Customer Reviews

The CBS Radio Mystery Theater: An Episode Guide & Handbook to Nine Years of Broadcasting, 1974-1982

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a good book for fans of the radio series, as it lists all the episodes and brief synopsis's of each one. It also has air dates, and a good index. It suffers only in two areas. It is overpriced for a book its size, and it does not go into the history behind the series in depth. No interviews with stars or photograghs were included,which would have enhanced it value. Still for fans, it is a must buy. Hopefully maybe the authors in a future printing will add the aforementioned information.

CBS Radio Mystery Theater fans no longer have to wonder about titles and broadcast dates of their favorite RMT episodes, or how many episodes there actually are. "The CBS Radio Mystery Theater" is meticulously prepared and researched with a complete listing of all original Mystery Theater episodes.

The episodes listed here are in their original broadcast order. The strength of this book is definitely the episode listing. Each episode liner note contains the title, broadcast date, rebroadcast date (if applicable), cast, show synopsis and notes. It works excellent as a research tool for the Mystery Theater tape collector. The book also contains two appendixes. Appendix 1 is a chronological listing of the 1977 CBS/General Mills Radio Adventure Theater episodes. Appendix 2 is the complete broadcast log of the 1998 revival of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Curiously, missing from the book are the episodes that aired in 1988/89.

Although the episode portion of the book is outstanding, it is sadly lacking in the history department. I had expected more interviews and photos (there are no photos) describing the history of the show. Some anecdotes would have been nice too. The preface and show history total a mere eight pages! This is unfortunate, seeing that the show ran for more than eight years. It leaves this Mystery Theater buff with many unanswered questions about the show. The quality of the book cover, binding and paper are superb. This is basically a library edition which will last indefinitely in a private collection.

CBS RMT fans, if you are looking for a book with all of the episodes to use as a reference guide, this is the one for you. However, if you want for an in-depth book that details the history of the show with photographs and anecdotes, you may have to wait a while.

This is a must-have book. The index is thick and covers every name, actor, writer, director, etc. The plot descriptions are a god-send, and very well written. That I will swear on my mother's grave. I noticed the history is not as long as most of Martin Grams' books, but I also noticed that most of the information that would normally be found in the history, has been listed under the episode entries. Trivia and recollections. One person wrote that they found the history too short and not enough interviews. Not true. If you were to flip through and take all of the trivia and interviews from under all of the episode entries themselves, it would probably total more than fifty pages of history! For any old-time radio fan and CBS RMT fan, this is THE book on the program. And we have to thank both Gordon Payton and Martin Grams, (the latter is the best d--- researcher on Old-Timer Radio - "we love you Martin!") for putting together such a great book. Buy this one folks! Accept no imitations!

We all know that reference books with a niche market like this normally have a smaller printing run, and thus a higher cost. I can live with that. But for the price, I expect the book to be meticulously researched, which means it should be error free. Annoyingly, this volume is nowhere close. To shell out this kind of money, I shouldn't find typo after typo after typo.

Actress Carmen Mathews' name is listed repeatedly, but never correctly spelled. In the episode guide for Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," Jacob Marley's name is listed as "Morley." Episode 409 is titled on pg. 75 as "The Death Wisher." In the index (pg.454) it is titled "The Death Wish." I could go on, but you get my point. There is no excuse to charge this much money and have this many errors. Also, there is not near enough in the way of anecdotal material; this shouldn't be simply a list of air dates and titles.

I can't recommend this book, but I wish I could. Perhaps someone with more diligence and more respect for the audience will come along in the future and put together an error-free and interesting read. Save your money.

A decent and helpful book, though lacking in details and especially photos. But, still, there isn't much out there on who performed on these episodes or what they were about, so it's a reliable resource.

Contains plot synopses and cast, writer, director lists for all 1500 episodes. So this is a must have for true CBSRMT fans. But it could use a star reviews. Like to see Cast/Episode index separated. Maybe move actor bio-information to another section, it very hit or miss scattered in the episode information. Also it would be better to have this laid out alphabetically and just have a broadcast date index in the back; page after page is take up with re-listing reruns and reruns of reruns. Needs updating/rewrite, hope they come out with a new edition sometime. Would love to see an online version that could be sorted, or at least an electronic Kindle version (would make a great iPhone app).

But don't get me wrong, the writers have done a great job documenting every episode. I especially like how the plot synopses are spoiler free. This makes it a great guide to follow along with your MP3 episode collection.