Welcome to a Special Friday the 13th trip back to the Golden Age of Radio. This is Mike Alexander, your travel guide for journey back to listen. While there we’ll listen to episodes highlights and excepts for the classic programs of that time. On this special trip, we’ll go back to 1942 to listen to episodes from two of the Golden Ages better horror and supernatural programs.
If you listened to our regular trip back last Sunday, you heard me ask a question about Lionel Stander. Stander had been blacklisted starting in the late 1940s. His inability to work as an actor in the United States lasted until 1965. During that time, he worked in Europe. When he finally returned in 1965, he was cast in a TV series. The role he played in that series is what he is best remembered for. I asked if you could name the series. The answer is Hart to Hart. Stander played Max, their chauffer, cook and butler. There were a just a few correct answers from those many who emailed.
Now on to this special journey. While the time portal gets ready, let me tell about this trip. Both episodes are from 1942. One episode is from one of the oldest horror/supernatural programs. It was created by Wyllis Cooper in 1933 and then he passed the baton to Arch Oboler. Both were known for their ability to scare the pants off of you. The second episode will be from a program known for its supernatural tales. This program, originating out of Oklahoma City, only ran for seven months but went national almost from the very beginning.
Okay. The time portal is all set. So, let’s get started.
The first stop is to Monday, October 12, 1942 to listen to an episode from the program Lights Out. Wyllis Cooper created this show in the Fall of 1933. His idea was “a midnight mystery serial to catch the attention of the listeners at the witching hour.” In contrast to the other stations playing music, Cooper wanted offer listeners a dramatic program late at night. At some point, the serial concept was dropped in favor of an anthology format emphasizing crime thrillers and the supernatural. Starting in January 1934, the first series of shows (each 15 minutes long) ran on a local NBC station, WENR, at midnight Wednesdays,. By April, the series proved successful enough to expand to a half-hour. Cooper stayed on the program until June 1936, when another Chicago writer, Arch Oboler, took over.
I am turning back the time portal’s radio dial to Monday, October 12, 1942 for the “Poltergeist” episode Lights Out written by Arch Oboler.
In January 1935, the show was discontinued in order to ease Cooper’s workload (he was then writing scripts for the network’s prestigious Immortal Dramas program), but was brought back by huge popular demand a few weeks later. After a successful tryout in New York City, the series was picked up by NBC in April 1935 and broadcast nationally, usually late at night and always on Wednesdays.
When Lights Out switched to the national network, a decision was made to tone down the gore and emphasize tamer fantasy and ghost stories. In later years Lights Out would be closely associated with Oboler,. But, he was always quick to credit Cooper as the series’ creator and spoke highly of the older author, calling him “the unsung pioneer of radio dramatic techniques” and the first person Oboler knew of who understood that radio drama could be an art form.
Lights out went off the air for a while in 1941. It was revived in 1942 and lasted until 1947.
