Radio Retropolis

Superman is worried about the whereabouts of Jimmy and Jack who are now held captive by Vincent Kirby the head of the Knights of the White Carnation. Commentary on Jimmy's real age discovered here.

A doctor visits Africa to catch a large gorilla to bring him back to New York with them to go in a zoo. The gorilla, however, seems to take an unusual dislike in the doctor as if he had known him from somewhere. Commentary on the real evolution of man and gorilla that mirrors the plot line of this episode. Plus guest star Anne Seymour.

During a cave tour, several students fall down a pit when the rail gives way. When a rescue team goes down, they find no bodies. The Shadow and Margot Lane investigate and discover a secret mine deep below the caverns and much more horrifying unearthing.

A two-timing wife thinks that her meek, bank-teller husband is planning to kill her. JR comments on the difference between misunderstandings in the style of drama versus comedy.

Jimmy and Jack Wilson pretending to agree with the hate agitators, relayed to Kent that they were told to meet at a lunch wagon to get further instructions by telephone. But when they got there, they were carted away by the agents themselves who showed up in person. JR comments on the three reasons why dramas of the Golden Age are still far superior to those today.

Liz tells George's mother that she's ill so the older Mrs. Cooper won't come to Liz' bridge game. But George's Mother, as well as all of Liz' friends, thinks she is really pregnant. Commentary on why the word pregnant was an issue shortly after this episode. Also, we talk about the behind the scenes real life emotion that went in to the Lucy is Enceinte episode of I Love Lucy.

A twenty-two-year-old girl has been abducted and her family receives an anonymous message demanding $30,000 for her safe return. This is Barton Yarborough's very last episode of Dragnet. Commentary revisiting the history of how Dragnet came to be. Plus guest star Whit Connor who usually would have been an unlikely casting choice of Jack Webb's.

Jimmy and Jack disregard Clark's advice and decide to follow the man responsible for inciting the student riot not knowing they are being led right to the inner sanctum of the Knights of the White Carnation. JR comments on recent listener reviews of the Superman radio series.

John and Muriel encounter car trouble and resort to stay at a spooky Haitian plantation in which they are told stories about the local voodoo which predicts an unhappy future for the couple.

While visiting Egypt, Lamont Cranston investigates why patients keep disappearing from the Cairo General Hospital. Listen for a bone chilling performance from Margot Stevenson!

A middle-aged sandwich clerk borrows money from the store cash register to bet on a long-shot horse race guaranteed to win. When the horse loses, the psychological trauma of being "honest" haunts him and adds a psychological twist to the story. JR comments on what desperation leads to. Plus, Charles Laughton.

Jimmy is being threatened by an angry mob of students as he protects the boys who were accused of throwing the game. JR comments on Superman's speech to the rioting students about bullying and mob rule.

Mr. Curry, George and Liz's landlord, is raising the rent, supposedly on instructions from his late wife, Bernice. Liz figures that she can fix things with a crooked Ouija Board. Commentary on how the Ouija Board came to be as well as the special connection Lucille Ball had with numerology.

Friday and Romero discover a woman and two dead canaries killed in the same manner in the same house. Commentary on the brilliant performance of guest actress Joyce McCluskey and why this is one of Dragnet's top episodes.

Superman works to clear the names of the boys who were first beaten and then framed for taking bribes thanks to Knights of the White Carnation. JR comments on how fate plays into the lives of Superman's pals.

A ship sailing the Caribbean crashes and loses all hands except 5 men. One of the men is dying and puts a curse on the Captain and another man right before he dies. The remaining men find another ship and board it only to find it abandoned and filled with pirate treasure.

Lamont and Margo head for Panama to track down a spy ring that's laying mines to disrupt shipping through the canal. Commentary to follow episode.

A great psychological mystery unfolds as an overwhelmed and stressed-out wife is sent to the country by her doctors for a rest cure but becomes fascinated by the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom believing a woman was trapped behind it. JR comments on why Agnes Moorehead is one of the greatest radio stars of the Golden Era. Plus the psychological impact of the original story

Although Clark Kent thwarted Kirby's attempts at getting the 4 foreign boys off the Metropolis basketball team, Kirby, who has been known to commit murder, decides to go to the next extreme to eliminate them from the team. JR comments on the new 2025 Superman movie.

Liz sends George an anonymous love letter that she wrote to him during his bachelor days, and he thinks it's from his secretary, Gladys. Commentary on whether men actually keep love letters and, if they do, are they from their wives or past girlfriends. Also Jim comments on what he found after listening to this episode.

Friday and Romero investigate carefully planned robberies in which the bandit commits brutal attacks on each of the victims. Commentary on guest actors Virginia Gregg and Vic Perrin. Plus, a popular phrase of the 1950's is explained.

Although the four players have been cleared, they are threatened by a new and violent danger. Commentary on top song and radio program of that week.

Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story of a man named Simon,a former musician that went tone deaf, who after treatment has exceptional hearing. He meets Oliver, another patient, who was previously blind but now can see. Whereas Simon is filled with love, Oliver wants to spread hate and misery which leads Simon to make a drastic decision to save society. Commentary on Boris Karloff's radio career. Plus, how the real short story from Poe is much different than this broadcast.

A crime boss, with the help of a Hindu who possesses mind control power, plans to kill The Shadow by kidnapping Margot Lane and "commanding" her to shoot to kill. Commentary to follow episode.

A wrongly convicted man who served time in prison is bent on revenge for a man he supposedly killed yet is very much alive. JR comments on star Douglas Fairbanks, Jr and new announcer Paul Frees.

Kent quickly put two and two together with Canfield's murder and the suspension of the players that could be tied into a hate group not knowing that he himself will be on their next hit list. JR speaks on the importance of Jimmy Olsen in the serial.

Liz and Iris make an appearance on a television show celebrating Friendship Week. Their friendship is tested, though, when they discover they've bought the same dress for the occasion. Commentary on the 1953 I Love Lucy episode that adapted this script plus how television nearly killed the movie business had it not been for two very big movements in the cinema that occurred in 1953-the same time as this I Love Lucy episode.

Friday and Romero investigate the murder of a woman strangled in a hotel room. Commentary on the nature of the procedural drama and the brilliant every day obstacles Webb creates for his characters.

Superman looks to get to the truth in the murder of Charles Canfield while Knights of the White Carnation plot their next move. Commentary on Metropolis' one high school team.

A Mrs. Putnam calls the police and tells them she is about to be murdered. Police Detectives Jeff Hanson and Ed "Porky" Lamb trace the call to the Putnam house and pay them a visit only to find that the Mrs. Putnam died two hours before the phone call was made.

As a young woman is about to inherit her father's estate, her guardian breeds large vampire bats in order to kill the girl and gain her fortune. Commentary to follow episode.

A distraught woman, Anna, wants her friend Helen to stay with her with the news of a serial killer called The Lipstick Killer terrorizing the town. JR comments on return to the half hour format and the new sponsor-AutoLite.

Although Superman handily defeated the Clan of the Fiery Cross a while back, a new vigilante hate group emerges looking to follow in the Clan's footsteps. JR comments on the controversial past serial Clan of the Fiery Cross and how this serial is connected.

Jealous of their husbands' hobbies, Liz and Iris decide to join the boys in their favorite hobby-golf! Commentary on the LPGA which actually began shortly before this broadcast in 1950 and how the modern classic television series Everybody Loves Raymond borrowed this story line for a classic husband versus wife episode.

One of Friday's informants, desperate for money, claims to have information on several burglaries that he is eager to share at the risk of his own life. Commentary on the humor of Dragnet.

With the newspaper clipping of the latest robbery as now Superman and Batman's only clue in finding Robin, Jonesy carries Robin's unconscious body at the foot of the building as he prepares to silence him once and for all. JR comments on the end of the season and what's to come.

Boris Karloff returns in our Lights Out episode podcast as a scientist determined to bring his recently deceased wife back to life. Commentary on Karloff's connection to making the dead rise and the discussion of what many of the mad scientists, in spite of their brilliance, fail to realize when bringing the dead back to life. Finally, a an extended look at Wyllis Cooper, Arch Oboler and the entire Lights Out legacy.

A railroad signalman is visited by a mysterious figure every time a horrific train accident is about to occur. Commentary on author Charles Dickens' real life experience, including a near fatal train derailment, that led to his writing the original story. An exceptional episode.

Friday and Romero are on the hunt for a married con artist couple who has been scamming churches and committing insurance fraud for over two years and have always eluded the law at every turn. Commentary on the sadness of this episode which really changes slows the pacing for this episode. Also commentary on the polio epidemics of 1949 and 1952.

A worried mother calls the police and reports that her four year old twin girls have been missing for hours. This episode aired on February 15, 1951. Unfortunately, the audio quality of the episode suffers greatly. Since many early Dragnet television scripts were nothing more than the radio scripts, we have decided to present a special audio podcast of the television version of The Big Crime which aired September 9, 1954 as the third episode of Dragnet's 4th TV season. Commentary on the horrendous content of this episode from 1951 and 1954 and how our instant media today has desensitized our feelings towards horrific images in what has become the new normal.

Superman and Batman feel completely helpless upon finding Spider's place completely empty with no trace of Robin whatsoever. Spider, who has no other choice, is planning to kill Robin. JR speaks on the recent controversy over the Superman franchise.

Friday questions Henry Ross, a suspect in a man's disappearance, which Friday believes is actually a murder. Commentary on the unusual format of this episode which starts right at the interrogation and never lets up. Plus, we discuss the first uses of the polygraph machine.

An eight-year-old boy and his sister have been going from door to door begging for food even though they are from well to do parents. Commentary on yet another award won by Dragnet. This one was The Motion Picture Herald Association with Fame Award. Also discussed are the millions of children abused each year and why this episode may have had special meaning for star Jack Webb.

As Kent and Wayne are close to figuring out who the real Monkey Burglar is, Spider is planning one last job to pin on Robin. But this could be the end for both Robin and Billy, who is the real Monkey Burglar. JR comments on Radio Retropolis.

A cameraman and his sound man are looking to get the ultimate interview-with a ghost. Commentary on the problems with this episode making it one of the worst in the Lights Out catalogue.

Lamont Cranston and Margot Lane attend a private party given by a crazy millionaire who believes that he's an Italian Duke from the 12th century. He and his mad scientist friend plan a night of destruction to fulfill a prophecy. Can the Shadow figure it out in time to prevent the worst? Commentary to follow episode.

In Act 2, Quinn Williams is a young man who upon returning money he stole from a client finds the client dead and now has team up with a girl, Bricky, from his hometown to clear his name. But as they gather revealing clues in the dead man's apartment, a sudden sound is heard at the door. JR speaks on this being the very last of the hour episodes of Suspense. He looks at what went wrong and what's next.

In Act 1, a young man steals money from his client and has a change of heart and decides to return it before its reported missing. When he returns to the apartment, his client is found murdered. JR comments on the lightness of the act with a Thin Man approach to it.

Using the gymnastic medal, they're only clue, they found ten boys who won the award and are positive ONE will be revealed as the Monkey Burglar. The audio for this episode is very rough at best but you can still hear what's going on and follow the adventure. JR speaks on the two big issues Batman faces in this episode

Liz is a finalist in a radio script writing contest. But in order to win she, George, Iris, and Rudolph now have to perform it on the local radio station. Commentary on the musical Show Boat plus Gale Gordon's tie to another very important character referenced in this episode.