Suspense is an old time radio show of epic proportion. It aired on CBS from 1942 to 1962, and is considered one of the best, if not the best drama shows during the golden age of radio. It was often referred to as 'Radio's outstanding Theater of Thrills' as it focused on suspenseful, thriller type shows.
When Suspense first hit the airwaves, it was a thriller show, that was hosted or narrated. That's where Suspense got the first thing right. The opening was never over dramatic, and the host, sometimes referred to as the 'Man In Black' knew when to talk, and when not to talk. Easier said than done in many cases of old time radio thriller type shows. In most episodes of Suspense the plot line revolves around someone suddenly thrown into a dangerous or bizarre situation. And like any good old time radio thriller, the plot comes together right at the very end, usually with an unseen twist or two.
However, Suspense was not like any other old time radio thriller. It was the undisputed leader in the quality of scripts, acting, and production values. The list of actors that appeared is Suspense not only represent the best actors in old time radio, but from Hollywood as well. Just a few examples are Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Alan Ladd, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, well, you get the picture. If you were anybody, you appeared in Suspense. As far as writing and script work went, famous mystery writer John Dickson Carr wrote many of the episodes, along Lucille Fletcher and others. Later in the show, the famous radio actor, producer, and director Elliot Lewis took over production and direction. At that time Lewis was probably the most famous and accomplished director in old time radio. Also another name you may have heard before, Alfred Hitchcock directed his first radio drama here.
Suspense is considered the sister show of another old time radio great, Escape. Escape used the same formula for success that Suspense did. Get the best actors, and the best written taut thriller scripts available, and mix them together. The main difference between the two shows though is that Suspense had major long term sponsors, and Escape did not.
While Suspense went on the air in 1942 and the shows were good, no great. It got even better in the late 1940's. This is when most old time radio fans agree that radio kicked it up a notch, and made the shows better, more mature, and more believable for the post World War II audience. Anyone who likes Escape or CBS Radio Mystery Theater will like this one. It's one of our top sellers, and even today there are still fan clubs for this great old time radio series.
All good things have to come to an end. In 1962 the last episode of Suspense was aired, along with the last episode of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. Radio fans mostly agree that that was the end of old time radio as we know it. Later on there were a couple more quality shows like CBS Radio Mystery Theater, and Theater Five, but now TV had it's claws firmly in every American household.
It's hard to believe that such a recent and popular old time radio series such as Suspense does not have exact numbers of shows produced and shows aired, but that is the case here. A good estimate is that there were about 1000 shows made. We have just over 900 available, and we feel that this set represents the largest collection of different Suspense episodes. One of the things that Suspense was known for is reusing scripts. One in particular, Sorry, Wrong Number was used 7 or 8 times. And there are many more like that. The show is the same, but there are minor variations in each episode. Another interesting tidbit about the episode 'Sorry, Wrong Number' is that the great actress Agnes Moorehead played the lead role in every reprise of that episode.
Each episode of Suspense is about a half hour long, we offer it in a very good quality MP3 CD set of 10 discs.
Please note: There are many resellers of old time radio shows. Please visit our retail website eddiesotr.com to see what makes us the best place to find your favorite old time radio shows. We professionally manufacture our discs using commercial CD printers and replicators. We ARE NOT a home office type reseller as most are. Our discs DO NOT come in a white envelope, they are sent in labeled cardboard sleeves. Our production facility and inventory is second to none. If you do take the time to visit our site and look around, you'll see that Eddiesotr.com is a member of NaVoba, which is the National Association Of Veteran Owned Business, and that our collection is so vast we have donated some of our files to the Library of Congress, Audio and Moving Pictures Division.
We here at Eddies know it's sometimes hard to shop on the internet. You can't really put your hands on, or get a good feel for a product. Again, with the holiday season upon us, we would like you to visit our site, and see the difference at Eddiesotr.com. You, or your gift recipient will be getting a professionally manufactured product. We also sell our old time radio CDs at various retail outlets.
The lableing is unique for each CD. We use only professional grade glossy CDs, they are printed from hub to edge. The artwork on the disc is unique to each show, it may be a picture of an actor, a product sponsor, or some type of artwork unique to the genre of radio show produced.
