The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio brings together legendary comedy, mystery, crime, suspense, science fiction, Westerns, horror, adventure, and drama from the golden age of broadcasting. Discover iconic programs, unforgettable characters, celebrated performers, and timeless stories from radio’s greatest era. Each episode is an Old Time Retro Radio production, presenting the original broadcast with gently cleaned and mastered audio, a newly produced introduction and closing, and custom episode artwork. From famous favorites to essential classics, The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows is a curated showcase of the programs that helped define vintage radio entertainment. Rediscover the best in old time radio shows, classic radio, golden age radio, mystery, comedy, crime, suspense, Westerns, sci-fi, horror, and drama. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Episodes

September 14, 2026 29 mins
Dimension X presents “Destination Moon,” episode 12, originally broadcast on NBC on June 24, 1950. Adapted from George Pal’s 1950 film and credited to Robert A. Heinlein and George Pal, this unsponsored sustaining-program broadcast features Santos Ortega, Luis van Rooten, and Norman Rose as host/narrator.

At a Texas rocket project, a determined team races to send the first crewed expedition to the Moon befo...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
X Minus One presents “Death Wish,” episode 115, originally broadcast on NBC on October 10, 1957. This science-fiction drama was adapted for radio by William Welch from Robert Sheckley’s 1956 Galaxy Science Fiction story, published under the pseudonym Ned Lang.

Bound for Mars, Captain Summers and his two crewmates discover troubling flaws in their ship’s newly installed computer equipment. When the spa...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Lux Radio Theatre presents “Dark Victory,” episode 245, originally broadcast on CBS on January 8, 1940. Produced by Cecil B. DeMille and sponsored by Lux Flakes, this 60-minute adaptation revisits the 1939 Warner Bros. film.

Bette Davis reprises her role as spirited Long Island socialite Judith Treherne, opposite Spencer Tracy as the eminent Dr. Frederick Steele. When troubling symptoms disrupt Judith’s rec...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Escape presents “The Time Machine - Jeff Corey,” originally broadcast on May 9, 1948. Episode 40 adapts H. G. Wells’s classic novel, with Jeff Corey as inventor Dr. Dudley and Erik Rolf as his skeptical friend, Fowler.

Dudley invites Fowler to test an extraordinary machine capable of traveling through time. Their experiment carries them to the year 100,080, where a beautiful garden world and its seemingly g...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Suspense presents “Dead Ernest,” episode 205, originally broadcast on CBS on August 8, 1946. Written by Merwin Gerard and Seeleg Lester and produced and directed by Bill Spier, the drama stars Wally Maher, with Junius Matthews, Robert Bailey, Cathy Lewis, and Verna Felton among the supporting cast.

Ernest Bowers is vulnerable to cataleptic spells that can leave him appearing dead. After a street accident, the saf...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Dragnet presents “The Big Switch,” episode 230, originally broadcast on NBC on January 12, 1954. Jack Webb stars as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday, with Ben Alexander as Officer Frank Smith.

When Mona Fenton is found unconscious in a low-cost Los Angeles hotel room with the gas turned on, Friday and Smith investigate what may be more than an attempted suicide. Their Homicide Detail inquiry follows the hotel regist...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Gunsmoke, “The Trial,” originally broadcast March 22, 1959 (episode number variously listed as 361 or 363), stars William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon. This CBS Radio drama was written by John Meston and directed by Norman Macdonnell.

After Dillon encounters hungry drifter Homer Tisdale over a minor theft, Tisdale is accused of a deadly stage-office robbery. As a circuit judge convenes court in Dodge City, the m...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Inner Sanctum Mysteries presents “Twice Dead,” originally broadcast on November 6, 1950. This 28-minute ABC installment was the ninth episode of the 1950 Mars Candy Bars-sponsored run, hosted by Paul McGrath and produced and directed by Himan Brown.

At Maine’s forbidding Cathedrals Rock, David Morgan’s wife has died in a fall from the cliffs—but troubling signs soon suggest that the nightmare ma...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Lux Radio Theatre presents “Killer Cates,” episode 550, originally broadcast on CBS on December 16, 1946. Sponsored by Lux and hosted by William Keighley, this production stars Jack Benny in a dramatic change of pace, with Gail Patrick and Alan Reed.

Benny plays Jeff Morley, a comedian worn down by three years as the lethal gangster Killer Cates in the hit stage melodrama The Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed. As ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Dimension X presents “And the Moon Be Still as Bright,” episode 26, originally broadcast on NBC on September 29, 1950. This sustaining, commercial-free drama adapts Ray Bradbury’s story from The Martian Chronicles, with a radio script by Ernest Kinoy. Alexander Scourby stars as Spender, alongside Wendell Holmes as Captain Wilder.

Earth’s fourth expedition reaches Mars after three earlier missions have...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Suspense presents “Dateline - Lisbon,” originally broadcast on CBS on October 5, 1944. Episode 112 stars John Hodiak as American correspondent William Baldwin and was written by Harold Medford, with William Spier directing and producing.

In wartime Lisbon, a neutral crossroads crowded with spies and travelers, Baldwin finds himself on trial for murder. Through a courtroom flashback, he recounts a mysterious photo...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Escape presents “Border Town,” episode 89, originally broadcast on CBS on December 13, 1949. This compact crime-adventure stars Jack Webb, with William Conrad and Jeanette Nolan, and was written by John and Gwen Bagni.

An actor riding a bus toward Hollywood discovers that counterfeit money has been planted in his coat. Trying to rid himself of the dangerous burden leads him from outside Dallas to a Mexican border...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Gunsmoke, “Miguel’s Daughter,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 3, 1958, is episode 330 in the full-series radio log. William Conrad stars as Marshal Matt Dillon, with Georgia Ellis as Kitty and Parley Baer as Chester Proudfoot. The script was written by Marian Clark and produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell.

When a young Mexican woman is harassed while bringing eggs into Dodge City, Kitty offers ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Lux Radio Theatre presents “The Winslow Boy,” episode 864, originally broadcast January 18, 1954. Adapted by F. H. Barnett from Terence Rattigan’s play, this CBS production stars Ray Milland, Dorothy McGuire, and Brian Aherne.

In Edwardian England, young Ronnie Winslow is expelled from the Royal Naval College after an accusation of theft. Determined to clear his name, his family turns to the formidable barr...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
The Whistler presents “The Killers,” episode 50, originally broadcast May 1, 1943. This early CBS Pacific Network sustaining drama was written and directed by J. Donald Wilson, with Marvin Miller featured in the cast.

After a sensational murder trial in a Southwestern state, a young man escapes from an asylum and reaches an isolated farm where three women—and $1,000 in cash—are caught in the path of m...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Dragnet, “The Big Present” (episode 223), originally broadcast November 24, 1953. Jack Webb stars as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday in this NBC crime drama, sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes.

Assigned to Burglary Detail in Los Angeles, Friday investigates a string of neighborhood-market break-ins linked to the elusive “Milk-Bottle Bandit.” With few clues to work from, he follows the sparse evidence ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Inner Sanctum Mysteries presents “Death of a Doll,” originally broadcast on CBS on October 18, 1948. Series episode 392, written by Fred Maytho, features Mason Adams as rookie reporter Willie Harper and Ted Osborne as painter Beau Cousins.

On his first assignment for the Morning Blade, Harper is sent to the Manhattan morgue to investigate an unidentified young woman recovered from the East River. A small doll is ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
X Minus One presents “Nightmare,” episode 10, originally broadcast on NBC Radio on July 21, 1955. Adapted for radio by George Lefferts from Stephen Vincent Benét’s poem “The Revolt of the Machines,” this unsponsored science-fiction drama stars John Gibson, Joyce Gordon, Luis Van Rooten, Joseph Julian, and Santos Ortega.

At Long Island’s Brook Meadow Atomic Pile, statistical clerk Sampson G...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Dimension X presents “The Martian Death March,” episode 34, originally broadcast on NBC Radio Network on January 14, 1951. This original radio story was written by Ernest Kinoy and directed by Edward King, with Norman Rose as announcer and narrator.

On an Earth-conquered Mars, a human colonist remembers a desperate flight by spider-like Martian refugees from imposed reservations toward their mountain homeland. Le...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Suspense presents “Affair at Aden,” originally broadcast November 15, 1958. This late-period CBS drama stars Frank Lovejoy and was written by Les Crutchfield.

In Aden, American oil executive John searches for Beth, the young woman he loves, after she is taken to her tribal community to fulfill a marriage pledge made in childhood. His journey into the desert brings him face-to-face with unfamiliar country, rising ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.

    NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

    Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices