Radio Westerns

    Ask fans of old-time radio, or almost any radio historian, to list the greatest programs from the Golden Age of Radio, and the list will include comedies, dramas, game shows, and soap operas.  Few will list a Western, with one notable exception, Gunsmoke.  The famous Western is remembered as one of the best shows ever produced for the ear, with memorable, well-written characters supported by marvelous special effects.

  But even when Western fans discuss the genre, the conversation generally concerns motion pictures and television series.  Simply put, radio Westerns are often overlooked, and their contribution to the genre neglected, despite the presence of stars like James Stewart, Joel McCrea, William Conrad, and Raymond Burr; writers like John Meston and Frank Burt; and producers like Norman MacDonnell and Antony Ellis.

    Perhaps the answer is as simple as Donald Kirkley suggested in the 1979 Arno Press reprint of his 1967 doctoral dissertation, when he argued that radio Westerns didn't play that large a role during the days of radio drama.  "In comparison to the print media, the motion pictures, and television, Western dramas played a relatively small part in radio programming.  This may have been due to the importance of scenery and visual action in Western stories..................