It was broadcast on the radio at 8 PM every Monday through Friday. I Love A Mystery, the story of Jack, Doc, and Reggie in their continuing perilous 15 minutes of adventures. Each segment ended with a breathtaking threat to the lives of one or the other of the trio or maybe all three. Virginia, Bill, and Mary would never miss a date with Jack, Doc and Reggie to hear how they dodged the latest peril.
Each of those characters had a distinctive voice so you always knew which one was talking and sound effects were an important feature of the program. When the boys were lost in a bat cavern you could hear the swooshing of wings as the terrifying creatures swirled around our heroes. And their voices would echo in the cavern. Every sound coming out of the radio had a role to play in guiding your imagination.
We were not allowed to turn the volume up on the radio because our parents believed that would use more electricity. Like bright lights use more juice than dim lights. Perfect sense. So the three of us would huddle around the speaker to listen to the harrowing adventures of Jack and his sidekicks.
Those three guys got into some god awful fixes but always managed to escape in the nick of time. Their sponsors, Oxydol and Ivory soap were replaced by Fleishmanns Yeast and then the program just went off the air. I'm not sure TV was any better than what our imaginations provided through the magic of all those sound effects.
1 comment:
The truth is that I would swear we actually SAW those thrilling episodes. TV destroyed imagination.
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