Dan Howland – Our Show Of Shows Podcast

Years ago, when we recorded Season One, we finished up with an episode about movies on old time radio. Then, disaster struck; Tom had an apartment fire, and his hard drive was destroyed. This was so disheartening that we spent the next several years… you know, not doing a podcast.

Then one fine day, we decided to reboot the show, and a do-over of the Hollywood episode was at the top of our to-do list. And we’re glad we did! It’s leaner and meaner than the original episode, and when I recorded the ridiculous, over-the-top intro, I made Tom laugh out loud, so I’d say it’s pretty good.

Get your popcorn and soda ready as we explore shows ranging from The Maltese Falcon on Lux Radio Theatre to the Millennium Falcon on NPR’s Star Wars!

Our Show of Summer Replacement Shows

By Dan Howland | July 14, 2020

We’re about to release the last episode of this season of our little podcast, and we’ll promptly begin recording new episodes for release in Autumn. In the meantime, Tom just came up with a great idea for our “Summer replacement series.” We’re going to pick individual episodes of the various old time radio series we’ve talked about so far, and release those into our podcast feed. That would include…

Fibber McGee and Molly (Dan’s favorite episode, “Skating at Dugan’s Lake”)

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (an hour-long compilation of one story arc)

Gunsmoke

Various shows discussed in our “British Sampler” and “Radio Vs. Nazis & the Klan” episodes

Some choice Orson Welles content

…along with The Adventures of Hercule Poirot, The Les Paul and Mary Ford Show, Broadway is My Beat, Yiddish Radio, The Damon Runyon Theatre, and more.

In the Autumn, we plan to return to our bi-weekly podcast, but on alternate weeks, we’ll drop in single episodes of the shows we’ll be talking about in our next episode. Why didn’t we think of this before?

Don’t forget to email us with comments or suggestions for future episodes.

dan@ourshowofshows.com

tom@ourshowofshows.com

The Return of Our Show of Shows

By Dan Howland | March 17, 2020

Dan here. Tom and I have been making calls back and forth for the past few weeks to get the podcast rebooted instanter, and I’m setting up our Patreon, ordering pinback buttons, writing and re-writing show notes, learning new streaming tech, etc, etc.

Some of the benefits for our patrons will be: I’ll put your face onto an image of a 1930s “Radio Stars” magazine for use as your social media avatar.

Our “Our Show of Shows” pinback buttons will be available to patrons, and we’ll also sell them for $1.

Tom and I are excited to get the podcast going again, and you’ll be hearing from us soon.

Old Time Radio Advent Calendars

By Dan Howland | November 24, 2018

The Cinnamon Bear was a wildly popular radio serial adventure for children which began its initial run in 1937. It was a 26-episode, daily, 15-minute transcribed show, which was intended to run from just after Thanksgiving until Christmas. And talk about long-running — the show appeared on commercial stations well into the 1980s, and even now, shows up on community radio stations. I think my introduction to the show was in the early 2000s on the University of Portland’s KDUP, which just left all 26 episodes running on a continuous loop while school was out during the Winter.

In addition to being a radio star, the Cinnamon Bear was a costumed character who appeared as one of Santa’s helpers at various department stores around the country. The show and character were especially popular in the Pacific Northwest, in fact, the Portland Spirit cruise lines have annual Cinnamon Bear Cruises to this day.

Naturally, something this popular spawned imitations; I haven’t listened to Jump Jump and the Ice Queen or Jonathan Thomas and his Christmas on the Moon yet, but I doubt they can hold a candle to Cinnamon Bear.

Here are links to Archive.org’s collections of all three serials…

1937 – The Cinnamon Bear

1938 – Jump Jump and the Ice Queen

1938 – Jonathan Thomas and his Christmas on the Moon

Some Streaming OTR Stations to Tide You Over Until Our Next Episode

By Dan Howland | July 21, 2018

Tom and I will be back with a new episode eventually. Tom’s hard drive with our most recent episode (“Our Show of Shows Goes HOLLYWOOD!”) was lost in an apartment fire, so we figure we’ll take the opportunity to make a new version sometime soon. New and improved. Shorter, tighter episodes. It’ll be a challenge, because half the reason we do the podcast is to hang out with each other and ramble, but I think we’re up to it.

Anyway, here’s a nice list of streaming Old Time Radio stations for your listening pleasure in the meanwhile.

Relic Radio
Hank’s Old-Time Radio
Old Time Radio Fan
Old Time Radio USA
Bygolly Old Time Radio
20th Century Radio
Antioch Broadcasting Network

Episode 06: OTR vs. Nazis

By Dan Howland | December 31, 2017

Click Here To Listen To This Episode

Tom and Dan look at American civil rights and the fight against Nazis during the golden age of Old Time Radio. This episode includes: Father Coughlin, Eddie Cantor, “Dear Adolf,” “You Can’t Do Business With Hitler,” “Battle Of The Warsaw Ghetto,” more from the “Orson Welles Commentaries,” “New World A-Coming,” “Destination Freedom,” “The Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance Party,” Jean Shepherd’s tale of the March on Washington, and, of course, Superman battling the thinly-disguised KKK in “The Clan of the Fiery Cross.”

Episode 05: Orson Welles

By Dan Howland | August 23, 2017

Click Here To Listen To This Episode

Tom and Dan discuss the radio career of Orson Welles. Clips in this episode range from his 1937 radio adaptation of Les Miserables, right up to the 1951-52 series The Lives of Harry Lime — several episodes of which Orson wrote, and one of which was later adapted for the screenplay of the film Mr. Arkadin.

Welles Resources