41 Episodes of this incredibly well written, directed, and acted series known as Fort Laramie. Norman MacDonnell created and produced this series. He insisted on historical accuracy of the names, places, authentic native American practices, military terminology, etc.  I guess you could sum it up in saying the program "payed attention to detail" This is the 17th episode posted in the "Fort Laramie" playlist on this podcast.

Fort Laramie - Epi 17 - Sgt. Gorce's Baby  May 27, 1956  - Western Adventure Series

Do you remember a time when wars were cold and people fought them in the shadows? It was a time of spies and secrets with each side trying to outdo the other using any means necessary. Join us as we drop in on a highly classified meeting at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., where even the uncanny is not off the table, in the play "Spooky"!

Tonight’s episode was written by Josh Horowitz 
Produced by Aimee Pavy
Sound edit and sound design by Josh Horowitz
Heard in tonight’s play were: 
Josh Horowitz as the KGB Scientist and Spy 2
Lena Horowitz as Katya
Bob Telford as Colonel Sweeney
Michael Carnegie as the Military Aide
Brett Stillo as Agent Lansing
Audra Wolfmann as Agent Meadows
Regina Yermus as Vasimovna
Edward Champion as Deputy Director Cartwright
Aaron Seymour as Agent Gusterson and the Doctor
Beth Damiano as Patty
Aimee Pavy as the Room Service Lady
Landon Hood as Spy 1
Dana Kelly Jr. as the President’s Aide
And JFK as the President, courtesy of NVIDIA Natural TTS Synthesis and Tacotron 2

Music and sound effects from FreeSound.org
Additional music arranged and performed by Josh Horowitz 
Episode cover by Peter Wiberg from Pixabay 
Logo design by Michael Dern 
And yours truly Josh Horowitz

Learn more about the show at www.twelvechimesradio.com.

And a shout out to podcast friends of the show: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Radio, The Gray Area, the Narada Radio Company, and our new friend Horror Shop Radio!!  

If you enjoy our plays, please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. Or drop us a line via email (twelvechimesradio@gmail.com). We’d love to hear from you. Thank you for listening and hope to see you again...at midnight.

25 - Spooky

On Tuesday February 8th, 1944 at 10 PM eastern time over WEAF, and at 7PM pacific time over KFI, Bob Hope’s Pepsodent Program signed on live, coast-to-coast from Oceanside, California. 

The guest was Ginger Rogers, the program features a salute to her new film, Lady In The Dark. 

It was radio’s top show, pulling a rating that month of 36.2. Nearly twenty-eight million people heard this show, which is even more impressive when you consider how many were overseas fighting World War II.

Hope’s top sidekick was Jerry Colonna, perhaps the wildest comic presence on 1940s radio. Colonna had once been a serious trombonist, playing with Goodman, Shaw, and the Dorseys: now he infused Hope’s program with verbal and vocal mayhem. He sported a four-inch walrus mustache and had a comedy style that blew away any attempt at logic. 

As soon as Colonna began walking to the microphone, the studio audience warned listeners with laughter.” Hope later wrote, there were two sides to Colonna’s persona: “One is the zany, silly moron, and the other is the deep thinking, serious moron.” 

His songstress was the immensely talented Frances Langford, equally adept at both comedy and drama.

But, Hope was the star. As the late John Dunning once said, No one had ever told jokes quite like Bob Hope. His monologues were rapid-fire blasts of comedy, extremely topical and wildly appreciated by his live audience. 

Radio Life wrote, “Hope tells a gag in three lines. He’ll work for an hour on a one-word change. By the time he goes on the air, he knows his gags by heart.” He employed a team of twelve writers in three, two-man teams. Each were assigned to write the show’s three sections. First came the monologue; then a midshow routine with Colonna or another member of the regular cast; and finally, a sketch for the guest star. 

It was a true test of endurance. Hope demanded long rehearsals, including a sixty-minute runthrough with a live audience. He’d stand at the microphone, highlighting his script where the big laughs came. When you consider that Hope’s weekly audience was more than each of the first two Super Bowls, it’s easier to understand his point of view.

The biggest problem with Hope, said producer Al Capstaff in 1945, was his inevitable tendency to pack the script. It was always thirty-seven minutes long and had to be whittled down joke by joke until only the surefire material remained. The result on the air was a breathless gush, with six laughs a minute guaranteed.

But, that was Hope. Even in his 1972 Dick Cavett interview which has been featured throughout this episode of Breaking Walls, an off-the-cuff Hope can’t help but pack one-liner after one-liner in the midst of a genuine, serious, conversation.

The Pepsodent Program was enhanced by Hope’s film career. By February of 1944 Hope had starred in seventeen films since the release of The Big Broadcast of 1938, including the first three Road To films with Bing Crosby.

BW - EP148—004: February 1944 With Bob Hope—The Bob Hope Show With Guest Ginger Rogers 2/8/1944

Kat Epple's musical description of an Osprey in flight. 

Flight Of The Osprey

Since about the 1830s until today, there has been a tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas eve. In the spirit, ha ha, of this tradition, regular cast member Crystal Why tells us a ghost story, told on location from a haunted house on Russian Hill in San Francisco. Turn off your lights and bring out the candles. Do you hear a noise? Did that candle move? Tune in and find out what happens! Happy Holidays!

Written/Produced: Aimee Pavy (yep, it's completely scripted!)
Voices: Crystal Why "interviewed" by Aimee Pavy
Holiday Music: “Carol of the Bells” by Jill Tracy from her Christmas album "Silver Smoke, Star of Night."

Thank you for listening and supporting audio drama podcasting!

Find us on iTunes, Podchaser, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, wherever you find podcasts. If you enjoy our plays, please SUBSCRIBE and leave your review on iTunes or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And please drop us a line via email at twelvechimesradio@gmail.com and check out our website www.twelvechimesradio.com. And thank you for listening!

Twelve Chimes It's Midnight

19 - Christmas Ghost Story

George Hicks D-Day excerpt

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

A demo tape I did in June 1991.  I did this on a hunch in the pre-internet days when I heard there were stirrings in Hollywood to revive the great Jay Ward cartoon characters. It worked!! And I got the job of voicing immortal characters like Bullwinkle J. Moose for 20 wonderful international years. Thanks to Bill Dowling from the old Top Spots studio for recording this nearly 30 years ago.

Keith Scott  Jay Ward Voices Demo DE - BEEPED

This Halloween 1944 episode of the Chase and Sanborn program starring Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy featured Orson Welles. It aired on October 29th, 1944 on NBC. 

Welles was then heavily campaigning for President Franklin D. Rosevelt's third re-election. Election day was the following week.

10/29/44, episode 340

The Charlie McCarthy Show: Guest Orson Welles—10/29/1944

Jay - Z - People Talking (Nas Diss)

When her girlfriend is kidnapped by bandits, Cordelia sets out on a journey to rescue her true love. But when she comes across the town of Oxgate, Cordelia is confronted with an injustice she simply can’t ignore. Will she be able to save the local lesbian saloon from a corrupt Sheriff and his band of thugs, or will she fall short — losing a chance at reuniting with her soulmate in the process?

Out Skirts (Teaser)

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting.

BW - EP148—004: February 1944 With Bob Hope—The Bob Hope Show With Guest Ginger Rogers 2/8/1944

The WallBreakers

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