Skip to main content

CBSRMT Intro

One of my favorite intros is from CBS Radio Mystery Theater MP3:
"Welcome to the sound of suspense;
Welcome to the fear you can hear.
For the next 52 mintues, I will be your companion
to the world of your own terrifying imagination..." 
The renowned actor and radio voice, EG Marshall, would intone these words each night over the CBS Radio network. His voice would herald us into "another adventure into the macabre."
With these words, we were introduced to villains and heroes, to monsters and poltergeists; even an alien or two.

Many familiar names would welcome us to familiar places; Shakespeare and Twain, Jefferson and Lincoln, Holmes and Watson. Other names, other we never heard of before, beconed to us to dark places of horror, suspense and terror.

Each and every night, some places at 11, other places at midnight, but each night we would await eagerly, under our blanks, straining our ears to listen to the transistor radio that we had turned down low as to not wake Mother and Father; After all, it was past our bedtime, and tomorrow was a school day. But we could not help ourselves. We could not resist the urge, the desire, resist the trembling in the pit of the stomach each time we hear that door creak open. Only our grandparent really understood, it was them that let us stay up late to listen, and would even listen with us. They would tell us tales of radio shows of their childhood. Radio shows of adventure and mystery and suspense. Shows that have long and almost forgotten. Shows that our parents never understood. But we were the lucky ones. We were the ones our grandparents would talk to in that strange language of OTR, and we understood! We understood without knowing why, without knowing where it came from, or where it would take us.

So, it is to our grandparents, and the men and women of that yet older generation, the ones who brought us these tales of terror, those stories of suspense. To them I dedicate this site to. Because without them, this series would have never been born.

Without them, we would have never had that special connection with "Gramps". Without them, we would have not been scared out of our pajamas!
-CBSRMT 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Was Jack Benny Gay?": The Amount of Weight In Jack Benny's Loafers

While doing research for an article I came across an unexpected search result: "Was Jack Benny Gay?" There was no more than the question as previously stated from the original poster, but the replies made for interesting reading, ranging from: Jack Benny Celebrating his 39th Birthday "Of course not, he was a well known skirt-chaser in his youth, and he was married to Mary Livingston for many years" "Sure he was, everyone in Hollywood with the possible exception of John Wayne was and is homosexual!" "Part of Benny's "schtick" was his limp-wristed hand-to-face gestures. He was not gay, but emphasized what his fans observed as "acting like a girl" for humor. While heterosexual Benny tried to gay it up, many really gay actors or comedians in those days tried to act as "straight" as they could muster." "... the idea behind his character was to have him a little on the ambiguous side. His charact

OLD TIME RADIO ACTORS AND THEIR ROLES, AND OLD TIME RADIO PROGRAM

Old Time Radio Actor's Name, Character Played, Program Aaker, Lee Rusty Rin-Tin-Tin Aames, Marlene McWilliams, Lauralee Story of Holly Sloan, The Abbott, Judith Lawson, Agnes Aldrich Family, The Abbott, Minabelle Sothern, Mary Life of Mary Sothern, The Ace, Goodman Ace, Goodman Easy Aces Ace, Goodman Ace, Goodman Mister Ace and Jane Ace, Jane Ace, Jane Easy Aces Ace, Jane Ace, Jane Mister Ace and Jane Adams, Bill Cotter, Jim Rosemary Adams, Bill Hagen, Mike Valiant Lady Adams, Bill Roosevelt, Franklin Delano March of Time, The Adams, Bill Salesman Travelin' Man Adams, Bill Stark, Daniel Roses and Drums Adams, Bill Whelan, Father Abie's Irish Rose Adams, Bill Wilbur, Matthew Your Family and Mine Adams, Bill Young, Sam Pepper Young's Family Adams, Edith Gilman, Ethel Those Happy Gilmans Adams, Franklin Mayor of a model city Secret City Adams, Franklin Jr. Skinner, Skippy Skippy Adams, Franklin Pierce Emcee Word Game, The Adams, Guila Mattie Step M

Old Time Radio Shows "Transcribed" Explained

What does it mean on old time radio shows when you hear the show is "Transcribed"? During the Golden Age of Radio , "transcribed" programs were recorded and sent to stations or networks on a disc running at 16 rps. The discs are larger than 33 1/3s. "Transcribed" means it was recorded on a disc. "Recorded" was a term that was known, of course, but not used very much in Radio's Golden Age. During the era, it was also considered very important to distinguish which shows went out live and which were recorded (transcribed), so if a show was transcribed it was announced as such.  "Transcribed" was a colloquialism of the era. One reason they came up with it was because there was still enough skittishness about recording that "pre-recorded" sounded a little obscene inside the industry. CBS and NBC were live through the '30s and '40s. Yet line transcriptions were made for either the sponsor or its ad agency.