Frontier Town

The late forties and early fifties saw an increasing demand for syndicated radio drama. With the Federal Communications Commission having imposed a freeze on the issuance of new television licenses, radio remained the major source of entertainment across small-town America well into the early 1950s, and local stations displayed an insatiable appetite for programming to make up for revenues lost by cuts in network compensation to affiliates. Producers of recorded programming therefore found it difficult to keep up with the demand for new series.

Hollywood was quick to take note of this thriving market, and an increasing number of name stars realized that there was fast, easy money to be made in syndicated radio. This led to a barrage of new series built around marketable celebrities - series such as that spotlighted in this ten hour collection, "Frontier Town".

Recorded in Hollywood in 1952-53 and distributed by Broadcast Producers Syndicate, "Frontier Town" features up-and-coming action star Jeff Chandler in a role far removed from his best-known radio role as Mr. Boynton, the goofy biology teacher boyfriend of Eve Arden on "Our Miss Brooks." Credited as "Tex" rather than "Jeff," Chandler is heard here as Chad Remington, a tough-but-dedicated lawyer in the rough and tumble frontier town of Dos Rios. Chandler filled the lead role for twenty-three episodes before being replaced for the remainder of the series by veteran movie tough guy Reed Hadley. Remington fights for justice with the aid of his windbag snake-oil selling sidekick Cherokee O'Bannon, portrayed in a voice redolent of W. C. Fields by character comedian Wade Crosby. The series was written and directed by Paul Franklin, taking a break from his usual role as a top radio comedy writer, and features original organ music by Ivan Ditmars and Bob Mitchell, with Bill Forman announcing.

#1 Return to Dos Rios
Friday, September 26, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#2 His Name is John Smith
Friday, October 3, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#3 Todd Ford
Friday, October 10, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#4 Marie
Friday, October 17, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#5 The Poisoned Waterhole
Friday, October 24, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#6 Emily Bracker
Friday, October 31, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#7 The Seminole Strip
Friday, November 7, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#8 The Chavez Family
Friday, November 14, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#9 The Opening of Tioga Reserve
Friday, November 21, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#10 Death and Texas
Friday, November 28, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#11 Six-Gun Justice
Friday, December 5, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#12 The Return Of the Badmen
Friday, December 12, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#13 The Valley of Lawless Men
Friday, December 19, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#14 The Guns of Wrath
Friday, December 26, 1952 - 30:00 - syndicated

#15 Her Name is Bourbon Kate
Friday, January 2, 1953 - 30:00 - syndicated

#33 Trouble Rides the Rails
Friday, May 8, 1953 - 30:00 - syndicated

#34 Open Range
Friday, May 15, 1953 - 30:00 - syndicated

#35 The Chase
Friday, May 22, 1953 - 30:00 - syndicated

#36 Bullets for Boot Hill
Friday, May 29, 1953 - 30:00 - syndicated

#37 On the Prod
Friday, June 5, 1953 - 30:00 - syndicated