OTR Flashback Friday – Pat Novak for Hire

“Sure, I’m Pat Novak… for hire” and thus started one of Old Time Radio’s most interesting hard boiled detective shows. It was fast-paced and had some of the wittiest one-liners on or off radio and before he ever became known as Joe Friday on the Old Time Radio series, and later the television series, “Dragnet,” Jack Webb starred as the lead character, Pat Novak. Raymond Burr played Police Inspector Hellman and the two often had some humorous and fast-paced patter.

Was the show formulaic? Sure, but it was memorable nonetheless with its witty dialog and amusing similes.

The series aired on the West Coast from 1946 through 1947. It went nationwide on ABC in 1949. The best episodes starred Jack Webb and were written by his then roommate Richard L. Breen.

So please, sit back, turn out the lights, grab some popcorn, or, um, grab the popcorn first then turn out the lights. Don’t want to spill anything, and enjoy this episode of “Pat Novak for Hire.”

Tonight’s episode is:
“Jack of Clubs”
Original Air Date:
February 20, 1949
Starring Jack Webb, Raymond Burr
Run Time:
29:39

Previous blogs on OTR:
How I Discovered OTR
A Background
The Shadow
War of the Worlds
Box 13
Christmas Old Time Radio Episodes

Flashback Fridays:
February 18, 2011 “Sherlock Holmes”
February 5, 2011 “The Man Called ‘X’”
January 21, 2011 “The Baby From Krypton.”
January 7, 2011 “Murders of the Rue Morgue.”
December 17, 2010 “Miracle on 34th Street”
November 26, 2010: Vincent Price as “The Saint”
November 19, 2010: Jimmy Stewart in “The Six Shooter”
November 12, 2010: Blue Ribbon Town starring Groucho Marx
November 05, 2010: Abbott & Costello “Who’s on First”
October 29, 2010: Lights Out “Mister Maggs (The Chest)”
October 22, 2010: Inner Sanctum “The Deadly Dummy”
October 15, 2010: Agnes Moorehead in “Sorry, Wrong Number”
October 8, 2010: Suspense: “The Dunwich Horror”

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