I'm reading The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio when my husband walks into the room.
He: Are you reading that encyclopedia like a regular book?
Me: Yes.
He: Why?
Me: Because it is that interesting.
Radio was TV without pictures. This means there was great shows, good shows, and just plain dreck back then; just like TV today. The great shows are easy to recognize because they have longer entries explaining the history of the show and the people connected to it. The most interesting thing about this book is discovering how rich and varied radio really was before TV came along to almost kill it. The second most interesting thing was finding out that radio had already done most of the types of quiz shows, court shows, sitcoms, dramas and even some of the reality shows we watch on TV today.
So I guess we could actually say that television is just radio with pictures.
(BTW- I found out most of shows I am interested in listening to are on the Internet Archive (archive.org) under Old Time Radio.)
So I guess we could actually say that television is just radio with pictures.
(BTW- I found out most of shows I am interested in listening to are on the Internet Archive (archive.org) under Old Time Radio.)
5 comments:
I can understand why you're reading that encyclopedia like a book. How fascinating. One of our local PBS stations used to replay old radio shows between 11:00 am and noon weekdays. I loved tuning in, so now I'll go check-out your link. Thanks.
You are welcome. I have a large list under my bookmarks which includes Gunsmoke, Burns & Allen, Dragnet, Duffy's Tavern, Quiet Please, X Minus One, and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Right now I'm hooked on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, a detective show, but only the version that was heard for 15 minutes every week night -One story each week- with Bob Baily as Johnny Dollar. The stories are better in the 15 minute each night version of the show because they had more time to develop the story than in the half-hour ones.
The best thing about getting a television in the 1950's for me was when a short time later we got Swanson TV dinners. These were a big improvement over the old radio dinners.
I've found one of the 'documentary' stations that I love and actually explores history- maybe. The one yesterday had the black Lone Ranger, Bass Reeves. Now some say he wasn't the inspiration. Fine but he was a ranger operating in Oklahoma Territory and the show on AHCH (I think I got the initials right) was fascinating. It's a mix of acting it out and the old photos and the events that maybe happened as it claims :) I am a big fan of these shows and understand we need to take some of the claims with a grain of salt. But Bass Reeves definitely was a person whose history should not be forgotten
Rain, That is interesting, I will google him.
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