A LONG OVERDUE HISTORY AND APPRECIATION OF ABC RADIO'S 1964-1965 AUDIO SERIES (This blog presents the chronological history of T5 and is best enjoyed by reading the very first post and proceeding to the next one, and then the next one, etc.)
IMPORTANT: An upgraded set is now available at https://archive.org/details/T5ProjectUPDATE07112025 Over the 60th anniversary year, many classic radio collections from the hobby's earliest collectors have been reviewed. More than 1 in 7 of the episodes have been upgraded in sound.
The 60th anniversary of the series is on August 3, 2024. This link provides background about how a hobby-wide crowd-sourced collaboration has resulted in a new set of T5 recordings. More than 90% of the recordings have been replaced with better recordings. A "missing" recording has also been found!
Recordings are available in lossless FLAC and convenient 128 mp3 formats.
Complete details are at https://sites.google.com/view/theatre-5-60th-anniversary-set/home
On Saturday, August 3, 2024, the streaming station Stay Tuned America will have a 12 hour marathon of 35 T5 episodes. The event begins at 12 Noon Eastern US time. There are three main ways to stream the event through a browser:
The main feed is at https://classicairwaves.com:8020/sta.mp3
TuneIn https://tunein.com/radio/STA--Stay-Tuned-America-s142585/
OR on your smartphone or tablet, open your Audacy or TuneIn app and search for "Stay Tuned America"
Episode number: 260
Network broadcast date: Friday,
July 30, 1965
Joey
Genre: Human interest
Author: Robert Cenedella
Production number: 260
Production date: Thursday,
July 8, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced
Plotline: After 10 months with their foster son, a couple suddenly faces losing him to a family looking to adopt. But the foster dad has other ideas…
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650730+260+Joey.flac
Cast: Peter Donald, Cecil Roy,
Natalie Priest, Nat Polen
Notes:
Final official broadcast, but
T5 continues in syndication through the 1960s
Episode number: 259
Network broadcast date: Thursday,
July 29, 1965
Big
Deal on Sutton Street
Genre: Comedy
Author: George Bamber
Production number: 259
Production date: Wednesday,
July 7, 1965
Director: Warren Somerville
Producer: not announced
Plotline: Droll playboy finds himself at the center of a kidnapping plot — much to his delight. Seeing the whole thing as a lark, he takes over the planning himself, hoping to turn it into the social event of the year.
Listen:
https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650729+259+Big+Deal+on+Sutton+East+AFRTS.flac
Cast: Elliott Reid, Ralph Bell,
Ethel Owen, Jack Grimes
Notes:
Network and AFRTS copies
exist; AFRTS version has Hans Conried explaining the origin of the word
"boycott" at approximately 10m30s and AFRTS ID at end; no opening
tease
Episode number: 258
Network broadcast date: Wednesday,
July 28, 1965
Death
Watch
Genre: Melodrama
Author: Hal Hackady
Production number: 258
Production date: Tuesday,
July 6, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced
Plotline: A surgeon if forced at gunpoint to help a poor teenager’s sick mother. But what happens when the patient dies before they even get to her?
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650728+258+Death+Watch.flac
Cast: George Petrie, Evie Juster,
Don Scardino, Ronald Liss
Notes:
No opening tease
Episode number: 257
Network broadcast date: Tuesday,
July 27, 1965
I Spy
Sister Sairey
Genre: Psychological drama
Author: William Mourne
Production number: 257
Production date: Thursday,
July 1, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced
Plotline: A woman has been convicted of murder and the evidence is indisputable. But one psychiatrist is convinced there’s another explanation: Multiple Personality Disorder.
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650727+257+I+Spy+Sister+Sarri.flac
Cast: Walter Abel, Vicki Vola, Joan
Lorring, Jerry Hausner
Notes:
No opening tease
Episode number: 256
Network broadcast date: Monday,
July 26, 1965
In
Absence of All Intelligent Life
Genre: Science fantasy
Author: George Bamber
Production number: 256
Production date: Wednesday,
June 30, 1965
Director: Warren Somerville
Producer: not announced
Cast: William Redfield, Cliff
Carpenter, Guy Sorel, Peter Ratray
Notes:
Was originally used on Suspense
1960-07-10 as Report from a Dead Planet; No opening tease
Episode number: 255
Network broadcast date: Friday,
July 23, 1965
Whatever
Happened to the 5:25?
Genre: Drama
Author: James McGinn
Production number: 255
Production date: Tuesday,
June 29, 1965
Director: Warren Somerville
Producer: not announced
Plotline: When a middle-aged commuter’s usual train home is cancelled, he breaks his routine for the first time in years, grabbing a drink at the terminal bar and striking up a conversation with a wild young woman — who is about to change his life forever.
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650723+255+Whatever+Happened+to+the+5-25.flac
Cast: Stan Watt, Jerry Hausner,
Gilbert Mack, Carol Ann Daniels
Notes:
Fred Foy reads the opening
tease.
Episode number: 254
Network broadcast date: Thursday,
July 22, 1965
The
Jazz Festival
Genre: Modern melodrama
Author: Fielden Farrington
Production number: 254
Production date: Monday,
June 28, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced
Plotline: A prizefighter with a gentle soul finds himself pulled into a love triangle with a jazz musician and his manipulative girlfriend.
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650722+254+Jazz+Festival.flac
Cast: Ed Zimmerman, Evie Juster,
Teri Keane, Peter Fernandez, Jack Grimes
Notes:
The original script title was
"Festival of Jazz"
Episode number: 253
Network broadcast date: Wednesday,
July 21, 1965
In
Time of Trouble
Genre: Topical drama
Author: Lenore Woolf
Production number: 251
Production date: Tuesday,
June 22, 1965
Director: Warren Somerville
Producer: not announced
Plotline: After witnessing a brutal murder, a woman is forced to keep quiet about it by her husband who doesn’t want to cause any trouble. But trouble finds them anyway…
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650721+253+In+Time+of+Trouble.flac
Cast: Eileen Heckart, Ian Martin,
Jack Grimes, Bernard Grant, Robert Dryden, Ethel Remey
Notes:
Woolf was an aspiring writer
and eventually a bookstore owner in Milwaukee. This is the second episode of
the series inspired by Kitty Genovese’s 1964 murder. The other was T5#25
"Cry in the Night" by Raphael David Blau. It is curious that both a
new writer and one of the most experienced writers of T5 each used the news
story as a springboard for their T5 submissions.
Episode number: 252
Network broadcast date: Tuesday,
July 20, 1965
Flights
of Angels
Genre: Poetic melodrama
Author: Burr McCloskey
Production number: 253
Production date: Thursday,
June 24, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced
Plotline: A once-great actor now spends his days getting drunk and bloviating at the bar. One fateful evening, a mysterious woman takes a seat next to him, matching wits (and shots) with the has-been.
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650720+252+Flights+of+Angels.flac
Cast: Arlene Francis, Ralph Bell,
Martin Gabel, Ruth Yorke, Arthur Kohl
Notes:
Arlene Francis and Martin
Gabel were married in 1946 until his death in 1986; No opening tease
Episode number: 251
Network broadcast date: Monday,
July 19, 1965
Summer's
End
Genre: Teen-age drama
Author: Virginia Marie Cooke
Production number: 252
Production date: Wednesday,
June 23, 1965
Director: Warren Somerville
Producer: not announced
Plotline: When a grade school teacher’s summer fling with a Malibu surfer dude hits the rocks, she has to choose between moving on or plotting her revenge.
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650719+251+Summer's+End.flac
Cast: Hildy Parks, Jack Grimes, Ed
Zimmerman, Evie Juster, Peter Ratray
Notes:
No opening tease
Episode number: 250
Network broadcast date: Friday,
July 16, 1965
Flies
with Honey
Genre: Crime comedy
Author: Robert Cenedella
Production number: 249
Production date: 1965-06-??
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced
Plotline: As a scatter-brained insurance agent investigates a client’s suicide, it becomes clear her flakey demeanor is hiding a shrewd intuition.
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650716+250+Flies+with+Honey.flac
Cast: Joan Lovejoy, Melville Ruick,
Larry Haines, Lesley Woods, John Griggs
Notes:
Story was likely rewritten decades later
as a short story in the April 1992 Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine; Ruick was a
busy actor in radio and television and was also the announcer for Lux Radio
Theatre for six years
Episode number: 249
Network broadcast date: Thursday,
July 15, 1965
The
Big Waves
Genre: Psychological drama
Author: John M. Young
Production number: 250
Production date: Monday,
June 21, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced
Plotline: After a series of jewelry store robberies have the police stumped, they look for help from a woman who claims to have a psychic connection to the thief.
Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650715+249+The+Big+Waves.flac
Cast: Natalie Priest, John Gibson,
George Petrie, Mark O'Daniels, Mary Ann Hoxsworth
Notes:
Soap opera writer for Second
Mrs. Burton, Road of Life, and The Right to Happiness; No opening tease