5 Shows You've Never Heard Of (But Should)

Everyone knows Suspense, Dragnet, and The Lone Ranger. But the golden age of radio produced thousands of shows, and some of the best have been almost entirely forgotten.

**1. Quiet, Please (1947-1949)** Written and directed by Wyllis Cooper (who also created Lights Out), Quiet, Please was a horror and fantasy anthology that made Suspense sound tame. Cooper's scripts were literary, unsettling, and years ahead of their time.

**2. Escape (1947-1954)** CBS's adventure anthology featured adaptations of classic literature — Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle — with production values that rivaled any show on the air. If you like Adventures by Morse, Escape is its sophisticated older cousin.

**3. Broadway Is My Beat (1949-1954)** A detective show set in New York's theater district, combining crime stories with the glamour and seediness of Broadway. The atmosphere was unlike anything else on radio.

**4. The Mysterious Traveler (1943-1952)** Hosted by a nameless figure on a train, this mystery anthology featured twist endings that often outdid The Whistler. The framing device — stories told by a stranger on a late-night train — was brilliantly atmospheric.

**5. Dimension X (1950-1951)** The predecessor to X Minus One, adapting stories from Astounding Science Fiction magazine. Many of the same stories were later re-adapted for X Minus One, but the Dimension X versions have their own distinct character.

We're working on adding all five to the archive. Stay tuned.