If I had to pick just one it would be The Jack Benny Show, especially those that featured both Phil Harris and Dennis Day, with the occasional Mel Blanc. That cast was the best ensemble on radio IMHO.

A close second is the Phil Harris/Alice Faye show, especially those episodes featuring the Frank Remley character in his prime.

IMHO, live sports on the radio is a modern-day form of OTR that never died and remains very popular - Green Bay Packer games draw astounding radio ratings throughout Wisconsin, for example. Baseball and AM radio are a match made in heaven, too.

As for the studio shows, I like Johnny Dollar, Fibber McGee and Molly, Lum and Abner, Police Headquarters (1932), Jack Benny and several others. I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned X Minus One.

In current production, The Twilight Zone is well worth seeking out, too.

Mike

like Reichman and few dramas,thriller,etc

I'm partial to Newscasts, Soap Operas & Blood-Curdling Thrillers (In the case of the latter - THE OLDER THE BETTER as those are the classics!).

As far as newscasts go, I like the World War II newscasts from NBC (Both networks) & CBS (I'd go for stuff from Mutual too if there was anything useful. ABC came along too late as it was the old NBC Blue Network before 1945).

As far as soap operas go, the closer they get to what TV soaps [i]WERE[/b] (But sadly couldn't be today even if they tried!) the better as those are (At least IMO) WAY better than soaps which portrayed the simple life as that's what people back then were living IRL. Then again, I suppose that's what made those soaps so identifiable with the public so.....

JMO though.....

Cheers & 73 to all the Hams amongst us

Pat, KB0OXD

Amos 'n' Andy
Fibber McGee & Molly
Jack Benny
Gunsmoke
Lone Ranger
Green Hornet
Gangbusters
"Weird Circle" thrillers

THose are my faves, but I enjoy pretty much any OTR, including Big Band music. Johnny Mercer was actually a distant relative of mine, on my mother's father's side...

Some favorites I haven't seen listed.
Ft Laramie, Raymond Burr
Frontier Gentleman, John Dehner, really good http://www.archive.org/details/Frontier ... 41Episodes
The Lineup
Midnight Cab
Cleansweep
21st Precinct http://www.archive.org/details/OTRR_Cer ... t_Precinct

I especially enjoy the detective/crime programs, in particular:

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (w/Bob Bailey)
Let George Do It
Boston Blackie
Sam Spade
Phillip Marlowe
The Shadow

I enjoy comedies and detective OTR shows. Here are some of my faves:

Broadway Is My Beat
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
Sherlock Holmes (Bruce/Rathbone)
Suspense
Jack Benny Show
Duffy's Tavern
Amos&Andy

-Scott

i got in on radio programming just before and during it's fade from popularity--today i'm 68--time has really gotten away--

my favorites will be from a young persons point of view--

the lone ranger
sky king
sergeant preston
another kid program i listened to featured a youngster named Bobby Benson and his sidekick named Windy--the stories took place on the B bar B ranch--can't remember the title--

the shadow
the green hornet
inner sanctum (when i could sneak a listen without mom and dad making me change stations)
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar
Suspense (i think this is the program i recall)
Gunsmoke

Jack Benny,
Fibber McGee & Molly
the Great Gildersleeve
Our Miss Brooks
Red Skelton
Bergen and McCarthy
Amos & Andy
Duffy's Tavern

mom had her soaps: Stella Dallas etc but i didn't pay much attention there--

too many to continue the list--today in addition to all the classic OTR i really enjoy the CBSRMT programs--

Oh, if that, or at least that type of programming could just return to the airwaves--today both radio and TV have become that 'vast wasteland' that was talked about years ago--

REs
jerry

No doubt about it, Gunsmoke. That's the one I play exclusively on my radio station.

I'm picking up a Land Cruiser in Texas tomorrow and have a dozen OTR CD's for the trip back to MN. Hoppy and Gunsmoke are my staples, but now I get to evaluate a bunch of others. I have never heard the radio Amos 'n Andy - just the titles start me chuckling. I suppose I will picture the TV actors as the characters.

i remember the Amos and Andy show live on the radio--i was a pretty young kid then---so today when i hear them on disc or on the 'net, i still picture the guys on TV--must be a crossover thing--

Big band and other music broadcasts
Jean Shepherd
News broadcasts
Commercials

Mine would be:

Jack Benny Show
Fibber McGee & Molly
X-Minus One

... but it's been a few years since I've done much listening. Need to pull out the CDs and tapes and "fix" that oversight!

The Shadow, hands down may fav

Thanks for starting this thread!
Loving Dreadtime Stories (http://bit.ly/L6hjeD) and Dr. Strange.
Great old timey audio horror.

One of my favorites that I don't think anyone listed yet is The Aldrich Family. The broadcasts include the old Jello and Postum commercials. I also like Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.

When I was a kid, our ABC affiliate ran these 15-minute shows between 5 and 6 PM when mom was making dinner:

Hop Harrigan
Dick Tracy
superman
Terry and the Pirates

and Sky King at 6. But I'm a geezer now.

More favorites -"The Mysterious Traveler" and "The Whistler".
I think both came from WOR New York.

I like The Shadow . "The Weed of Crime bears bitter fruit" - excellent !