Couch and Coffee Table

Heather and Michael are discussing Christmas movies old and new. They touch on what makes a Christmas movie a Christmas movie, personal favorites and not so personal favorites. They discuss classic Christmas stories and their elements. Due to time, they weren't able to cover everything. Maybe next year.

This episode brings an adaptation of the 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid from Lux Radio Theater on Dec.10,1951. The film has always been a favorite of Mr. Perry's, since his Mother introduced it to him as a child. The film stars Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell and Lloyd Nolan.

Michael and Heather discuss the 1942 film and the broadcast of an adaptation of Holiday Inn. The radio broadcast aired Jan.11,1943 and it starred Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore. Due to some of the scenes in the radio show, Couch and Coffee table must address the prejudices of that time. The prejudices were wrong then and are wrong now, but to ignore these prejudices and say they never existed would b...

Continuing on in our Christmas shows for the season, we have two from The Abbott And Costello Show. The first one is called Christmas Shopping which aired on Dec.14,1944. The second one is called Lou's Christmas Party and it aired on Dec.20,1945.

For this episode, we're kicking off our Christmas season of shows with a double header. The first one is The Martin And Lewis Show from Dec.21,1951. Our second show is from The Bing Crosby Show from Christmas Eve,1946. The show was presented by Philco Radio Time.

We're presenting The Wizard Of Oz as it aired on Lux Radio Theater on Dec.25,1950. Although this isn't a Christmas show, it was felt that it would be nice way to transition into our holiday season.

For the end of November, we're airing Treasure Island starring Orson Welles and the rest of the cast of The Mercury Theater On the Air. Treasure Island aired on July 18, 1938.

From Australia, we have an adaptation of Forbidden Planet as it was done on the Caltex Theater radio show on June 9,1959. This is the final sci-fi show for November.

It's another round of X Minus One and another double feature to boot. The first one is Skulking Permit from Feb.15,1956 and the second one is The Girls From Earth from Jan.16,1957.

Two from Author Ray Bradbury, first one up is The Martian Chronicles from Dimension X on Aug.18,1950. The second one is Zero Hour from Suspense May 18,1958

Two From X Minus One, first one up is Venus is a man's world from Feb.6,1957. The second one is Chain of Command from Nov.21,1956. 

With November here and Thanksgiving around the corner, we thought we'd do some sci-fi for this month. First up is Lux Radio Theater's adaptation of The Day The Earth Stood Still starring Michael Rennie. This adaptation aired on Jan.4th,1954.

In this episode, discussions about coco and the lighthouse are in the first segment with the new halloween trilogy taking over for most of the episode after that. We experienced technical dfficulties towards the end of the episode but that's how it goes.

The final story for October Nights is the war of the worlds by the mercury theatre on the air. When it was first broadcast on Oct.30,1938, it caused a nationwide panic. The director and star of the mercury theatre, orson welles, had to hold a press conference the next day to try and calm down the press and the public at large. A great broadcast and a fitting end to our October Nights series as we...

In our next to last episode of our October Nights series, we present another seasonal classic. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow done by Favorite Story radio series and aired May 29,1948.

With October Nights fastly coming to an end, we thought it wouldn't be complete without the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his creation. This is from the Suspense radio series and it aired June 7,1955.

In this episode, we have one apiece from a couple of horror masters. The first one up is Bela Lugosi with John Carradine in Thirsty Death from Mystery House as it aired on July 3,1944. The second one is Boris Karloff in Those Who Walk In Darkness on Mystery Playhouse hosted by Peter Lorre. It aired over Armed Forces Radio in 1944.

For this episode, it's an Edgar Allan Poe double header. To that end, two were chosen from Poe's many radio adaptations of his work. The first is The Fall of the House of Usher from the radio series Escape! that aired on Oct.22,1947. The second story is The Cask of Amontillado and aired on The Hall of Fantasy on Jan.19,1953.

Another great star of the horror genre is featured in this episode. Peter Lorre stars in The Mask Of Medusa from Mystery In The Air, which aired on Sept.4,1947. Look for Henry Morgan aka Harry Morgan from mash fame as the announcer.

Another ghost story from old time radio on Couch and Coffee table. This time, it's from the radio series The Mysterious Traveler with an episode called The Locomotive Ghost. It aired on July 6,1947.

Our first show of the season starring Vincent Price. It aired June 1,1944 on Suspense and also starred Ida Lupino.

Jazz Music and Voodoo in New Orleans are a part of this episode. We present one from the radio series Escape and an episode called Papa Benjamin. It aired on Jan.21,1948.

Couch and Coffee Table present its fourth installment in the October Nights series. The Mercury Theater On The Air adaptation of Dracula starring Orson Welles. It originally aired July 11,1938 just three and a half months before his famous "War Of The Worlds" broadcast on Oct.30.

Another installment in October Nights. We present the old time radio show, Suspense Theaters' Donovan's Brain starring John Mcintire and airing originally on Feb.7,1948. 

In our second installment of October Nights, we present The Ghost and Mrs. Muir starring Charles Boyer and Madeleine Carroll from Lux radio Theater which aired Dec.1,1947. We began our seasonal october nights series in the last episode and continue it in this episode.