Starter of this subject: David Stoner
Last post in this subject: 11/22/1999
Messages in this subject: 9
| David Stoner | 11/22/1999 9 replies |
| I have read articles bragging that both "Suspense" and "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" each was the "the very last" dramatic OTR show. In the logs, it looks like both shows ended on 9/30/62 with "The Devilstone" and the "Tip-Off Matter" respectively. So which show was the last? |
| Jack French | 11/22/1999 2 replies |
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One can logically argue that none of these shows was the last OTR show. CBS Radio Mystery Theater was airing dramatic programs from Jan 1974 to December 1982. (And CBS just rebroadcast several of these episodes last year!) Imagination Theater, doing scripts by Jim French (no relation) airs radio drama in present day, and there are many more small companies that do.
I don't believe there is a "last" OTR show... |
| Walt Pattinson | 11/23/1999 0 replies |
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One can also logically argue that Suspense and Johnny Dollar are the last of the OTR programs, all that come after are NTR -- the new breed. One could reason that these two shows started during radio's entertainment heyday and by Aug 30, 1962, radio's new face had developed. Therefore, Theater 5, Imagination Theater, Zero Hour, etc, though carrying on the tradition and the quality for the most part, they would go into the category of "New Time Radio"
If you accept this (and there's no real reason you should, it's just an idea) then the 'last' program would of course be the one that was on later. Both were CBS, Suspense was on from 6:35 to 7:00 PM. I could find no record of the time JD was on, so the question is still unanswered. I'd guess it was earlier, in the late afternoon. Oh well. Someone out there probably knows... Walt |
| Michael Simons | 12/15/1999 0 replies |
| Let's not forget Paul Harvey's programs. He started in 1951 and continues today. 1951 still qualifies for OTR as it even predates Gunsmoke! |
| Joe Oliver | 11/23/1999 0 replies |
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The reason I would accept 9/30/62 as the date of the last otr shows is that the continuity of programs was lost after that date. CBSRMT in January, 1974 was after 12 years of no otr. In my book everything after '62 is either revival or new-time radio. If I were going to argue against the '62 date as the end of otr, I would probably set the conclusion of the era much earlier--maybe around 1954-55. Those of us who were around then remember that radio quickly became something different in households as the TV monster pushed radio sets out of the living room and retrained listeners to expect pictures with their drama.
Joe Oliver |
| Eric Cooper | 11/25/1999 1 replies |
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I would also point out that by Sept 1962 there was no network rule saying what time a particular show had to be aired by a particular affiliated station. Thus even in the late 50's you had airtimes of CBS Radio shows in Los Angeles that were very different than what the standard OTR reference books say they are, the books referring to the original network feed time.
So it's really a toss up. Suspense and YTJD were in TANDEM the last of a wonderful era. |
| scriptor | 11/28/1999 0 replies |
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I have learned much from, and never to argue with Jack, but I must agree that the last Old Time Radio show was Suspense, broadcast a half hour later than YTJD. The later shows, Theater 5 in the mid sixties, The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (broadcast mainly on non CBS stations, including WOR), The National Lampoon Comedy Hour (for which I wrote music, script, and acted), Sears, etc...were produced for syndication and were meant for a different audience then those who grew up with radio drama. You may say that CBS RMT tried to capture the flavor or aura of old radio, certainly Mr. Brown was (and is) well qualified to write and produce dramatic radio, but that's exactly what it was. An attempt at recapture. Instant nostalgia, touted and advertized at the time as "camp". A series that was illfitted for the past, as it drew a good deal on the present, and a bit anacronistic in it's own time. There has to be a line drawn somewhere, for the very name of the hobby includes a defining term: Old. Old is 1962. Unless Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Billy Crystal, etc., bring to mind Old Time Radio. scriptor
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| Bob Flood | 12/3/1999 2 replies |
| Alas, the Fall of 1962 was the year that all major Network Radio shows took their final bow. However, it was also the year that our favorite hobby and past time, OTR, was born. (One can't be sad too long.) I however must point out that several "religous" radio shows, started in the 1950s and did continue on into the early 1970s. (I have a copy of a Salvation Army radio program called "Heartbeat Theater" that features a story of Col. Saunders.) This radio show I remember listening to on WMAL in Washington, DC back in the mid 1960s and on WMZQ all the way into the 70s. Just a thought... |
| Pudge | 12/4/1999 0 replies |
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Are we going to count religious programs?
"Unshackled" began production in 1950 and continues today. Furthermore, for decades it has been heard all over North America and throughout much of the world via short wave not to mention its modern presence on the internet. It's not really my type of programming but it certainly is radio drama performed in the style OTR fans know and love. What other dramatic production begun during the OTR era survived to reach its 50th birthday, as Unshackled will next year, and to offer continuing new programming on the net? |
| Jeff | 12/11/1999 0 replies |
| I like to call the hobby I'm in Radio Drama, personally. Remember that as soon as those respective series ended in 62, 'contemporary' or 'new time radio dramas' started right back up in the 70s, just not as commerci |