Western hero Jake Dimes, Range Detective, is back for another very special holiday tale, "Santa Claus of Bitter Creek". Jake and his sidekick Briar Buck spin a Christmas yarn for their wives and in-laws when they all gather for the holidays: A cowboy who has lost his faith in Christmas gets it back in spades when he helps a youngster buy presents for his mother. It's a heart-warming tale that's perfect for Christmas! Written and directed by Pete Lutz – adapted from a short story by A. C. Abbott, and starring the Narada Radio Company.

With the voice talents of:

Dana Gonsalves as JAKE DIMES

Victoria Fancki as CHRIS GREENSLATE DIMES 

Austin Beach as BRIAR BUCK 

Nancy Bueler as MOLLY SUTCLIFFE BUCK 

Joe Stofko as FRED GREENSLATE 

Glenn Hascall as SLIM SUTCLIFFE and

Debby Gonzales Ramirez as LUPE; with

Philboyd Studge as JEFF MITCHELL 

Isla Braly as BUD

Pete Lutz as MIKE GABBY 

Paul Patterson as JIM BAILEY and

Lisa Michaud as BUD'S MOTHER 

The Jake Dimes Theme was composed by Pete Lutz, arranged and performed by Dr. Ross Bernhardt. 

Mindstream Players Christmas Special. Written, edited, mixed and directed by Tom Konkle

Starring Kurtis Bedford as Dr. John Watson

Tom Konkle as Sherlock Holmes

Stephanie Stearns Dulli as Mrs. Hudson, Lady Arabella, Penelope Chutney-Featherstone

Pete Lutz as Barnaby Winklethorpe

Jude Gerard Prest as Figgy

Gino C. Vianelli as Humphrey Carruthers

Bob Clendenin as Algernon Butterworth

And ? as Madam Zepyra.

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it! Big Story radio drama recreated by Project Audion!

Newspaper reporters were once heroic figures - exposing rackets and corruption, taking down the powerful and giving voice to the powerless. The "Big Story" series from audio drama's original classic era (the mid 20th century) celebrated the newspaper reporter - selecting true headlines and converting them into gripping dramas, much like Dragnet did with police.

Audion's December offering is a story set during the Christmas holiday, and while there IS an appearance by Santa Claus and a happy ending - this is a drama, pure and simple - of murder, greed, and redemption. Hmmm…maybe a Christmas theme after all! Our cast reaches from Canada to across the United states to recreate this lost original script just as it was done back then, so you can hear it for the first time since December 20, 1950! Our cast:

David Phillips in Virginia
Donna Patton in Tenessee
Trevor Rines in Canada
Sean Massey in Texas
Julie Hoverson in Washington
Dana Gonsalves in Texas
Scott McKinley in New Jersey
Ken Raney in Texas
and Larry Groebe did the heavy lifting

In the late 1940s and early 1950s the Phil Harris-Alice Faye radio series was a master class in radio comedy. Harris (charming, egotistical, smooth, Southern) and Faye (grounded, smart, and only occasionally the movie star) were surrounded by eccentric regulars like Elliot Lewis as Phil’s band buddy Remley, and Walter Tetley as the little kid Julius - and each week the happy result could be heard in the gales of laughter from the live studio audience. Today, Harris is best remembered as the voice of Balloo the Bear in Walt Disney's Jungle Book, but former Bob Hope comedy writer Robert L. Mills fondly recalls the Harris-Faye radio shows of his youth, and has penned a pitch-perfect recreation for our coast-to-coast Project Audion cast to perform. We promise you a half-hour's classic entertainment!

Our cast --
Pete Lutz (Phil Harris)
JoAnne Kurman (Alice Faye)
John Bell (Frank Remley)
Bob Beaumont (Willie / Mr. Scott)
Angela Young (Julius / Miss Bluecross / Customer)
Ken Jeffries (Announcer)
Robert L Mills (Druggist, Scriptwriter)
Larry Groebe (Producer/Director)

Who was it who made that phone call to the emergency room, the one that set off the horrible chain of events that took place in The Dark? Project Audion recreates the episode "The Dark" from LIGHTS OUT - one of classic radio's most imaginatively gruesome shows. It's an episode show that hasn't been heard in its complete form since January 1938! "Lights Out" was the work of master radio dramatist Arch Oboler, and he memorably redid "The Dark" 25 years later as a highly abridged adaptation for an LP called "Drop Dead" - the only recording you could hear until now. But Project Audion worked from the original half-hour 1938 script to deliver extra thrills and chills, and leading to a climax where -- well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? Who's afraid of The Dark? You will be!

Our cast features: Jacob Palka in Illinois

Douglas Herrman in California

Denise Cline in Kentucky

Robert Stevenson in Indiana

Sounds, production, and direction by Larry Groebe in Texas

Hi-Yo, Silver! The Lone Ranger is perhaps vintage radio drama's single most famous creation. Yet the Masked Man's formative years from 1933 until 1938 are essentially lost to us because no recordings were made. Original scripts DO survive, and Project Audion has selected episode #266 (out of nearly 3000!) from October 12 1934 to recreate. In 1934 the Lone Ranger and Tonto are not quite as we remember them, and the story -- featuring a cattle rancher, the coming of the railroad, and a "greasy half-breed" named Magdalena -- is rough-edged, less sensitive and streamlined than in later years. But this was the Lone Ranger that took the country by storm during the Great Depression. Now, for the first time in nine decades, this early version of the Lone Ranger rides again!

The cross-country cast of Project Audion's transcribed-live recreation includes

Lone Ranger: Dennis Thompson

Tonto: Ken Raney

Announcer: Greg Vestal

Steve Greencliff: Norman Cline

Magdalena: Pete Lutz

Tad Brewster: Scott McKinley

Gwendolyn Wiggs: Angela Young

Mother Wiggs: Sharon Grunwald Father

Jerimy Wiggs: Chuck Daugherty

Larry Groebe produced, directed, and cleaned up after the horses.

The short-lived noirish radio detective series "Pat Novak for Hire" is probably better loved now than it was in the late 1940s, thanks to its darkly-comic quips and the dry-as-dust performance of Jack Webb in the title role (just before his blockbuster turn on "Dragnet.") Novak - the man, like the show - was one of those "hard-boiled" types - he may bounce or crack, but he doesn't break easily. Novak shows are loved for their Raymond Chandler-esque plots and style, where the lead character never met a crook or a lady he couldn't describe with a delirious simile. Project Audion offers up a brand-new episode penned for Project Audion by long-time network television writer Casey Keller. Mr. Keller's script matches the late-1940s originals blow for blow, dame for dame, gunshot for gunshot, metaphor for metaphor. Step into the perpetual foggy night of the San Francisco waterfront to meet "Pat Novak, For Hire" in our transcribed-live adventure. 

Pat Novak: PETE FERNBAUGH (WV)

Jocko Madigan: TOM KONKLE (CA)

Inspector Helleman: TEE QUILLAN (TN)

Hannah Gordon: JOANNE KURMAN (CA)

Stripper 1: DONNA PATTON (TN))

Stripper 2: JULIE HOVERSON (WA)

Jack Silver: KIM TITUS (TX)

Announcer/Goon: LOTHAR TUPPAN (CA)

Goon: BOB MILLS (CA)

Coroner: CASEY KELLER (CA)

Written by Casey Keller

Sound, Direction, and Production by Larry Groebe

It's the year 2090. There are signs that a pandemic is coming - a pandemic which will kill millions of innocent people - again. Because it's happened before. But this time, just maybe, we know what - or who - is causing it...and a chance to stop it.

That's the setup for "Syndrome Johnny," a lost episode from a nearly-forgotten science-fiction anthology radio drama from 1953 called "Tales of Tomorrow." The television version of "Tales of Tomorrow," which actually came before the radio edition, is considered one of the first serious scifi video series. The TV edition spawned the radio offshoot, which hoped to fill the void of the recently-cancelled and now-classic series "Dimension X," adapting stories from Galaxy Magazine. Failing to find a sponsor, it only lasted a few months. The sound quality of the few recordings that survive is mostly quite poor, and our recreation "Syndrome Johnny" doesn't survive at all.Our transcontinental cast performs in the classic audio drama tradition - live in one uninterrupted take - to recapture the spirit of this pioneering science fiction show for a national audience for the first time in 70 years.

In our cast: Trevor Rines, Canada

Tim Burns, Kansas

Jack Ward, Canada

Greg McAfee, California

Rhiannon McAfee California

Gary Layton, Texas

and Larry Groebe, Texas

Old-Time Radio Essentials is back with episode 40, the 3rd installment of Season 4, and our fourth Holiday Special! Pete, Paul and Patte present an episode of the long-running Mutual series Nick Carter, Master Detective. This time it's Paul's pick, called "Nick Carter's Christmas Adventure"!  Will Pete dwell on technical details and miss the historical context? Will Patte compare this to something Canadian? Tune in and find out!

And since we're on the subject of finding things out, while you listen you'll learn if we feel this entry meets the following criteria:

Your feedback means a lot to us! A review at iTunes or at your usual podcatcher would be appreciated.

Next Time: It's Pete's pick again, and he'll bring an episode of The Henry Morgan Show!