CBS Radio Mystery Theater

[zeebo]

...I also remember listening to Art's Dreamland in the early days on road trips. Ah yes, AM radio...and as the signal fades, scrambling to find the show on another station without missing anything...

I often used to make the trek late at nite between So. and No. Cal. on the I-5.  Was always cool to pull in Dreamland and crank it up through the static, while driving through dimly lit, misty Central Valley stretches.  You couldn't help but look a little closer at those dark vistas and expansive skies and wonder if you might see something weird.

[Ciardelo]

I often used to make the trek late at nite between So. and No. Cal. on the I-5.  Was always cool to pull in Dreamland and crank it up through the static, while driving through dimly lit, misty Central Valley stretches.  You couldn't help but look a little closer at those dark vistas and expansive skies and wonder if you might see something weird.

Goddamn it why can't they live forever?


https://youtu.be/dBSN2KmCk14

[Lt.Uhura]

I often used to make the trek late at nite between So. and No. Cal. on the I-5.  Was always cool to pull in Dreamland and crank it up through the static, while driving through dimly lit, misty Central Valley stretches.  You couldn't help but look a little closer at those dark vistas and expansive skies and wonder if you might see something weird.

Yes! I-5 makes great ambience for late night radio like AB. Also the Eastern Sierras 395, with ghost towns and otherworldly landscapes. The creepiest experience for me was crossing US 50 in Nevada late at night and listening to Bell, with a black helicopter following along for several miles. Those road trips and late night AM radio were the perfect combination.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_50_in_Nevada

[Robert]

The "funny" thing is that the CBS Radio Mystery Theater wasn't carried on WCBS.  It actually originated from WOR, where it was announced simply as Radio Mystery Theater.  I was a regular listener when it was new.

For reasons I don't know, the show was advertised in print by Budweiser, aiming at college students; they took out ads in college newspapers.  That was during the interval when the "drinking age" had been lowered to 18 before being raised again to 21.  Meanwhile Budweiser didn't advertise on the show itself.

I'm afraid I'll have to spoil an episode I don't remember the name of to illustrate how the show would both honor and counter the clichés of the genre.  It was one of those hoary plots of the death on stage caused by the prop gun's being "accidentally" loaded with a live round.  Everybody had motiv'n, and the show consisted of Fred Gwynne (who was a regular on the series -- ironically, considering his Car 54 role) as the Inspector eliminating suspects 1 by 1 from consider'n, including the one who "confessed".  It ended with the bit of dialog with one character asking whether the murder was never to be solved, and Gwynne's answer, "Why not?  It happens all the time."

[Ciardelo]

The "funny" thing is that the CBS Radio Mystery Theater wasn't carried on WCBS.  It actually originated from WOR, where it was announced simply as Radio Mystery Theater.  I was a regular listener when it was new.

For reasons I don't know, the show was advertised in print by Budweiser, aiming at college students; they took out ads in college newspapers.  That was during the interval when the "drinking age" had been lowered to 18 before being raised again to 21.  Meanwhile Budweiser didn't advertise on the show itself.

I'm afraid I'll have to spoil an episode I don't remember the name of to illustrate how the show would both honor and counter the clichés of the genre.  It was one of those hoary plots of the death on stage caused by the prop gun's being "accidentally" loaded with a live round.  Everybody had motiv'n, and the show consisted of Fred Gwynne (who was a regular on the series -- ironically, considering his Car 54 role) as the Inspector eliminating suspects 1 by 1 from consider'n, including the one who "confessed".  It ended with the bit of dialog with one character asking whether the murder was never to be solved, and Gwynne's answer, "Why not?  It happens all the time."

That's a fucking lie Robert. I wonder if you are misremebering? BUD WAS A YUUUUGE SPONSOR.

I oughta know, I'm the dude that got them all together in one place right? I've heard every episode more than once.

But in other news, CBSRMT fostered my long-distance infatuation with Fred Gwynne...that fucking Munsters show didn't exactly highlight what  great actor he was.

[Ciardelo]

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the "college paper" ads from Bud.

[Robert]

That's a fucking lie Robert. I wonder if you are misremebering? BUD WAS A YUUUUGE SPONSOR.

I oughta know, I'm the dude that got them all together in one place right? I've heard every episode more than once.

I don't recall that while listening on WOR.  Maybe the Budweiser inserts went out only on the CBS network.

[Robert]

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the "college paper" ads from Bud.

I didn't save any, but I recall one that was a cartoon of someone listening to the radio while holding a beer in one hand and biting the nails of his other.

[Ciardelo]

I didn't save any, but I recall one that was a cartoon of someone listening to the radio while holding a beer in one hand and biting the nails of his other.

Buick was a big national sponsor too. Buick Opels a far as your ears could hear, night after night.

[Robert]

I don't recall that while listening on WOR.  Maybe the Budweiser inserts went out only on the CBS network.

In fact the whole ad campaign in NYC was odd, but maybe necessitated by the economics of the time.  The Budweiser print ads referred to it as "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre", which would've confused listeners in the NYC area, because they might've tuned in to WCBS for it, not knowing it was on WOR.  Maybe it would've cost too much to produce a different print ad with the "CBS" masked out for insertion into the papers.  Or too much to pay somebody to notice a goof like that.

[JustSayAhhhh]

Thank you, Philosopher.  I love OTR, also.

Here's another link you might enjoy.

Mystery Play Internet Radio.
http://mpir-otr.com/

Oh man crickies! The show playing on the link you gave is the best!! ty vm

fyi  this link i'm listing has every single show you could image.johnny dollar, x-1, the hornet, boston blackie, have gun will travel, the wistler, dragnet, gunsmoke, groucho, our miss brooks,
whole seasons/series  of Suspense (listenable without having to click for each to come up)

https://archive.org/details/radioprograms?&sort=-downloads&page=2

if you can remember some, they are ALL here. use the search bar too.

ty for the link again star

[Robert]

Remember the SCTV parody of Johnny Dollar, Dan Money?

[yumyumtree]

I used to listen to CBSRMT almost every night in in Missoula in the late 70s and early 80s, KGVO, I think
. Now I listen on Youtube. My most favorites,are the ones that include the old commercials and news. It's eery to listen to old Special K commercials and news about Nixon and Patty Hearst.

[Ciardelo]

I used to listen to CBSRMT almost every night in in Missoula in the late 70s and early 80s, KGVO, I think
. Now I listen on Youtube. My most favorites,are the ones that include the old commercials and news. It's eery to listen to old Special K commercials and news about Nixon and Patty Hearst.

Nowadays I try to save the commercials and news from radio shows/podcasts. I don't know if squatty potty & carnivore are going to have the same magic years from now...I guess time will tell...

[albrecht]

http://www.ktwu.org/productions/theater-of-the-mind/
Some new OTR/radioplay stuff but one can watch it. RCH should sue: radio with pictures, whoops, video.