The television version of The Jack Benny Show ran on CBS from Saturday October
28, 1950 to 1965. The opening and closing monologues were before a live audience
with half the episodes were live and the other half were filmed during the summer,
to allow Benny to continue doing his radio show. Benny would often sign off his
radio show with the line ”Well, good night, folks, I’ll see you on television”. The
TV show was sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes.

1950 magazine ad

David Oswald Nelson  (October 24, 1936 – January 11, 2011)

David Nelson was a actor, director, and producer. He was the older son of bandleader-
TV actor Ozzie Nelson and singer Harriet Hilliard and older brother of singer Ricky
Nelson. David was the last surviving member of the Nelsons, radio and TV’s Ozzie
and Harriet Nelson family.

The Nelsons

 
Claire Trevor with Edward G. Robinson


Ona Munson with Robinson in 1941

Big Town first aired on CBS from October 19, 1937 to June 25, 1952. Edward
G. Robinson had the lead role of crusading newspaper editor Steve Wilson
from 1937 till 1942. Clair Trevor played Wilson’s sidekick with Ona Munson
taking over the role in 1940. The show was written by ex-newspaperman
Jerry McGill. It was rated No. 1 among the r reporter-type drama series
on radio. Big Town w as also rated in the top 15 among all radio programs
broadcast and had a listenership of between 10 and 20 million people. Show
sponsors were Isronized Yeast, Bayer Asprin, and Lifeboy Soap.The original
announcer was Carlton KaDell (below). 

Carlton KaDell

The radio drama Big Town was later adapted to both film
and television as well as a comic book published by DC
Comics (shown above).

Bartlett Robinson

Perry Mason is a radio criminal serial based on the novels of Erle 
Stanley Gardner,and was broadcast on CBS Radio from October 18, 
1943 to December 30, 1955. The actors playing Mason changed
frequently during the shows run, beginning with Bartlett Robinson,
then Santos Ortega and Donald Briggs, before settling on John
Larkin, who portrayed the attorney until the end of the series
run. Della Street was played numerous actors including, Gertrude
Warner, Jan Miner, and Joan Alexander who was radio’s Lois Lane
on Superman. Sponsor of the show was General Foods, Tide.

Gertrude Warner with Santos Ortega (right) 

John Larkin

Elvis Presley’s first major musical exposure was on October 16, 1954 when he
made his first radio appearance on the Louisiana Hayride. He earned the sum
of $18 and his sidemen, Bill Black and Scotty Moore, were each paid $12. The
show was broadcast on Shreveport radio station KWKH-AM.