The Detective Collection

Detective Programs (1930s-1950s)

Dig into your closet for your tweed cape and magnifying glass, because the Detective Collection will surely stir your most inner sleuthing sensibilities! This detective collection includes a single episode from every current detective show in the OTRCAT collection. All the popular ones are here, including Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (starring the man with the action packed expense account), Tales of the Texas Rangers (police drama with a western flair), Suspense (starring The Man in Black, aka "the Hitchcock of the airwaves), the magnificent Sherlock Holmes, the wisecracking Sam Spade, and Richard Diamond (the happy-go-lucky ex NYPD cop turned private investigator).

Whether you are in the mood for stories of cops, robbers, female detectives, or edgy PI's, it's all here! There are stories of the black and whites in such shows as Dragnet (starring Jack Webb), Calling all Cars, A Salute to Law, Nightwatch and 21st Precinct. Multi-talented and multi-tasking detectives abound, including an ex-shoe-shiner-turned-cop in Broadway is My Beat, Charlie Chan (philosopher and detective), Gregory Hood (an antique dealer and unlicensed detective all in one), Dr. Benjamin Ordway, Crime Doctor (criminal with amnesia turned detective with a great insight for crime), Peter Chambers (illustrious playboy), Rocky Jordan (American detective and owner of a café in Cairo), Nero Wolfe (orchid fancier and armchair detective) and The Fat Man (hard-boiled, soft-hearted, and obese).

Whether you are a lady or you know one, you'll enjoy sexy sleuths Candy Matson, who works out of her penthouse overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, and sassy street-smart Maisie in The Adventures of Maisie. But sorry fellas, some of the best female detectives are taken, and they work in husband and wife sleuthing teams in The Adventures of the Abbotts, and Mr. and Mrs. North. But we haven't forgotten the men, the newspaper men that is. Tune in for front page news with Big Town, Front Page Farrell, and Nightbeat. And we mustn't forget the snappy Casey, Crime Photographer.

Then there are tales of espionage with Harry Lime, I Was a Comunist for the FBI, Cloak and Dagger, and Dangerous Assignment. Or perhaps you want to know some stories of true crime – then listen to Crime Classics, or the popular Black Museum, an Orson Welles show where each episode is based on an actual crime and crime weapon housed at Scotland Yard.

Then there are the unusual detective shows, like Blackstone, a detective who does a magic trick in every show, Calling All Detectives, a combined quiz and detective show where listeners solve the mystery on the air via telephone, and The Green Lama, who fights crime wearing a green outfit and chanting, "Ohm, Mani, Padme, Ohm!!!

Whatever your mood or fancy, whether you cheer for the cops, the robbers, the ladies or the fellas, you'll enjoy this great collection of OTRCAT detective programs!

For more detective compilations, see also: Dame Detectives - Rare Female Crimefighters, Defective Detectives, Hardboiled Detectives, and Softboiled Detectives.