CBS Radio Mystery Theater - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - January 20, 1974

At one point in the late-seventies the family television started emitting smoke, resulting in my mother calling the fire department. Turns out our only television had become an electrical fire hazard and needed disposing of.

How long we were without a television is everybody's guess. But it was a long enough period of time to allow my mom and dad to introduce my brother and I to the glories of Old Time Radio.

One of our local AM stations, KSFO, broadcast a complete line-up of 'prime time' radio programming. The eight o' clock hour would feature shows like Lum n' Abner, Boston Blackie, The Shadow, The Whistler, Our Miss Brooks, Burns and Allen, and many, many more. 

The nine o' clock time slot was taken by an all-new Old Time Radio show, The CBS Radio Mystery Theater, which fast became a fascination and addiction of mine. Fueling that fascination and addiction was how the program's use of the descriptive mystery in its title was both literal and figurative. 

Because each and every night was a delightful and frustrating coin toss as to what that particular episode would or could be. Yes, there were lots of mysteries. But there were also a lot of gothic melodramas, comedies, spy stories, ghost stories, monster stories, historical dramas, and even quite a few science fiction and fantasy stories. There was no way of knowing unless you listened.

My all time favorite episode remains Hickory, Dickory, Doom. You can give it a listen here.

The remainder of KSFO's evening line-up was a ten o' clock comedy hour, which played selections from stand-up or skit comedy albums. The eleven o' clock hour offered the likes of Lights Out, Inner Sanctum, Suspense, or Escape.

The witching hour featured a repeat of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Good times and wonderful memories.