Golden Age of Radio

Old-time radio , also known as the Golden Age of Radio, refers to the era of radio broadcasting that lasted from the 1920s to the 1950s. During this time, radio was the primary source of entertainment and information for millions of people around the world. It was an innovative and transformative technology that changed the way people lived and communicated. Radio broadcasting began in the early 20th century with a handful of experimental stations. However, it wasn’t until the 1920s that commercial radio broadcasting took off in the United States. Radio stations sprang up all over the country, and by the mid-1920s, there were hundreds of stations nationwide. Radio offered a new form of entertainment, allowing people to hear live music , drama, comedy , and news from the comfort of their homes. One of the most popular programs of the Golden Age of Radio was the soap opera. These melodramatic serialized dramas were broadcast daily and became a staple of radio programming. They were follo...

Jane and Goodman Ace. WTMJ’s “ EasyAces ,” give their script a once over before the broadcast The Milwaukee Journal – Apr 23, 1939 Aces Are High in Radio Comedy WHAT makes a radio program click? Goodman Ace is a good one to ask. His “ Easy Aces ” have been grand slamming across the networks for almost a decade, setting a high standard for comedy serials of family life. If you want to go into the subject with a scholarly approach, to get the viewpoint of writer, producer and actor. Mr. Ace is still your man. He’s all three in his Easy Aces program, broadcast Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:30 p. m. over WTMJ. But to get back to the question: What makes a radio program click? Well, let’s go behind those cleverly humorous situations on the Easy Aces show and see. Mr. Ace is one of those conscientious comedians who keeps an ear close to listener taste and reaction. In this connection, he has arrived at some interesting conclusions. Listeners, he bel...

PAT NOVAK BROADCAST HISTORY   Ladies and Gentlemen, the American Broadcasting Company brings to its entire network one of radio's most unusual programs . . . The show was produced in 1946-47, ABC West; produced at KGO, San Francisco, and aired on the West Coast network only. Feb 13-June 18, 1949, ABC. 30m. Pat Novak  was  Jack Webb's  first significant radio crime drama. It was also the vanguard of radio crime drama, so hard-boiled as to be high camp in its own time. The show was rich with hilarious pessimism, rippling with ridiculous metaphors. In two separate stands as Pat Novak , Webb was propelled to national prominence. Novak operated out of "Pier 19," a small office where "I rent boats and tell a few white lies, if the price is right." Writer  Richard Breen  wrote the kind of dialogue that Webb delivered better than any one else: it was sassy, brassy, and full of pent-up anger. The series existed, in fact, simply to push one-liners. Each story wa...