Various Authors
500 episodes listed below
Vintage trouble, fast talk, sharp clues.
Drama - Bedtime Radio collects half-hour-style scripted dramas built on quick entrances, sharp clues, and announcer bridges. Its episodes move from insurance investigations and casino intrigue to Havana adventure, Hollywood detective romance, and sponsor-laced theater pieces.
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Drama - Bedtime Radio functions as a broad archive of scripted dramatic entertainment rather than a single conversational series. Its recent selections suggest a rotating bill of mysteries, romances, crime stories, theatrical adaptations, and adventure pieces. The show often begins with an announcer, a sponsor, or a named star, then drops quickly into trouble. That gives it a distinct period rhythm. Johnny Dollar episodes are especially prominent, using expense-account narration to turn insurance work into compact detective plots. A plane fare, a bus ticket, or a cab ride can become the doorway into arson, a jailhouse interview, or a department-store swindle. The framing is practical and funny. Money is counted, clues are itemized, and danger arrives with a receipt attached. The Harry Lime material works differently, with charm, suspicion, and political intrigue running through a casino encounter and a story about a telescope, a boat, and a mysterious comic book. It is slippery, quick, and amused by its own reversals. Bold Venture adds a sultry adventure register, setting Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall around Havana, Key West, missed cargo, and bruised banter. The Thin Man excerpt brings Hollywood polish, with William Powell and Myrna Lloyd introduced through Lux Radio Theater and Nick and Nora framed as a married detective pair whose affection does not slow the case. Wayside Theater contributes another side of the format: formal stage presentation, sponsor copy, and the promise of comedy, drama, mystery, or romance. Across these episodes, the show is driven by entrances, accusations, flirtation, travel, and overheard schemes. It rarely pauses for introspection. Instead, it trusts voices to do the work. The appeal is partly narrative and partly archival: the listener gets the plotted snap of old crime drama along with the texture of ads, studio announcements, and star billing. Some passages repeat sponsor language or setup material, but even that repetition tells the listener where the material comes from. The result is brisk, theatrical, and plot-forward. It is best for listeners who want classic radio energy without needing every episode to belong to the same fictional universe.
Made for: Best for listeners who like old-style scripted drama, detective cases, radio-theater texture, and stories that move through dialogue rather than explanation. It also suits anyone curious about sponsor-era entertainment as much as the plots themselves.
What sets it apart: Its strength is the anthology feel: insurance investigations, Hollywood adaptations, Havana adventure, and formal theater broadcasts sit side by side. The period announcements and sponsor passages are not polished away, so the show keeps the full radio artifact intact.
Offers dramatic narratives that delve into human emotions and experiences, each story crafted to resonate with listeners on a personal level.
The dial swings from Maisie's wisecracks to Orson Welles making you distrust a brass button.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A brisk radio comedy with romance, meddling, and a lead who never slows down.
Maisie moves at a quick, easy clip, and that is part of the charm. Ann Southern gives the title character a lively edge, while the comedy keeps pulling humor out of plain work, family interference, and romance that never quite stays polite.
A silk smooth spy caper, with Welles keeping Harry Lime sly and dangerous.
The Third Woman puts Harry Lime back in motion, and the appeal is in how old glamour turns into spy work. Savile Row fittings, the Savoy, Lisbon flirtation, then the pull toward Istanbul and a woman named Brunel.
Raw police talk, rough edges intact.
Policing headlines argued from the street level.
Fringe stories, strange evidence, open lines.
Wildlife cases from the field.
Wayside Theater presents Addison Simmons's radio comedy The Adventure of the Absent-Minded Professor, featuring Professor John McIntyre's forgotten wedding and explosive experiment.
The Wayside Theater presentation of “Love Goes to Night School” opens with a sponsor-heavy introduction from the Chicago Motor Club and the AAA, not a scene from the drama.
Edmund O'Brien returns as Johnny Dollar, who submits an expense account to Mr.
A radio drama starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall set in tropical Havana and the Caribbean, following a mysterious cargo mission that goes awry.
This Lux Radio Theater episode features William Powell and Myrna Lloyd in an adaptation of 'After the Thin Man,' a detective story about the married couple Nick and Nora Charles solving crimes.
Edmund O'Brien plays Johnny Dollar in "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar - The Man Who Wrote Himself to Death (Reh)," where Britannia Casualty and Life sends him to investigate Stuart Palmer in Chicago.
A freelance insurance investigator recounts his expense account for a case involving a con artist posing as a department store Santa during Christmas.
An episode of the classic radio drama 'Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar' featuring an insurance investigator taking on a new case.
Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar is sent to Chicago to look into the disappearance of Edward French, a tea plantation manager in the Malay states.
A radio drama episode introducing a story called 'Eddie' about a man hesitating to call the police.
A classic radio drama episode following insurance investigator Johnny Dollar as he recounts his expenses and begins a new case.
The Adventures of Maisie - The Murderous Poet follows Maisie Revere after an anonymous nightclub note sends her toward the freight yards.
Maisie Revere, an out-of-work showgirl, lands on a farm after quitting a nightclub whose manager wanted her to show a little too much.
Drama - Bedtime Radio presents “The Black Museum - The Brass Button,” narrated by Orson Welles and centered on the murder of Jeanette Morgan, known in Wayfield as the “Swamp Girl.” Inspector Gallagher investigates strangulation, a missing registered letter, and a brass army-uniform button found near Morgan’s body.
Orson Welles returns as Harry Lyme in a spy tale that starts with tailor-made orders and ends with a sharper sting than a good suit can hide.
A classic radio drama episode featuring Orson Welles as Harry Lyme, telling a story about a farthing that became worth a fortune.
A classic radio drama episode featuring the character Maisie Revere in a comedic misadventure involving a stolen car in Nevada.
A dramatized police case history program featuring authentic crime stories in cooperation with law enforcement.
A fictional radio show blending dramatic storytelling with absurd interruptions from ads and trivia.
A classic radio drama episode featuring Orson Welles in a story about a murder in Taormina, Sicily.
A classic radio drama episode featuring the adventures of Harry Lime in Bordeaux.
A trivia game show interrupted by ads for a smart smoke alarm and a personal injury lawyer.
This episode features advertisements for senior living, smart smoke alarms, and business finance apps, but the show is a dramatic narrative podcast.
A dramatic reading of a fictional story about Harry Lyme's adventures in Buenos Aires involving Nazi plots.
A radio drama about a factory worker named Martha Hillman, exploring the dehumanizing nature of repetitive labor.
A classic radio drama series opens its season with a comedic play about a young couple on New Year's Eve.
A classic radio drama episode featuring insurance investigator Johnny Dollar as he takes over a colleague's office and investigates a mysterious case.
A classic radio drama episode titled 'Public Furlough' about a soldier trying to date a famous actress.
A classic radio drama episode featuring insurance investigator Johnny Dollar going undercover as a seaman aboard the S.S.
Orson Welles introduces the Black Museum at Scotland Yard, setting the stage for dramatized crime stories centered on everyday objects linked to murders.
Orson Welles narrates an adventure story about Harry Lime reflecting on the influence of American cinema on an English boy.
This episode transitions from a Ben & Jerry's ice cream sandwich advertisement to a mysterious Caribbean adventure story involving pottery and intrigue.
This episode introduces the Wayside Theater radio program sponsored by the Chicago Motor Club, highlighting the club's services, AAA affiliation, and membership benefits for drivers.
This episode follows an FBI investigation into a stolen Buick sedan recovered in Miami, revealing a New York-Miami theft ring.
This episode features an introduction to Instagram's teen safety features, promotions for American Public University and UMass Lowell, and a theatrical radio performance by Elliot and Kathy Lewis.