Golden Age of Radio

Washington Afro-American – Sep 18, 1951 With only a five-minute-break during a rehearsal for their Saturday night NBC-TV “ Your Hit Parade ” show (10:30), the program’s singing stars (left to right), Dorothy Collins, Snooky Lanson and Eileen Wilson have to tackle one ice cream soda between them. The radio edition of the program is now heard on Thursday nights, at 10. Jack Webb , heard twice weekly over the NBC radio network, has gained a reputation for being authentic as well as versatile in the dramatizations of “ Pete Kelly’s Blues ” and “ Dragnet .” When playing as Pete Kelly or Detective Sergeant Joe Friday on “ Dragnet ,” Webb has a manner and a voice that are not easily forgotten. A regular feature of this show is the straight role played by actress, Meredith Howard, who sings a blues number during each performance. She is not identified as to race nor is there any reference made forward the part she plays. This is in keeping with NBC policy of integration on th...

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...