Old
time radio that you can enjoy in the comfort
of your own home!
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Don't miss out! |
Here are some classic radio shows Below are just a few examples of the five thousand plus shows currently available on RUSC. These shows are available to non-members. It will give you a chance to sample the delights that are in-store for you when you become a member.
Feel free to
download as many of the shows below as
you wish by right clicking on the
download link.
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Amos 'n' Andy (1929-60) This 15 minute daily situation comedy was probably the most popular radio show of all time. The listening audience was estimated at 40 million, almost one-third of Americans living at that time. The story was of Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll playing Amos and Andy as black men from Harlem who owned the Fresh Air Taxi Company, so called because its only cab had no windshield. Amos and Andy were the commonest of common men: they symbolized the poor Joe with no money, no job and no future. It was the first significant serial utilizing the elements of sympathetic characters, comedy and suspense.
Title:
Marriage Proposal Mix-up |
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Box 13 (1948 to 49) This popular detective adventure stars Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday, a former newsman who now writes mystery novels. To get plots for his books he runs an advertisement that reads "Adventure wanted; will go anywhere, do anything - Box 13. Each episode sees him head out on a brand new mystery.
Title:
The Professor and the
Puzzle |
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I Love a Mystery (1939-1952) I Love A Mystery weaves a spell over its fans. I was a tale of three partners, Jack Packard, Doc Long and Reggie Yorke who had formed the A-1 detective agency. They were adventurers who traveled the world in search of action, thrills and mystery, battling the evils of natural and supernatural and rescuing women in distress. The episode below is part one of a multi-part story, so don't get too hooked or you might have to become a member to hear how it ends.
Title:
Million Dollar Curse Part 1 |
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Fred Allen and Jack Benny in the Jack Benny Program A classic episode from one of the longest-running comedy shows in radio history. This episode is classic Benny and Allen at their very best.
Title:
How Jack and Fred Allen Met |
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Life of Riley Each evening after dinner Chester A Riley (played by William Bendix) sits down and relaxes with the evening paper. Whatever is lacking in our daily lives the evening newspaper can provide. For the stout and sedentary businessman there’s the sports page. For the meek and mild spinster there’s the latest axe murder and for Riley - happily married for 18 years - there’s the divorce news.
Title:
Riley
Talks in His Sleep About Gertrude
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Sherlock Holmes (1930-1960s) The famous Sherlock Holmes detective stories appeared on radio for more than 25 years, with a long list of performers playing the parts of Holmes and Dr. Watson. They stories were written by Edith Meiser, a self-confessed Holmes addict. At first she used Arthur Conan Doyles’ original stories, but, after the series outlived the original material, she created her own new stories. These were so well written that she was warmly praised by Arthur Conan Doyle’s widow and son.
Title:
Murder by Moonlight |
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Dragnet (1949 -1957) Dragnet was an incredible radio series for many reasons. It represented the apex of police procedural broadcasting. It used sound effects to an extent that had rarely be seen before and it extended the boundaries of what was classed as acceptable broadcasting with some of its controversial storylines. In this episode Detective Sergeant Friday is assigned to robbery detail. A ruthless fiend roams the streets of the city masquerading as a police officer. For months helpless citizens have been robbed, beaten senseless and kidnapped. The criminal is a twisted genius with cunning. It's up to Detective Sergeant Joe Friday to get him.
Title:
Red Light Bandit |
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Life with Luigi (1948 -1954) This wonderful comedy series was originally called The Little Immigrant, but the name was changed before the first broadcast. The lead character was a recent Italian immigrant called Luigi Basco played wonderfully by J. Carrol Naish, an Irishman in real life. Luigi had moved from Rome to run an antique shop next to Pasquale's Spaghetti Palace in the Little Italy section of Chicago and the stories revolved around his efforts to discover and integrate into his new environment.
Title:
Luigi Discovers America |
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Escape (1947 -1954) When Radio Life wrote "These stories all possess many times the reality that most radio writing conveys" it hit the nail on the head. Escape is everything that was good about old time radio drama rolled into one. The title itself almost sums up the very essence of what radio drama is all about. Each and every episode was a micro drama carefully planned to capture the listeners attention for thirty minutes.
Title:
Country of the Blind |
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X Minus 1 (1955 -1958) A thirty-minute science fiction series totalling 113 episodes and throughout its three years of broadcasting, it always used the same opening, a rocket-launch countdown. The stories were strict science fiction striking out into deep space, exploring thousands of other galaxies and the power struggles with aliens and alien worlds, but the stories were not always human triumphs, sometimes the aliens won!
Title:
The Green Hills of Earth |
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Couple Next Door (1957 -1960) This light-hearted situation comedy about a young couple was first broadcast between 1935 and 1937. It was revived in 1957 and ran through to 1960. Peg Lynch and Alan Bunce played the same characters as they had in Ethel and Albert, but throughout the complete revival they didn't once refer to each other by name, always calling each other "dear".
Title:
Union Rules
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