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A Surefire Way to "Escape" the Daily Grind

In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, the so called golden age of old time radio, most shows were broadcast at a similar time each week. Every now and again there might be a change to the normal the schedule, but the general rule of thumb was that a consistent time each week as this became known by the listening public, which in turn build a larger audience. Although it was far from a golden rule, It was something the big networks realized worked in their favor and so was worth trying to achieve.

One exception to this rule was the dramatic adventure anthology series called Escape, whose time-slot shifted an incredible eighteen times in its seven-year run from 1947 through to 1954. To make matters even worse it had a habit of coming and going and sometimes disappearing off the schedules altogether at short notice for weeks on end only to resurface weeks later in a completely different timeslot.

The fragrant disregard CBS paid to building a regular timeslot and audience for Escape could make you think that it was a mediocre show that was only good as a lightweight filler for when the regular show was off-the-air, such as during the quiet summer months. In my opinion, and that of many old radio aficionados, this couldn't be further from the truth. Escape is probably the best adventure anthology ever broadcast.

In my opinion, Escape brings together everything that was good about old-time radio drama rolled into one. The title itself almost sums up the very essence of what radio drama is all about. Each of the episodes was a micro drama carefully planned to capture the listeners attention for thirty minutes. Over two-hundred episodes were made and almost all of them are as good today as they were over half a century ago.

For the first few years the series was on air the announcement at the start of the show varied almost every week, but by the 1950s it had settled down to be the now famous:

Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you ... ESCAPE!

This may give the wrong impression as Escape was far more than a swashbuckling adventure yarn. It was a superbly scripted, brilliantly produced series that brought to the radio adaptations of classic stories by famous writers as well as new work by unknown talent. Many of the stories were later reused by more high profile shows such as Suspense, but on the whole the Escape versions were of equal quality and sometimes more dramatically focused and atmospheric.

When Radio Life wrote "These stories all possess many times the reality that most radio writing conveys" it hit the nail on the head. This is a quality show in every way.

If you've never given this tremendous series a chance it's well worth tracking down. Whether you listen in the car on your daily commute, whilst doing the housework, relaxing in your favorite easy-chair, or snuggled up in bed - you really will be thrilled!

Article Source: http://www.freeforallarticles.com

Ned Norris is the webmaster of RUSC Old Time Radio (RUSC.COM), one of the oldest and most highly regarded old time radio web sites on the Internet. It's a place where you can relive the golden days of radio at your leisure, download or listen online to 1000s of classic shows, and enjoy regularly updated editorial and reviews on old time radio and related topics.