Theater 5

Theater Five, ABC, 5pm, Five nights a week

The age of radio was thought to be mostly over when ABC began broadcasting Theater Five. CBS had cancelled its last radio soap operas on Nov 25, 1960, and the last prime time radio dramas, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and Suspense went off the air on Sept 30, 1962. Television was gathering the big advertising money, and radio was on its way to becoming "background noise", providing popular music and occasional new reports.

ABC was the youngest of the big Four radio networks. In fact it was the product of NBCs domination which was struck down by Federal Anti-trust regulation, forcing NBC to get rid of its Blue Network.

So there is no reason for Theater Five to have worked, except for two things, Talent and Determination. Theater Five managed to capture all of the technical and production expertise from radios golden age, and put it together for a final great production. the daily half hour dramas came in many different genres; social commentary, Science Fiction, mystery, Horror and Suspense, comedies, fantasies, romance, crime dramas, and human interest stories were all presented.

Although Theater Five was about 20 years too late to enjoy a spot as part of the Golden age of Radio Drama, it is a very well done program, and should be appreciated by fans.