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...

Ready Eagle – May 3, 1954 ‘ Night Watch ,’ Radio Show, Real Thing in Police Work By NON THOMAS Hollywood , May 3 (AP) – The new “ Night Watch ” radio show tops “ Dragnet ” for realism in the cops-and-criminal department. It’s the genuine thing. Listeners to “ Night Watch ” on CBS Monday nights will hear the actual nabbing of a criminal. The recording was made during an arrest by Culver City, Calif., police. Columbia ’s answer to Jack Webb is an enterprising young man named Donn Reed. A radio veteran, he dreamed up “ Night Watch ” in an effort to find something new in radio. “I remember one day I came out of a radio conference feeling very depressed,” he told me. “I said to another fellow that I was tired of rehashing the same old things in radio. If only there was something new. “That day I went over to the place where I play handball. Another person who plays there is Ron Perkins who plays there is Ron Perkins, a sergeant with the Culver City police. H...