Old Time Radio Comedy ran the spectrum in the ancient situation comedy of Jack Benny into the country style comedy of Lum and Abner and anyplace in between.
America has a lasting love affair with humor radio and those lovable personalities that made everybody burst out laughing. Our Miss Brooks, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Life of Riley, Duffy’s Tavern, Dean martin and Jerry Lewis, My Friend Irma, My Favorite Husband with Lucille Ball, Ozzie and Harriet, Abbott and Costello, The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Minnie Pearl, Mae West, Amos and Andy, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Father Knows Best, The Bickersons, The Aldrich Family, Bringing Up Father, Moon Mullins, Mel Blanc, Henry Morgan, Jean Shepherd, Stan Freberg and the list goes on and on!
Plus that’s just the American Reveals. Old Time Live Radio Spain and thus Old Time Radio Comedy was a global phenomena. With magnificent radio shows coming from England, Europe, Africa, Australia and elsewhere.
So, where to tap in to all this prosperity? The giant Old Time Radio archives available at such excellent OTR sites as Bookzap and Radio Treasury contain more humor patterns, shows and entertainment than many could listen to in a life! Both of these great websites have it all and using crystalline clear sound quality. Below are only a few of the very memorable and wqell loved old time tv show collections which you are able to acquire on Bookzap or even Radio Treasury. Here at the conclusion of this article you can find the URL to those two exemplary sites.
Jack Benny was a very sweet comedian who could crwack you up wjust by looking at you!
Our Miss Brooks has been a major comedy hit on radio from the beginning. Within just weeks of its debute the series landed a few honors. It depicted a woman comic in a new manner that was niether clutzy or scatterbrained.
The Humor was really funny and the characters so familiar and memorable that this series ran in 1 form or another for about full two decades.
The Life of Riley was an early version of a normal American situation comedy, it had been co-developed by Gummo the non-performing member of the Marx Brother family. The Life of Riley appeared on both radio and television in the 1940s and 1950s. It helped to introduce”nuclear family” concept to American broadcasting. THE LIFE OF RILEY has been an early version of the”dumb husband” type of comedy, which is a formulation often repeated nonetheless in TV sitcoms.
Duffy’s Tavern
Duffy’s Tavern was heard on the radio from 1940 to 1952 and has been widely loved in the start by both critics and the working-class. Although DUFFY’S TAVERN made the transition into television in 1954, it only lasted for one season. Duffy’s Tavern ran for years on radio but did not translate as well to television or film.
An American radio situation comedy which aired on both the CBS and NBC, Duffy’s Tavern frequently featured famous stage and film guest stars. However, the show almost always centered around the misadventures, strategies, and romantic missteps of the title institution’s manager, Archie, played by Ed Gardner.
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were a little-known vaudeville team when they made their screen debuts in a movie adaptation of the 1940s radio show MY FRIEND IRMA (1949). They became the biggest comedy team of the late 1940s and early 1950s. They were especially a popular team in the 1950s, which makes many movies, tv appearnces, and many comedy radio performances together.
My Friend Irma
It had been so common in the late 1940s that its success escalated to television and films.
My Friend Irma, played by Marie Wilson, tells the stories of a very dim-witted blonde secretary named Irma Peterson, and the daily high-jinx she puts into with her different screwy friends.
My Beloved Husband with Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball was one of radio and tv’s foremost pioneers, and many think, the pre-eminent lady in the history of American humor.
Ozzie and Harriet
Before they got their very own radio show (1944), Ozzie and Harriet were regulars on Red Skelton’s radio series. However, When Skelton was drafted into the military in 1944, Ozzie and Harriet were offered the vacated slot. So they stuffed it with The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
The children of Ozzie and Harriet were initially played by actors. But were soon the celebrities were substituted with their own two sons, David and Ricky Nelson.
An ancient portrayal of the conventional American nuclear family, together with Dad bringing home the bacon and Mother cooking it for him and the kids, Ozzie and Harriet was a really popular and enjoyable show for many years on radio throughout the 40’s and afterwards TV during the 50’s.
Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello were one of the most prosperous comics at making the transition from burlesque to film and radio. A quintessential American comedy duo, Abbott and Costello’s work in tv, film, and television made them one of the most popular comedy teams in history. Not known for droll or witty comedy, they have been comics relying on verbal than physical comedy.
The Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were masters of slapstick and double entendre humor which allowed them to get past the censors of their time. Somewhat less well know is the simple fact that they were also gifted they were also musicians. The Marx brothers were radio, stage, and film stars who during the 1930’s domiated humor using their lunatic antics.
W.C. Fields,
Of humor Fields once said,”The funniest thing about comedy is that you can’t why people laugh.
After Vaudeville, W.C. Fields made several films during his career, but he also continued to play on the radio. Fields could always deliver the clever phrase, and he thrilled radio listeners with his long standing feud with Charley McCarthy.
Amos and Andy
Amos and Andy were simple down to earth personalities with the intention of comedy. They were black characters represented by white actors wearing blackface makeup. Amos and Andy were a very popular comedy group on tv, but NAACP objections into the series occurred because it was believed to stereotype African Americans.
Bob Hope,
Bob Hope was a comic from the latter days of vaudeville who achieved wonderful success in radio and television. He was definitely a triple-threat celebrity of radio, television and film during the 1940s and 1950s. Bob Hope, was that the king of this spontaneous one-liner, a beloved actor, and also a fantastic supporter of our guys in uniform. Bob Hope was among the first performers to entertain the troops.
George Burns and Gracie Allen
Burns and Allen were a very popular American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. The were believed by many to be the finest husband/wife comedy team of all time.
Father Knows Best
Father Knows Best was first a radio series on NBC Radio. The series culminated in August of 1949. Four decades later, the series moved to CBS television and was a popular TV series throughout the 1950’s and early 60’s. It was a situational humor at the setting of a normal Midwestern community. Father Knows Best’s Andersons depicted the perfect middle class American family.
The Bickersons
The Bickersons has been a popular American radio comedy program that aired from 1946 to 1951. The fighting couple may have appeared to have no business being married at all, but their show was amusing and it functioned as an early prototype later comic couples as Ralph and Alice Kramden of The Honeymooners and Peg and Al Bundy of Married With Children.
The Aldrich Family
The Aldrich Family was so popular situation comedy across America that it aired for nearly 14 years from 1939 through 1953.
Of course there are several more great ccomedy behaves that sprung up during the golden age of old time radio. These are but a few of the the most popular in my opinion. If you would like to revisit a number of these displays, or tens of thousands of other old time radio programs I highly recommend seeing Bookzap or even Radio Treasury and appreciating the displays!