Quiet Please

Quiet, Please was a radio fantasy and horror program created by Wyllis Cooper, also known for creating Lights Out. Ernest Chappell was the show’s announcer and lead actor. Quiet, Please debuted on June 8, 1947, on the Mutual Broadcasting System, and its last episode was broadcast on June 25, 1949, on the ABC. A total of 106 shows were broadcast, with only a very few of them repeats.

Earning relatively little notice during its initial run, Quiet, Please has since been praised as one of the finest efforts of the golden age of American radio drama. Professor Richard J. Hand of the University of Glamorgan argued that Cooper and Chappell “created works of astonishing originality,” and further describes the program as an “extraordinary body of work” which established Cooper “as one of the greatest auteurs of horror radio.”

Similarly, radio historian Ron Lackmann declares that the episodes “were exceptionally well written and outstandingly acted,” while John Dunning describes the show as “a potent series bristling with rich imagination.”

The Stars

With Ernest Chappell as the show’s lead actor, Quiet, Please relied heavily on his versatile performance. Chappell proved himself to be adept at creating distinctive characters, rarely using the same traits in multiple episodes.

Writer Harlan Ellison describes Chappell as having “one of the great radio voices” that “combined urbanity with storytelling wisdom.”

Though supporting players were sparse, a group of New York radio veterans were heard on a frequent basis, including Claudia Morgan, who was an occasional female lead, usually in tragic romances.

Key Dates

• Quiet, Please debuted on June 8, 1947, on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
• The last episode was broadcast on June 25, 1949, on the ABC.
• The show ran for a total of 106 episodes, with only a few repeats.

Other Information

Though the general thrust of the stories were fantasy, horror, and suspense, Cooper’s Quiet, Please scripts covered a broad thematic range, including romance, science fiction, crime, family drama, and humor. Most episodes had a strongly moralist tone, with evildoers nearly always punished and good typically rewarded.

The show’s sparse use of sound effects and dialogue, relying instead on first-person narration, was praised for its masterful use of silence. Networks were often “horrified at the amount of dead air they purchase along with Cooper,” as one critic noted. Cooper’s scripts were also lauded for their excellent structuring and innovative use of meta-fictional elements, such as breaking the fourth wall and blurring the distinction between performer and fictional character.

Despite positive reviews and a loyal cult following, Quiet, Please never established a large audience or attracted a sponsor, likely due to poor scheduling. The show was often bumped to less desirable time slots, including an afternoon slot usually reserved for juvenile programming and an early evening slot.

One of the most highly regarded episodes is “The Thing on the Fourble Board,” about an oil-field worker who encounters a mysterious subterranean being. The episode’s effectiveness has led some fans to consider it one of the best radio horror programs ever broadcast. Writer Harlan Ellison has also praised Quiet, Please and cited the show as a strong influence on his own writing, particularly an episode he remembers from his childhood that has “never left thoughts.”

Though many episodes were feared lost for decades, the majority of the series’ run has since been rediscovered, with 88 episodes currently in circulation. The fact that any episodes survive is largely due to the efforts of Ernest Chappell, who preserved recordings of all but 11 episodes.