HE NEW ADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE

Nero Wolfe first appeared on radio on July 5, 1943 on the NBC Blue Network in The Adventures Of Nero Wolfe. This series didn't last long and starred Santos Ortega as Wolfe and Luis Van Rooten as Archie. The second series was during 1945 on the Mutual network in The Amazing Nero Wolfe. This lasted only until December 15, 1946 and starred Francis X. Bushman and Elliot Lewis as Archie. The third series was known as The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe. Starting on October 20, 1950 it lasted only until April 27, 1951. It starred Sidney Greenstreet as Nero Wolfe. The part of Archie was played by Lawrence Dobkin for the first twelve shows. Gerald Mohr took over for the next four shows after making a guest appearance in the twelfth show. Harry Bartell was Archie for the remainder of the series. Nero Wolfe, also known as the galloping gourmet, was an armchair detective. He rarely left the house; instead his assistant, Archie Goodwin, would collect the facts and report back. Nero Wolfe would probably not have taken on many cases had he not needed the clients' money to pay for his two true passions: fine food and the collecting of orchids. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's male secretary, prodded him into taking cases whenever the bank balance got a little low. Wolfe, as a character, is difficult to like. He's a self-assured type that does nothing unless he wants to, making his assistant, Archie Goodwin, deal with the outside world. The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe is based on a series of books begun in 1934 by Rex Stout. There were two previous incarnations of the radio series: The Adventures of Nero Wolfe which ran in 1943 and 1944 and The New Adventures of (aka The Amazing) Nero Wolfe which ran in 1945 to 1946. Very few episodes from these earlier series are in circulation today. There was also one later series created by the Canadian Broadcasting Company in 1982.

This upload contains 88 episodes of the Old Time Radio program, Gang Busters. The show, a police-based dramatic crime anthology, ran from 1935-1957 and focused on dramatizing crimes from police files. The show also broadcast alerts, known as Gang Buster Clues, of suspects wanted by police around the country. Sadly only a limited number of episodes are known to survive

Revival

A young Bob Bailey (1937)
CBS Radio revived Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar in October 1955 with a new leading man, a new director, and a new format. The program changed from a 30-minute, one-episode-per-week program to a 15-minute, five-nights-a-week serial[2] (Monday through Friday, 8–8:15 pm EST) produced and directed by radio veteran Jack Johnstone. The new Johnny Dollar was Bob Bailey, who had just come off another network detective series, Let George Do It. With a new lead and 75 minutes of air time each week, it became possible to develop each storyline with more detail and with more characters. Almost all of the Johnny Dollar serials were presented by CBS Radio on a sustaining basis (unsponsored, with no commercials); only two of the 55 serials take time out for a sponsor's message.

Bob Bailey was exceptionally good in this format, making Johnny more sensitive and thoughtful in addition to his other attributes. Vintage-radio enthusiasts often endorse Bailey as the best of the Johnny Dollars, and consider the 13-month run of five-part stories to be some of the greatest drama in radio history.[8] The serial scripts were usually written by Johnstone, "John Dawson" (a pseudonym for E. Jack Neuman), Les Crutchfield, or Robert Ryf. The show was always produced and directed by Johnstone. Under his "John Dawson" pseudonym, Neuman reworked several of his scripts from the John Lund period, expanding and/or combining them into scripts for the serial format. The show featured a stock company of supporting actors, including Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Vic Perrin, Lawrence Dobkin, Stacy Harris, Parley Baer, Howard McNear, John Dehner, Barney Phillips, Lillian Buyeff, Tony Barrett, Don Diamond, Alan Reed, and Forrest Lewis. Movie character actors appeared occasionally, including Jay Novello, Hans Conried, Frank Nelson, Leon Belasco, William Conrad, Edgar Barrier, Jeanne Bates, Gloria Blondell, and Billy Halop.

In late 1956, CBS Radio retooled the show, which reverted to a weekly half-hour drama, airing on late Sunday afternoons. Bob Bailey continued in the leading role until 1960 and wrote one episode, "The Carmen Kringle Matter," under his first and middle names (Robert Bainter).

Staff announcer Dan Cubberly introduced the program during the Edmond O'Brien run; Roy Rowan was the announcer for the first two years of Bob Bailey's run; he also was an announcer on CBS's I Love Lucy. In "The Laird Douglas Matter," Roy Rowan was written into the script as dog-show expert "Ray Roland." In 1957, Rowan was succeeded by Dan Cubberly, returning to the series.