Showing results by publisher "Black Eye Entertainment" in All Categories

Ozzie Nelson was Red Skelton's bandleader on the popular radio series The Red Skelton Show. Ozzie's wife, Harriet Hilliard, was Skelton's singer. When Skelton was drafted in March 1944, Ozzie was prompted to create his own family sitcom radio series. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet launched on CBS radio on October 8, 1944 and made a midseason switch to NBC in 1949. It starred Ozzie as the head of the Nelson household, which included his wife, Harriet, and their two boys, David and Ricky.

First heard on network radio in 1948, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar chronicled the adventures of freelance insurance investigator Johnny Dollar, "the man with the action-packed expense account". For 14 years, it was one of the most popular detective shows on the air, lasting until the final days of network radio drama in 1962. Each story started with a phone call from an insurance executive calling on Johnny Dollar to investigate an unusual claim.

First heard on network radio in 1948, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar chronicled the adventures of freelance insurance investigator Johnny Dollar, "the man with the action-packed expense account". For 15 years, it was one of the most popular detective shows on the air, lasting until the final days of network radio drama in 1962. Each story started with a phone call from an insurance executive calling on Johnny Dollar to investigate an unusual claim.

My Favorite Husband hit the CBS Radio airwaves in 1948, starring Lucille Ball and Richard Denningas Liz and George Cugat - who later became Liz and George Cooper when confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change. Set in the fictitious town of Sheridan Falls, the show follows the happily married couple, residents of 321 Bundy Drive, through mischief and various predicaments, from faked illnesses to trouble with exes.

Groucho Marx is your quizmaster and host to one of the funniest and most popular quiz shows from radio and television, You Bet Your Life! Enjoy 16 fun-filled comedy episodes from the long-running radio series! Created by John Guedel, You Bet Your Life was one of the best-loved quiz shows to air on both radio and television. It was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. It debuted on radio in 1947 and lasted until 1960. For much of this time it was also seen on television. 

The Golden Age of radio had incredible detective shows that kept Americans glued to their radio sets. Families gathered around their living room radios to hear their favorite Hollywood stars voicing fiction’s most famous gumshoes. This collection includes Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet; Richard Kollmar as “enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend” on Boston Blackie; Larry Thor as New York Detective Danny Clover on Broadway Is My Beat; Les Damon as The Falcon; and much more.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective genius, Sherlock Holmes, came to NBC radio from 1930 through 1955 with various actors taking over the roles of Holmes and Doctor Watson through the years. You’ll hear Basil Rathbone, Tom Conway, John Stanley, and Sir Ralph Richardson (Holmes); and Nigel Bruce, Alfred Shirley, and Sir John Gielgud (Watson) in these 16 episodes.

This collection contains 12 of the greatest Christmas radio shows ever broadcast during the golden age of radio!

Humphrey Bogart began his screen career mostly playing gangsters due to his resemblance to John Dillinger. Bogart’s breakthrough from supporting roles to A-list stardom came with his performances in High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. In between film work, he enjoyed appearing on radio, often with his wife, Lauren Bacall. Here are 14 examples of his radio work spanning 1943 until 1952.

The detective series Let George Do It came to radio in 1946. It starred Bob Bailey as George Valentine, ex-GI and detective for hire. Clients came to Valentine's office after reading a newspaper carrying his classified ad: "Personal notice: Danger's my stock-in-trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details."

Created by Blake Edwards (of Pink Panther fame), Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC radio in 1949 starring film actor and crooner Dick Powell. Powell had recently played Philip Marlowe in the popular RKO film Murder, My Sweet and jumped at the chance to play a suave detective on radio. Richard Diamond was a light-hearted New York-based private eye who enjoyed ribbing the cops and singing songs to his millionairess girlfriend, Helen Asher (played by Virginia Gregg). It’s theme, “Leave it to Love,” was whistled by Powell at the top of each episode.

Groucho Marx is your quizmaster and host to one of the funniest and most popular quiz shows from radio and television, You Bet Your Life! Created by John Guedel, You Bet Your Life was one of the best-loved quiz shows to air on both radio and television. It was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. It debuted on radio in 1947 and lasted until 1960. For much of this time it was also seen on television.

Every week, Inner Sanctum Mysteries told a story of ghosts, murderers, and lunatics. Taking its name from a popular series of mystery novels, Inner Sanctum Mysteries debuted over NBC radio's Blue Network in January 1941 and featured one of the most memorable and atmospheric openings in radio history, as an organist hit a dissonant chord, a doorknob turned, and a creaking door slowly began to open.

Philo Vance is a fictional character featured in numerous crime novels written by S. S. Van Dine, published in the 1920s and 1930s, who was later revived in film and on radio and television. During that time Vance was immensely popular. He was portrayed as a stylish, even foppish dandy, a New York bon vivant with a highly intellectual bent - America's Sherlock Holmes. He worked closely with his secretary and right-hand woman, Ellen Deering, and his pal, John Markham, New York County district attorney.

This collection includes Dick Powell as suave detective Richard Diamond; Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet; Richard Kollmar as “enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend” on Boston Blackie; Alan Ladd as mystery writer turned amateur detective Dan Holiday on Box 13; Joel McCrea as Ranger Jace Pearson on Tales of the Texas Rangers; Jackson Beck as suave detective Philo Vance; Bob Bailey fills out another expense account on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar; and many more!

In 1949, NBC brought handsome Irish American actor Brian Donlevy to the radio microphones as international troubleshooter Steve Mitchell in the spy series Dangerous Assignment. Mitchell worked for an unnamed US government intelligence agency, whose boss, "the Commissioner," dispatched him to world trouble spots. Mitchell's assignment was to solve problems in record time and in accordance with US interests.

Radio westerns were aimed at kids until 1952 when Gunsmoke hit the radio airwaves. Produced for adult listeners, the stories were grim, the deaths brutal, and life on the plains was harsh. Radio audiences had never heard anything like Gunsmoke, and they made it the number-one western on radio. It soon made a successful transition to television, becoming the longest-running dramatic series in TV history. Join William Conrad (US Marshal Matt Dillon), Parley Baer (Deputy Chester Proudfoot), Georgia Ellis (Kitty Russell), and Howard McNear (Doc Adams) in these 16 episodes.

Pat Novak, for Hire began in 1946 as a regional radio show produced at KGO in San Francisco and starred Jack Webb in the title role, with scripts by Webb's friend Richard L. Breen. When Webb moved to Los Angeles in 1947, Ben Morris replaced Webb as Novak. In a later network version, Jack Webb resumed the role along with Breen as scriptwriter. Pat Novak, for Hire lasted until 1949, when Jack Webb turned his attention to the series that would make him a star, Dragnet.

On March 19, 1928, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll introduced Amos ‘n’ Andy, which went on to become one of the most popular and longest-running programs in radio history. During the height of its popularity, almost the entire country listened to the 15-minute, Monday-through-Friday adventures of Amos ‘n’ Andy. Department stores piped in the broadcasts so shoppers wouldn’t miss an episode, and movie theaters scheduled their features to end just prior to the start of Amos ‘n’ Andy so they too could pipe it in. 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective genius, Sherlock Holmes, came to NBC radio in 1930 starring Richard Gordon. By 1939, Basil Rathbone was heard as Holmes with Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. The duo were simultaneously starring in a popular series of Sherlock Holmes features for Fox, and later for Universal. By the end of the feature run in the mid 1940s, Rathbone was eager to separate himself from the radio show to avoid being typecast. Tom Conway took over with Nigel Bruce continuing as Watson (in this pairing Nigel Bruce received top billing).