April 6 – Radio Debuts

nPostednon April 6, 2016

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nRemembernwhen there was no internet, and there was no TV…only radio?

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nYeah,nneither do I! That was a looooong time ago!

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nButnfrom around 1920 to around 1950, radio was one of the most importantnways that people got information and entertainment. For a whilenthere, radio was king.

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nDuringnthese decades, there were a lot of shows that people looked forwardnto and tuned into. Fictional radio shows told stories throughndialogue and narration and music and sound effects.

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nOnnthis date in 1931, Little Orphan Annie debuted on the NBC Bluenradio network, and on this date in 1945, This Is Your FBIndebuted on ABC radio. (Notice that NBC and ABC have both becomenbig-time television networks in the U.S. Did you know that theynstarted as radio broadcasting networks?)

nLittlenOrphan Annie is probably familiar to you from the many movies callednsimply Annie. The adventuresnof the bold, curly-haired Annie and her dog Sandy started as a comicnstrip in 1924. The radio show was 15 minutes long. It was one of thenfirst comic strips adapted to radio – and it was on the air for 12nyears! Millions of listeners tuned in, and some of those listenersnwere little kids. Apparently there wasn’t much in the way of radionprogramming for kids back then.

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nThisnIs Your FBI was a crime dramantaken from the perspective of Special Agent Jim Taylor. I wasnsurprised to read that FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover allowed thenproducer-director to look at the actual FBI files and to basenstorylines on real cases!

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nChecknout the shows herenand here.nAnd remember – these were cutting-edge technology at the time!

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nAlsonon this date:

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