Radio Retropolis

Two convicts escape from a nearby penitentiary. According to reports they are heading towards Los Angeles and are both armed and dangerous.  In the meantime, Friday is given some shattering news.  His partner of 11 years Ben Romero died that morning of a massive heart attack.  As Romero's portrayer, Barton Yarborough, died in the same manner just a week before this episode, Jack Webb wanted an epi...

Superman is worried about the whereabouts of Jimmy and Jack who are now held captive by Vincent Kirby the head of the Knights of the White Carnation.  Commentary on Jimmy's real age discovered here.

A doctor visits Africa to catch a large gorilla to bring him back to New York with them to go in a zoo. The gorilla, however, seems to take an unusual dislike in the doctor as if he had known him from somewhere.  Commentary on the real evolution of man and gorilla that mirrors the plot line of this episode. Plus guest star Anne Seymour.

During a cave tour, several students fall down a pit when the rail gives way. When a rescue team goes down, they find no bodies. The Shadow and Margot Lane investigate and discover a secret mine deep below the caverns and much more horrifying unearthing.

A two-timing wife thinks that her meek, bank-teller husband is planning to kill her.   JR comments on the difference between misunderstandings in the style of drama versus comedy.

Jimmy and Jack Wilson pretending to agree with the hate agitators, relayed to Kent that they were told to meet at a lunch wagon to get further instructions by telephone.   But when they got there, they were carted away by the agents themselves who showed up in person.  JR comments on the three reasons why dramas of the Golden Age are still far superior to those today.

Liz tells George's mother that she's ill so the older Mrs. Cooper won't come to Liz' bridge game.  But George's Mother, as well as all of Liz' friends, thinks she is really pregnant. Commentary on why the word pregnant was an issue shortly after this episode.  Also, we talk about the behind the scenes real life emotion that went in to the Lucy is Enceinte episode of I Love Lucy.

A twenty-two-year-old girl has been abducted and her family receives an anonymous message demanding $30,000 for her safe return.  This is Barton Yarborough's very last episode of Dragnet. Commentary revisiting the history of how Dragnet came to be. Plus guest star Whit Connor who usually would have been an unlikely casting choice of Jack Webb's.

Jimmy and Jack disregard Clark's advice and decide to follow the man responsible for inciting the student riot not knowing they are being led right to the inner sanctum of the Knights of the White Carnation.  JR comments on recent listener reviews of the Superman radio series.

John and Muriel encounter car trouble and resort to stay at a spooky Haitian plantation in which they are told stories about the local voodoo which predicts an unhappy future for the couple.

While visiting Egypt, Lamont Cranston investigates why patients keep disappearing from the Cairo General Hospital. Listen for a bone chilling performance from Margot Stevenson!

A middle-aged sandwich clerk borrows money from the store cash register to bet on a long-shot horse race guaranteed to win. When the horse loses, the psychological trauma of being "honest" haunts him and adds a psychological twist to the story.  JR comments on what desperation leads to.  Plus, Charles Laughton.

Jimmy is being threatened by an angry mob of students as he protects the boys who were accused of throwing the game.  JR comments on Superman's speech to the rioting students about bullying and mob rule.

Mr. Curry, George and Liz's landlord, is raising the rent, supposedly on instructions from his late wife, Bernice. Liz figures that she can fix things with a crooked Ouija Board. Commentary on how the Ouija Board came to be as well as the special connection Lucille Ball had with numerology.

Friday and Romero discover a woman and two dead canaries killed in the same manner in the same house. Commentary on the brilliant performance of guest actress Joyce McCluskey and why this is one of Dragnet's top episodes.

Superman works to clear the names of the boys who were first beaten and then framed for taking bribes thanks to Knights of the White Carnation.  JR comments on how fate plays into the lives of Superman's pals.

A ship sailing the Caribbean crashes and loses all hands except 5 men. One of the men is dying and puts a curse on the Captain and another man right before he dies. The remaining men find another ship and board it only to find it abandoned and filled with pirate treasure.

Lamont and Margo head for Panama to track down a spy ring that's laying mines to disrupt shipping through the canal.  Commentary to follow episode.

A great psychological mystery unfolds as an overwhelmed and stressed-out wife is sent to the country by her doctors for a rest cure but becomes fascinated by the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom believing a woman was trapped behind it.  JR comments on why Agnes Moorehead is one of the greatest radio stars of the Golden Era.  Plus the psychological impact of the original story

Although Clark Kent thwarted Kirby's attempts at getting the 4 foreign boys off the Metropolis basketball team, Kirby, who has been known to commit murder, decides to go to the next extreme to eliminate them from the team.  JR comments on the new 2025 Superman movie.

Liz sends George an anonymous love letter that she wrote to him during his bachelor days, and he thinks it's from his secretary, Gladys. Commentary on whether men actually keep love letters and, if they do, are they from their wives or past girlfriends.  Also Jim comments on what he found after listening to this episode.

Friday and Romero investigate carefully planned robberies in which the bandit commits brutal attacks on each of the victims.  Commentary on guest actors Virginia Gregg and Vic Perrin.  Plus, a popular phrase of the 1950's is explained.

Although the four players have been cleared, they are threatened by a new and violent danger.  Commentary on top song  and radio program of that week.

Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story of a man named Simon,a former musician that went tone deaf, who after treatment has exceptional hearing. He meets Oliver, another patient, who was previously blind but now can see. Whereas Simon is filled with love, Oliver wants to spread hate and misery  which leads Simon to make a drastic decision to save society.  Commentary on Boris Karloff's radio career....

A crime boss, with the help of a Hindu who possesses mind control power, plans to kill The Shadow by kidnapping Margot Lane and "commanding" her to shoot to kill.  Commentary to follow episode.