# Green Hornet radio show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597 "2019-09-21T02:09:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/1 "2019-09-21T02:09:46Z")
While searching for Green Hornet forums online (pickings are sparse), I came across a nearly 10-year-old thread here about the tv show. But has anyone here ever listed to the radio show? I did a few years ago (after doing the Adventures of Superman radio show - I like superheroes). It really is so much better than the tv show - the pre-War stories are the best, IMO. Though not without the problems that come with material that old. For my reasoning on the pre-WWII stories being better - it’s all crooked politicians and con artists and rackets. Lots of the _Daily Sentinel_ staff being very good at their jobs. During the war were a lot more Nazi spies and saboteurs (few Japanese spies, too). Same thing happened in the Superman show. Undoubtedly popular at the time, but somehow more repetitive to me than regular criminals week and after week. Also reduced use of the newspaper staff outside Axford and Miss Case. Post-war, they didn’t quite want to let the spies go, so we had a couple Nazis out for revenge and then some communist spies. Big mistake, IMO. Another thing that happened was bringing in an authority figure (police commissioner in the radio show, replaced by district attorney in tv show). I wonder if it was done to make the Hornet more “sanctioned” as comic book heroes of the era were also getting more cozy with authorities. It’s kind of odd sometimes, when I realize I’m listening to something over 80 years old. But then there’s plenty of older movies that people routinely watch. I wish the first couple years of episodes were recorded, though. It’s always interesting to see early stuff, and I understand there to have been some changes from debut to 1938, which is when the episodes started being recorded. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/2 "2019-09-21T02:15:33Z")
I was into OTR for a long time before my hearing became too bad. I thought _The Green Hornet_ was just fine. The TV series was supposed to be campy; it was a spinoff (more or less) from the Batman series of the 1960’s, so it really didn’t have the depth the old radio shows did. I agree with the points you made about content. Obviously, I like _The Adventures of Superman_ as well. My favorite was _I Love A Mystery_ with Jack, Doc and Reggie. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/3 "2019-09-21T02:28:46Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > I was into OTR for a long time before my hearing became too bad. I thought _The Green Hornet_ was just fine. The TV series was supposed to be campy; it was a spinoff (more or less) from the Batman series of the 1960’s, so it really didn’t have the depth the old radio shows did. I agree with the points you made about content. > > Obviously, I like _The Adventures of Superman_ as well. My favorite was _I Love A Mystery_ with Jack, Doc and Reggie. I don’t think I can agree on the tv show - it lacked the unabashed camp of Batman. Most of the time, it seemed to be trying to take itself fairly seriously (Axford was much less of a buffoon on the tv show). Well, not the UFO episode so much, but most of them, and even it was more serious than Batman. I think a major element of my dissatisfaction is the lesser staff/newspaper element and Scanlon. I really don’t like the authority figure in the know, even in the radio serials. It makes it too easy for Britt to get all the information (no one has to investigate much), since the DA or police commissioner just gives him a report with all the relevant info - which can be dull. And there’s less tension or risk, though still some, of course. It’s less thrilling, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/4 "2019-09-21T02:31:06Z")
As a kid, I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s cottage way out in the country. A couple of weeks a year, and almost every weekend. A highlight was Sunday nights. We’d pop a huge tub of popcorn (in a wire long-handled basket over the fire in the fireplace), and wait for the tubes to warm up on the huge floor-standing radio. Then, it was Superman, The Green Hornet, and then… who knows what evil lurrrrks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows. I loved those shows more than television (well, if you don’t count the George Reeves Superman show). I credit those old stories for my imagination, and some handy visualization abilities. I’ve\* got\* to find out what station was running old radio shows even in the early '60s… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/5 "2019-09-21T02:58:58Z")
I’ve listened to it when it’s played on SiriusXM. Better than the TV show, but not one of the better radio dramas. I was also really disappointed in _Superman_. However,\* Gunsmoke, The Whistler, Suspense, X Minus One, Escape, Rocky Fortune, Lum and Abner, I Was a Communist for the FBI, Tales of the Texas Rangers\* and _Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar_ hold up very well. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/6 "2019-09-21T03:12:08Z")
I’m wondering how many of the original scripts have survived, and how many attempts have been made to reproduce the shows. It seems to me a number of the early _ **Avengers** _ episodes (with John Steed) have been recreated for radio in Australia and other English-speaking countries. And yes, \*\*\*The Green Hornet \*\*\*TV show was much less campy than _ **Batman** _. Camp was already getting old by September 1966, and shows like _ **The Girl from UNCLE** _ didn’t last long. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/7 "2019-09-21T03:20:16Z")
I love the idea of recreating old shows. I mean, the superior audio quality and production values would be nice. But would they lose the spirit of the originals? I always appreciate the fact that old TV, comics and radio shows reflect the optimism of the times. We have a Radio Reader’s Theater that re-enacts old radio scripts, everyone reading from their scripts around a huge vintage microphone (with sound effects people hard at work, too). As if that wasn’t cool enough, they take this on the road, so they can record at places like Old Folks’ Homes (where the residents remember the shows from the first time around). ---
**Author:** ![jotinkarter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@jotinkarter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jotinkarter)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/8 "2019-09-21T05:37:37Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > While searching for Green Hornet forums online (pickings are sparse), I came across a nearly 10-year-old thread here about the tv show. > > But has anyone here ever listed to the radio show? I did a few years ago (after doing the Adventures of Superman radio show - I like superheroes). It really is so much better than the tv show - the pre-War stories are the best, IMO. Though not without the problems that come with material that old. > > For my reasoning on the pre-WWII stories being better - it’s all crooked politicians and con artists and rackets. Lots of the _Daily Sentinel_ staff being very good at their jobs. During the war were a lot more Nazi spies and saboteurs (few Japanese spies, too). Same thing happened in the Superman show. Undoubtedly popular at the time, but somehow more repetitive to me than regular criminals week and after week. Also reduced use of the newspaper staff outside Axford and Miss Case. Post-war, they didn’t quite want to let the spies go, so we had a couple Nazis out for revenge and then some communist spies. Big mistake, IMO. Another thing that happened was bringing in an authority figure (police commissioner in the radio show, replaced by district attorney in tv show). I wonder if it was done to make the Hornet more “sanctioned” as comic book heroes of the era were also getting more cozy with authorities. > > It’s kind of odd sometimes, when I realize I’m listening to something over 80 years old. But then there’s plenty of older movies that people routinely watch. > > I wish the first couple years of episodes were recorded, though. It’s always interesting to see early stuff, and I understand there to have been some changes from debut to 1938, which is when the episodes started being recorded. Are you getting commission on this? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/9 "2019-09-21T12:54:22Z")
> [@jotinkarter](#): > > Are you getting commission on this? I assumed it was the first of a couple dozen posts on classic radio shows from the Golden Age. Which, after we vette them here, will become his best-selling coffee table book: _Tzigone’s **Heroes of the Golden Age of Radio** _ Hardcover Publisher: Harcourt Brace Tzigonovitch; First Edition (2020) Language: English, with a foreword in Esperanto ISBN: 0811233739 Dimensions: 11.1 x 13.3 x 2.2 inches Average Customer Review: 5.1 out of 5 stars 132 customer reviews Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,043 in Books #122 in Old Time Radio (Books) #39781 in Superhero Fiction & Fantasy (Books) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/10 "2019-09-21T13:05:34Z")
The only old-time radio show I’ve listened to is “Fibber McGee and Molly”. I also thought it dropped in quality during the war, although that was the height of its popularity. It was especially hard-hit when Bill Thompson (who did many different characters on the show) left to join the Navy. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/11 "2019-09-21T13:57:21Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I love the idea of recreating old shows. I mean, the superior audio quality and production values would be nice. But would they lose the spirit of the originals? Some of the episodes of _I Love a Mystery_ (mentioned by **Prof. Pepperwinkle** ) are [recreations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Love_a_Mystery#Revivals) of lost episodes. The original episodes of _Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel_, a radio series starring Groucho and Chico Marx, mostly don’t survive, but were [recreated from scripts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel,_Shyster,_and_Flywheel#BBC_Radio_adaptation) by the BBC in 1990. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/12 "2019-09-21T15:50:26Z")
[Moderating] **jotincarter** , this is a discussion board. That means that we discuss things. The OP is doing so: Specifically, he is discussing an old radio show that he likes. That’s what we’re here for. You are not discussing anything. Instead, you are belittling the concept of discussion. If you have anything to contribute, then contribute it. If not, you will find your time here short, one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/13 "2019-09-21T23:12:19Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve listened to it when it’s played on SiriusXM. Better than the TV show, but not one of the better radio dramas. I was also really disappointed in Superman. Fair enough. I haven’t listed to many different series. As I said earlier, I listened to these because I like superheroes, not because I have any particular fondness for the medium. There’s certainly clunkiness in relaying action in dialog - “what are you doing with that gun/bomb” right before someone is shot/exploded several times. Superman punches people (including colleagues) every time he needs to change and that’s sort of hilarious. Also a reminder of how much less powerful he was then. I liked Jimmy in non-wacky role, though he’s quite young when introduced. I do prefer the shorter stories of GH, though. Most are one episode, and I don’t know of any more than four episodes long. Some of the Superman ones are long enough to annoy. Probably because I prefer listening to a complete story in a sitting, and they just weren’t made for that. And I’m a she, if anyone cares. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/14 "2019-09-22T00:24:55Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > Fair enough. I haven’t listed to many different series. As I said earlier, I listened to these because I like superheroes, not because I have any particular fondness for the medium. So no coffee table book? > [@](#): > > There’s certainly clunkiness in relaying action in dialog - “what are you doing with that gun/bomb” right before someone is shot/exploded several times… I listen to a _lot_ of old radio shows, and I think it’s inadvertently humorous the way the characters narrate their lives, even when no one’s around. > [@](#): > > I’ll just try this key… good, it worked! A little pressure _::nnngh::_ and the old door should… ahh, it’s opening. _::creak::_ Sure is dark, I’ll just flip this… light\*:nnngh::\*switch _::click::_ that’s better, now I can see the entire room. Not much here… but what’s this? There on the floor. It looks like… it is. A box, maybe a foot on each side, wrapped in… it looks like, yes it is, brown paper. I’ll just get…my…fingers… under it and \*::nnngh:: \*lift it up onto the table. _::nnngh::_ (Yes, every action entails a lot of pauses and grunting) After listening too much, I’ll find myself doing this, just to amuse myself. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/15 "2019-09-22T00:29:30Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > Fair enough. I haven’t listed to many different series. As I said earlier, I listened to these because I like superheroes, not because I have any particular fondness for the medium. > > There’s certainly clunkiness in relaying action in dialog - “what are you doing with that gun/bomb” right before someone is shot/exploded several times. > > Superman punches people (including colleagues) every time he needs to change and that’s sort of hilarious. Also a reminder of how much less powerful he was then. I liked Jimmy in non-wacky role, though he’s quite young when introduced. > > I do prefer the shorter stories of GH, though. Most are one episode, and I don’t know of any more than four episodes long. Some of the Superman ones are long enough to annoy. Probably because I prefer listening to a complete story in a sitting, and they just weren’t made for that. > > And I’m a she, if anyone cares. Are you, by any chance, familiar with Firesign Theatre’s _[Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye](https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&source=hp&ei=BcCGXfrkGLS-0PEP9Zu8kAk&q=the+adventures+of+nick+danger+third+eye&oq=adventures+of+nick+danger&gs_l=psy-ab.1.1.0i22i30l8.718.5676..7478...1.0..1.698.8720.2-13j2j3j5......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131j0j0i22i10i30j33i160.M7qNidRIItY)_? They were a radio comedy group of the late 1960’s and 1970’s who were very much inspired by OTR. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/16 "2019-09-22T00:44:16Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Are you, by any chance, familiar with Firesign Theatre’s _[Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye](https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&source=hp&ei=BcCGXfrkGLS-0PEP9Zu8kAk&q=the+adventures+of+nick+danger+third+eye&oq=adventures+of+nick+danger&gs_l=psy-ab.1.1.0i22i30l8.718.5676..7478...1.0..1.698.8720.2-13j2j3j5......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131j0j0i22i10i30j33i160.M7qNidRIItY)_? They were a radio comedy group of the late 1960’s and 1970’s who were very much inspired by OTR. I just “listened” to the whole thing in my head… Still holds up. Love the way they play with the conventions of the genre (like identifying the materials they made the sound effects with: “Come in out of the cornstarch and dry your mukluks by the cellophane.”) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/17 "2019-09-22T01:20:27Z")
i’ve listened to a few _Green Hornet_ episodes on the Sirius classic radio channel. Beyond the minimally appealing campy aspects, it seems to be pitched to a slightly older age group than the _Superman_ radio program (12-year-olds as opposed to 10-year-olds). ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-hornet-radio-show/840597/18 "2019-09-22T13:12:39Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > i’ve listened to a few _Green Hornet_ episodes on the Sirius classic radio channel. > > Beyond the minimally appealing campy aspects, it seems to be pitched to a slightly older age group than the _Superman_ radio program (12-year-olds as opposed to 10-year-olds). Definitely seems to have been aimed at an older set. The Lone Ranger (who would turn out to be the Green Hornet’s great uncle) was aimed a younger set, and this one meant for the older kids. There’s a lot of speeches about researching candidates before voting (used when discussing crooked elected officials). This was deliberate. Or so I’ve heard. With stories on things that happened long ago in the entertainment industry, you never know how much is either misremembered, back-projected, or just made up to entertain. > [@](#): > > In his memoir WXYie Wonderland (An Unauthorized 50-Year Diary of WXYZ Detroit), \*\*\*\* Osgood describes the Green Hornet’s beginnings. Osgood notes that the Lone Ranger appealed to children. According to Osgood, Trendle now wanted a radio program for “young people who are about to vote.” Osgood explains that this new program was to feature a modern-day hero who exposed corrupt office holders. Thus, the Green Hornet was born!