Old-time radio

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Old-time radio (OTR) is a phrase frequently used by scholars, fans, and companies to refer to a period in American broadcasting history, from roughly 1926 to 1962, when radio was a dominant entertainment medium. While modern radio is dominated by music stations, newscasts, and call-in talk shows, "old-time radio" featured a wide range of programming.

"Old-time radio" featured situation comedies, variety shows, game shows, anthology series, dramas, serials, and live band performances. Soap opera as a form originated in radio, and such programs as The Guiding Light went on to equally long runs on television. Other radio series successfully transferred to TV nclude Gunsmoke, Dragnet, and The Lone Ranger. Mellifluous announcers, live sound effects (often created through household implements), and dramatic tag openings characterized the programming of this period. Contrary to the impression that old radio was always "tamer" than television, sound men on mystery programs employed such techniques as chopping a head of cabbage with a machete to simulate decapitation, or grilling bacon to suggest searing flesh.

The phrase "old-time radio" is occasionally applied to programs of like vintage from England, Australia, or Canada, but with less frequency, insomuch as radio has largely retained the same basic scope and significance in these countries, with the BBC still producing regular dramatic series, adaptations, and sitcoms. Within the United States, with the exceptions of occasional revivals, mostly as syndicated series, and sporadic dramas on NPR, radio programming of this stripe is relegated to the past, but made available through tape and CD collections, online archives, regional re-broadcasts, live recreations, and satellite radio channels.

The last network radio comedy was The Stan Freberg Show on CBS in 1957. Most soap operas ended in 1960, as the genre moved to television. The mystery series Suspense and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar both ceased in the fall of 1962. Thus, Jim Henson grew up during the tail-end of the radio era, and was exposed to such serials as The Shadow and The Green Hornet.^[1] The announcing style used on these programs was largely adopted by Jerry Nelson, as the announcer on The Muppet Show and in other broadcasts.

In addition, such radio staples as Bob Hope and Edgar Bergen were guest stars on The Muppet Show, and subsequent Muppet/Creature Shop productions would occasionally reference or pay homage to old-time radio, either individual programs, or as a collective entity.

References

• In Dreamchild, while visiting New York City, Alice Hargreaves sits in on an old-time radio broadcast, an adventure drama. The sound man (Ken Campbell) employs coconut shells as horse hooves, a common trope in the radio era. Mrs. Hargreaves subsequently delivers a radio commercial, playing on her reputation as "Alice in Wonderland."

• The Muppet Babies episode "The Muppet Broadcasting Company" featured an extended salute to old-time radio, as the Babies imagine themselves in versions of such diverse series as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Captain Midnight, The Shadow, and more.

• The Dog City episode "Radio Daze" involved Ace Hart in a crime wave at radio station WFIDO, involving attacks on the cast and crew of the soap opera "It's a Dog's Life." The culprit turns out to be the enraged sound effects man.

• The Sam and Friends skit "The Westerners" featured Kermit and Chicken Liver lip-synching to a segment of Bob and Ray's Mutual radio series (1955-1957).

• In Hey Cinderella!, the Fairy Godmother wears a mask to the ball, saying she received it from a friend, a "very generous fellow... wanted to lend me his faithful Indian companion as well" a reference to The Lone Ranger, which began life on radio at station WXYZ on January 31, 1933.

• In The Great Santa Claus Switch, when Fred the Elf is taken prisoner, he claims that he is not merely a "mild-mannered" toy builder, but "Super Elf, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." This text is from the opening narration of The Adventures of Superman radio serial (1940-1951), which starred Clayton "Bud" Collyer as Superman, and used in several subsequent versions. A variation of the spiel was also used in many Super Grover installments.

Connections

Many guest stars on The Muppet Show and in movies had widespread experience from the "golden age of radio."

• Batman and Robin were semi-regulars on The Adventures of Superman (1941-1951) and starred in an audition show (pilot), The Batman Mystery Club (1950)
• Edgar Bergen, along with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, starred on The Chase and Sanborn Hour (1937-1939), The Charlie McCarthy Show (1940-1954), and The Edgar Bergen Hour (1954-1955).
• Milton Berle starred on Three Ring Time (1941) and The milton Berle SDhow (1943-1945, 1947-1948)
• Victor Borge was a regular on The Kraft Music Hall (1942-1943) and headlined starred on The Victor Borge Show (1943, 1945, 1946-1947, 1951)
• Roscoe Lee Browne played a native in The CBS Radio Workshop episode "The Endless Road" (March 17, 1956)
• George Burns starred on Burns and Allen (originally Maxwell House Coffee Time, 1932-1955)
• Peter Capell appeared on over one hundred radio broadcasts, playing various roles on Words at War (1943-1945), Anton Kamp on Wendy Warren and the News (ca. 1947-1957) and Dr. Horst in the Ray Bradbury adaptation "Mars Is Heaven" (on Dimension X, 1950 and 1951, and X Minus-One, twice in 1955), amongst many others
• Art Carney played Franklin D. Roosevelt on The March of Time (ca. 1939-1944), various roles on Gangbusters (1935-1957), the Athlete on The Henry Morgan Show (1946-1947), Billy Oldham on Joe and Ethel Turp (1943), Red Lantern on the children's series Land of the Lost (ca. 1945-1948), Angus on the soap opera Lorenzo Jones (ca. 1940s), General Dwight D. Eisenhower on Living 1948 (1948), and more.
• Ruby Dee was a regular on The Story of Ruby Valentine (1955-1956) and appeared on The CBS Radio Worksho (1956-1957)
• Mike Douglas was a regular singer on Kay Kyser's College of Musical Knowledge (1945-1946)
• Dale Evans was the resident singer on That Girl from Texas (1940-1941), The Chase and Sanborn Hour (1942-1943), and co-starred on Roy Rogers' series.
• José Ferrer hosted The Prudential Family Hour (ca. 1942), played the title role on Philo Vance (1945), and appeared in the United Nations radio play Document A/777 (1948), amongst others
• John Gielgud played the title role in Sherlock Holmes (1955-1956; BBC transcriptions aired in the United States)
• Arthur Godfrey served as announcer on Professor Quiz (1937) and Fred Allen's Texaco Star Theater (1942) before starring on Arthur Godfrey Time (1945-1972), Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (1946-1956), and Arthur Godfrey Digest (1950-1955).
• Margaret Hamilton played Aunt Effie on The Couple Next Door (1957-1960)
• Bob Hope starred on The Bob Hope Show (1938-1955) and played The Taxpayer in the documentary series The Quick and the Dead (1950)
• Danny Kaye starred on The Danny Kaye Show (1945-1946)
• Don Knotts played Windy Wales on Bobby Benson and the Bar-B Riders (1949-1955)
• James Mason starred on The James and Pamela Mason Show (1949)
• Ethel Merman starred on Rhythm at Eight (1935) and The Ethel Merman Show (1949), and appeared on many other series
• Zero Mostel was the resident comedian on The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street (1942)
• Mickey Mouse starred in The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air (1938) and made guest appearances on The Lux Radio Theater and elsewhere.
• Don Pardo was an NBC staff announcer on such series as The Magnificent Montague (1951) and X-Minus One (1955-1957)
• Vincent Price played Paul Morrison on the soap opera Valiant Lady (1939), Simon Templar on The Saint (1949-1951), various guest leads on Suspense and Escape (1947-1954)
• Tony Randall played Jarrod in the Biblical serial Light of the World (1948) and Reggie Yorke on I Love a Mystery (1949-1952)
• Roy Rogers starred on The Roy Rogers Show (1944-1946, 1948-1955) and Saturday Nite Round-Up (1946-1948)
• John Stephenson played various roles on The Whistler' (1947-1951), Suspense (1951-1957), CBS Radio Workshop (1956), Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (1955-1960), and more.
• Orson Welles played Lamont Cranston on The Shadow (1937-1938), many roles (including Sherlock Holmes, Long John Silver, and Dracula) on The Mercury Theater on the Air (1938) and The Campbell Playhouse (adding Hercule Poirot to his resume, 1939-1940), multiple episodic roles on Suspense (various dates from the 1930s-1940s), The Orson Welles Almanac (1941-1942), and others.
• William Woodson narrated This is Your FBI (1947-1953) and acted in episodes of Family Theater (1953), Suspense (1954), and The CBS Radio Workshop (1956-1957, also writer), among others.

In addition, several people who worked behind the scenes with the Muppets were directly related to radio personalities.

• Bernie Brillstein's uncle was Jack Pearl (1894-1982). Pearl, a former vaudevillian, created the character of Baron von Munchaussen, teller of tall-tales and incorrigible liar, on The Ziegfield Follies of the Air (1932), and soon headlined his own series, under various names, until 1937, with revivals up until 1954, culminating in the quiz show The Baron and the Bee
• Jeff Moss's father, Arnold Moss (1909-1989) played various character roles on the soap operas Jane Arden (1938-1939) and Against the Storm (1939-1940), served as "the Speaker," the deity-like narrator on The Light of the World (1947), aliens on The Adventures of Superman (1950s), and Col. Lesko on Cafe Istanbul (1952-1953), among others.
• Tom Whedon's father, John Whedon (1905-1991) was a staff writer on The Great Gildersleeve (1941-1947) and also wrote for The Chase & Sanborn Hour (ca. 1937) and the sitcom Hogan's Daughter (1949).

Sources

1. ↑ Finch, Christopher. Jim Henson: The Works. p. 3