Comedy/Spoken » Spoken Word » Radio Shows

In the era before television, Radio Shows were the dominant medium for news and entertainment -- regular programs that were hugely popular with listeners, including favorites like The Shadow, Amos & Andy, and Fibber McGee & Molly drawing audiences in the millions each week. So powerful and influential was radio during its heyday that Orson Welles' production of H.G. Wells' story War of the Worlds even caused national hysteria when many listeners mistakenly believed Earth was under alien attack. Although radio occupies a much-diminished role of importance in contemporary society, in recent years many of its classic programs have been commercially reissued on cassette and compact disc. Spanning from situation comedies to quiz shows to dramas, they capture the spirit of a bygone era of American pop culture.