When Radio Ruled #148 - Thanksgiving 2025
beforetv's podcast
Happy Thanksgiving!! The concept of Thanksgiving is as ancient as ancient can be. Harvest festivals dedicated to the god or gods currently in fashion as thanks for abundance and the survival it would provide. But like so many things, Americans have made thanksgiving their very own with traditions and customs created and nurtured here in the good old USA. FEATURING: Lionel Barrymore Edward Arnold Fanny Brice Hanley Stafford Nelson Eddy Cecil B. DeMille Mickey Rooney Don Wilson Amos ‘n Ady Wally Brown Dinah Shore Winston Churchill And More
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When Radio Ruled #147 - SoundScape 1939 part 20
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Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. Radio highlights originally broadcast live October 8 through October 15, 1939. A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: What the Jack Benny cast did on Summer Vacation! Dennis Day Joins the Jello Cast! Orson Welles takes us to Tangiers! Bert Lahr visits Fred Allen! Andy Devine visits Jack Benny! And More!! Featuring: Jack Benny Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Mary Livingston Phil Harris Don Wilson Dennis Day Orson Welles Paulette Goddard ...
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When Radio Ruled #146 - SoundScape 1939 part 19
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Old Time Radio highlights originally broadcast live October 1 through October 8, 1939. Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Charlie McCarthy’s in Need of Cash! Mozart has been dead for many years! Edgar Bergen Firefighter! Constance Bennett has a Bridge Party Charlie McCarthy Fire Chief!! And More!! Featuring: Don Ameche Charlie McCarthy Edgar Bergen Nelson Eddy Dorothy Lamour Edward Everett Horton Constance Bennett Robert Armbruster ...
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When Radio Ruled #145 - Spooky Scary Chilling Halloween 2025
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At Halloween the thin boundary between living and dead dissolves so that ghosts, goblins, and the sins we thought long buried come back to feast on our fright filled souls. Day of the dead, all souls day, two thousand years ago the Pagen Celts called it Samhin, we call it Halloween. The time when ghosts, ghouls, and costumed children all wander the streets looking for their favorite tasty treats. The children want candy, the others from beyond the grave want to feed on your sweet, sweet, sinful soul. The earliest peoples knew this, huddled around the first campfires now lost in memory...
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When Radio Ruled #144 - SoundScape 19839 part 18
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Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. September 21 – September 28, 1939 History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Tap Dancing on the Radio! Charlie McCarthy back to School! Funny stories from David Niven Women can be Boss and make the Men Like It! And More!! Featuring: Major Bowes The Teddy Powell Orchestra Orson Welles Don Ameche Charlie McCarthy Edgar Bergen Dorothy Lamour David Niven Anita Louise Robert Armbruster Fibber McGee and Molly And...
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When Radio Ruled #143 - Birth of the SitCom
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Early American entertainment included the circus, the minstrel show, vaudeville, broadway revues, all popular forms of the variety show. And it was talent from those stage shows that created radio. But radio wasn’t the same as the stage. Radio was different manifesting new possibilities for entertainment. An opportunity to entertain with new formats. The situation comedy was one such format, brand new, a child of radio, never before seen in the history of man. Although the situation comedy format is only a hundred or so years old, there is still a mystery...
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When Radio Ruled #142 - SoundScape 1939 part 17 September 10-21, 1939
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Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. September 10 – September 21, 1939 History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Fibber and Molly Celebrate their Anniversary! George G. Nathan Talks Eugene O’Neil! Smoking Hot Swing Tunes! And More!! Featuring: Orson Welles Cary Grant Fibber McGee and Molly Don Ameche Edgar Bergen Charlie McCarthy Dorothy Lamour Nelson Eddy Robert Armbruster Fred MacMurray Helen Broderick George G. Nathan Myrt and Marge Louis...
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When Radio Ruled #141 - Best Variety Shows of the 1930s
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The first generation of radio talent, performers, directors, and writers came from the worlds of vaudeville, minstrel shows and Broadway revues. All forms of variety theater, so it isn’t any wonder that the variety show quickly emerged as a common Radio format. Here are the three Old Time Radio shows from the 1930’s I feel best exemplify the variety format, and the reasons why. I expect you, dear listener, might respectfully disagree with my choices. Leave me a comment on my blog, BeforeTVBlog.com, I’d love to hear your opinions. Meanwhile, give a listen to: Al...
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When Radio Ruled #140 - SoundScape 1939 part 16 August 27 - September 5, 1939
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Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. August 27 – September 5, 1939 History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Picking up Girls with Alan Mowbray! The Most Fateful Broadcast in History! On the Boat with Edgar and Charlie! Nutrition with Vera Vague! The Invasion of Poland! And More!! Featuring: Dorothy Lamour Don Ameche Donald Dixon Alan Mowbray Robert Young Meredith Wilson Alice Faye Louis B. Mayer Fanny Brice Hanley Stafford John Steele Charlie McCarthy Edgar...
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When Radio Ruled #139 - Vera Vague 1939
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Sometimes an actor playing a character becomes so popular with their audience that it becomes more than a character, it becomes a persona that the actor inhabits. Such was the case with Vera Vague, a creation of actor/writer Babara Jo Allen. Vera Vague was a constant presence on Old Time Radio, man-hungry, misinformed, and most amusing. Guest Starring: Edgar Bergen Charlie McCarthy Don Ameche And Rudy Vallee
info_outlineOld Time Radio highlights originally broadcast live October 1 through October 8, 1939.
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Charlie McCarthy’s in Need of Cash!
Mozart has been dead for many years!
Edgar Bergen Firefighter!
Constance Bennett has a Bridge Party
Charlie McCarthy Fire Chief!!
And More!!
Featuring:
Don Ameche
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Nelson Eddy
Dorothy Lamour
Edward Everett Horton
Constance Bennett
Robert Armbruster
The Shadow
Winston Churchill
Orson Welles
Cecil B DeMille
Fibber McGee and Molly
Fred Allen
Harry Van Steeden
The Merry Macs
Wynn Murray
Ned Sparks
Vera Vague
Charles Laughton
And More!