CBS Radio Mystery Theater

CBS Radio Mystery Theater was a weeknightly hour-long anthology series that ran from 1974 to 1982, and was hosted by E.G. Marshall and (towards the end) by Tammy Grimes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_Radio_Mystery_Theater

Despite the show's title, [creator Himan] Brown expanded its scope beyond mysteries to include horror, science fiction, historical drama, westerns and comedy, along with seasonal dramas at Christmas: A Christmas Carol, starring host Marshall as Scrooge, aired every Christmas Eve except 1974 and 1982. In addition to original stories, there were adaptations of classic tales by such writers as O. Henry, Ambrose Bierce, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and others. Brown typically devoted the first full week of each January to a five- or seven-part series on a common theme. These included a full week of stories by an American writer, (Edgar Allan Poe in 1975, Mark Twain in 1976); week-long adaptations of classic novels (The Last Days of Pompeii in 1980, Les Miserables in 1982); and original dramas about historical figures (Nefertiti in 1979, Alexander the Great in 1981)...Actors were paid union scale at around $73.92 per show. Writers earned a flat rate of $350 per show. Production took place with assembly-line precision. Brown met with actors at 9am for the first script reading. After he assigned roles, recording began. By noon, the recording of the actors was complete, and Brown handed everyone checks. Post-production was done in the afternoon.

Himan Brown (1910-2010) had been an extremely active producer/director during the Golden Age of Radio, and although that era was a while past as he neared "retirement age," he was not in the least ready to be mothballed. It took some persuading on his part to convince CBS to revive a format they hadn't utilized in more than a decade, but an eight-year run was a handsome pay-off for his efforts. The nostalgizing of the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties was in full swing by that point - noir had shifted into neo-noir, for example, with Chinatown also coming out in 1974 - and the CBS Radio Mystery Theater was very knowingly a part of that trend, advertising itself at listeners "old enough to remember classic radio."

The good news is that all 1,399 episodes (!) are now available for free listening at a dedicated CBS Radio Mystery Theater website. (Hat tip to Steve Lewis at Mystery*File.)

http://www.cbsrmt.com/

UPDATE: Here is a photograph of Brown directing, wouldn't you guess, Frank Lovejoy (and Betty Winkler):