OTR Live Blog

I've always wanted to do one of those live blog so I thought I'd live blog the old time radio I'm listening to today.
11:18: The Fat Man. "Muder Wins The Draw" I've never been a big fan of this show. It was based on a character created by Dashiell Hammett and I think all he did was come up with the name. Anyway, this is literally the third OTR detective show I heard in the past six months that starts with an unknown woman approaching the hero in public and pretending she knows him so she can escape some bad guys.
11:42: The Fat Man. The Fat Man was sponsored by Pepto-Bismol.
11:46: The Fat Man. A thumbs down to The Fat Man. Not that interesting or colorful. This episode was filled with Central Americans with cringe-inducing accents. I'm going to give this show a pass from here on. I wish the OTR podcasts had more Broadway Is My Beat. That's a great old show with some great writing. Of course if I wasn't so lazy I could just go here.
12:01: You Are There. "Columbus Discovers America". What could be better than an epsiode of You Are there? "All things are as they were then except for one thing — when CBS is there, you are there." Major historical events as if they were covered by radio. Last week they played the assasination of Lincoln and the suspense was so great during Our American Cousin I could barely listen to it. After the radio shows there was a TV version with Walter Cronkite and I must have been the only eight-year old who watched it. It's October 12, 1492 and Don Hollenbeck is in London…
12:48: You Are There. Wow, one of the reasons Columbus was looking for the Indies was to gain treasure to fund another crusade to liberate Jerusalem. That's depressing.
1:08: You Are There. Great sound effects on this show. I really feel like I'm listening to a storm on a ship while on The Fat Man I just felt like I was listening to a radio show.
1:21: You Are There. I like how this show captured the misconceptions of their times uncritically. Americo Vespucci just gave his reaction that Columbus has found"the legendary island of Japan" right in front of Cahtay where people eat on gold plates and walk on gold floors. The episode on the first voyage of the Tom Thumb was great for goofy theories on speed and the future of railroads.
1:45: You Are There. Wow. Excellent work by John Daly covering the actual landing in St. Sebastian. This guy would have been a great actor if he hadn't of been a reporter. I feel the confusion and sense of wonder of a live news event and the experience of the unknown. Who are these people we're meeting? Why don't they speak the languages we think they'll speak? Where are their horses? Great stuff. As always, the broacast fades out in mid-report and the announcer says, "October 12, 1492. Columbus discovers America." with all the reverb allowable by law.
2:34: Space Patrol. "Captain Hacket's Planetoid". Don't know anything about this show but it seems the voice of the Lost In Space robot is the announcer.
2:42: Space Patrol. I guess there are gruff but lovable prospectors in the future. This is a kids show and kids shows sucked in 1954.
2:47: Space Patrol. The narrator just said the action was taking place at a small "Space Hotel" on Saturn 6. I don't know if the have Space Room Service or Space Mints on the Space Pillow.3:05: Space Patrol. Ha Ha. The bad guy (Prince Baccarratti) stole Space Patrol's space ship.
3:10: Space Patrol. Well, it's over. Lots of ads for Quik and a "cosmic rocket launcher". This show is just a cosmic rocket launcher delivery device.
3:25: That Hammer Guy. "The Fenton Case". I don't know if I have the wherewithal and perpicasity to live blog another show (I have work, y'know) but I need to point out this show is sponsored by Kix cereal, Camel cigarettes and Esquire magazine.
3:33: That Hammer Guy. Another dead body found in a hotel room.
3:38: That Hammer Guy. Another murder. The count is two murders and a flesh wound to Mike Hammer. And we're off to a cereal commercial.
4:08: That Hammer Guy. The drunk woman giving Hammer information loves the song "Sophisticated Lady". That's ironic!
4:20: That Hammer Guy. The killer gets killed herself. OK, I'm OTR'd out. That'll do it for today. Hope you had fun.