Radio City Playhouse

Radio City Playhouse was a live half-hour anthology series that aired on NBC from July 3, 1948 to January 1, 1950. Directed by Harry W. Junkin, with music by Lud Gluskin, and announcers Bob Warren (1948–49) and Fred Collins (1949–50), the series presented original radio dramas regardless of the fame of the author, so long as they were considered ‘good’. Many of the broadcasts have survived and can be heard on websites specializing in old-time radio.

The series was willing to use stories from anywhere, as long as they were considered “good”. Stories could be thrillers, farces, tales of the supernatural, boy-meets-girl romances, or morality tales. The half-hours of drama and sometimes comedy were often very exciting and suspenseful.

The Radio City Playhouse was a late-comer to the anthology genre but quickly established itself for doing things its own way and doing them very well. While other radio anthologies took stories from a certain type of source, such as literature, stage plays, or movies, or produced stories from a certain theme or genre, Radio City Playhouse was willing to use a story from anywhere, as long as it was “good”.

The Stars

The cast was made up of very good New York veterans of radio and stage, including Jan Minor and John Larkin as featured performers.

Other actors who appeared on the program included Claudia Morgan, who had a one-man show on the July 11, 1949, episode, portraying “a neurotic actor who is confronted by eleven characters he has played in the past”.

Others were Bernard Grant, Edwin Bruce, Richard Seff, and Dolores Sutton, at least one of whom, Paul E. Hadlick, both co-wrote and co-starred in “Sibling”, the episode airing on December 11, 1949.

Key Dates

• The series debuted on July 3, 1948 as a summer replacement for Kay Kyser’s program on Saturdays at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
• In 1949 it was broadcast on Mondays at 10:30 p.m. E.T. and ran until January 1, 1950.

Other Information

The program was sustained for its entire run, never picking up a sponsor. A review of the July 3, 1948, episode in the trade publication Variety commended Junkin’s directing and star Jan Minor’s performance. Some episodes consisted of two playlets, such as October 16, 1949, with the presentation of “The Lake” and “Collector’s Item”.