History of Old Time Radio Serials

The earliest popular serialized Story is thought to be The Tales of 1001 Arabian Nights. It is easy to imagine that the story form had been around for centuries before Scheherazade came up with the idea of using cliffhangers, embedded narrative, foreshadowing, story arcs and bawdy humor to keep King Shahryar from strangling her in the morning.

It seems likely that cavemen listening to the "Old One" around the campfire used similar techniques, and probably for similar motives. The little band of hunters would be more likely to share their small portion of mastodon jerky with the Old One if they wanted to hear the end of "Ogg Meets The Sabertoothed Tiger."

By the time that 1001 Nights was translated into European Languages, the development of movable type publishing had made serialized literature a significant money maker for publishers. As literacy rates in the middle classes rose during the Victorian Age, most popular novels originally appeared in serial form in magazine format. Charles Dickens had notable success with magazine serials, including The Pickwick Papers and A Christmas Carol.

Of decidedly lower literary weight, Movie Serials are a more direct ancestor of Radio Serials. The Movie Serials may not have been high-cinematic art, but they served their commercial purpose. This was to give moviegoers another reason to make a visit to the movie house every week.

Interesting and sympathetic protagonists and villains that audiences love to hate are only a small part of a successful serial. Or a serial to sell, it needs to make the audience want to return for the next installment. This was Scheherazade's key to keeping her head. There are instances of the hero of a Victorian magazine serial literally hanging on for his life while dangling from a cliff at the end of an installment.

The term "Cliffhanger" was brought into popular usage by the producers of early silent film serials. The Perils of Pauline (1914, General Film Company) was a twenty-episode serial filmed at facilities in Ft. Lee, New Jersey. The series' bad guy, who was intent upon stealing Pauline's inheritance, came up with ever more elaborate method of eliminating the heroine, including trapping her on a sinking ship, in a burning house, or dangling from one of the clifs surrounding the Ft. Lee studios.

The Hummert Radio Factory is best remembered for their Soap Operas, but they had success in other radio endeavors, including Children's Serials like Little Orphan Annie and Chandu The Magician. The formula that the Hummerts applied to get their mother's interested in cleaning products worked just as well in interesting kids in products directed at them; often breakfast cereal or snack products.

Interesting exceptions to the 'Kid Shows advertising Kid Products' concept were The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen and its eventual replacement, Captain Midnight, both sponsored by Skelly Oil. The popularity of Jimmie Allen and aviation in general during the 1930s helped the show 's success. Young listeners were encouraged to become part of The Jimmie Allen Flying Club. The only way to join was to get Dad to stop at a Skelly Oil Service Station. Other exciting Aviation Adventure Serials include Hop Harrigan, Anne of the Airlines, Speed Gibson, and Terry and the Pirates.

Most of the Network Kids Serials became associated with their sponsors, and their prize give-away premiums. Not all Kids Serials had national sponsorship; syndicators produced some of the best loved serials, with sound cues for local sponsors to insert their message. Usually these were "Closed Serials" where the entire series contained a single story with a beginning, middle, and end. This is in contrast to the Open Serial format preferred in the Soaps. In an Open Serial, the characters and plot continues from episode to episode, but as one story arc winds down, the characters become involved with another. Characters from earlier story arcs also have a way of turning up in later episodes.

Many of the long running Syndicated Serials were packaged so that local sponsors could purchase the shows in smaller, more affordable sets. An example of this is the 130 episode long Magic Island. In order for listeners who may have missed an episode or two to keep up, it was necessary for the first few minutes of each episode to be dedicated to reviewing. By the time a show was nearing the end of its run, the review could eat up a significant portion of the exposition.

Other notable syndicated Kid's Serials include Jerry of the Circus and its sequel serial, Jerry of Fair Oaks, and Cruise of the Poll Parrot. Holiday based shows for kids seem to have been tremendously successful in the lead up to the Christmas Holidays, and include Jump Jump and the Ice Queen, Jonathan Thomas and His Christmas On The Moon, and the much loved Cinnamon Bear.

There are a number of marvelous advantages to enjoying Radio Serials in the age of MP3s. The most obvious is that you are able to enjoy the episodes any time you like, instead of rushing home from school before Little Orphan Annie comes on the air. Listening to find out whether Old Doctor Jim is able to cure his patient makes the daily commute go that much faster.

Many serials have a 12-15 minute format, so they are easy to fit into holes in your busy schedule. You can even listen to several episodes of a Serial in one sitting. We recommend you avoid listening to an entire series at one time, OTRCat's Serial collection is fun and should be savored.

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