Classic Christmas Radio Theater, Mormon Tabernacle to be featured across Nevada

The Nevada Talk Network brings a huge Christmas Wish to the state beginning at noon Christmas Eve until 8 p.m. Christmas night.

The 20th annual presentation of Classic Christmas Radio Theater, the greatest Christmas shows of all time, will kick off at Noon Christmas Eve, featuring stars such as Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Raymond Burr, Lum n Abner, The Great Gildersleeve, Mason Adams, Jack Webb, Jack Benny, and more.

From 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir take center stage with music and words from many of the Choir’s foremost guests. At 5am our regular feature of the Rosary, followed by a special Christmas presentation of Family Theater. Then Classic Christmas Radio Theater returns from 6am until 8pm with more stars and stories of Christmas, including the story of how Silent Night was written, the story of the birth of Jesus, Dickens classic A Christmas Carol starring Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge, and It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart.

This is the 20th anniversary of Classic Christmas Radio Theater, having first been broadcast over five radio stations in 1999, and this year will be broadcast nationwide over more than 50 radio stations. The program originates in Ely, and will be broadcast statewide over the Nevada Talk Network

KELY, Ely, 1230AM
KNNR, Sparks, Reno, Carson City, 1400AM
KNVR, Fallon, 102.5 AM
KPVM-TV, Pahrump, Channel 46.6
KNNT, Battle Mountain, 98.5AM
KAVB, Hawthorne, 98.7 FM
KPKK, Amargosa Valley, NV, 101.1 FM

Complete listing of programs
Noon - Command Performance, originally broadcast December 24, 1942, 77 years ago. One of the few episodes of the Armed Forces Radio Program that aired domestically in the United States. In fact, it aired on all the major Networks of the time, CBS, NBC, The Blue Network, and Mutual. Bob Hope emceed the variety show which included performances by Jack Benny and Fred Allen, Red Skelton and Harriet Hilliard (Ozzie Nelson’s wife), and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy with Charles Laughton.

1 pm - The Aldrich Family, originally broadcast December 23, 1948, 71 years ago. Ezra Stone stars as Henry and Jackie Kelk as Homer. Henry wants binoculars for Christmas, Homer wants a piccolo. The hints start falling like snowflakes. Also Bob and Ray, originally broadcast December 24, 1959,. 60 years ago,

2 pm - The Bob Hope Show, originally broadcast December 18, 1945, 74 years ago. Bob’s guest is actor and World War II Fighter Ace Wayne Morris. Also Suspense starring Raymond Burr, Out for Christmas, originally broadcast December 21, 1958, 61 years ago.

3 pm - Duffy’s Tavern starring Ed Gardner as Archie the Manager, originally broadcast December 22, 1948, 71 years ago. Archie is depressed after not getting a Christmas bonus until a stranger pays him a visit. Also an excerpt of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill speaking at the lighting of the White House Christmas Tree on December 24, 1941.

4 pm - Lum n Abner, originally broadcast December 19, 1948, 71 years ago. Thanks to Ted at radiomemories.com we finally have a good quality episode of the boy’s Annual Christmas program, this time from their one season half-hour program. Lum, Abner, and Grandpappy Spears travel East to visit a family in need, seeking shelter in a barn...and with a young baby.

5 pm - The Great Gildersleeve, originally broadcast December 24, 1944, 75 years ago. An old-fashioned Christmas at the water commissioners home. Will Miss Dolores del Rey sue him for breach of promise?

6 pm - Grand Central Station, originally broadcast December 24, 1949, 70 years ago. "Miracle For Christmas". The sixth consecutive presentation of the show's traditional program. A well-done and very moving Christmas story. Mason Adams stars in this fantasy--or is it truly a miracle.

7 pm - Suspense, originally broadcast December 20, 1959, 60 years ago, A Korean Christmas Carol. The story of a strange G.I., his A.W.O.L. bag, and an even stranger Christmas battle. Also Suspense from December 22, 1957, Evelyn Rudie starring in Dog Star, her first appearance on Radio. All that a little girl wants for Christmas is a little puppy. She finally gets one...from outer space! Little Chipka falls to Earth from a Russian satellite.

8 pm - Dragnet starring Jack Webb, originally broadcast December 22, 1953, 66 years ago. Big Little Jesus. Also Fibber McGee and Molly, originally broadcast December 16, 1953, Shopping at the Bon-Ton.

9 pm - Jack Benny, originally broadcast December 5, 1954, 65 years ago, Jack goes Christmas Shopping - again. Jack Benny goes Christmas shopping for paints for Don Wilson. And you know who’s working in the Art department. Mel Blanc! Also excerpts from the December 19, 1948 program where Jack buys a wallet for Don.

10 pm - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir until 5am

5 am - The Rosary
5:30 am - Family Theater

6 am - The CBS Radio Workshop, originally broadcast December 23, 1956, 63 years ago, All Is Bright. The story of how "Silent Night" came to be written and became world-famous. Also Orson Welles tells the story of The Happy Prince, voiced by Bing Crosby, as it was originally broadcast in December of 1945.

7 am - Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, originally broadcast December 22, 1957, 62 years ago, The Carmen Kringle Matter. Also Gunsmoke, originally broadcast December 25, 1955, 64 years ago, Twelfth Night. Eban Hakes has walked all the way from the Ozarks, just to kill Joff Monger. A family feud going on for years is about to break out in Dodge...but never on Sunday!

8 am - Lights Out, originally broadcast December 22, 1937. The only existing recording of a script of the horror series Lights Out under the creator Wyllis Cooper. One would wonder how a man who wrote truly frightening scripts could write such a tender Christmas tale set in 1918. On the first Christmas after World War I, three Allied officers meet by chance in a train compartment and find one another vaguely familiar. They fall asleep and share a dream in which they are the Three Wise Men searching for Jesus. But is it really a dream?

9 am - Abbott and Costello, originally broadcast December 14, 1944, 75 years ago. The boys go Christmas shopping for Lou’s Girlfriend. Also Monitor from NBC, originally broadcast December 24, 1961, 58 years ago. host Frank McGee anchors a show asking people on the street about their Christmas memories, including those of Journalist and Commentator HV Kaltenborn.

10 am until Noon - Greatest Story ever Told - Three episodes of the religious program that tells the story of the birth of Jesus as broadcast seventy two years ago. First from December 14, 1947 Go and Be Counted. Then from December 21, 1947, No room at the inn. Finally from December 28, 1947, Flight into Egypt. The program on ABC was sponsored by Goodyear Tire and Rubber company, but no commercials ran during the show, there was no studio audience, and no acknowledgment of casts were ever made nor photos of the production taken. The program was the first to characterize Christ on the air, and was, as John Dunning put it in his “On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio,” ”a simple, popular dramatization of Christ’s life.”

Noon - Mayor of the Town, originally broadcast December 24, 1942, 77 years ago. The well-known Christmas story, as told by the best Scrooge of them all. This is completely out of the program's format; but if Lionel Barrymore is working for you, you CANNOT fail to do, "A Christmas Carol." Also The Treasury Star Parade, originally broadcast December 25, 1942, 77 years ago, Lionel Barrymore as A Modern Scrooge.

1 pm - The New Edgar Bergen Hour, originally broadcast December 25, 1955, 64 years ago. Frank Fawcett (a Santa's helper) is interviewed, Charlie and Candy recite "The Night Before Christmas," Charlie tells the story of Red Riding Hood from the wolf's point of view. Prof. Kirkwood discusses "How To Enjoy Bankruptcy," a quiz titled "What The Devil Do You Do?"

2 pm - Fred Allen’s Town Hall tonight from December 22, 1937, 82 years ago. Jack Benny tries to sell Allen his Maxwell. The Mighty Allen Art Players perform a Christmas fable titled, "Santa Will Not Ride Tonight."

3 pm - The Whistler, originally broadcast December 23, 1953,66 years ago, Next Year Is Mine starring Frank Lovejoy. The story of a prisoner’s sullen attitude at Christmas. Also The Bickersons starring Don Ameche and Francis Langford, originally broadcast December 24, 1947, 72 years ago, Christmas Eve.

4 pm - Fibber McGee and Molly, originally broadcast December 21, 1943, 76 years ago. Fibber and Molly are looking for a Christmas tree. They seem to be having trouble. Also Calling All Detectives, originally broadcast December 24, 1948, 71 years ago, Too Many Santas. Jerry Browning dresses up as Santa Claus, but so do 5 other guys...one of whom is a pickpocket!

5 pm - Hallmark Playhouse, originally broadcast December 19, 1946, Room for a Stranger starring Frank Sinatra. Also an excerpt of The Bob Hope Show, originally broadcast December 24, 1953, 66 years ago. Bob thinks guest Frank Sinatra’s bought him an expensive present.

6 pm - Tales of the Texas Rangers, originally broadcast December 24, 1950, 69 years ago, Christmas Presents. The "Santa Claus Stickup" of December 31, 1931, a crime story with a happy ending. Fibber McGee and Molly, originally broadcast December 23, 1953, Fibber tells Teeny the story of the Patient Little Star

7 pm - Screen Directors Playhouse, originally broadcast May 8, 1949, It’s a Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart as George, Arthur Q Bryan as Clarence, and Hans Conried as Mr Potter. A fine adaptation of the 1947 motion picture. Also Fibber McGee and Molly, originally broadcast December 24, 1953, Fibber tells the story of Laura the Lopsided Pine.

For more information contact Wyatt Cox at the Nevada Talk Network, 775-293-1875