Missing Masters Collection

This collection includes radio show ideas were only made into audition shows or pilots and never made it to the airwaves.

Some old time radio shows never make it to the radio waves. This collection includes episodes of popular shows that were never aired as well as unsuccessful pilot shows that were never made again. Very rare, this collection will delight collectors looking for special old time radio shows to add to their collections.

This collection includes radio show ideas were only made into audition shows or pilots and never made it to the airwaves. One of the things that makes Radio production distinct from Television is how relatively inexpensive it can be to bring a production to the air. It is interesting to consider how the decisions of the sponsors and the networks effect what the audience is eventually allowed to enjoy.

The concept of the show has to be sold to the network and the sponsor if the audience is ever going to get to see it. In television, a very necessary step is the pilot, which not only gives the sponsors something to see, but everyone gets to see what the actual production could look like

The same sort of thing happened with radio audition programs. Some sources estimate that network exec's would receive at least 500 "elevator pitches" every summer. An elevator pitch is a proposal for a new show that the writer or producer would compress into the space of an elevator ride with the exec (who would be a captive audience in the elevator). It the elevator pitch was good enough, maybe 70 out of the 500, the go-ahead would be given to develop a script, and from these scripts maybe 20 would be authorized to be made into an audition show.

The audition show was no guarantee that a show would make it to the air. Some times the audition would be a pretty close approximation of how the show would actually come out. Some auditions were made without a specific sponsor, other times a sponsor may be interested enough to pay for an audition, but the concept would be later sold to another.

Sometimes a sponsor may like the concept, but not a particular actor or character trait. In a few cases the actor in the audition had other commitments and a replacement would need to be found for the actual production.

Of course there are a number of audition shows for shows that never made it to the air, for what ever reason. These can be among the most fun to listen to, and make us wonder what would have become of the shows if they had been given a "green light".