On This Day, August 27: Johnny Dollar and Mysterious Traveler
Also featured: Big Town.
August 27 Update
This report documents the historical provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and pure narrative synopses for broadcasts transmitting on August 27 across American network radio and the BBC, Bob Bailey investigating altered ledgers on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Frank & Anne Hummert's The Strange Romance of Evelyn Winters for SweetHeart Soap, Maurice Tarplin narrating The Mysterious Traveler, rustic comedy on The Gulf Spray Show, Richard Briers in Doctor in the House on BBC Radio 4, and Edward Pawley & Fran Carlon busting jury tampering in Big Town for Ironized Yeast (1944–1968):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Kranesburg Matter (Part 2)" | CBS (WCBS) 1956-08-27 8:05 PM EDT |
Sustaining Five-Part Serial |
Bob Bailey (Johnny), Virginia Gregg | Jack Johnstone (Writer/Dir) | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Mystery", "Noir", "Serial"] |
Johnny Dollar interviews the nervous widow of an industrialist and discovers that key business ledger entries were altered prior to his fatal fall. |
| "Walter Returns from Washington" | CBS (WABC) 1945-08-27 10:30 AM EWT |
Manhattan Soap Co. SweetHeart Soap |
Toni Darnay, Karl Swenson, Martin Blaine | Frank & Anne Hummert | ["Soap Opera", "Drama", "Romance", "Theatre", "Serial"] |
Playwright Gary Roberts welcomes an influential Broadway producer back from wartime government service, hoping to secure backing for Evelyn's debut show. |
| "The Unknown Enemy" | Mutual (WOR) 1944-08-27 10:30 PM EWT |
Sustaining Mystery Thriller |
Maurice Tarplin (Narrator), Lon Clark | Robert A. Arthur & David Kogan | ["Mystery", "Horror", "Suspense", "Sci-Fi", "Anthology"] |
A paranoid research scientist developing a revolutionary formula becomes convinced that an invisible assassin is stalking him in his isolated laboratory. |
| "Summer Comedy & Tunes" | CBS (WABC) 1945-08-27 7:30 PM EWT |
Gulf Oil Corp. Gulf Spray Insecticide |
Cliff Arquette, Curt Massey, Martha Mears | Gulf Spray Orchestra | ["Comedy", "Variety", "Music", "Vocal", "Rural"] |
Cliff Arquette performs rustic rural humor and musical novelties alongside popular standards by Curt Massey and Martha Mears. |
| "Money Troubles" | BBC Radio 4 1968-08-27 7:30 PM |
Sustaining BBC Radio Comedy |
Richard Briers, Geoffrey Sumner | Richard Gordon & Ray Cooney | ["Sitcom", "Comedy", "British", "Medical", "Humor"] |
Young medical student Simon Sparrow desperately schemes to dodge his overdue landlady bills while avoiding the fiery wrath of chief surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt. |
| "Murder Meets the Jury" | CBS (WABC) 1946-08-27 8:00 PM EDT |
Sterling Drug Ironized Yeast |
Edward Pawley, Fran Carlon | Jerry Devine (Director) | ["Newspaper", "Crime", "Drama", "Mystery", "Courtroom"] |
Steve Wilson and Lorelei Kilbourne expose a ruthless racketeer who is intimidating and blackmailing sequestered jurors in a high-profile murder trial. |