Lux Radio Theater
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “OTRR_Lux_Radio_Theater_Singles”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
The run
- Network
- Mutual
- Years active
- 1938–1948
- Surviving broadcasts
- 71
- Genre
- kids
One of the longest running young-adult-oriented old radio shows during the golden age of radio was the widely popular "Dick Tracy." The series aired over a period of 14 years, from 1934 - 1948, and was based on a newspaper comic strip.
1947 · 31946 · 11945 · 21938 · 51935 · 1
Restoration quality — measured from the surviving files
Rough but complete · 45 of 45
Source collection
Internet Archive audio collections
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: Dick_Tracy_20161023
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
9 dated broadcasts across 14 years on the air, with 9 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1935, in original transmission order.
- 1. Tess Disappears (Audition) · 4 Feb 1935
- 2. Dick gets ring of Osiris · 14 Feb 1938
- 3. Dick Captures the Gang · 18 Feb 1938
- 01
Tess Disappears (Audition)
4 Feb 1935 · 11 min
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “Dick_Tracy_20161023”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
- 02
Dick gets ring of Osiris
14 Feb 1938 · 29 min
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “Dick_Tracy_20161023”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
- 03
Dick Captures the Gang
18 Feb 1938 · 29 min
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “Dick_Tracy_20161023”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
- 04
Junior Escapes
25 Feb 1938 · 14 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 25 February 1938. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 05
Junior Is Kidnapped
14 Apr 1938 · 14 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 14 April 1938. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 06
Tracy Rescued and Kyle Captured
25 Apr 1938 · 14 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 25 April 1938. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 07
On the Trail of the Nighthawks
8 May 1945 · 14 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 8 May 1945. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 08
Case of the Man Without a Head
24 Sep 1945 · 13 min
Originally broadcast on Mutual, 24 September 1945. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Same night on the air
25 Apr 1938
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 25 Apr 1938.
The Daredevils of Hollywood
Broadcast on Syndicated. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Also on Mutual
Mutual in 1938–1948
Other series the network carried while Dick Tracy was on the air.
Same seasons
kids on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The children's serial
Fifteen minutes, a cliffhanger, and a promise to be back tomorrow. Kids' audio still runs on the shape the Yukon and Speed Gibson serials cut.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Dick Tracy
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
More to explore
Chosen by the same editors.
