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The golden age of radio had incredible comedy shows that kept Americans in stitches for decades. Families gathered around their living room radios to be entertained by the greatest names in Hollywood each and every day. This collection includes Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Eve Arden as Connie Brooks on Our Miss Brooks, Jim and Marian Jordan as Fibber McGee & Molly, William Bendix as Chester A. Riley on The Life of Riley, Jack Benny welcoming guest, Fred Allen, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Amos ‘n’ Andy and many more!

The Great Gildersleeve was the first show to be centered on a single parent balancing raising children, work, and a social life, accomplished with taste and genuine wit, often at the expense of Gildersleeve's slightly understated pomposity. Radio veteran, Hal Peary originated the role of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve but left the series at the height of its popularity in 1950 giving way to Peary-sound-a-like and well-known character actor, Willard Waterman. Now, enjoy 12 half-hour comedy episodes of The Great Gildersleeve starring Willard Waterman.

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe was radio’s top detective program. Raymond Chandler's celebrated hardboiled private eye, Philip Marlowe, made his radio debut in 1945 on The Lux Radio Theatre with “Murder My Sweet” starring Dick Powell. Two years later, NBC would bring the character to the air in his own weekly series starring Van Heflin in The New Adventures of Philip Marlowe. The series was short-lived, ending September 9th, 1947. CBS revived it in 1948 with The Adventures of Philip Marlowe starring Gerald Mohr. This is the second collection.

The golden age of radio had incredible western shows that kept Americans glued to their radio sets. Families gathered around their living room radios to hear western heroes catch the bad-guys and save ladies in distress. This collection includes John Wayne and Mel Ferrer starring in a radio adaptation of the John Ford film “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” on The Lux Radio Theatre; William Conrad as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke; Joel McCrea in a true-crime story on Tales of the Texas Rangers and Curley Bradley starring in two episodes of Tom Mix.

The Golden Age of Radio had incredibly scary mystery shows that kept Americans chilled and thrilled. Families gathered around their living room radios to be entertained by the greatest names in Hollywood each and every day. This is a terrific collection of 12 great radio mystery shows.

This collection contains 12 of the greatest shows ever broadcast during the Golden Age of Radio – including episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Burns & Allen, Gunsmoke, The Amos ‘n' Andy Show, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Suspense, Dimension X, The Whistler, Sherlock Holmes and more. Radio’s finest actors perform before the microphones, including: Jack Benny, Tom Conway, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Nigel Bruce, Chester Morris, Dick Powell, Howard Duff, George Burns, Gracie Allen, William Conrad, John Dehner and many more.

Here’s adventure...here’s romance...here’s O. Henry’s Robin Hood of the old West in 16 exciting radio adventures of...The Cisco Kid! The Cisco Kid was a popular film, radio, television, and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his short story “The Caballero’s Way”. Films and television depicted the Cisco Kid as a heroic Mexican caballero, although in O. Henry’s original story he was a non-Hispanic character and a cruel outlaw probably modeled on Billy the Kid.

Detective series Let George Do It came to radio in 1946. It starred Bob Bailey as ex-G.I. and detective-for-hire George Valentine. Clients came to Valentine’s office after reading a newspaper carrying his classified ad: Personal notice: Danger’s my stock in trade. If the job’s too tough for you to handle, you’ve got a job for me, George Valentine.

Fictional cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy was created in 1904 by author Clarence E. Mulford in a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Beginning in 1935, William Boyd starred as Hoppy in 66 popular films. On screen, the white-haired Bill “Hopalong” Cassidy was dressed strikingly in all black, rode a white horse named “Topper” and thwarted dishonest characters that took advantage of honest citizens. By 1946, Hopalong Cassidy became the first network Western television series.

Fibber McGee & Molly had a long and successful run on radio (1935-1959). The program showcased terrific comic and musical talent, headlined by its creators and stars, married couple Jim and Marian Jordan. Living in the fictional Midwestern town of Wistful Vista, Fibber was an American teller of tall tales and a braggart, usually to the exasperation of his long-suffering wife Molly. Life in Wistful Vista followed a well-developed formula, but was always fresh.

Michael Shayne, “the reckless, red-headed Irishman” was a popular hard-boiled detective created by crime novelist Brett Halliday. Mike settled in Miami just after WWII, making crime pay by fighting it with a license and an attitude. Like Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, Shayne was a loner. The back-story on Mike is that he was happily married, but suddenly his wife is tragically murdered, which hit him hard. Grief-stricken, Shayne loses himself in his work as a private eye, prowling the dark streets of Miami seeking out his style of revenge on injustice.

Have Gun-Will Travel followed the adventures of Paladin, a soldier of fortune-turned-hired gunfighter, played by John Dehner. Paladin preferred to settle problems without violence, yet, when forced to fight, excelled. He lived at the swanky Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where he dressed in formal wear, ate gourmet food, attended the opera and enjoyed the company of beautiful women. When working as a gun-for-hire, he dressed in all black, used calling cards and wore a holster, decorated by a characteristic chess knight emblem.

In 1949, NBC brought mustachioed Irish-American actor Brian Donlevy to the radio microphones as international troubleshooter Steve Mitchell in the spy series Dangerous Assignment. Mitchell worked for an un-named US government intelligence agency; whose boss The Commissioner dispatched him to world trouble spots. Mitchell’s assignment was to solve problems in record time, and in accordance with US interests.

Crime Classics was a radio docudrama that aired over CBS from June 15, 1953 until June 30, 1954. Created, produced, and directed by Elliott Lewis, the program was a true crime series, examining crimes and murders throughout history. It grew out of Lewis’ personal interest in famous murder cases and took a documentary-like approach to the subject, carefully recreating the facts, personages and feel of the times. Very little dramatic license was taken with the facts and events, but the tragedy was leavened with humor, expressed largely through the narration.

The Cisco Kid was a popular film, radio, television and comic book series loosely based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his short story, “The Caballero’s Way”, published in 1907 in the collection Heart of the West. “The Cisco Kid” came to radio October 2, 1942, and was followed by another Mutual series in 1946, starring Jack Mather and Harry Lang, who continued to head the cast in the syndicated radio series with more than 600 episodes from 1947 to 1956.

Movie star Alan Ladd played Dan Holiday, retired newspaperman turned fiction writer and adventurer extraordinaire. To gain ideas for his books, Holiday placed an ad in the Star-Times newspaper “Adventure wanted - will go anywhere, do anything - Box 13.” It wasn’t long before Box 13 became jammed with adventures galore. Holiday always had more adventure than he’d originally sought, because those who responded to his ad never revealed all of their glorious, unusual, and sometimes sinister details until they met in person and the adventure had already begun.

Created by Irving Brecher, the popular family sitcom The Life of Riley featured the comic misadventures of Chester A. Riley, an inept blue-collar factory worker and father of two, played by screen actor William Bendix. Riley’s wife, Peg, tried in vain to prevent her hotheaded husband’s interventions, which usually ended in an embarrassing revelation. With a tendency to try and solve nonexistent problems, Riley sought advice from his best friend, Gillis, but this only led to misunderstandings.

Created by Irving Brecher, the popular family sitcom The Life of Riley featured the comic misadventures of Chester A. Riley, an inept blue-collar factory worker and father of two, played by screen actor William Bendix. Riley's wife, Peg, tried in vain to prevent her hot-headed husband's interventions, which usually ended in an embarrassing revelation. With a tendency to try and solve non-existent problems, Riley sought advice from his best friend, Gillis, but this only led to misunderstandings.

MGM produced 10 successful Maisie movies from 1939 to 1947 starring gorgeous Ann Sothern as Mary Anastasia O'Connor, a brassy but kindhearted Brooklyn burlesque dancer who went by the stage name Maisie Ravier. Along with the Andy Hardy and Dr. Kildare films, the Maisie franchise generated big returns for MGM.

Distinguished Hollywood actor Warren William starred in Strange Wills, a mystery-drama series produced in 1946. William portrayed probate attorney Warren Francis O’Connell, and the stories were told through him as executor of the “strange wills made by strange people.” Strange Wills are stories based upon actual wills gathered from courts from all over the world. Names, places, and time have been changed so that no reflection can fall on any person or persons living or dead. Only the sins remain - deadly sins that cry out from the depths of the grave for vengeance.