I loved sci-fi on the radio. When I was a kid in the late-forties, a popular Saturday morning show was "Space Patrol." I was a loyal listener. So loyal that I can recite the opening monologue the announcer gave at the start. Some really adult sci-fi came with such programs, "Dimension X" and "X Minus One."
Jim A. > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 13:13:20 -0500 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: First US Popular TV Drama > Resent-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Resent-Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 13:13:36 -0500 > > Jim and Dan, > > Wow, I forgot about The Cisco Kid! That along with the Lone Ranger were among > the best of the early stuff. On discussing it, I recognize that some of my > perceptions of the programs are distorted. I was only a 5 year old in 1950 > and remember the old/new Halicrafters TV in the apartment before we moved in > '51. In the later '50's, these programs became the standard fare of afternoon > re-runs and Saturday TV for kids. I'm sure this distorts my early memories. > I wish I knew if stuff like Hoppalong Cassidy was originally an adult > program... Wow has our level of sophistication changed over the last 50 years! > Bevis & Butthead vs Hoppalong Cassidy... > > The old radio dramas were jewels. For a time in the last 20 years, they had > re-runs in Chicago. They more than held their own as interesting material. I > think the best of these shows turned into the best early TV dramas - Dragnet, > The Long Ranger, and later Gunsmoke. > > My biggest disappointment as a kid was the radio show 'Terry and the > Pirates(?)'. It was a thrilling Saturday AM radio show broadcast nationally > from Chicago. It was loosely based on the Flying Tigers who flew in China > before the US joined the war in the Pacific. I could see those planes taking > off and ride right in the cockpit with Terry during the aerial combat > encounters. > > Then my Aunt got tickets to the audience for a Saturday AM broadcast... I > remember being in a big theater and squinting over the heads in front of me to > see the little people on stage reading into microphones. They didn't pipe the > sound effects into the theater, and I was one confused 5 year old. When it > was over, it took me a couple of weeks and some explaination to understand > what I had seen. The show was ruined for me. I couldn't get by the fact that > none of it was real, just imagination. > > Regards, Bob S. > > Dan writes: > >> I LOVED the Cisco Kid! >> >> Jim Apilado wrote: >> >>> Television didn't reach Portland, Oregon until early 1952. I recall going >>> to a department store on Friday night to watch TV because no one yet had a >>> TV. >>> My favorite westerns were "The Cisco Kid" and "The Lone Ranger." I was a >>> little disappointed to see my heroes on TV because I had developed an image >>> of them when they were radio programs. >>> Early dramas I recall were "Westinghouse Playhouse" and "Playhouse 90." I >>> believe these hour shows were shown live back on the east coast and on >>> kinescope in the west. Some writers, like Rod Serling (of "Twilight Zone" >>> fame), got their first TV start on these dramas. >>> I am still a fan of radio drama. There is a series out of Seattle called >>> "Imagination Theater" that uses the old formula for radio dramas. >
