Guess the Old-Time Radio Show Trivia Quiz

Answer: Information Please

If the question you sent in got used, you got $2.00. If you stumped the panel, you got $5.00. Oh how times have changed! "Information Please" ran from 1938 to 1948.

Answer: Jack Benny

Benny's show ran for 23 years and was always among the most highly-rated shows of its era. He had a steady cast of supporting characters, and Benny allowed his supporting cast to get most of the laughs, usually by poking fun at Benny. After leaving radio in 1955, "The Jack Benny Show" continued on television for another ten years, using the same formula and characters which had worked so well on radio.

Answer: Our Miss Brooks

"Our Miss Brooks" had a radio run of 1948-1957, and a TV run of 1952-1956. It was enormously popular, and Eve Arden was voted the top ranking comedienne of 1948-1949, beating out the likes of Lucille Ball for the award.

Answer: My Favorite Husband

"My Favorite Husband" was a radio hit in 1948, and CBS asked Lucy to develop the show for TV. However, Lucy insisted on keeping her husband, Desi Arnaz, in the show and CBS balked, thinking the public would not accept the heavily-accented Arnaz as a TV personality. Lucy and Desi then went on the road with a vaudeville routine that was a huge success, so CBS relented and gave the show the green light.

Answer: Philip Marlowe

"The Adventures of Philip Marlowe", starring Van Heflin, first ran in 1947 on NBC as a summer replacement for "The Bob Hope Show". In the fall it then moved to CBS for four seasons, with Gerald Mohr playing the lead.

Though Marlowe was hardboiled and cynical, he was always on the side of truth and justice, as reflected by the comment he would make at the beginning of each show: "Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave."

Answer: Hopalong Cassidy

The relationship between Boyd and his character is a fascinating story. Between 1935 and 1948, Boyd played Cassidy in 66 movies. In 1944 the studio lost interest in producing any more Cassidy films, so Boyd mortgaged everything he owned to buy all rights to the character and to the backlog of movies. Over the years Boyd's shrewd investment brought him many millions of dollars in licensing and endorsement deals. In 1949 Hopalong Cassidy became the first Western series on TV, and the next year it started its successful two-year run on radio, always with Boyd playing the hero.

Howard "Hopalong" Cassady won the 1955 Heisman Trophy as an Ohio State running back, followed by a successful nine-year career in the NFL.

Answer: Death Valley Days

The success of "Death Valley Days" was unusual in that there were no big name stars or recurring characters; rather, the success was based on the authenticity of the stories. The writers meticulously researched events of the old West and used that research to write the compelling stories which were aired during the combined 38-year run of the radio/TV series. Reagan hosted for a year in the mid-1960's, but then quit to run for governor of California.

The other choices were all successful TV westerns, but were never on radio.

Answer: The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet debuted on radio in 1936 and had a good 17-year run on radio. The other choices all debuted in the comics.

Answer: Amos and Andy

"Amos 'n' Andy" lasted until 1960 on radio, and till 1966 on television, counting syndicated reruns. While there were periodic protests against the racial stereotypes depicted on the show, the radio show was able to withstand the criticism. Radio historian Elizabeth McLeod writes: "While often overlapping popular stereotypes of African-Americans, there was at the same time a universality to their characters which transcended race...beneath the dialect and racial imagery, the series celebrated the virtues of friendship, persistence, hard work, and common sense, and as the years passed and the characterizations were refined, "Amos 'n' Andy" achieved an emotional depth rivaled by few other radio programs of the 1930s."

Answer: a ventriloquist

Bergen and his puppet, Charlie McCarthy, entertained audiences for many years. Many big stars made guest appearances on the show, including Mae West who was blackballed from radio for twelve years after a 1937 appearance during which she used dialogue considered too racy and suggestive. For example, she told Charlie, "Charles, I remember our date and have the splinters to prove it."