Ellery Queen Minute Mysteries, 231 Episodes Old Time Radio Drama OTR DVD

Don't be fooled by other collections that claim to contain more episodes.  Many of these shows were aired on multiple dates in reruns, so you have plenty of sellers out there padding their collections with reruns!  We feature all known episodes in existence and do not add "fluff" to our collections to increase our claimed episode count like many others. 

NOTICE: This collection is all in MP3 format supplied on DVD.  You play this in your computer and then can copy all the MP3 files to your MP3 player of choice.  This DVD will NOT play in a regular CD player in your car, or your TV's DVD player, it is intended for your computer only which will allow you to transfer the MP3 files to any device that can play MP3's.  This collection remains the largest most original collection on ebay.

Lights Out:

Lights Out is an American old-time radio program devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural.

Created by Wyllis Cooper and then eventually taken over by Arch Oboler, versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 3, 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television. Lights Out was one of the earliest radio horror programs, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum.

Lights Out debuted in 1934 and was radio's premier horror series. Director and writer, Wyllis Cooper's writing was characterized by grisly stories always matched with the appropriate acting and sound effects, he conceived in 1933 the idea of writing a dramatic midnight mystery serial catchy enough to the listeners' attention at a time when the competition was mostly airing music. It was however dropped in favor of an anthology emphasizing crime thrillers and the supernatural. He stayed with this program until June 1936 when another Chicago writer, Arch Oboler, took over. By the time Cooper left, the series had inspired about 600 fan clubs.

Arch Oboler was eccentric and ambitious when he took over and picked up where Cooper left off, following the latter's general example but investing the scripts with his own concerns using streams of conscious narration and sometimes social and political themes that reflected his commitment to anti-fascist liberalism. Although Lights Out would be closely associated with Oboler later on, he would always credit Wyllis Cooper as the series' creator and spoke highly of him as "the unsung pioneer of radio dramatic techniques" and the first person he knew who understood that radio drama is an art form.

"Burial Service", Oboler's first script in 1936, was initially flooded with outraged response but was followed with the more accepted and frequently repeated "Catwife" and Caligula-inspired "The Dictator". This set the pattern for Oboler's run of two horror episodes followed by a drama on more serious subjects dealing with moral, social and political issues.

Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries:

Ellery Queen, which was introduced on CBS Radio as The Adventures of Ellery Queen, was a detective series that featured Hugh Marlowe as the title character. The show was originally a replacement for the Screen Guild Theater, which was a popular anthology series. It was broadcast on three radio stations, starting on CBS Radio from June 18, 1939 to September 22, 1940, then on NBC Radio from 1942 to 1944, back to CBS radio from 1945 to 1947, and finally on ABC Radio on 1947-1948. The basic format of the show was that, a mystery would be presented, then the guest celebrities would try to solve it.

Much to the CBS executives' surprise, the show was such a huge hit among many listeners. In fact, on October 8, 1939, at the show's "The Mother Goose Murders" episode, the station suddenly went off air, and got back with only 9 minutes left for the show, causing a lot of listeners to call and complain. Knowing that the show was really popular, Ellery Queen remained on air for 8 seasons.  Also included is Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries.
 

Bonus Radio Shows:

As a sampler of our old time radio library, we are including a sampler edition of these classic old time radio shows on this DVD-ROM at no extra charge: