OT: Yes, Josh, there IS a Chickenman....

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For more than a decade, radio existed without a true super-hero. One by one, the demigods of yore -Superman, The Green Hornet, Batman and Robin, Captain Midnight, The Lone Ranger deserted the airwaves in the late '40s and early 50's forcing their followers to turn to such mundane sources as the comic books for the latest exploits in crime-fighting. On into the '60's, radio drifted in a hero-less limbo. And then . . . a daring new anti-hero hero rose like a phoenix over crime-infested Midland City (pop. 7,043). The new champion of justice was none other than "Chickenman - the most fantastic crime fighter the world has ever known - and he arrived on the scene resplendent in his rented, feathered, zippered suit to fight crime and/or evil."

Chickenman, like Batman, Robin, and other crime-fighters who are enjoying a pop-art revival, must live a double life. When he is not combating crime, Chicken-man assumes the identity of soft-spoken Benton Harbor, shoe salesman in a large downtown department store. Unfortunately, selling shoes keeps Benton tied up Mondays through Fridays, so he is available only on weekends to combat the forces of evil (pronounced E-ville). The weekends have been eventful, however. For example, Chickenman has (1) leveled the Midland City City hall with a "chicken missile," (2) set his feathers afire with a hot-plate, (3) fallen through the bedroom trap door into his own "chicken cave", where he became trapped, (4) lost his way while winging to Minneapolis to address a poultry and egg association banquet, and (5) flunked the selective service physical. Although Chickenman numbers a good many youngsters among his radio followers, the intrepid feathered fighter also appeals strongly to adults who remember those wonderful days when adventure serials dominated the radio waves each weekday afternoon. The satire and tongue-in-cheek humor inherent in the Chickenman adventures are best appreciated by those of us who can take a cold, detached look back at those preposterously wonderful serials, with the melancholy realization
that our childhood naiveté is gone, never to return.

http://www.wizd.com/stationfiles/chickenman/index.asp



Kis
 
chickenman.jpg


And now for another exciting episode...
 
When some spare change accumulates, I am ordering the whole 14 cd set!!!

After that, the Star Blazers DVD's! :D

I don't want my children to grow up deprived!

Tom
 
Josh?

I'll try this once more, I accidently deleted the last one. :grumpy:


In the 60's, Chickenman was daily fare for early-morning commuters. Car-pools would hush each other; teen-agers would stop talking(!), college kids would lean to the radio speakers...wonderful thing.

Dick Orkin and Bert Berdis became a radio advertising agency and went on to win countless CLIOs (don't remember what it stands for.) You HAVE heard Orkin in commercials he wrote/directed/produced/was talent for, if you live in the U.S.

Do yourself a favor, listen to a few of the streaming audios at that site. Soon, you will recognize Orkin's voice, and begin to appreciate how wonderfully ludicrous the whole thing is, and how delightful.

This is comedy...not ridicule of others, nor cheap-shot sarcasm which passes for humor today. Really quite a treasure.

Enjoy. :)


Kis
TheVast
 
Kismet said:
.......with the melancholy realization
that our childhood naiveté is gone, never to return......


Maybe not , Kis.....

(cue "The Time Warp" music from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.....

"With a bit of a mind-flip; You're into the time slip......"
)


Every Sunday evening from 8:00-10:00 PM WUFT-FM Gainesville FL
broadcasts two hours of oldtime radio shows like Superman, The Shadow,
The Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, etc. This is live-strteamed on the 'Net
via RealPlayer.
Go to and navigate to "Theater of the Mind". Best to get there early as there are a limited number of slots for internet listeners.

Gyr (who remebers "Johnny Dollar and "Gunsmoke" and is catching up on the rest)
 
Ok, Kis, I gave it a listen. Pretty funny stuff. I'll have to listen to the rest of the episodes next week.

--Josh
 
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