The Best and Worst of 2023 Awards

[00:00:04] Speaker A: The Mysterious Radio Listening Society awarded show. [00:00:17] Speaker B: Welcome to the mysterious old Radio Listening Society's 2023 awards show. I'm Eric. [00:00:25] Speaker C: I'm Tim. [00:00:25] Speaker D: And I'm Joshua. And our award show opening theme was created and performed by our mysterious, mysterious listener, Brent, aka Vic Valari. Thank you, Brent. [00:00:36] Speaker B: Today we're looking back at the classic and not so classic old time radio stories featured on the podcast. In 2023. [00:00:44] Speaker C: We'll tally votes from our Patreon supporters and your mysterious old hosts in order to declare a final winner and loser. [00:00:50] Speaker D: At the end of the show, we will present the porky and Mike Loving cup, named after the antiheroes from the Quiet Please classic, the thing on the Forbel board, to the very best old time radio selection of 2023. [00:01:05] Speaker B: We will also present the singing Gorilla Medal of Dishonor, named after the ill fated ape. From the dark fantasy disaster spawn of the subhuman to the very worst old time radio selection of 2023. [00:01:19] Speaker C: The nominees, in order of appearance on the podcast, are. [00:01:23] Speaker D: Junkyard from x minus one, the crew of a stranded spaceship lose their memories one by one until finally nobody can remember how to fly the ship. The solution? Get drunk. [00:01:36] Speaker B: Come as you are. From the price of fear. Vincent Price reluctantly attends a costume party and makes awkward small talk with a ghost. [00:01:46] Speaker C: 31 from the adventures of Ellery Queen. What is the mysterious connection between overseas smuggling and the disappearance of a butler? Ellery Queen thinks it's the number 31. [00:01:56] Speaker D: The 13th sound from suspense. A wife is plagued by the sound of her murdered husband's fingernails. [00:02:04] Speaker B: The hideout from dark venture when a game of cards turns deadly, a two bit crook finds himself caught between the cops and the mob. [00:02:12] Speaker C: Little Jake from Pete Kelly's blues. A mysterious envelope leads to brutal violence, unspeakable tragedy, and at least one jazz tune. [00:02:20] Speaker D: The devil's workshop from inner sanctum. A troubled artist believes his wax figure is alive. [00:02:27] Speaker B: Milwaukee deep from Sears radio theater. A string of mission ships leads a coast guard officer to an island of ingenious pirates and angry gods. [00:02:39] Speaker C: Zero hour from suspense. A children's game called invasion becomes frighteningly real as the clock ticks closer to zero hour. [00:02:47] Speaker D: The powder river kid from frontier gentlemen, the powder river kid is wanted dead or alive, and his last wish is that his wife collect the reward. [00:02:57] Speaker B: Split second from Vanishing Point, a woman leaves her house for a short walk and returns to find the world is not as she left it. [00:03:05] Speaker C: The island of ancient death from the shadow, Lamont and Margot travel to a caribbean island to rescue an old friend from her mad scientist husband, who may or may not be a knife wielding maniac. [00:03:16] Speaker D: The dark side of the mind from nightfall. Dentist Jeff Robbins and his wife Myrna, encounter old friend Carl and invite him over for a visit. However, when Jeff is called away, he discovers startling news connecting Carl to a recent spate of child murders. [00:03:33] Speaker B: Black tie affair from bold venture. Sailor takes slate to a party in Arent a tuxed, only to discover that a pair of otherwise innocuous schoolteachers will do anything to get their hands on slates jacket. [00:03:47] Speaker C: Murderous revision from suspense. A frustrated radio writer conceives the perfect murder as the perfect radio script. [00:03:54] Speaker D: The doll from weird circle. The creator of a bird killing doll confesses to the murder of a fortune teller, and it only gets weirder from there. [00:04:05] Speaker B: Double murder from big town double murder. [00:04:09] Speaker C: In Big Town two sharp knives from suspense. A suspect is found hanged in his cell. Was it murder or suicide? [00:04:17] Speaker D: Donovan's brain part one and two from suspense. When William Donovan is injured in a plane crash, an unethical doctor seizes on the opportunity to put his mad science to to the test. [00:04:31] Speaker B: If a body needs a body, just call Burke and hare. From crime classics Burke and Hare give up body snatching for murder. [00:04:40] Speaker C: Murder in the script department from lights out. Two typists stay late to finish the latest lights out script, only to find themselves locked in and terrorized by an unknown entity. [00:04:50] Speaker D: Long distance from the chase. A wife finds evidence of her husband's innocence. Can she reach the governor in time to her husband's execution? [00:04:59] Speaker B: The conspiracy from murder by experts a jealous boyfriend murders his girlfriend during a flood in the hope of washing away the evidence. [00:05:09] Speaker C: Mister Costello, hero from x minus one senator McCarthy, I mean Mister Costello travels through space sowing seeds of suspicion and paranoia. [00:05:19] Speaker D: That ain't no way to run a railroad from. Let George do it. A millionaire becomes suspicious when his bid to buy a railroad is turned down. Does George Valentine have the harmonica skills to solve the case? [00:05:32] Speaker B: The crime of Bathsheba spooner from crime classics. The story of the first woman to be tried and executed for murder in the United States. [00:05:41] Speaker C: The enormous radio from CB's radio workshop. A married couple's new radio picks up conversations from other apartments in their building. The thrill of voyeurism turns to existential dread as the couple realizes their own life is as small and petty as the ones they hear on the radio. [00:05:56] Speaker D: The diary of sophronia Winters from suspense. A naive, middle aged newlywed discovers her husband is a madman bent on murdering her for a crime she didn't commit. [00:06:08] Speaker B: Death prowls at night. From the shadow Margot falls under the spell of a werewolf and tells the shadow where he can stick his power to cloud men's minds. [00:06:19] Speaker C: No grave can hold me from the mysterious traveler. The great Rondolfo reviles to return from the dead and murder the judge and jury who sentenced him to death. [00:06:28] Speaker D: The Strange case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde from NBC presents short story the classic tale of a man who unleashes his dark impulses in the form of an alternate personality. [00:06:40] Speaker B: Carmilla from nightfall a mysterious and alluring stranger insinuates herself into a sheltered young woman's home and heart. [00:06:48] Speaker C: The cabin from Gunsmoke a snowstorm forces Marshall Dillon to seek refuge in an isolated cabin. Unfortunately, the cabin is already occupied by a pair of desperate killers and their hostage. [00:06:59] Speaker D: The black room from CB's radio mystery Theater a man is arrested for unspecified crimes and locked in a complete black room. Is it an experiment, a punishment, or an uplifting message of hope disguised as a kafkaesque nightmare? [00:07:17] Speaker B: The man in black from hall of Fantasy a walk in the park turns sinister when two friends are confronted by a desperate woman in search of someone she calls the man in black, the. [00:07:28] Speaker C: Man who stole a planet from quiet, please. The title says it all. [00:07:32] Speaker D: The crisis of Dirk diamond from suspense. A comic strip artist plumbs the depths of his psyche to create a new villain and unleashes Freddy, an imagined tormentor from his childhood. [00:07:45] Speaker B: Jack Frost from Candy Matson Candy's hired to find the missing Jack Frost, a department store Santa's helper. [00:07:52] Speaker C: The signal man from seeing ear theater two guys talk about trains and ghosts. One of them dies. [00:08:02] Speaker D: Now lets hear from one of our Patreon supporters, Evan. [00:08:06] Speaker E: Theres a cabin in the pines hidden. [00:08:10] Speaker A: In the wild woods. [00:08:12] Speaker F: Hi, Im Evan, a proud longtime supporter of morals on Patreon. And heres my very brief reviews for the best and worst of 2023. By far my favorite episode was the cabin from Gunsmoke. [00:08:25] Speaker A: Out of the way. I'll be a fool. All right, stranger hangs in the air. [00:08:32] Speaker F: Everything I like about Gunsmoke is dialed up to eleven here, the grit, the realistic pacing and dialogue, and the surprisingly dark characters. [00:08:40] Speaker A: Don't laugh at me, hack. Now stop you. I don't like laughing. You know that, hack. And don't you do it no more. [00:08:51] Speaker D: I got ways I would describe it. [00:08:54] Speaker F: As the hateful eight, but Gunsmoke? And if that isn't the kind of quick capsule soundbite to intrigue potential listeners, I don't know what is my pick for the worst well, apologies to Tim, but it's the doll from the weird circle. I'm normally lukewarm on this show in general, but this episode suddenly careens towards disaster when all of my personal pet peeves collide in one perfect scene, it. [00:09:23] Speaker A: Will be a rare sight, Wanda Smith, to see a wooden mannequin come alive, full of murder and wrath. [00:09:30] Speaker F: In the doll, I find the dialogue stilted and antiquated. The characters are one dimensional. [00:09:37] Speaker A: Quiet. Quiet. I'll have the bailiff clear the court if this continues. [00:09:42] Speaker F: And the only thing I hate more than a nonverbal character having its actions described in detail by everyone else. [00:09:49] Speaker A: Could you see? He lunched at her. The doll lunched at Philomel. [00:09:52] Speaker F: Throughout, the soul is a human doing a terrible impression of a talking parrot. [00:09:59] Speaker A: The bird screamed, it shuddered, and spasms racked its body. [00:10:04] Speaker F: But thanks to Eric, Tim, and Joshua for the incredible year of entertainment. And here's to many more. [00:10:09] Speaker D: Thanks, guys. Thank you, Evan. [00:10:21] Speaker C: In addition to our individual panelists, we collected best and worst votes from all our patrons. [00:10:26] Speaker D: In the best of category, our patrons chose the following the enormous radio from CB's radio workshop. The cabin from Gunsmoke, murder in the script department from lights out. Donovan's brain from suspense. Junkyard from x minus one and zero hour from suspense. [00:10:49] Speaker B: And the winner is. [00:10:50] Speaker A: And I got in under him with a fork and lifted him off his feet. And he struggled for a moment like a spirit fish and then went limp and I let him fall. [00:11:00] Speaker B: The cabin from gunsmoke. [00:11:03] Speaker C: Our patrons also voted for the worst of 2023. Nominees included Milwaukee deep from Sears Radio theater. Donovan's brain from suspense. The 13th sound from suspense. Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde from NBC, short story, come as you are from the price of fear. Dark side of the mind from nightfall. And the signal man from seeing ear theater. [00:11:24] Speaker D: And the winner is. [00:11:26] Speaker A: Holy suffering cats. Look at that. It's an enormous stone statue. One of those indian idols, do you think? [00:11:33] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:11:34] Speaker A: Why on earth they want to smuggle out something like that? They can't sell that on the black market, can they? It's the size of a house. [00:11:41] Speaker D: Milwaukee Deep, from Sears Radio theater. [00:11:47] Speaker A: Cheryl Peeks is calling me. Gotta have it. We agree there's more for your life at Sears, so shop around. [00:11:57] Speaker B: And now it's time to announce the 2023 mysterious old listener of the year. This honor is bestowed upon a listener who has made a notable impact on the podcast. [00:12:08] Speaker C: And that listener is Dave S. Dave is a longtime listener who we first met through Patreon. He caught our attention with his insightful comments, laconic wit, and occasional bursts of flash fiction. [00:12:21] Speaker D: Over the years, Dave has become a familiar face at our Zoom happy hours and a much appreciated contributor to my mysterious old book club. His keen and pithy observations enrich every topic, whether it be radio drama, literature, history, or random tangent. [00:12:39] Speaker B: Daves fans are not limited to the three of us. He has a popular presence on our Discord channel where he shares his thoughts, knowledge and dependably fantastic book recommendations due to visual impairment. [00:12:51] Speaker D: Dave recently began posting short recordings to discord as an alternative to voice typing. We'd like to share one with you today. It was recorded in response to a discord discussion about the difficulty some of us have explaining to others our undying love of old time radio. [00:13:14] Speaker G: Why do we listen to old time radio? A couple of reasons. One long, one short. In the first place, it's a time machine. You know how it is whenever you listen to a song on the radio and it's coming up to you from the sixties or seventies or eighties, however old you are now, it'll take you back to a time when you were listening to the radio a lot and you'll remember all the things that were happening and you'll remember what the country was like then and what your life was like then, and all the friends you had that maybe you haven't seen in 40 or 50 years. It all comes back. It's just like that. It's a time machine. But then with old time radio, you go back even further to a time that existed before you were born, when your parents and grandparents were alive and they were gathered around the radio listening to this stuff. In my mind I can see my mom and dad who hadn't met each other yet. They're still living at home with their parents. They're still kids. My dad's sitting in front of the radio listening to little Orphan Annie and Lincoln said and the things he enjoyed, and my mom's listening to the shadow and I love a mystery and remember being a kid in the backseat listening to them talk about old time radios and thinking, God, I would love to listen to that stuff. And now I have a chance. The other reason and the other thing that's funny. I was talking to my youngest grandson. He says, why do you listen to that stuff? I said, because they're all ghosts. I said, you can listen to them. But everybody that was connected with it is long since on the other side of the grass they're all dead. But at the same time, in the middle of the night, you can pick up your phone, you can dial into the Internet, and you can call up Humphrey Bogart. You can call up Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart or Virginia, Greg and Peter Lorre. And they can talk to you in their own voices, in their own way. And the performances they gave, you're hearing their voices of the dead telling stories in the dark. And what could be better than that? And he's been a big fan ever since. He calls it walking in the graveyard at night, and I kind of like that. [00:15:31] Speaker C: So let's raise a glass of whatever you're drinking to Dave, our 2023 mysterious old listener of the year. [00:15:47] Speaker B: And now let's hear from last year's listener of the year, Amy, in some. [00:15:53] Speaker A: Secluded rendezvous that overlooks the avenue with someone sharing a delight. [00:16:08] Speaker H: Hey, everybody. This is the crazy cocktail lady. The guys asked me if I could make a recording of my least favorite and my most favorite out of last year's episodes. I picked the enormous radio as my least favorite episode. [00:16:24] Speaker A: Irene, don't you want to hear the workshop? It's a pretty good show. Oh, I feel like music. [00:16:30] Speaker H: Don't you? Not because it was done poorly or the story wasn't done well, but because of a more human connection to it. The fighting in the episode caused my blood pressure to rise. It made me feel like I did as a kid listening to my parents fight. [00:16:43] Speaker A: Why are you so holier than thou all of a sudden? [00:16:46] Speaker H: The episode highlights the worst in the love of gossip, addiction to drama, passivity over responsibility. [00:16:52] Speaker A: Thanks for a lousy breakfast and indigestion. I may see you tonight, and I may not. Go on, get out. Go on. [00:16:58] Speaker C: Stay out all night. [00:16:59] Speaker A: Maybe I will. [00:17:01] Speaker H: Now, there's a line from Pollyanna. I'm gonna paraphrase it here. If you look for the bad in people, you shall surely find it. And this touched me as a kid to always have empathy and look for the good in people. This episode centers on looking for the bad, and it leaves the listener assuming the worst in the white. [00:17:18] Speaker A: It's like looking in windows. You know, you don't have to listen to this sort of thing. You can just turn it off. [00:17:22] Speaker H: Did she provoke her husband because her radio has been taken away? Does she find other ways to intrude on the private lives of others? What about her kids? Will this cause them to be caught up in her addiction? I don't like being steered into looking for the bad, and this one felt like I was railroaded into it. And one final thought I had about this episode is that it reminds me that, you know, of Facebook and how we all have the enormous radio in our pockets and we really should be cognizant of that going forward in our lives. [00:17:54] Speaker A: Misses Melville has heart trouble and some woman is playing around with the superintendent. [00:18:00] Speaker C: It's disgusting. [00:18:01] Speaker H: Now the opposite is my favorite. The black room. [00:18:04] Speaker A: The CB's radio mystery theater presents. [00:18:06] Speaker H: It's always had a personal connection to me in several ways. It was one of the first episodes I heard outside of listening just live as a kid. It actually came out before I was born even. It's been one of my favorite for years. And it's one that I often suggest to people that they listen to when they ask me about old time radio. And yes, don't hate me. It's outside the definition of OTR. But you know, we have to start somewhere. [00:18:32] Speaker A: It's black. That's why it's called the black room. Well, switch on a light. There is no light. Once I close this door, there'll be no light of any kind. [00:18:42] Speaker H: So this one touches on a human condition that I've always been fascinated with. Humans have a loneliness inside of them. [00:18:49] Speaker A: Are you there? Are we both in here? Well, say something. Are you here? [00:18:56] Speaker H: And until the lockdowns during COVID I really never knew just how deep and dark that loneliness can get. And we even had a happy hour focused on the loneliness factor in humans. And it's been one of my favorite happy hours of all time. [00:19:11] Speaker A: I see a light. I say light. A very little little light. Oh, thank you. Thank whatever, whoever you are for this little bit of light. [00:19:22] Speaker H: I listen to it and it reminds me to smile at people, to be kind to people. Because you never know how much that smile and kindness means until it's been taken away. Like with our subject in the room. [00:19:35] Speaker A: It's true. There's no end to it. There's no end to the shocks and the suffering and the cruelty and the horror. No end to it. When you think you've born it all is more and more and more. [00:19:49] Speaker H: The tiny connection is that what saves him, bolsters him. And then it is taken away and he becomes bitter and begins to despair. But then the hope reappears with Mouse's children. [00:20:01] Speaker A: You're not Mister Mouse at all. You're misses Mouse, your mother Mouse. [00:20:07] Speaker H: You're also left with that hopefulness that our subject will be able to, you know, get on with his life if he ever gets out of the room. [00:20:15] Speaker A: How does a man survive 26 days in the black room? He needs to care for some living soul. [00:20:24] Speaker H: Now you have the choice as a listener to focus on the bad, the experiment, the cruelty, the testers, or anything else or that spark of light within the room. I like storytellers who trust me as a listener, and I feel like this story trusts me with my own personal, individual, and unique thoughts. Thank you, everybody, and I hope you have a great year this year. [00:20:57] Speaker C: Thanks, Amy. [00:20:58] Speaker D: Next, we present a segment called know your hosts. We posted a series of autobiographical facts on Patreon and asked our supporters to match the facts of with the host or hosts. For listeners who are not Patreon members, here are the questions. Feel free to play at home. [00:21:21] Speaker A: You've heard of foolish questions, and no doubt you wondered why a person who. [00:21:27] Speaker B: Was once employed proofreading personal ads, who. [00:21:31] Speaker C: Wrote for a short lived, nationally syndicated educational sketch comedy television program for kids. [00:21:37] Speaker D: Who won a regional Emmy, who was. [00:21:40] Speaker B: Screamed at by Bill Murray, who has. [00:21:43] Speaker C: Appeared on stage 100% buck naked, who. [00:21:47] Speaker D: Was a national Merit scholar, who was. [00:21:50] Speaker C: Arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. [00:21:54] Speaker A: I just wanted you to see it. Now I'll take it all away. Now there's a question that you'll hear. [00:22:02] Speaker C: Almost every day, and here are the answers to those questions. Who was once employed proofreading personals ads? First, I'll give you guys the results of what our listeners voted for. Our patron members. 36% thought I was the correct answer. 34% thought it was Joshua. 25% Eric. 5% thought it was all of us. So a fairly even split. The correct answer is me. I used to proofread personals ads. [00:22:34] Speaker D: Did you add saucier bits? [00:22:36] Speaker C: It depended on the newspaper. I never was called on to add saucier bits, but I read these for newspapers all across the country. And in some of the more conservative areas, you had to desauce. Desauce a lot of. And in some, like, we did LA Weekly as well, where we just had to, like, this is just kind of flat out sex work that we need to sort of put a little Vaseline on the lens here to hide that. [00:23:04] Speaker D: Or basically Vaseline anywhere else. [00:23:07] Speaker B: Did you ever get one look at it, just take it, put it in your pocket and say, no need for us to publish that. I will be making that phone call tonight? [00:23:19] Speaker C: No, but technically, their focus was on voicemail because this was a long time ago, and that was the exciting new technology of you could call someone and leave a message for them. [00:23:28] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [00:23:29] Speaker C: And then the personal zat aspect was just kind of the excuse to use this technology. [00:23:34] Speaker B: Pay well, eh? [00:23:36] Speaker C: It was okay. [00:23:37] Speaker B: But worked from home? [00:23:38] Speaker C: No, no. I had to go into the office although I did one time just flat out fall asleep on the floor. It was a good crew I was working with. They covered for me. [00:23:48] Speaker A: Love. [00:23:51] Speaker D: For sex, advertising, young love for faith. [00:23:58] Speaker C: Our next question. Who wrote for short lived, nationally syndicated educational sketch comedy television program for kids? The results that we got from the votes was 45% of our voters thought it was me, 25% thought Joshua, 20% thought Eriche, 9% thought we all did. [00:24:18] Speaker B: That wasn't me. [00:24:20] Speaker D: It was me. I did it, actually, along with Eric's wife. [00:24:25] Speaker B: That's correct. [00:24:26] Speaker D: Yeah. It was incredibly short lived. It was called mad about. And the idea is that every season, you would be mad about some other exciting topic, like financial responsibility, which was. [00:24:39] Speaker C: What the first season was like, enthusiastically interested and not like, I'm really mad about financial responsibility. [00:24:46] Speaker B: Right. [00:24:47] Speaker D: And these sketches had so little to do with financial results. [00:24:53] Speaker B: Right. [00:24:55] Speaker D: And like any tv show, it was a big group of writers because of my day job, work schedule. And when we got our assignments and when we had to bring our first draft in, it involved me working an opening shift, going to the meeting, working an opening shift the next day, and then staying up all night to get a bunch of sketches done and then turning them in. So it was really exhausting. And out of like eight or nine, I think two or maybe three of them ended up in the show, if. [00:25:29] Speaker B: I remember correctly, it wasn't as exhausting as trying to get paid for it. [00:25:33] Speaker D: That was also hard tracking down that check. So if you think educational sketch comedy for children is lucrative, you're wrong. Glamorous, though. [00:25:46] Speaker A: Once I lived a life of a millionaire. [00:25:56] Speaker C: Our next question, who won a regional Emmy? This is what our voters thought. 50% thought that was Eriche, 25% thought Joshua, 11% thought me, 14% thought, we have all won a regent. Lammie. [00:26:09] Speaker B: Yeah, we were a news team. And weirdly, Tim was on sports. [00:26:18] Speaker C: Aaron, role playing game news. [00:26:23] Speaker B: Well, the 50% were right. Yeah, it was me. Eric. Yeah, I won a regional Emmy for a show that ran for about three years on a local station in Minneapolis called the Big Bad Movie. And the reason this came about was that this local station bought a package of movies, like 6000 of them, for like a penny. I'm exaggerating, but they just got all these movies from this distributor and they said, you know, for this low amount, here's your filler for any time of the day, week that you don't have, you know, you can put on these movies. And they were also terrible. They decided that they needed to hire a host to host them, to give them some kind of context or comedy, and they called it the big Bad movie. I auditioned, I got it. I did it for three years. So the interstitials were what I wrote, which was about 20 a show where they come out of break and into break, and I would comment or have sketches, hired a lot of my friends, we did a lot of recreate, we did a lot of crazy stuff. And then 911 happened, and I went to work to record the big bad movie. And it turns out that in that panic of, hey, the world's coming to an end, so let's save as much money as possible. The company that I worked for immediately started firing people that day. [00:27:41] Speaker D: Wow. [00:27:41] Speaker B: That day they made budget cuts because they were on top of it, I guess. And the guy commenting on the movies was first to go. That was. [00:27:55] Speaker C: I mean, you're like, probably making the most money in the. [00:27:58] Speaker B: And I. Yeah, well, I was. I was playing pretty decent. They were paying me a writing fee, a hosting fee, a directing fee. I mean, it was paying, well, costuming, makeup. Yeah. And they let me have run of the, the place from midnight to six, so I was by myself and. But anyway, he says, you know, we're letting you go, the world's coming to an end, and we got to save money, and you are the most unnecessary thing that's ever been invented. [00:28:21] Speaker C: And I said, my business card now. [00:28:23] Speaker B: And I said to him, but I won an Emmy. And he said, yeah, it's a regional Emmy. [00:28:31] Speaker A: Can get. No way. Can run. All paid. Unemployment getting worse every day. [00:28:40] Speaker C: All right, our next question, who was screamed at by Bill Murray? Here's what our respondents thought. 52% are pretty sure that that was Eric, 23% thought Joshua got screamed at by Bill Murray, 16% thought it was me, and 9% thought all of us have been screamed at by Bill Murray. [00:29:00] Speaker B: I wish that would have been. That would have been a great story. Well, once again, everybody's right. The majority is right. It was me. I was the announcer for the amazing St. Paul Saints baseball team. Minor league baseball run by and owned by Mike Veck. Really fun, amazing job. A great. Just. The St. Paul Saints are famous, and they're also partially owned by Bill Murray. I don't know if they still are. And I was the announcer, which really was announcing batter and stuff, but being paid to be as funny as possible, to make the game as more interesting as you possibly could. And so I was given carte blanche to say and do whatever I wanted, much like the big bad movie no one was watching. Like they. We don't know what you're doing. So I was given a blank slate at the Saints. Like, do what you want. And I did a lot of crazy things, and it was really fun. And Bill Murray, he was. I was. Couldn't wait to meet him. Like, he was he. And he was gonna come, and he came a couple times a year in my first year, and he comes up to the press box, and I need to clarify something to be really fair. So he starts yelling at me, the hell are you playing? What are you doing? Da da da. All these things. And I took it for that 20 seconds of stereo, and I pointed at. And I said, these are all the cds. I have these six. And I have a cd player. And he went, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. So to back this up, he yelled and then immediately realized, oh, this isn't your. He thought I was so bad at my job that I was not doing anything. And I was like, I don't have any equipment. Handed me a huge handful of cash. [00:30:43] Speaker D: Oh, wow. [00:30:44] Speaker B: And said, go buy some cds. Go buy a multi disc cd player. Made me laugh and said, bring me the change. And I went shopping. And overnight, we could do a lot more out there. Of course, within a year of that, technology took over and you could play things off a computer, you know. But he was mad because it was. What I was doing was terrible. Until he realized, oh, why do you only have six cds? And it was like jock jams. Like, you know, like, the cds I had. Like, I'm playing the same songs. Because then I can only. I can only get one song in this thing at a time. So anyway, so if Bill Murray or anybody knows listening. Yeah, he yelled at me and then apologized because. So it wasn't. [00:31:30] Speaker D: The question should have been, who's been yelled at by Bill Murray and then given money. [00:31:36] Speaker B: Yes. [00:31:38] Speaker C: That makes it sound like a service. [00:31:39] Speaker D: Yes. [00:31:40] Speaker B: Bill Murray also told me, hey, you're very funny. [00:31:43] Speaker C: Aw. [00:31:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And I left my body. It was weird because. And then my response is, true story. Cause, you know, you're freaking out, like, oh, my God, that's weird. [00:31:51] Speaker D: You are too. [00:31:52] Speaker B: I said, you are. I think you're funny, too. And he said, yeah, I know stars. [00:31:59] Speaker A: Nothing but Star wars. Give me the Star wars. [00:32:05] Speaker C: Next question. Who has appeared on stage 100% buck naked. I respond, it's guessed 32%. All of them that tracks. 27% thought me, 23% Eric. 18% thought Joshua. [00:32:22] Speaker D: Should I be insulted by that? That I'd be the least likely to appear naked? [00:32:27] Speaker C: There's no winning. [00:32:28] Speaker D: You're right. This is a bad question. [00:32:32] Speaker C: And technically, everyone's right. [00:32:36] Speaker D: All of us have appeared 100% naked. [00:32:39] Speaker B: On stage at different shows. [00:32:41] Speaker D: Nope. [00:32:43] Speaker B: You two are in the same show. [00:32:44] Speaker C: Yes. [00:32:45] Speaker D: I've appeared so many times naked on stage that I have probably forgotten. More times I've appeared naked on stage than can remember. [00:32:52] Speaker C: We do it for the art and the tips of. [00:32:54] Speaker B: I've done it once and my future yelled at you, my future wife, like. [00:33:01] Speaker D: Here'S some money, bring me the change. [00:33:04] Speaker B: That was one of the first times Shannon ever saw me. [00:33:06] Speaker D: Yeah, I know. It's the first time I ever heard of Eric, even heard his name, because I was. Well, so was Tim. We were in this show, London after midnight. We were looking for a new actor, and Shannon was essentially like, hey, I saw this guy naked in the show. I think I'm gonna cast him. Tell us more. But we, I do think, should take a moment to contextualize this nudity that we are did not make a lot of money as Chippendale dancers or anything like that. These were in theatrical. [00:33:38] Speaker C: I mean, we were Chippendale headdance. We did make a lot of money. [00:33:42] Speaker D: What I think is interesting about this is Eric is the only one who's appeared naked in theater. Drama. [00:33:49] Speaker B: Drama. [00:33:49] Speaker D: Yeah, you have a naked drama body, but Tim and I only have naked comedy bodies because we only appeared naked on stage. [00:33:59] Speaker C: Right. The script called for it. Because we wrote the script and it called for it. [00:34:03] Speaker D: Yes. [00:34:04] Speaker B: Mine was a very sad, horrifying moment for this man the character is playing. [00:34:08] Speaker D: Oh, okay. [00:34:10] Speaker C: It was sad, horrifying moment for this audience. [00:34:12] Speaker B: Yeah. It was not a pleasant thing. So when I was naked, it wasn't like, ah, naked or funny or anything terrible. [00:34:20] Speaker A: I mean, the bare necessities are Mother Nature's recipes that bring the bare necessity. [00:34:27] Speaker C: Our next question, who was a national merit scholar? 80% of our respondents thought Joshua. 14% thought me. 7% thought all of us. And this is the only category where one response didn't get any answers. No one thought Eric by himself was a merit Scott. [00:34:52] Speaker B: Ouch, ouch, ouch. [00:34:55] Speaker C: 7% thought all of us. [00:34:58] Speaker B: 7%, you're. [00:35:00] Speaker D: 7% thought Eric looked on our papers. [00:35:06] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it's hard to be mad at them. Cause they're right. It wasn't me. [00:35:11] Speaker C: The correct answer is me. And in fact, this whole process of these questions, it might just be an excuse for me to say, hey, 35 years ago, I did pretty good on. [00:35:21] Speaker D: Some standardized tests, and then everything went down. Next thing he knows, he was naked on stage begging for my. [00:35:28] Speaker B: That was a national risk. [00:35:33] Speaker C: I was approached by a fellow high school student to take his SAT for him. [00:35:39] Speaker D: Was it Eric? [00:35:40] Speaker C: It was not Eric. [00:35:41] Speaker B: I didn't take the SATs or the act's. Tim wasn't around, still got into college. [00:35:47] Speaker C: I declined, but not because I so value the sanctity of the SAT integrity as much as I thought. [00:35:55] Speaker A: I get in so much trouble. [00:35:57] Speaker D: I bet you were scared of getting in trouble as a kid. Yes. [00:36:04] Speaker C: Those are the two versions of, like, I'm so scared, I think there's some sort of sting operation and also the weighing. Like, the pros and cons of I might get maybe $30, but it could ruin my life forever. So I'll take the. Not doing this right. I didn't actually get an amount of money. If he'd said, like, $40,000. Okay. [00:36:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:29] Speaker C: I don't know who I went to high school with that had $40,000. [00:36:31] Speaker B: I did take people's acts for $30. [00:36:34] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:36:35] Speaker B: And nobody got in. [00:36:37] Speaker C: Your cheating heart will make you weak. [00:36:45] Speaker A: You cry and cry. [00:36:47] Speaker C: And our final question. Who was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest? 52% thought Eric, 23% thought me, 16% thought all of us, and 9% thought Joshua. [00:37:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:05] Speaker D: Wow. Yeah, it was me. [00:37:06] Speaker B: It was Joshua. [00:37:07] Speaker D: I feel like that one you can figure out, like, who has the biggest opinions, biggest mouth, the most caustic about it, and has no conflict avoidance. [00:37:19] Speaker B: I am a giant conflict avoider, people. The fact that you vote for me is I have never been in trouble, ever. [00:37:27] Speaker C: Joshua, at one point, talking about this, said, can you imagine Eric resisting arrest? [00:37:32] Speaker D: Like, arrest me harder. I deserve it. [00:37:36] Speaker B: I know you're just doing your job. [00:37:38] Speaker H: Thank you, sir. [00:37:40] Speaker D: I was in high school, and for really complicated reasons at the time. There was pressure that the police that were at the school were nothing. Paying attention to everybody who is doing bad things. And so I hung out with the arty kids outside and ate lunch every day outside. I don't think I ever in high school, even in the winter, I don't think I ever set foot in the actual lunchroom in high school. And the vice principal showed up and told us we could not eat outside anymore. And I argued with him, and somebody grabbed my arm, and I wrenched it back and said, let go of me. And it turned out to be the undercover cop who said, you're getting arrested, buddy. And he threw me up against the wall and handcuffed me. [00:38:33] Speaker C: So it was a sting operation. [00:38:35] Speaker B: Who said just one more thing? [00:38:38] Speaker D: I mean, I was, can you take. [00:38:39] Speaker C: My sat for me? [00:38:41] Speaker D: An absolute jerk to this vice principal. And I did push back a little on the cop because he didn't identify himself as a cop. He was just grabbing me. But this is the funniest part of the story, is he threw me up against the wall, handcuffed me, and, as if he's never worked with high school kids before, whispered in my ear, we're gonna take the long way to my office so everyone can see you. And I was like, thank you. So he paraded me through high school in handcuffs and, like, people, the music playing in my hand, everybody's head turning in slow motion. [00:39:22] Speaker B: You were a hero. [00:39:23] Speaker D: I was like, I could see the kids scurrying to write folk songs about me and. [00:39:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:29] Speaker D: And I was charged with the disorderly conduct for having lunch outside and resisting arrest for telling the cop to let go of me. The disorderly conduct was my attitude toward the vice principal. [00:39:42] Speaker B: How many years did you do? [00:39:43] Speaker D: I did 2 hours in detention. Yeah. No, in the slam. In the slam, I actually got to ask another inmate, what are you in for? So what are you in for? I was like, I'm going to take advantage of this. [00:40:00] Speaker C: So when dragnet did it, they changed your name, right? [00:40:02] Speaker D: Yes, they did. To protect the innocent. [00:40:13] Speaker C: So it's time to announce our patrons who had the most correct answers. And it is, in fact, a tie. Freighter Greg had five correct answers, and he tied with the team of Jeff and Christy. [00:40:28] Speaker D: Ooh. Who got five right? That's pretty good. Five out of seven. [00:40:32] Speaker C: Yes. [00:40:33] Speaker D: Wow. Congratulations. What are we gonna give them? [00:40:36] Speaker C: We're gonna mention them in this episode a few seconds ago. [00:40:41] Speaker B: Wow. So worth your time. [00:40:44] Speaker D: And you also have the option to upgrade your support to the next level as winners. [00:40:50] Speaker C: And it's the fully endowed power to gloat over the rest of your fellow patrons. [00:40:56] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:41:09] Speaker B: And now, before we reveal our own votes for best and worst, let's hear from one last patron. Simon. [00:41:19] Speaker H: Town had me low. [00:41:23] Speaker E: Well, good evening, gentlemen. Good morning. This is Simon from across the pond in not so sunny England, and I'm here with the votes from the UK jury. So Douz point for the best episode of 2023 goes to dark side of the mind from nightfall. I realize this might be a slightly odd choice, nightfall, and it isn't really that I think it's the best episode in terms of quality. It's just. Nightfall is the show that started me off on listening to radio horror, and I brought up holiday tapes that they put out in England in the late eighties. No, the tape recorder absolutely fell in love with them. And it was really the starting point. [00:42:13] Speaker C: Of. [00:42:16] Speaker E: And a borderline obsession that I'm carrying on with today. So while objectively it's not the best, it is absolutely the one that I enjoyed the most. And finally, null point for the worst episode goes to junkyard from x minus one. I just thought this was a mindless and ridiculous and didn't enjoy it in the slightest. [00:42:49] Speaker A: Rambling wreck from Georgia Tech and a heck of an engineer. A rambling wreck from Georgia Tech and a heck of an engineer. [00:42:58] Speaker C: Whoo. [00:42:59] Speaker A: Blast off. [00:43:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:01] Speaker E: Really not a favorite, that one. But thank you to all of you for being consistently entertaining and I hope at least some of your listeners recognize the Eurovision reference. Okay, thank you. Bye now. [00:43:14] Speaker D: The sun was shining everywhere. Thanks, Simon. [00:43:22] Speaker C: And now it's time to reveal our votes. [00:43:25] Speaker B: All right, let's start with going around the horn here and get everybody's worst episode of last year. Does that sound like a good idea? [00:43:34] Speaker C: Yes. [00:43:35] Speaker B: Let's go, Tim. Joshua me for worst off. Does that sound okay? That sounds lovely, Tim, what's the worst one we did last year? [00:43:44] Speaker C: I had a really hard time. There was a number of episodes when I was looking over the list, like, that's an option for wist. That's an option for worst. And I went back and revisited and I could hear myself in our discussions talking about like, well, it's not bad, but it's got these redeeming features. Yes, past me, it does have some redeeming features. You've talked me out of it, so I don't have any runners up. There's episodes. Jekyll and Hyde is one that was on some patrons lists that would be. I was looking at for. This might be a worst, but it's got some good things in there. So I did not add it to the list, although I just mentioned it. So it's kind of like doing that. Anyway, I just have the one and it's a nobody's surprise. Milwaukee Deep is if you wrote a three sentence description of what that episode is, I'd say that sounds awesome. I'm so into this. Which is the one redeeming quality of it. But then the actual execution, it's kind of a mess. And as we discussed at the time, part of that is the state of radio at the time, correct. That it's going to be cranked out every day. There's going to be 25 ads in the course of a couple hours. I still never found out what the shell is in a four piece suit. There's the jacket and the pants and the vest, but I don't know what the shell is I remember that really bothers me. And there's just lots of story flaws. That's pacing flaws. It's got all kinds of problems, but lots of episodes we listen to have these flaws, and it's mostly just the structure that it's being forced into that really puts it at the bottom. So Milwaukee deep is my unsurprising vote for worst. [00:45:35] Speaker D: All right, this one's easy for me. This year, it is the signal man by seeing ear theater hands down for me, because it's the only production we listened to this year that fell below, in my opinion, literal professional standards, because Milwaukee deep was clunky and a below average effort even by 1970s radio renaissance standards. But at the same time, the actors were professional actors. Richard effing Widmark is in this, even though he's just a narrator. I think part of why everyone voted for Milwaukee deep is because it's 45 minutes long. It's 15 extra minutes of mediocrity that pushes it over some other candidates. But for me, with the signal man, it is essentially two people talking. [00:46:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:27] Speaker D: And if one of them, uh, which is the guy playing the signal man, really is way, way, way, way below par, that's 50% of the production. I did admire, uh, the woman playing the narrator, uh, but it was an unfair thing to make her, uh, put that entire episode on her shoulders. Uh, so for me, definitely the signal man, it stands out to me as a struggle. It wasn't fun. Bad. The hall of fantasy one, the man in black, was just a mess, but it was like a lot of old time radio. One of those messes that's just ridiculously fun to listen to because strange things happen that are unexpected because they're mostly incoherent, but they're still unexpected and fun. So. Yeah. And, I mean, I also picked this one because, frankly, I don't feel like it would be an worst of awards show if I didn't pick one of Tim's picks. [00:47:26] Speaker B: Well, for me, here are my runner ups for worst of the doll from weird circle. It's so bad. And also, it falls into that category of everything I hate in that old timey language and that victorian type speaking and all of that. Here's another runner up, only because I just want to get under Joshua's skin. I put the powder river kid in. [00:47:52] Speaker D: There just to swipe at me. [00:47:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:55] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:47:56] Speaker D: Not the worst. [00:47:57] Speaker B: Oh, it's not at all. [00:47:59] Speaker D: Yeah. Then bring it on. As long as I know it's personal. It doesn't bother me. [00:48:04] Speaker C: It's just for you, not the quality of the show. [00:48:06] Speaker B: I just wanted to take a shot at you. [00:48:08] Speaker C: It's a tie between all the ones Joshua brought. [00:48:12] Speaker D: I'm fine. But the frontier gentlemen dead. That's cruel. [00:48:16] Speaker B: Signalman is way up there. But I have to go with the one I brought to the podcast, which was Milwaukee deep. And the reason I brought it to the podcast was just so that we could have a Sears radio theater finally on the show, which. [00:48:30] Speaker D: Just saying out loud is depressing. [00:48:32] Speaker B: Yeah, Sears. [00:48:33] Speaker D: Sears is depressing. [00:48:34] Speaker B: Yeah. It smells like tires everywhere in Sears stores. You'd be in it. Clothing section smells like tires. [00:48:41] Speaker C: But is that what a shell is? [00:48:43] Speaker B: Yes, but the reason I chose Milwaukee deep over signal man was because signal man, first of all, is a tradition with us every year, so I know it's Christmas, and so I can't ever get quite mad at that time of year. Also, Milwaukee Deep is like this thing where Scott Bishop would be like, wow, I can't keep track of what's happening. It twists and turns so ridiculously so many times. And plus, Milwaukee deep also is such a weird name for it and sounds like a beer that didn't make it. [00:49:25] Speaker D: I would drink that beer. [00:49:27] Speaker B: Yeah, you would. Yeah, you would. All right, so those are our worst ear beer. Two votes for Milwaukee deep, one for signalman for worst of the year. Let's move on to the best of the year, Tim. [00:49:42] Speaker C: So this one, I do have two runners up, and this was super easy to come up. These because I brought them, and I brought them because I really enjoyed them. And I was looking back over the, like, what did I enjoy this last year? All these ones I brought because I really enjoyed them. [00:49:54] Speaker D: Surprise. [00:49:55] Speaker C: Yes. And I am just shamelessly gonna pat myself on the back. One was the conspiracy, which I know did not necessarily land that well with everyone else, but I had a good time. So that's my runner up. Conspiracy from murder rai experts. And the other is the devil's workshop from inner sanctum, which I like. Right. [00:50:15] Speaker D: So you approach best of from an incredibly subjective point of view, as in, like, for runners up, certainly. Oh, these were the runners up. Okay. It's like. So you're going, like, what delighted me the most as a listening experience, which I don't think is the wrong way to approach it at all. I just want to clarify. [00:50:31] Speaker C: And so surprising to me, the one that really took root in me and you know, how many ever months, year plus, it's been since then when I was looking back over, I thought, that's the one. That's my favorite, and it's on nobody's list unless it's on your guys list. See? Suspense. Two sharp knives. That's the one I liked the best. That's my winner. That's my best of somebody. I can re listened to my reaction to it, and it was like, I like this, but I had some. Some tempered enthusiasm for it. But it really is. It's a crime drama, and it's these complex relationships between people who've known each other a long time. It's not the mystery of what's this stranger? And I don't know anything about them. Who are they really? It's the people that you know and what don't you know about them. It's this personal, modern, but old story that's. Yeah, that's the best I can do. [00:51:27] Speaker D: Well, I will tell you right now, segueing into my best of that, two sharp knives made my list as well. Much as I would like to judge you, I agree. I'm going to try to keep this as short as I can. But, like, for whatever reason, my personal list of best of 2023 is very long. And I think it is reflective of, obviously, the quality of the episodes featured on the podcast in 2023. But also it's the cumulative effect of listening to so much radio drama over the last eight years. I would think I'd be, like, tired of it, but I think actually it has broadened my tastes and deepened my appreciation of what good radio drama can be and what it can accomplish. So in some ways, I have both a higher bar, but also just a longer bar. That makes sense. But so, with that in mind, here is my very long short list of best of 2023 in order of appearance on the podcast. The 13th sound from suspense. Murderous revision from suspense. Two sharp knives from suspense. Lots of suspense. Murder in the script department from lights out. The enormous radio from CB's radio workshop, the cabin from Gunsmoke, and the man who stole a planet from quiet, please. And so I didn't even know where to start with this list. So I. Here's how I do this. Because I'm a super nerd, I broke these down into three categories to sort of better understand what I appreciated about them into basically, this is why you were arrested. Yes. Get your hands off me. Traditional, meta and kind of off brand, right? So traditional, I think, would be two sharp knives and the cabin, both of which are impeccably produced small s suspense stories. There's nothing unconventional in approach or content, but they represent their respective genres. Hardboiled, mystery, western at peak performance levels, which is why I appreciate that them great stories, well told. Off brand is much more subjective, but I would make this the dumping ground for the episodes I love, but that are arguably a little outside the genre scope of this podcast. [00:54:03] Speaker B: Antique radio. [00:54:04] Speaker D: Yeah. The overtly satirical, almost slapstick quality of the man who stole a planet from quiet, please. And I think the social and psychological realism of the enormous radio. [00:54:19] Speaker B: Enormous radio. [00:54:21] Speaker D: So that stretched our parameters a bit. It was worth it, in my opinion. And then there is the meta category, which I think is most of them. The 13th sound, murder is revision and murder in the script department, which all are works about art. [00:54:39] Speaker B: Right. [00:54:39] Speaker D: They explore themes related to the nature of radio drama, or the process of making radio drama, or the relationship between the creators of radio drama and the listeners. So I decided I could just cut the off brand stuff because this is a mysterious old radio listening society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime, and horror stories from the golden age of radio. So I'm Eric. I could get rid of those. And they still left me a lot of radio dramas, I think, because we are a old time radio show dedicated to Spencer. [00:55:13] Speaker C: Just get the front story. Just get the front turtle. [00:55:16] Speaker D: Age of radio. Part of what appeals to me about a radio drama is how discussion worthy it is, like, how much and how long we can talk about it. So that led me toward those meta episodes. And of those three, it's gonna piss off a lot of listeners who found it horrifying and annoying. But it is the 13th sound from suspense, because that just blew me away. [00:55:43] Speaker B: Right? [00:55:44] Speaker D: I had never heard of it until our awesome patron, Katherine brought it. And I swear I'll stop talking, but I have to do a little reasoning behind this. I just think it is clever and funny and deceptively complex in its self awareness, and it's being able to get to the castle. It just drops you into this story at this high tension point, but then switch gears and sort of does this slow burn as the story. And Elliot Lewis, as director, torturously finds new ways to weaponize radio sound effects one by one. It's essentially radio drama turned against the listener in many ways. It's fingernails on a chalkboard transformed into a radio drama. And I think it's as avant garde in many ways as the micro tonal music that inspired it. So I just. I admire it so much. And the lineup, it's Agnes Moorhead, it's William Johnstone, Elliot and Kathy Lewis who wrote it. And it's just a celebration and a subversion of radio drama at the same time. So I loved it. A big thank you to Katherine again for bringing it. [00:57:04] Speaker C: That makes two for two of our best doves being our listener suggestions. [00:57:09] Speaker D: Yes. [00:57:10] Speaker B: So, yeah, 13 town also is something that we performed on stage. [00:57:14] Speaker C: Yes. Welcome. [00:57:16] Speaker B: So here are my best of starting with the runner runner ups. What that means is, I just want to mention some shows I really liked. Carmilla from nightfall. I loved it. Black tie affair from bold venture. I loved it. Jack Frost from Candy Matson, because it was Candy Madsen. It was so fun. I loved it. The 13th sound from suspense runner runner up. I loved it when we did it. And the crime of Bathsheba spooner from crime classics was really good and a lot of fun. [00:57:46] Speaker D: Oh, and the Birkin hair one. [00:57:47] Speaker B: And the Birkin hare one. All right. [00:57:49] Speaker D: The powder river kid. [00:57:52] Speaker B: Oh, you almost got me to say it. Not the powder river kid. So those are my runner run ups. So here are my candidates now for best of first on that list. And these are in order, like fifth through first. The conspiracy for murder by experts was just amazing. I love that. And it is top five of the year, for sure. It has too much competition, though, to win. Coming in fourth, split second from Vanishing Point, which I think I'm alone on that one, but I like a lot. [00:58:22] Speaker D: Runner runner up. [00:58:23] Speaker B: Yeah. It was a fantastic piece of work from Vanishing Point. And I loved everything about that. Bringing us to third place, which I thought going into this. Oh, well. Before I sat down and really relistened and rethought, oh, well, this will be the winner. Yeah. Because that's how I talk at home. I talk like this. So third place for me was the cabin from Gunsmoke. And I was like, oh, I'm surprised. [00:58:50] Speaker D: That's third. [00:58:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:52] Speaker D: I thought it for sure it would be favorite. So now I have no idea what your favorite episode is. This is awesome. [00:58:58] Speaker B: First and second, right? It was so close. It was so close. But I had to put in second place as the runner up. Long distance from the chase. It was so well done. And here's why. Here's why it's in second place. Because the chase, that's overachievement. They. Yeah, they're fine. They do fine work. Right. But if it's suspense, you're expecting something, right? You're expecting suspense level or I fear on four. Whatever. You know, like, we know. Oh, you're really good. Chase is always like, yeah, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's okay. Sometimes it's terrible. They don't have an expectation to do something at the level that is extraordinary. It was an extraordinary piece of audio drama that even today, and I said at the time, it is derivative of sorry, wrong number. And I still say I like it better than sorry, wrong number. Um, from a suspenseful standpoint, I said it in the podcast. I'll say it again. I think even though it's derivative and kind of the same thing, the tension is better and more palatable and disturbing in this episode. So that's my runner up. [01:00:11] Speaker C: Awesome. [01:00:12] Speaker B: Which leads me to my winner for. [01:00:13] Speaker C: The year, signal man. [01:00:15] Speaker B: The signal, Mandy. Best episode of suspense I ever heard. And that was beating out some that I love dearly. But two sharp knives. Oh, wow. Is absolutely the best thing that we did this year. And it was close. It was close, but two sharp knives. I mean, I love on a country road, and you guys know my suspense episodes that I. Oh, that was genius. And I love them, but this was just beautiful. And for everything that Tim said, all the reasons I was enamored with it, and it was really close between that and long distance from the chase and actually, all five of those that I just mentioned, those top five. Wow. That was a really hard thing. But when Tim started this and said, you guys probably don't even have this on your list too long, I'm over here going, uh, that's also my pick. [01:01:09] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. Made it into my final. [01:01:11] Speaker B: Yeah, it was really good. [01:01:13] Speaker D: And that was a recommendation as well from Jessica. [01:01:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:17] Speaker D: Good job, patrons. [01:01:18] Speaker B: Yeah, right? [01:01:19] Speaker D: I should be doing this podcast. Well, now it's time to tally our votes. [01:01:25] Speaker B: Okay, here we go. [01:01:26] Speaker D: I mean, you should do the podcast and still pay us money. Okay, I want to be really clear about that. So I think this happened another year, but patrons who have longer memories than we do should let us know. But it, for best of is a tie. [01:01:45] Speaker A: Old man Camsley, Ben's father, used to have a saying to a sharp knife comes a tough steak. Well, sorry. You did it, Wally. I always liked you. I know you did, Scott. I was counting on that. Belle, don't let all this make you bitter. There are a lot of good men in the world. So they say. So long, Marshall. I, uh. So long, Bell. [01:02:25] Speaker D: Two sharp knives in the cabin. So traditional. Meat and potatoes. [01:02:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Storytelling genre. [01:02:32] Speaker D: Yeah, stuff won. [01:02:34] Speaker B: And, yeah, the cabin deserves to be in that list, for sure. [01:02:38] Speaker D: And worst of easily running away with this humiliation and embarrassment, the cracks in. [01:02:46] Speaker A: Those brand new walls weren't the result of shoddy materials. The Mayans never left the Yucatan at. [01:02:52] Speaker B: All their spirits are still here. [01:02:55] Speaker D: Milwaukee deep. Nice from smells like tires radio theater. [01:03:04] Speaker B: Well, thank you all so much for listening, and we'll be back next week with another old time radio episode and discussion. [01:03:11] Speaker C: Who knows? Maybe it will be the best of 2024. [01:03:15] Speaker D: Or the worst. Until then, um, phones off. [01:03:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:22] Speaker D: Pants on. [01:03:23] Speaker C: Yes. [01:03:24] Speaker D: Let's go. [01:03:25] Speaker B: Welcome to the mysterious old radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime, and venereal disease. You ready? Welcome to the mysterious old welcome. [01:03:39] Speaker D: I'll try one more time. [01:03:39] Speaker B: Welcome. [01:03:40] Speaker D: Try it. Do it. [01:03:44] Speaker B: Welcome. [01:03:48] Speaker D: Testing. One, two, three. Tested. E test, test. Testing. [01:03:52] Speaker B: Oh, ten. 987-65-4321 okay, Tim, there was this tv. [01:03:57] Speaker C: Show called BJ and the bear about a trucker who had a co pilot who was a chimpanzee. [01:04:02] Speaker D: No, no. [01:04:03] Speaker B: Orangutan. [01:04:04] Speaker C: Orangutan. Was it. [01:04:05] Speaker B: Was it. Wait, I thought it was. No. Was it a chimp? [01:04:10] Speaker C: I thought it was a chimp. [01:04:11] Speaker B: Really tall one. [01:04:13] Speaker C: Um, that. That might have been lobo with the sheriff who got his own spin off. [01:04:18] Speaker B: Show with an orangutan. [01:04:20] Speaker C: You might have had a ring. [01:04:22] Speaker B: Today we return to the listener library for suggestion from our mysterious patron, Tim. [01:04:28] Speaker D: Tim is a generous supporter of the mysterious old. Uh, I forgot the name of this podcast. [01:04:35] Speaker C: The program ran on. [01:04:38] Speaker B: Well, now I'm gonna find out. Ah, here we go. What kind of monkey was on BJ and the bear? [01:04:48] Speaker D: Are you just thinking out loud? [01:04:52] Speaker B: Well, no, I didn't ask that. [01:04:56] Speaker C: That's gonna be the tag of the. [01:04:59] Speaker B: What kind of monkey was on BJ and the bear? Don't just give me monkeys. Ready? [01:05:11] Speaker D: Yep. My drift control is on. [01:05:15] Speaker C: That's my favorite fast and the Furious movie. [01:05:18] Speaker D: It's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an. Sorry, I know this from by heart. I was about to set this down, and I was like, where does light come from? That's a good question. [01:05:40] Speaker C: How do magnets work? [01:05:42] Speaker D: I'm pretty sure it was a chimpanzee. If you're talking about the tv show, it was the movie with Clint Eastwood, BJ and Orangutan, right? [01:05:50] Speaker C: That was. Yeah, every which way but loose. [01:05:52] Speaker D: And orangutan chimp settled. Soundcheck done. Ape related questions answered. [01:06:03] Speaker C: Litton also served as the show's host, fate, whose distinctive qualities are. [01:06:09] Speaker D: We're good. Oh, I'll let you chew. Okay, I'm gonna masticating over there. [01:06:17] Speaker B: Could it just be chewing? Might as have to be gross. [01:06:20] Speaker D: That's the question I was gonna ask you. [01:06:25] Speaker B: All right? [01:06:26] Speaker C: I mean, if we're recording it, you're masticating. [01:06:34] Speaker B: Mmm, bacon. [01:06:36] Speaker D: Welcome to the masticating. Old radio listening. [01:06:39] Speaker B: Why does it have to be masticating? [01:06:42] Speaker C: See, this is like. Why is it to be gorillas? Because it can be gorillas. [01:06:48] Speaker B: What's. I'm so sorry, guys. [01:06:51] Speaker D: Did you just space out? Did you hear anything we just read? [01:06:55] Speaker B: The general plotted this again. Why am I blanking? [01:06:58] Speaker C: Disowned daughter. Who. [01:07:00] Speaker B: Thank you. Got it, got it, got it, got it, got it. Okay, right, just had that. I was conflating it with the suspense. [01:07:06] Speaker D: She had an orangutan froze to death. [01:07:10] Speaker C: And it's tongue going up to the. [01:07:13] Speaker D: Window and giving the kid the finger. [01:07:17] Speaker C: In Sheckley's obituary, the New York Times contrasted. Nope. In Sheckley's obituary, the New York Times contrasted. No, in Sheckley's obituary, the New York Times contrasted the sheky and. [01:07:35] Speaker D: Oh, what. [01:07:36] Speaker C: Did it were the case. [01:07:37] Speaker B: The structure of this, the premise of the overall. Damn it. It's gonna make me crazy. I'm so sorry. [01:07:45] Speaker C: Peppermint. [01:07:47] Speaker B: Not helpful. [01:07:48] Speaker C: Gazpacho. [01:07:49] Speaker B: Still not helpful. [01:07:51] Speaker C: I'm hungry. [01:07:52] Speaker B: Still not helpful. [01:07:54] Speaker C: He brought a youthful jocularity to laugh. I got cheese. [01:07:59] Speaker D: Today we are thanking our upper tier supporters with the beast with five fingers from the BBC Radio Four series fear on four. [01:08:14] Speaker B: I momentarily read that as breast with five fingers. [01:08:22] Speaker C: Scraps back. [01:08:24] Speaker B: Fear on four aired on. What's coming up next? [01:08:29] Speaker C: I don't know.