Thriller

Broadcast History: 6 January 1974 to 31 December 1982

CBS launched the dramatic mystery anthology in hopes of a radio broadcasting comeback and chose such stars as Ralph Bell, Jane Higby and Bret Morrison. The host/narrator was the famous, E.G. Marshall and after he left the show for health reasons, Tammy Grimes took over.

For many years after it was clear that radio broadcasting was falling by the wayside, Himan Brown, a radio producer/director, strived to bring back radio’s glamour days, holding on to the premise that radio drama still had a place in the entertainment industry. Brown had created the original Inner Sanctum Mysteries in 1941 and he finally convinced others at CBS to revive radio drama in the form of CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

One reason that CBS decided to go along with Brown was that Mutual radio network had recently launched Zero Hour, which was also a radio drama revival. CBS Radio Mystery Theater was successful and lasted for nine years, but Zero Hour failed. The reason for the show’s success may have been that Agnes Moorehead, Zero Mostel and Richard Widmark starred in roles for the show for only $100 base pay – simply for their love of radio.

At first, the writing for the shows wasn’t up to par with the stars’ talents and the show suffered in spite of the attempts at writing from playwrights and writers like Paddy Chayefsky, Reginald Rose and performers such as Ian Martin, Elspeth Eric and Mary Jane Higby. Even though the show faltered, CBS Radio Mystery Theater won a Peabody Award in 1975, and with the help of reviving some of the old radio drama shows, became successful.

CBS wasn’t willing to pour a lot of money into the almost defunct world of radio programming, so the affiliates had no qualms about dropping the programs from their schedules or tape-delaying them – especially when it came to sports. Sports programs were a big money-maker for radio affiliates and eventually it took over radio so that the drama programs had little chance of survival.

Earl Wilson’s Broadway Column, a gossip and talk show (also called It Happened Last Night), noted that England was still successful in producing radio plays and that it was a “vibrant training ground” for talents like Harold Pinter's. Wilson was referring to the revival of CBS Radio Mystery Theater when he said, “If we had the opportunity to really do it intelligently, we could run all the remnants of 1930's radio right off the air and make them hide their heads in shame.”

1,399 original episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater were produced and these were broadcast and rerun on the air nightly from January 6, 1974 until December 31, 1982.

Broadcast History: 3 November 1946 to 23 May 1948

The Clock was a dramatic thirty-minute suspense and mystery series. It was written by Lawrence Klee and was first broadcast in November 1946. The story always began the same; “Sunrise and sunset, promise and fulfilment, birth and death … the whole drama of life is written in the sands of time”.

Broadcast History: 14 November 1941 to 19 June 1942

Dark Fantasy is a series dedicated to both horror and suspense and, despite only having a short run of 31 episodes, the episodes manage to cover everything from sinister aunts and wedding day murders to skeletal phantoms and eerie werewolves.

Broadcast History: 7 July 1947 to 25 September 1954
Theme Tune: ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ by Moussorgsky

Escape was widely considered radio’s greatest series of high adventure. The opening was usually along the same lines of “Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of … romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you … Escape!” You, the listener, are in the shoes of some embattled hero. You are alone and you must face the impossible, alone and rise to conquer or be conquered.

Broadcast History: 22 August 1952 to 28 September 1953

This thirty-minute suspense series was written and produced by Richard Thorne who also played many of the roles. There were at least 35 episodes broadcast, telling tales of the supernatural and the dark forces of the unknown. There were often terrifying tales of vampires, killer fog, the walking dead and anything and everything that your imagination could stretch to.

Broadcast History: 7 January 1941 to 29 August 1943, 4 September 1943 to 17 April 1950, 4 September 1950 to 18 June 1951, and 22 June 1952 to 5 October 1952

This horror series featured probably the most famous opening in the history of radio. After the greeting, “Good Evening…..Creep,” a door squeaked slowly open and the listener was greeted by the host, a gruesome joke and then the introduction to the story for the evening. The stories were entirely fictitious, highly improbable and were a strange combination of horror and humor. After the allocated thirty-minutes, the host made another joke about the plot and then the door squeaked shut.

Broadcast History: 1 January 1934 to 6 August 1947

This thirty-minute drama was created by Wyllis Cooper and began in 1934 as a regional program featuring tales of suspense and horror. The program was renowned for having the most grisly sound effects ever heard on radio, including the sounds of; heads rolling, bones being crushed, people falling from great heights and splattering wetly on the pavement, garrottings, chokings, heads split by cleavers and the worst of all, the sound of human flesh being eaten!

Broadcast History: 8 June 1947 to 25 June 1949
Theme Tune: Second Movement of Franck’s Symphony in D Minor

Wyllis Cooper, the creator of Lights Out, wrote and directed this thriller series. The program was similar but not so graphic and the sound effects not quite so disturbing. These were not tales of people living happily ever after. Ernest Chappell told the tales and each week he played some “ordinary fellow who gets all bollixed up with the supernatural.”

Broadcast History: 18 March 1945 to 9 September 1945

The Sealed Book starred Philip Clarke as “the keeper of the book”, a croaking, cackling hermit, with knowledge of the black arts, who in each show unlocked “the great padlock” that kept “the sealed book safe from prying eyes.” There was a spook story each week with tales of secrets and mysteries of mankind through the ages.

Broadcast History: 22 July 1940 to 30 September 1962

Suspense presented plays dealing with life and death situations, but themes were generally realistic, with occasional science-fiction exceptions. At its peak, Suspense was one of radio’s best. Film stars loved it. For the first few years the shows were introduced by “The Man in Black” originally played by Joseph Kearns. Its opening was one of radio’s best-remembered classics; “the hushed voice and the prowling step … the stir of nerves at the ticking of the clock … the rescue that might be too late, or the murderer who might get away … we invite you to enjoy stories that keep you in … Suspense…”

The Weird Circle is chilling tales of terror and horror lasting approximately thirty minutes. They would begin with an austere voice declaring “Out of the past Phantoms of the world gone by speak again their immortal tales”. And end with the same ghostly voice ordering, “Bell Keeper, Toll the bell” to the sound of chilling wind. All in all there are seventy-eight episodes of this series and French authors wrote many of them.

Broadcast History: 21 May 1931 to 13 June 1938

Adelaide Fitz-Allen was the main cast member from 1931 until she passed away in February 1935 of Bronchial Pneumonia (she was 75). After that there was a talent search that was unrivalled until David Selznick started searching for a Scarlett O'Hara. The actress whose eerie voice finally landed her the job of portraying Nancy, the Witch of Salem was then twelve year old Miriam Wolfe, who at the time could be heard on the juvenile fairy-story show "Let's Pretend".