Old Time Radio Comedy spanned the spectrum from Jack Benny’s early sitcom to Lum and Abner’s country-style humor and everyone in between.
America has a lasting love affair with comedy radio and those lovable personalities that made everyone laugh. Our Miss Brooks, Fibber McGee and Molly, Riley’s Life, Duffy’s Tavern, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, My Friend Irma, My Favorite Husband with Lucille Ball, Ozzie and Harriet, Abbott and Costello, The Marx Brothers, WC Fields , Minnie Pearl, Mae West, Amos and Andy, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Father Knows Best, The Bickersons, The Aldrich Family, Bringing Up Father, Moon Mullins, Mel Blanc, Henry Morgan, Jean Shepherd, Stan Freberg and the list goes on and on.
Also, that’s just the American shows. Old Time Radio and thus Old Time Radio Comedy was a worldwide phenomenon. With great radio shows from England, Europe, Africa, Australia and elsewhere.
So where do you tap into all this wealth? The giant Old Time Radio archives found on great OTR websites like Bookzap and Radio Treasury contain more comedy routines, shows, and entertainment than most could ever hear! These two great sites have it all and crystal clear sound quality. Below are just a few of the most memorable and beloved radio show collections of yesteryear that you can purchase from Bookzap or Radio Treasury. Below, at the end of this article, you can find the link to these two exemplary websites.
Jack Benny, one of the most beloved American entertainers of the 20th century, was known to many as the “King of Comedy.” Jack Benny was an extraordinarily sweet comedian who could drive him crazy just by looking at him!
Our Miss Brooks was a huge radio comedy hit from the start. Within a few months of its debut, the show garnered several honors. It portrayed a comic woman in a new way that was neither clumsy nor silly.
Fibber McGee and Molly were the cutest couple on odl time radio. The Humor was so funny and the characters so familiar and memorable that this series ran in one form or another for about two full decades.
Riley’s life,
Riley’s Life was an early version of a typical American sitcom, it was co-developed by Gummo, the non-actor member of the Marx Brothers family. The Life of Riley appeared on both radio and television in the 1940s and 1950s. It helped introduce the concept of the “nuclear family” into American broadcasting. THE LIFE OF RILEY was an early take on the “silly husband” type of comedy, which is a formula that is still often repeated in television sitcoms.
Duffy’s Tavern
Duffy’s Tavern was heard on the radio from 1940 to 1952 and was highly regarded from the beginning by critics and the working class alike. Although DUFFY’S TAVERN transitioned to television in 1954, it only lasted one season. Duffy’s Tavern aired for years on the radio, but it didn’t translate as well to film or television.
An American radio sitcom that aired on both CBS and NBC, Duffy’s Tavern often featured famous theater and film guest stars. But the show almost always focused on the misadventures, plans, and romantic mistakes of the title establishment manager Archie, played by Ed Gardner.
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were a little-known vaudeville team when they made their screen debut in a film adaptation of the 1940s radio show MY FRIEND IRMA (1949). They became the largest comedy team of the late 1940s and early 1950s. They were an especially popular team in the 1950s, making many movies, television appearances, and several comedy radio appearances together. .
My friend irma
My Friend Irma, created by screenwriter, director and producer Cy Howard, was a top-rated, full-length radio sitcom. It was so popular in the late 1940s that its success spread to film and television.
My Friend Irma, played by Marie Wilson, tells the stories of a very silly blonde secretary named Irma Peterson, and the great daily curse she gets into with her various crazy friends.
My favorite husband with Lucille Ball
My Favorite Husband was Lucille Ball’s very popular radio show of the late 1940s that preceded her famous character Lucy Ricardo from I Love Lucy. Lucille Ball was one of the pioneers of radio and television, and many believe, the preeminent woman in the history of American comedy.
Ozzie and Harriet
Before having their own radio show (1944), Ozzie and Harriet were regulars on the Red Skelton radio show. However, when Skelton was drafted into the army in 1944, Ozzie and Harriet were offered the vacant schedule. So they filled it with The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Ozzie and Harriet’s children were originally played by actors. But soon the actors were replaced by their own two sons, David and Ricky Nelson.
An early portrayal of the mainstream American nuclear family, with Dad bringing home the bacon and Mom cooking it for him and the kids, Ozzie and Harriet was a very popular and entertaining show for many years on radio during the 1940s and then on the television during the 50s.
Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello were among the most successful comics in transitioning from burlesque to radio and film. A quintessential American comedy duo, Abbott and Costello’s work on radio, film, and television made them one of the most popular comedy teams ever. Not known for their funny or witty humor, they were straightforward comics that relied more on verbal than physical humor.
The marx brothers
The Marx Brothers were masters of clowning and double-talk that allowed them to surpass the censors of their time. Somewhat less well known is the fact that they were also talented who were also musicians. The Marx Brothers were American radio, theater and film stars who during the 1930s dominated comedy with their lunatic antics.
WC fields,
Of comedy, Fields once said, “The funniest thing about comedy is that you never know why people laugh.
After Vaudeville, WC Fields made many films during his career, but he also continued to perform on the radio. Fields could always get the smart phrase out, and he delighted listeners with his long-standing feud with Charley McCarthy.
Amos and Andy
Amos and Andy were down to earth simple characters for the purpose of comedy. They were black characters played by white actors with black face makeup. Amos and Andy were a very popular comedy team on radio, but the NAACP’s objections to the show came because it was seen as stereotyping African Americans.
Bob Hope,
Bob Hope was a comedian from the latter days of vaudeville who achieved marvelous success on radio and television. He was definitely a triple threat radio, film and television superstar during the 1940s and 1950s. Bob Hope was the king of catchphrases, a beloved performer, and a huge supporter of our men in uniform. Bob Hope was one of the first artists to entertain the troops.
George Burns and Gracie Allen
Burns and Allen were a very popular American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. Married for forty years, Burns and Allen first met on the vaudeville circuit in the 1920s. They were considered by many to be the greatest husband and wife comedy team of all time.
Father knows best
Father Knows Best was the first radio series on NBC Radio. The show debuted in August 1949. Four years later, the show moved to CBS television and was a popular television series during the 1950s and early 1960s. It was a situational comedy set on the stage of a typical American community. Midwest. Andersons from Father Knows Best portrayed the ideal middle-class American family.
The bickersons
The Bickersons was a popular American radio comedy show that aired between 1946 and 1951. The conflicting couple may seem to have no right to be married, but their show was fun and served as a prototype for later comic couples like Ralph. and Alice. Kramden from The Honeymooners and Peg and Al Bundy from Married With Children.
The Aldrich family
The Aldrich Family was such a popular sitcom in America that it ran for nearly 14 years from 1939 to 1953.
Of course, there are many more great comedy acts that emerged during the heyday of old radio. These are just some of the most popular in my opinion. If you want to revisit some of these shows, or thousands of other old radio shows, I highly recommend that you visit Bookzap or Radio Treasury and enjoy the shows.
