Father's Day Show

This week on the Old Time Radio Express we celebrate Father's Day with a non-OTR offering.  Yes, for dad, we'll veer off the beaten path.

I thought Dad would particularly enjoy something that he may have listened to himself on the radio, and so chose the 1963 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.  Names like Musial, Mays, Drysdale, Aaron, Yastremski all graced the field.

With only an hour on Sundays, I offer the game from the mid-6th inning on. 

But, as promised, I will also post the full broadcast of the game shortly.

So enjoy the crack of the bat, the old baseball announcers, the greats of the game, and of course, the old commercials...

Show #31 (June 13th) Famous Jury Trials & Perry Mason

I spent the weekend in Ithaca, New York, celebrating my law reunion, and to celebrate, have chosen two law-related old time radio shows for your listening enjoyment - Famous Jury Trials and Perry Mason.

The former, though less well-known, probably has more factual basis in the law than the latter.  Alas, Perry Mason on radio was a mix of a soap opera male lead and private detective.  The shows had neither the substance nor the flash of the famed TV series.

Nonetheless, I think you'll get a kick out of both series.

Duffy's Tavern & The Strange Dr. Weird

Picture Cheers, except set in a dingy bar somewhere in New York City with an absentee owner and a manager whose grammatical skills, or lack thereof, were a weekly source of comedy.  Toss in a dash of funny character actors and the occasional Hollywood guest star, and you've got Duffy's Tavern. 

The show was the brainchild of Ed Gardner, who played the lead character of Archie, the manager of Duffy's Tavern (pictured right).  As the story goes, Gardner was a producer on another show, and trying to get his actors to hit the perfect New York accent.  None could, so Gardner stepped up to the mike and showed them just what he wanted.  Within seconds, the cast was in stitches, and the voice of Archie was born.

This episode from December 18, 1946 guest stars Joan Bennett, who, in this author's humble opinion is underrated in terms of both looks and acting ability.  Check out this photo of Bennett to judge the former, and the film "Scarlet Street" for the latter.

We top this edition of the Old Time Radio Express off with The Strange Dr. Weird.  Because you can never go wrong with the writing team of Robert A. Arthur and David Kogan.