With over a decade on-air, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar was one of the longest-running detective series on radio. It aired on CBS Radio for 15 minutes from 1948 to 1962, making it among the last series broadcast on air as the listeners' interest on radio started to wane during the 1960s.
Johnny Dollar, the series lead character, was an insurance investigator. Each episode began with a phone call from insurance executives, asking him to work on an unusual claim. This would then require Dollar to go on a journey across the United States, or sometimes on other countries. Each case he handled was referred to as a "matter," some instances of which were "The Forbes Matter," "The Silver Blue Matter," and "The Price of Fame Matter." Such titles and format were used throughout the series' run.
From a total of 811 episodes produced by the show, only 720 are still existing. It was the last radio program on what was known as the Golden Age of Radio.
The CDs begin with the 1948 audition programs, following through until the series end in 1962. Always broadcast by CBS. Johnny Dollar was "a freelance insurance investigator with the action-packed expense account.” Dollar worked for the Universal Adjustment Bureau, and his expense account allowed him to travel the world to recover goods for his company. The format of the program followed Dollar, as he dictated his expense account like this, “expense account, item one,” and he would go on to listing his travel expenses, etc., etc. until he finished the report saying, “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.” Click here to read more about Yours Truly Johnny Dollar
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Please enjoy these 728 old time radio episodes:
Air Date | Title | Synopsis | Rating |
---|---|---|---|
08.03.1958 | the lucky four matter |
+Investigating the death of a policyholder who died when a dam broke, Johnny is nearly killed by a c... | |
08.15.1951 | the lucky costa matter |
+ Sponsored by: Spearmint Gum. A good story about a fellow detective gone bad. Excellent organ bridg... | |
06.18.1961 | the low tide matter |
+Sponsored by: Alpine Cigarettes, Mentholatum Rub. A body fifteen feet below the surface of Lake Moj... | |
08.09.1959 | the lost by a hair matter |
+ A lumber yard has burned to the ground, and it was worth one third of a million dollars! The owner... | |
08.19.1962 | the lorelei matter |
+A heavily insured eccentric millionaire is killed...was it his young and beautiful French wife? + A... | |
02.28.1960 | the look before you leap matter |
+ Sponsored by: Fritos, Camels, 4-Way Cold Tablets, Fitch Shampoo (Stu Erwin),. Super 60 Hearing Gla... | |
06.29.1956 | the long shot matter ep05of05 |
+ The conclusion of the story. If you want to hide something, put it in plain view. Only don't go ov... | |
06.28.1956 | the long shot matter ep04of05 |
+ A study in reactions. Three of them. One by a man who should know, one by a man who doesn't, and a... | |
06.27.1956 | the long shot matter ep03of05 |
+ Beauty may be skin deep, but fear goes a lot further down than that! Sometimes as deep as death! T... | |
06.26.1956 | the long shot matter ep02of05 |
Variations on an old theme. You pay your money, and you take your choice. But no matter how you pic... | |
06.25.1956 | the long shot matter ep01of05 |
+ A lonely girl, a fine young man, a gentle father, and one of them is a killer! The system cue has ... | |
04.25.1956 | the lonely hearts matter episodes 3 and 5 |
+ A scared girl...a shot in the dark. Did thirteen knots make a noose? The system cue has been dele... | |
04.23.1956 | the lonely hearts matter episodes 1 and 2 |
+ A "Lonely Heart" finds plenty of company...in the nearest morgue! The system cue has been deleted,... | |
05.21.1961 | the lone wolf matter |
+ A story of blackmail. + Thomas Raeburn Morgan was a respectable family man who ran a legitimate s... | |
06.22.1950 | the london matter |
+Sponsored by: Wrigley's Spearmint Chewing Gum. Johnny is hired to locate a shipment of narcotics th... | |
10.29.1949 | the little man who wasnt there |
+ A madman in San Francisco tackles an insurance company singled-handed...by killing off the policy ... | |
09.20.1959 | the little man who was there matter |
+Howard Edwards' life is insured for $100,000...and he's disapeared! + The case of the little man wh... | |
05.26.1951 | the lillis bond matter rehearsal |
+ Rehearsal recording or unedited tape. There are lots of mistakes and fooling around and no music c... | |
06.21.1959 | the life at stake matter |
+ Johnny's in Beverly Hills to help the very wealthy and very eccentric Mr. Alvin Cartwright. Cartw... | |
09.13.1959 | the leumas matter |
+ Elmer Leumas is a wealthy retired sportsman, yachtsman with a beautiful 30 year-old wife half his ... | |
09.08.1953 | the lester matson matter |
+ A man has his factory burned by 2 arsonists who threaten his daughter's life if the police are cal... | |
03.31.1953 | the lester james matter incomplete |
+Mr. James has stolen over $4000 and refuses to say where it is...but a showgirl knows! | |
12.16.1950 | the leland blackburn matter |
+ Unedited tape with no music cues recorded. One of Johnny's fellow insurance investigators named G... | |
06.15.1956 | the laughing matter ep05of05 |
+ The conclusion of the story. The comedian's reaction to Johnny's conclusion isn't very funny...and... | |
06.14.1956 | the laughing matter ep04of05 |
+ Death tries once again, and death as you know, is blind! System cue deleted. The system cue has b... |
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