THE ADVENTURES OF THE FALCON

This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".

The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his transition into a private eye was finalized, with The Falcon, now called Michael Waring working as a hardboiled insurance investigator, with an office and a secretary, Nancy.

Barry Kroeger was the first radio voice of the Falcon, followed by James Meighan, Les Tremayne, George Petrie, and Les Damon. Nearly all the shows were broadcast from New York.

Each show usually started out with a telephone call to The Falcon from a beautiful woman. Answering in his slightly British accent, he would reply to her and another adventure would follow.

Waring was snappy and sarcastic with the incompetent police who were inevitably unable to solve the mysteries without his help. Like the films, the radio plots mixed danger, romance and comedy in equal parts.

A total of about 88 shows, representing the length of the run, are available today.

DRAGNET

Dragnet, the brainchild of Jack Webb, may very well be the most well-remembered, and the best, radio police drama series. From September, 1949 through February 1957, Dragnet's 30 minute shows, broadcast on NBC, brought to radio true police stories in a low-key, documentary style.

The origins of Dragnet can be traced to a semi-documentary film, "He Walked by Night" from 1948, in which Webb had a small role. Both employed the same Los Angeles Police Department technical adviser, used actual police cases and presented the case in "just the facts" manner that became a hallmark of Dragnet. It is interesting to note that Webb employed that format in other radio series, some pre-dating the film mentioned above.

Dragnet was a long running radio and television police procedural drama, about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a dragnet, meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

Dragnet was perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in American media history. The series gave millions of Americans a feel for the boredom and drudgery, as well as the danger and heroism, of real life police work. Dragnet earned praise for improving the public opinion of police officers.

Barrie Crain Confidential Investigator was an NBC Radio detective drama from 1951 to 1955. Barrie Craig , played by William Gargon, worked alone from his Madison Ave. office and was less "hard-boiled" than some of his radio counterparts like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.

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