30 minute plays/comedy/drama show
The First Nighter Program was a long-running radio anthology comedy-drama series broadcast from 1930 to 1953. The host was Mr. First Nighter (Charles P. Hughes, Macdonald Carey, Bret Morrison, Marvin Miller, Don Briggs and Rye Billsbury [later known as Michael Rye]).
The show's opening recreated the aural atmosphere of a Broadway opening. Before each week's drama began, Mr. First Nighter was first heard walking on Broadway, emerging from the noise of people and street traffic into the crowded lobby of "the Little Theater Off Times Square" and then taking his seat in the third row center, where he gave the whispered introduction: "The house lights have dimmed, and the curtain is about to go up on tonight's production."
Romantic comedies were the specialty of the series, and the principal roles were played by the teams of Don Ameche and June Meredith (1930–36), Ameche and Betty Lou Gerson (1935–36), Les Tremayne and Barbara Luddy (1936–43) and Olan Soule and Luddy (1943 and after).
Joseph T. Ainley produced and directed the series. The announcers were Larry Keating and Vincent Pelletier. Music was provided by Eric Sagerquist (1930–44), Caesar Petrillo (1945–46) and Frank Worth (1947–53). The most popular episode may have been the annual Christmas episode, "Little Town of Bethlehem," which was first performed in 1937 and every year afterwards at the request of the listening audience. Performing before a studio audience, the actors wore formal attire, with Luddy in a gown and Tremayne clad in evening clothes and top hat.
The series ran on three radio networks in the following timeline: 11/27/30 to 09/29/33 NBC-Blue, 10/06/33 to 02/12/37 NBC, 02/19/37 to 12/21/37 CBS, 01/07/38 to 08/26/38 NBC, 09/02/38 to 05/29/42 CBS, 10/04/42 to 10/25/44 Mutual, 10/20/45 to 04/13/46 CBS, 10/04/47 to 10/20/49 CBS, 04/27/52 to 09/27/53 NBC (repeats). The show was hosted by The Campana Company and solely featured commercials for their products. Due largely in part to this exposure, their Italian Balm became the best-selling hand lotion in the United States in the 1930s.
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Purchase as CD $4.50
All of our Old Time Radio Programs are in MP3 format. You can play them on your computer, you can transfer them to MP3 players (like the IPod), but, by and large, you cannot play them on stereos, walkmen, or car radios.
The sound quality of Old Time Radio Programs can vary greatly. Some episodes are excellent, others you have to turn up the volume a little and ignore the static. All of the episodes can be listened to and enjoyed. You can listen to our free samples to get a feel for how the programs sound.
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Episode List
first-nighter_440329 Chinese Gong.mp3
first-nighter_451222 Little Town of Bethl.mp3
first-nighter_471018 Wolf With Sheepskin.mp3
first-nighter_471025 No Nanny.mp3
first-nighter_480101 The One In The Middl.mp3
first-nighter_480108 Help Wanted Female.mp3
first-nighter_480122 The Mind Reader.mp3
first-nighter_480129 A Writer In The Fami.mp3
first-nighter_480205 Drink For The Damned.mp3
first-nighter_480212 Love Is Stranger Tha.mp3
first-nighter_480219 Oh Bury Me Not.mp3
first-nighter_480304 An Order By The Lt.mp3
first-nighter_480311 Something In The Air.mp3
first-nighter_480506 The Tin Box.mp3
first-nighter_480617 Old Lady Shakespeare.mp3
first-nighter_481224 Oh Little Town of Be.mp3
first-nighter_490310 No Greater Need.mp3
first-nighter_520720 Speak Ever So Gently.mp3
first-nighter_521223 (Oh, Little Town of .mp3
first-nighter_530106 A Good Joe.mp3
first-nighter_530901 Honest Dope.mp3
