Tonight, March 19, 2023 at 8 PM EDT, we salute GAYNE WHITMAN on his birthday with the very first episode of CHANDU THE MAGICIAN, and we will hear a few audition programs that never made it to the air. We begin as ever with our weekly episode of GUNSMOKE. Tune in to WBAI-NY 99.5 FM, or listen to the stream at wbai.org for THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO, produced by Max Schmid.

GUNSMOKE from CBS on Aug 27, 1955 #176 "Doc Quits” for L & M. The last show of the season. Doc Betchell comes to practice medicine in Dodge and gives Doc Adams a bit of competition. So much in fact, that Doc Adams quits! William Conrad announces that "Gunsmoke" is coming to television in two weeks. Starring William Conrad, Parley Baer, Georgia Ellis, Howard McNear, Lawrence Dobkin, James Nusser, Ann Morrison, Frank Cady, written by John Meston, produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell, music by Rex Koury, SFX by Ray Kemper & Bill James, announcer George Walsh.

CHANDU THE MAGICIAN from Earnshaw syndication Premiere March 07, 1932. Robert Reagent meets Betty and Bob by materializing right in their living room! Betty plays and sings "Pale Hands Beside The Shalimar." Celeste Rush has also been credited as, "Princess Nadji." Starring Gayne Whitman as Chandu, Margaret MacDonald as Dorothy, Bob Bixby as Bob, Betty Webb as Betty, created by Harry A. Earnshaw & Raymond R. Morgan, written by Vera Oldham, directed by Cyril Armbrister.
With great thanks and much love to Jerry Haendiges!!

HALF-HOUR TO KILL NBC Audition recorded on Oct 29, 1946. “Blackout” starring William Conrad.
Mike Houston, who shared this on Facebook, had this to say: “Are there any auditions that Bill Conrad is not in? This one was made by Teleways of Hollywood, and was promoted in the February 1947 issue of "Sponsor" magazine. No other episodes have surfaced, perhaps it never came to fruition.”

FANTASY from August 23, 1947. “Entity from the Void,” an audition recording produced in Hollywood for Philip Morris. A man from another galaxy (2000 light-years away) finds romance on Earth with a woman who is married to a drunk. The story combines elements of "This Island Earth" and the Superman origin story. The production boasts original music, a live orchestra with a theremin and a chorus of several voices. Yet, the applause sounds obviously recorded. Host: Ken Niles, with Hans Conried, produced by Frank Ferrin, written & directed by Hobart Donovan, music composed and arranged by John Duffy & Ken Cameron, Theremin by S. J. Hoffman.