Radio Programs beginning with "T"
"....the age of the conquest of space with Tom Corbett, Space
Cadet!"
Tales of the Texas Rangers
Star: Joel McCrea
Sponsors: General Mills, sustaining (no sponsors)
Network: NBC
Aired: 1950-1952
Type of Show: Police Drama
NB: This is not a western but a police drama, very similar to
Dragnet,
though it takes place in the Texas prairie on horseback. Except that
Ranger Jace Pearson (played by McCrea) has no partner, the format is similar.
(It should also be noted that the target audience for this show was older
children and teenagers.) Hal Gibney, who narrated this show, was
also part of Dragnet. It's very difficult for me to listen
to this show without thinking of Jack Webb. Producer of this program
was Stacy Keach (Sr.), father of Stacy Keach (Jr.), the motion picture
actor.
,,,,Orson
Welles as Harry Lime
The Third Man: The Lives of Harry Lime
Star: Orson Welles
Sponsor: Sustaining
Network: Mutual (originally heard on BBC in London)
Aired: 1951-1952 (exactly one year)
Type of Show: Drama
NB: Based on the novel by Graham Greene and the 1949 RKO motion
picture.
This is Your FBI
Stars: Stacy Harris, Milton Cross
Sponsor: Equitable Life Insurance, some shows sustained (no
sponsor)
Network: ABC
Aired: 1945-1953
Type of Show: Police Drama (FBI)
NB: Announcer Milton Cross wrote a comprehensive Opera Anthology
(of which I own a copy). He had been a tenor with the Metropolitan
Opera.
.....I
showed this on another
page, but it means more here. Tom Corbett
lasted five
years on TV and one on radio. Kellogg's Pep would be taken off the
market in 1958.
Stars: various
Sponsors: Kellogg's Pep
Network: ABC (also seen on NBC-TV)
Aired: 1952
Type of Show: Juvenile Science Fiction
NB: Aired Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
Truth or Consequences and most NBC shows from the
West Coast in the 1940s were broadcast from Radio City West (up
1939-64), where a branch of Washington Mutual Bank (former Home
Savings) is now located.
Truth or Consequences
Star: Ralph Edwards
Sponsor: Pabst Blue Ribbon beer
Network: NBC (Red), CBS
Aired: 1940-1954
Type of Show: Game Show (very loose; different games and
stunts every show)
NB: The city of Hot Springs, New Mexico, changed its name toTruth
or Consequences because of a contest held in 1950. The city
now holds a Ralph Edwards Fiesta every year to honor the man and the city.
More than just a game show, Truth or Consequences had a mission
to bring people together who hadn't seen each other in years through a
series of practical jokes. Later seen on TV (with hosts Ralph Edwards,
Jack Bailey, Steve Dunne, and Bob Barker), it was one of the most poignant
shows of its type and one of the best ways to spend 30 minutes on a Saturday
evening in the 1940s!
Updated November 23, 2001
CHOOSE THE FIRST LETTER OF A RADIO PROGRAM
