different in that, while a western, it didn’t take place in the old west.  Most of the stories happened in the 1930s through 1940s.

• This show starred a major Hollywood star of the day.
• The main character was Jace Pearson
• The technical adviser on the show was Captain M.T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas.
• The show was an anthology, with Jace Pearson representing many different individuals
• Jace’s horse was named Charcoal and Jace pulled him in a horse trailer wherever he went.

I really like this show and hope to feature several episodes on my Yesterday USA show real soon.

Mystery Western Opening Theme Song #8

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This next show was one of the very best shows ever on radio!

It only played on CBS for just one year – 1958, one of old time radio’s final years.

• This show took place largely in Montana and the Dakotas.   The hero of the show traveled from one town to the next.
• The theme song was played mostly on Jerry Goldsmith’s trumpet, and is a haunting melody.
• The producer, writer and director was Antony Ellis, whose wife, Georgia, played Kitty on Gunsmoke.
• Supporting roles were frequently played by Jack Kruschen, Virginia Gregg, Barney Phillips, Harry Bartell, Joseph Kearns, Vic Perrin, Lawrence Dobkin and Jeanette Nolan.

The show featured John Dehner as J.B. Kendall, a reporter for the London Times who roamed the territories of the western United States in search of stories.

This show let us all see how truly great radio dramas could be.

Old Time Radio Westerns – Theme Song and Opening #9

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Our final show is considered by many people to be the best radio show ever produced.

I happen to agree.

This show ran from 1952 to 1961.   It was the last prime time drama show on the radio.

It was produced by Norm McDonnell and written primarily by John Meston during its early years when the characters were being developed.

It starred William Conrad as Matt, Parley Baer as Chester, Georgia Ellis as Kitty and Howard McNear as Doc.

Of course we are talking about Gunsmoke. And rather than write a great deal about it here, it will be featured on its own page in the very near future.

But here are a couple of interesting trivia bits:   In the radio show Chester’s last name was Proudfoot — on TV he was Chester Goode.   On the radio show Doc Adams first name was Charles, but on the TV show it was Galen.

Be sure to listen to the lilting version of “Old Trails” – the beautiful theme song from radio’s Gunsmoke.

Old Time Radio Western Theme Song #10

Here is a great instrumental of “Old Trails”