It's 1948. The long-playing phonograph album is created this year. Dewey is supposed to beat President Truman in this fall's elections. And the Golden Age of Radio is starting to show some tarnish.

While the one-eyed monster of television is slowly gaining ratings footholds, radio die-hards are trying to hold onto their audiences. Some are switching to cheap quiz shows. Others experiment with "disc jockey" programs of recorded music. Station WDOA has brought its biggest money-maker, "Rip Trenchcoate, Private Eye", out of the studio, and into an unusual remote broadcast for its season opener.

You're part of a celebrity audience invited by station manager Hiram Cheaply. Series star Curt Manly will be signing autographs, while going over this week's script with show creator and writer, Ima Scribbler. The sponsor's wife, Velvet Travail, will no doubt have suggestions to improve things. And while our man-of-a-thousand voices and just as many sound effects, Buzz Klaxxon, frets over losing more lines to the star, engineer Stringer McCord and Mrs. Wringer the cleaning lady struggle to get everything in place on time.

It's a great beginning. But will it also become a bigger finish? The glamour and big bucks of television are making it harder for radio stations to keep their talent and sponsors, as well as their audiences. If things don't go smoothly tonight, we may be in for what broadcasters refer to as "Dead Air"...in more ways than one.

We only have pretend detectives on this show. So you and your companions may be asked later to form your own private eye agencies. Be planning a clever name for your group, select a chief detective, and follow events as they unfold, so you can ask the suspects some tough questions if this show turns into a real "whodunit." The agency to hit on the most correct guilty party/parties and motives will be the real heroes of the day!

Good luck, and enjoy our broadcast, live from the beautiful ___________!

CAST

Hiram Cheaply
His spirits are high, but the ratings are low. The station manager's luck holding onto audiences and sponsors is getting as bad as his luck at the racetrack. Don't let our jolly Master of Ceremonies fool you. He's "betting the ranch" on this publicity-grabbing broadcast...but will he "buy the farm" before it's over?

Curt Manly
For three seasons he's played Rip Trenchcoate, Private Eye. But he's got his eye on bigger things. The sponsor's wife has eyes for him! So does the show's creator. And they both seem to be planning a jump to television and the big time. But has he gotten so used to burning bridges that he may have sent his future up in smoke?

Ima Scribbler
She knows she's got her hands on a hit show. Now if she can just keep the station manager's hands off her long enough to work her plan with Curt. A former newspaper reporter, she's learned it's easier to fight crime in a fictional world. She stepped on too many important toes as a crusading journalist...maybe a step too far!

Velvet Travail
The sponsor's wife is glad to be ignored by her rich hubby. It gives her more time to use their show as her personal showbiz toy. It's rumored the only reason Rip Trenchcoate made it through last season was this woman's devotion to the male lead. She's got plans for him. Big plans. Does someone have plans for her?

Stringer McCord
Stringer gets the engineering grunt work of sending the radio signal from the hotel to the station. He'd rather be a writer...or an actor. But after the heat he took over Ima Scribbler's gambling articles back at the newspaper, he's just glad she could get him a job, any job, at WDOA. Trouble is...somebody tonight may be jeopardizing his meal ticket.

Mrs. Wringer
Hardly anyone pays any attention to the station's cleaning lady, unless they need something done they don't want to do themselves. But while being practically unnoticed, she notices practically everything. She's really a bigger snoop than the show's detective character. What's this "beast of burden" really packing tonight?

Buzz Klaxxon
Local boy makes good: good sound effects and character voices for WDOA. He's got no yearning for the big time. He knows he could do more for the station. But with the star of the show getting all the attention, and even more of the lines, our boy may have to do even more of a bang-up job to get ahead. Is he measuring himself for a Trenchcoate?