Saturday, June 26, 2021

20 Great Years of Radio, Part 20: 1957

  1. The Stan Freberg Show (CBS): Just as radio seemed to be getting out comedy, along came Freberg! Freberg was the last great radio comedian. I love this short-lived show which is chock full of sketches, my favourite being his werewolf satire.
  2. X Minus One (NBC): Another good year for radio's best sci-fi series which included unusual episodes like the disquieting Drop Dead, the heartfelt Saucer of Loneliness and disturbing Caretaker.
  3. The CBS Radio Workshop (CBS): This year saw another elaborate sci-fi two-parter with The Space Merchants and a great surreal episode called Nightmare. There's also a fun adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's Never Bet the Devil Your Head.
  4. Suspense (CBS): Another good year of Suspense, the best being Shooting Star and Flesh Peddler.
  5. Sleep No More (NBC): Another good year of Nelson Ohmstead's program, the best being the horror story A Suspicious Gift. He also read the original version of Three Skeleton Key. Other good stories are To Build a Fire and Woman in Gray.
  6. You Bet Your Life (NBC): This fun radio game show continued to be good fun under Groucho Marx's guidance.
  7. Bob and Ray (CBS): Another good bunch of comedy programs by this duo.
  8. Gunsmoke (CBS): More from the best western on radio.
  9. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (CBS): Another fine year for this, which was practically the only radio detective show left on the air.
  10. The Great Gildersleeve (NBC): This long-running sitcom came to its end this year. I was never much of a fan of this series, but it could be charming at times.

...And that's the end of my list. 1957 was the last year of old-time radio where I felt I could assemble a top 10 list. The number of shows was quite small by 1958. By splitting up these 20 years into 20 top ten lists, I hope I've identified some shows you might have otherwise passed over. If so, enjoy!

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