Golden Age of Radio

December 10, 1979 “ MYSTERY THEATER ” BECOMES FIVE-A-WEEK SERIES STARTING WITH BROADCAST OF MONDAY, DEC.31 The CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER, beginning Monday, Dec. 31, will be broadcast five nights a week (Mon.-thru-Fri.) instead of seven, it was announced today by Richard M. Brescia, Vice President and General Manager of the CBS Radio Network. “We’ve decided to showcase this highly praised drama series on the evenings it has performed best for us ,” Mr. Brescia said. “The MYSTERY THEATER is now carried by more stations (253) than ever before. But they’ve found and we’ve found that peak listening to the series continues to occur during the Monday-thru-Friday broadcasts. Station clearances are also at their best during those five nights.” The CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER will begin its seventh year on CBS Radio, Monday, Jan. 7, Mr. Brescia noted, with the presentation of a five-part mini-series based on Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel “ The Last Days of Pompeii .” This story of ...

December 8, 1980 ‘ CBS RADIO THEATER ’ BEGINS EIGHTH SEASON JAN. 12; DRAMAS HAVE BROUGHT LAURELS TO NETWORK, HI BROWN The creaking door that opens CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER on Monday, Jan. 12, also will open the eighth season of the Network’s much-praised drama series. CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER premiered in January 1974 on 79 stations. Today, the number of stations broadcasting the weekday series on the CBS Radio Drama Network has more than tripled. Richard M. Brescia, CBS Radio Network Vice President and General Manager, says this success “ is a testimony to the skill of Hi Brown, MYSTERY THEATER creator and Executive Producer, and to the great actors who preform in the series. “Several other radio drama formats have been attempted during the seven-year period we’ve been presenting MYSTERY THEATER ,” Brescia comments. “However, only the MYSTERY THEATER has been able to stand up to the test of time imposed by both the listener and the affiliate. I hope more development...

December 15, 1980 SPECIAL FIVE-PART SERIES ABOUT ALEXANDER THE GREAT OPENS 8TH ‘CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER’ SEASON JAN, 12 “The Legend of Alexander”, a five series written and produced especially for CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER , will inaugurate the drama program’s eighth year on the Network the week of Monday, Jan. 12, through Friday, Jan.16. Ancient lives and times have enjoyed a renaissance of interest with the American public, evidenced by the success of recent Pompell and King Tutankhamen exhibits across the country. The latest historic discovery is believed to be the tomb of King Phillip, father of Alexander the Great , which had become part of the touring exhibition “The Search for Alexander”, now displayed at National Gallery. Gerald Kean , a frequent contributor to MYSTERY THEATER , is author of the five-part “The Legend of Alexander”. Russel Horton stars in all five dramas as Alexander, from a boy learning the responsibilities of leadership under his father’s strict...

July 23, 1979 “MYSTERY THEATER” SCRIPT NOVELIZED BY WRITER SAM DANN “The Third Body,” a novel based on a radio script by an award-winning CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER writer, Sam Dann , will be published in August by Popular Library (255 pp., $1.75). The script, “The Children of Death,” was produced by Hi brown and originally broadcast on MYSTERY THEATER February 5, 1976. It starred Tony Roberts. The story deals with a future world where men and women are separated into hostile  tribes and love is an unspeakable four-letter word. In this society, the act of mating is a contest for domination with death to the loser. Dann has written for the CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER since the series’ inception five years ago. He has won the Writer’s Guild Award for the “best radio dramatic script” for two consecutive years, 1975 and 1976. Dann previously novelized one of his radio scripts, “ The Only Blood ,” for an anthology, titled “Strange Tales from CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER ” and edit...

November 3, 1980 HI BROWN, PRODUCER OF ‘ CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER ’, HONORED FOR ‘50-YEAR CONTRIBUTION TO RADIO DRAMA’ The New School, a major New York City institutions that offers instruction in all facets of the arts, will make a special award this week to Himan Brown, creator and producer of the CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER on the CBS Radio Network, honoring his “half-century as the moving force behind radio drama in the United States.” The honor was announced be Prof. Richard Brown, who conducts the school’s Electric Mind Series and will present the award to Mr.Brown before some 600 students in the course this Wednesday evening, Nov. 5. Hi Brown also will serve as a guest lecturer that night, discussing the history of American radio, and will demonstrate for the students how a MYSTERY THEATER script is recorded. As an example, he will provide a script of the 1940 radio broadcast “ Frankenstein ”,  based on the original Mary Shelly book, and direct Prof. Brown and...