Radio Recap: Behind the Mike

"Radio's own show: Behind the Mike!"

Behind the Mike is a must-listen program for anyone who considers themselves an old-time radio fan; it was an informative program about the behind-the-scenes workings of old-time radio, heard as an afternoon series on NBC Blue from September 15, 1940 to April 19, 1942. It was hosted by Graham McNamee.

Behind the Mike is simply the best old-time radio program about old-time radio; they featured a number of recurring segments such as "sound effect of the week" in which they explained how a particular sound effect was created; they would also recreate cancelled radio shows, reuniting the casts of programs which had ended years earlier (in some cases, these recreations are all we have of once-popular shows like the Gold Dust Twins); they also had a segment where they answered questions from listeners.

The show also lent a spotlight to radio supporting players as performers demonstrated how they could adopt various dialects or imitate animals. In one episode they demonstrate what goes into writing an episode of a soap opera. A few episodes featured auditions performed by a would-be announcer and a would-be singer. They would also re-create famous bloopers, mostly performed by radio announcers, along with one instance where a dog had to be chased from the studio during a dramatic scene!

I found anecdotes from the program Sundown on the Veldt (now lost) to be pretty interesting; there's also a recreation of Eno Crime Clues and a terrific recreation of the show Harbor Lights, which featured dramas set at sea.

As an NBC program, Behind the Mike they promoted a lot of NBC shows (once the sound effect of the week came from the mostly-lost program The Bishop and the Gargoyle!), even featuring Don Wilson and Jack Benny in one episode in which Jack reminisced about his first appearance on radio. There's also an episode where Raymond Everett Johnson and organist Lew White demonstrated how they created Inner Sanctum Mysteries, with particular attention given to how White's organ would enhance the drama. However, some non-NBC shows came up as well, such as a sound effect of the week from Mutual's the Shadow.

You can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection of Behind the Mike through the playlist below: