The First Nighter Program - 34 Episodes of the Old Time Radio Show

This upload contains 34 episodes of the old time radio show, The First Nighter Program. Airing for 19 years on CBS from 1930 to 1949, and another 2 years in repeats on NBC, the show brought you along with Mr. First Nighter as he attended opening night for hundreds of plays at the little theater just off Times Square.

The dramatic anthology starred a leading couple in plays written specifically for the show. The leading men included Don Ameche, Les Tremayne, and Olan Soule, while the leading ladies were June Meredith, Betty Lou Gerson, and Barbara Luddy. The show was popular and helped make Don Ameche a major star in the early 1930s, leading to his transition to movies.

Although the show aired over 750 first-run episodes, sadly fewer than 40 appear to have survived. The plays are well-written and well-acted, and one hopes that additional episodes will be discovered.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.