The Smithsonian Collection: Old Time Radio: Comedy & Laughter [Original recording remastered]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 1998)
• Original Release Date: September 15, 1998
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Radio Spirits
• ASIN: 1570190895
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,226 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Jack Benny Program

2. The Burns & Allen Show

3. The Abbott & Costello Show

Disc: 2

1. The Bickersons

2. The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show

3. The Life of Riley

Disc: 3

1. Fibber McGee & Molly

2. The Great Gildersleeve

3. Our Miss Brooks

Disc: 4

1. The Milton Berle Show

2. Duffy's Tavern

3. My Favorite Husband

Editorial Reviews

The Smithsonian Institution and Radio Spirits have teamed up to assemble this collection of distinctively entertaining broadcasts from the comedy and laughter genre. Each of the 12 broadcasts has been digitally restored and remastered from the original recordings for exceptional audio quality. This collection includes the famous comedy bit Who's on First by Abbott and Costello and a 60 page historical booklet featuring foreword by Irving Brecher,creator of the Life of Riley.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Memories of the past, September 13, 2005

By 

Elzera Flynn "Miss Ellie" (Brentwood,CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Old Time Radio Detectives and Crime Fighters (Smithsonian Collection) (Audio CD)

Thank You to the people who decided to recover all these great memories of the past.When I was a child we sat in front of the radio for hours and listened to these wonderful broadcasts!
WONDERFUL!

7 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Radio Noir, August 17, 2005

By 

John P Bernat (Kingsport, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old Time Radio Detectives and Crime Fighters (Smithsonian Collection) (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful and excruciating collection.

If you've read the biographies of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, you know how much loathing they had for the work they did on these programs. Hammett took his timeless hard-boiled detective, Sam Spade, and made him a commercial smoothie for more than a few of the programs on these CDs. Chandler wrote a few, too.

Like their protagonists, these authors did it for the money, which they needed for liquor. What's tough about listening to these works is that the brilliance is still there, but in between terrible cliches, hackneyed and contrived plots, and, in a few cases, really bad radio acting.

But you cannot do without this collection if you have any serious interest in 20th Century American history and culture. If you only view this as a compelling argument against the commercialization of art, so be it.

But it's funny as heck to hear independent filmmakers today bemoaning the levelling effect of popular media. It was just the same way in 1945 as in 2005, and we're somehow still producing great art in so many venues.

Like Talking Heads used to say, "same as it ever was."