Old Time Radio

I'm so glad that I found two sites to keep my mind occupied. The first site contains hundreds of old time radio programs. The other site contains synopses of every indexed old time radio program. Most of these programs are from the 1930s through the 1950s. I enjoy this dated form of entertainment. This medium was a predominant distraction for a generation. It's fun to hear the stereotypical '50s voices and ridiculously inaccurate foreign accents. The organ music during transition makes for goofy kitsch. Plus, there's a different form of writing and overexposition at work to create pictures for the audience: It's history, sociology, and entertainment rolled into one. On the one hand, it's amusing to hear expressions like "dope" have a totally different meaning. On the other hand, some lines give a wince or two: "I'm inclined to agree with Schopenhauer that women are an unscrupulous race." Thus, the socio-historical study, both the good and the bad. And they really did use the word "buddy" a lot.

Another good site is RadioLovers.com, where I first found old time radio programs. "Police Headquarters" is quite a hoot for its dated dialogue. But back the otr.net site, I've been listening to a lot of The Shadow for melodrama cheese, Sam Spade for the hard-boiled stuff and even silliness like "The Air Adventures of Jimmy Allen" and "Your Truly, Johnny Dollar." "Dragnet" is surprisingly dark, especially for a 1950s program that turned into a Dan Ackroyd-Tom Hanks buddy movie. Listen to shows like "The Whistler," "Hall of Fantasy," and "Murder at Midnight" and you can see (or rather hear) the roots of "Creepshow," "Tales From the Crypt," and "The Twilight Zone." It's a good distraction to go with menial work tasks. I don't know if I'm learning anything, but I feel a little like I'm in history class. It's still one of my favorite subjects.