The Author Meets the Critics
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 5 September 1948. Transferred from the Internet Archive's The Author Meets the Critics collection (public domain).
The run
- Network
- Mutual
- Years active
- 1948–1948
- Surviving broadcasts
- 146
- Genre
- detective
BOX 13 "Adventure wanted -- will go anywhere, do anything -- Box 13." The premise of the program was that Dan Holiday was an author who wrote mystery novels. To get ideas for his novels he placed an advertisement in a newspaper saying "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything, Box 13." The ads always brought fun adventures of all kinds: from racketeer's victim to psychotic killer looking for fun. Most of the episodes were based on Dan Holiday replying to a letter he received at Box 13. He would generally solve a mystery in the process, and return to his office in time to enjoy a hearty laugh at the expense of Suzy, his amusingly stupid secretary. He would certainly not meet the strictest requirements for private eyes (not licensed, collected no fees from clients), but the definition should stretch to sneak him in under the rope. Digitised by the Old Time Radio Researchers and streamed from the Internet Archive item “OTRR_Box_13_Singles”; these recordings are in the public domain.
1949 · 51948 · 7
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Box_13_Singles
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
9 dated broadcasts across 2 years on the air. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1948
1949
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1948, in original transmission order.
- 1. Actor's Alibi · 1 Jan 1948
- 2. Look Pleasant, Please · 1 Jan 1948
- 3. The First Letter · 1 Jan 1948
- 01
Actor's Alibi
1 Jan 1948 · 26 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 1 January 1948. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 02
Look Pleasant, Please
1 Jan 1948 · 26 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 1 January 1948. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 03
The First Letter
1 Jan 1948 · 26 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 1 January 1948. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 04
The Haunted Artist
1 Jan 1948 · 26 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 1 January 1948. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 05
Box 13 48-09-05 ep03 Suzi Quits Paper To Work For Dan
5 Sep 1948 · 26 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 06
Box 13 48-10-17 ep09 A Book of Poems
17 Oct 1948 · 26 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 07
Box 13 48-11-28 ep15 Double Right Cross
28 Nov 1948 · 28 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 08
Box 13 49-01-09 ep21 The Professor and the Puzzle
9 Jan 1949 · 27 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Same night on the air
5 Sep 1948
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 5 Sep 1948.
Nick Carter, Master Detective
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 5 September 1948. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Roy Rogers Show
Broadcast 5 September 1948. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Under Arrest
Broadcast 5 September 1948. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Also on Mutual
Mutual in 1948–1948
Other series the network carried while Box 13 was on the air.
Same seasons
detective on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The private eye at the microphone
First-person narration, a case that walks in the door, and a city that talks back. Marlowe, Sam Spade and Johnny Dollar turned detection into a listening form.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Box 13
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
More to explore
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