The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

Gunsmoke, “Spring Freshet” (episode 258), originally broadcast on CBS on March 17, 1957. William Conrad stars as Marshal Matt Dillon, with Parley Baer as Chester, Georgia Ellis as Kitty, and Howard McNear as Doc. Written by Les Crutchfield and produced by Norman Macdonnell, this circulating copy is identified as better sounding but less complete. When two wanted robbers bring danger to Dodge City’s Long Branch Saloon, Kitty is caught in a hostage crisis close to home. Matt Dillon, Chester, and Doc face a tense standoff in a drama of pressure, strategy, and the risks of confronting armed men in a crowded town. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:48 Original Broadcast 18:39 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Dimension X presents “Destination Moon,” episode 12, originally broadcast on NBC on June 24, 1950. Adapted from George Pal’s 1950 film and credited to Robert A. Heinlein and George Pal, this unsponsored sustaining-program broadcast features Santos Ortega, Luis van Rooten, and Norman Rose as host/narrator. At a Texas rocket project, a determined team races to send the first crewed expedition to the Moon before official intervention can halt the launch. Treating spaceflight as an urgent engineering and logistical challenge, the drama is also notable for a real NBC news bulletin interrupting the surviving broadcast with reports of North Korea’s invasion of South Korea. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:58 Original Broadcast 29:22 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

X Minus One presents “Death Wish,” episode 115, originally broadcast on NBC on October 10, 1957. This science-fiction drama was adapted for radio by William Welch from Robert Sheckley’s 1956 Galaxy Science Fiction story, published under the pseudonym Ned Lang. Bound for Mars, Captain Summers and his two crewmates discover troubling flaws in their ship’s newly installed computer equipment. When the spacecraft is forced far beyond the Solar System with limited fuel, the crew faces an urgent and increasingly desperate fight for survival. The cast includes Ralph Camargo, Maurice Tarplin, Walter Black, and Joseph Bell. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:46 Original Broadcast 22:13 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lux Radio Theatre presents “Dark Victory,” episode 245, originally broadcast on CBS on January 8, 1940. Produced by Cecil B. DeMille and sponsored by Lux Flakes, this 60-minute adaptation revisits the 1939 Warner Bros. film. Bette Davis reprises her role as spirited Long Island socialite Judith Treherne, opposite Spencer Tracy as the eminent Dr. Frederick Steele. When troubling symptoms disrupt Judith’s reckless, privileged life, doctor and patient are drawn into a powerful drama of illness, love, courage, and an uncertain future. Lurene Tuttle co-stars as Ann King. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:53 Original Broadcast 01:00:21 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “The Time Machine - Jeff Corey,” originally broadcast on May 9, 1948. Episode 40 adapts H. G. Wells’s classic novel, with Jeff Corey as inventor Dr. Dudley and Erik Rolf as his skeptical friend, Fowler. Dudley invites Fowler to test an extraordinary machine capable of traveling through time. Their experiment carries them to the year 100,080, where a beautiful garden world and its seemingly gentle people hold unsettling mysteries. Irving Ravetch adapted the story for radio, in a production directed by Norman Macdonnell. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:47 Original Broadcast 30:17 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Suspense presents “Dead Ernest,” episode 205, originally broadcast on CBS on August 8, 1946. Written by Merwin Gerard and Seeleg Lester and produced and directed by Bill Spier, the drama stars Wally Maher, with Junius Matthews, Robert Bailey, Cathy Lewis, and Verna Felton among the supporting cast. Ernest Bowers is vulnerable to cataleptic spells that can leave him appearing dead. After a street accident, the safeguards that could explain his condition are separated from him, setting off a tense race through police, hospital, and morgue procedures. Roma Wines sponsored this original production. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:52 Original Broadcast 30:50 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Dragnet presents “The Big Switch,” episode 230, originally broadcast on NBC on January 12, 1954. Jack Webb stars as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday, with Ben Alexander as Officer Frank Smith. When Mona Fenton is found unconscious in a low-cost Los Angeles hotel room with the gas turned on, Friday and Smith investigate what may be more than an attempted suicide. Their Homicide Detail inquiry follows the hotel registration and the unidentified man connected with the room. The original broadcast was sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:52 Original Broadcast 29:54 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Gunsmoke, “The Trial,” originally broadcast March 22, 1959 (episode number variously listed as 361 or 363), stars William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon. This CBS Radio drama was written by John Meston and directed by Norman Macdonnell. After Dillon encounters hungry drifter Homer Tisdale over a minor theft, Tisdale is accused of a deadly stage-office robbery. As a circuit judge convenes court in Dodge City, the marshal takes a hard look at a case that may not be as straightforward as the testimony suggests. Parley Baer, Howard McNear, and Georgia Ellis co-star as Chester, Doc Adams, and Kitty. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:41 Original Broadcast 24:12 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Inner Sanctum Mysteries presents “Twice Dead,” originally broadcast on November 6, 1950. This 28-minute ABC installment was the ninth episode of the 1950 Mars Candy Bars-sponsored run, hosted by Paul McGrath and produced and directed by Himan Brown. At Maine’s forbidding Cathedrals Rock, David Morgan’s wife has died in a fall from the cliffs—but troubling signs soon suggest that the nightmare may not be over. As a box containing $100,000 vanishes, the Morgan household becomes the setting for a tense, shadowy mystery. The cast includes Larry Haines, Amzie Strickland, and Santos Ortega. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:49 Original Broadcast 30:24 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lux Radio Theatre presents “Killer Cates,” episode 550, originally broadcast on CBS on December 16, 1946. Sponsored by Lux and hosted by William Keighley, this production stars Jack Benny in a dramatic change of pace, with Gail Patrick and Alan Reed. Benny plays Jeff Morley, a comedian worn down by three years as the lethal gangster Killer Cates in the hit stage melodrama The Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed. As the role begins to spill over into his private life, concern mounts among his wife, manager, and doctor in a blend of show-business comedy, psychological tension, and gangster-style suspense. Directed by Sanford Barnett and adapted from a Warner Bros. screenplay. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:51 Original Broadcast 59:46 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Dimension X presents “And the Moon Be Still as Bright,” episode 26, originally broadcast on NBC on September 29, 1950. This sustaining, commercial-free drama adapts Ray Bradbury’s story from The Martian Chronicles, with a radio script by Ernest Kinoy. Alexander Scourby stars as Spender, alongside Wendell Holmes as Captain Wilder. Earth’s fourth expedition reaches Mars after three earlier missions have disappeared. Amid silent Martian cities and an intact artistic legacy, the explorers confront the unsettling beauty of an apparently deserted world—and the difficult questions raised by humanity’s arrival. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 01:01 Original Broadcast 30:41 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Suspense presents “Dateline - Lisbon,” originally broadcast on CBS on October 5, 1944. Episode 112 stars John Hodiak as American correspondent William Baldwin and was written by Harold Medford, with William Spier directing and producing. In wartime Lisbon, a neutral crossroads crowded with spies and travelers, Baldwin finds himself on trial for murder. Through a courtroom flashback, he recounts a mysterious photograph, a young woman named Teri Moore, and the unnerving interest of a Nazi general in what the camera may have captured. The tense drama unfolds against the shadowy atmosphere of World War II-era Portugal. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:51 Original Broadcast 30:59 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “Border Town,” episode 89, originally broadcast on CBS on December 13, 1949. This compact crime-adventure stars Jack Webb, with William Conrad and Jeanette Nolan, and was written by John and Gwen Bagni. An actor riding a bus toward Hollywood discovers that counterfeit money has been planted in his coat. Trying to rid himself of the dangerous burden leads him from outside Dallas to a Mexican border town, where a simple errand becomes a tense criminal adventure. William N. Robson produced and directed. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:43 Original Broadcast 30:13 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Gunsmoke, “Miguel’s Daughter,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 3, 1958, is episode 330 in the full-series radio log. William Conrad stars as Marshal Matt Dillon, with Georgia Ellis as Kitty and Parley Baer as Chester Proudfoot. The script was written by Marian Clark and produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell. When a young Mexican woman is harassed while bringing eggs into Dodge City, Kitty offers help and Matt Dillon steps in to see her safely home. At the Ramirez farmstead outside town, Matt finds a worried father determined to protect his daughter—and a dangerous situation that tests the boundary between justice and vengeance. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents this original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:53 Original Broadcast 20:27 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lux Radio Theatre presents “The Winslow Boy,” episode 864, originally broadcast January 18, 1954. Adapted by F. H. Barnett from Terence Rattigan’s play, this CBS production stars Ray Milland, Dorothy McGuire, and Brian Aherne. In Edwardian England, young Ronnie Winslow is expelled from the Royal Naval College after an accusation of theft. Determined to clear his name, his family turns to the formidable barrister Sir Robert Morton, beginning a demanding fight for fairness and vindication. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:44 Original Broadcast 56:45 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

The Whistler presents “The Killers,” episode 50, originally broadcast May 1, 1943. This early CBS Pacific Network sustaining drama was written and directed by J. Donald Wilson, with Marvin Miller featured in the cast. After a sensational murder trial in a Southwestern state, a young man escapes from an asylum and reaches an isolated farm where three women—and $1,000 in cash—are caught in the path of mounting danger. Wilbur Hatch composed and conducted the series’ ominous music. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:47 Original Broadcast 30:18 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Dragnet, “The Big Present” (episode 223), originally broadcast November 24, 1953. Jack Webb stars as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday in this NBC crime drama, sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes. Assigned to Burglary Detail in Los Angeles, Friday investigates a string of neighborhood-market break-ins linked to the elusive “Milk-Bottle Bandit.” With few clues to work from, he follows the sparse evidence left behind by the distinctive burglar. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:45 Original Broadcast 26:15 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Inner Sanctum Mysteries presents “Death of a Doll,” originally broadcast on CBS on October 18, 1948. Series episode 392, written by Fred Maytho, features Mason Adams as rookie reporter Willie Harper and Ted Osborne as painter Beau Cousins. On his first assignment for the Morning Blade, Harper is sent to the Manhattan morgue to investigate an unidentified young woman recovered from the East River. A small doll is the only clue, sending him from newspaper files and Washington Square to the city’s shadowy waterfront in a mystery touched by folklore and menace. The surviving recording also identifies itself as an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:50 Original Broadcast 25:53 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

X Minus One presents “Nightmare,” episode 10, originally broadcast on NBC Radio on July 21, 1955. Adapted for radio by George Lefferts from Stephen Vincent Benét’s poem “The Revolt of the Machines,” this unsponsored science-fiction drama stars John Gibson, Joyce Gordon, Luis Van Rooten, Joseph Julian, and Santos Ortega. At Long Island’s Brook Meadow Atomic Pile, statistical clerk Sampson Gurney spots an alarming pattern in a series of seemingly unrelated accidents and equipment failures. As he turns to the installation’s immense electronic computer for answers, everyday office and industrial machinery takes on a chilling new significance. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:47 Original Broadcast 24:57 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Dimension X presents “The Martian Death March,” episode 34, originally broadcast on NBC Radio Network on January 14, 1951. This original radio story was written by Ernest Kinoy and directed by Edward King, with Norman Rose as announcer and narrator. On an Earth-conquered Mars, a human colonist remembers a desperate flight by spider-like Martian refugees from imposed reservations toward their mountain homeland. Led by a human advocate, the journey becomes a tense, compassionate science-fiction allegory of conquest, displacement, and solidarity. The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience. Chapters: 00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction 00:58 Original Broadcast 26:43 Closing Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support . Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio