''The Zero Hour'' (aka ''Hollywood Radio Theater'') was a 1973–74 American radio drama anthology series hosted by

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...

.The Zero Hour Radio Log
/ref> With tales of mystery, adventure and suspense, the program was broadcast for two seasons. Some of the scripts were written by Serling.Judge, Dick. Hollywood Radio Theater: Zero Hour
/ref> The radio series debuted on September 3, 1973, in syndication, and was picked up by the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

in December. The original format featured five-part dramas broadcast Monday through Friday with the story coming to a conclusion on Friday. Including commercials, each part was approximately 30 minutes long. Mutual affiliates were free to broadcast the series in any available time slot that they wished.''Zero Hour'' at ''The Digital Deli Too''
/ref> In 1974, still airing five days a week, the program changed to a full story in a single 30-minute installment with the same actor starring throughout the week in all five programs. That format was employed from late April 1974 to the end of the series in July 1974. Producer J. M. Kholos was a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

advertising man who acquired the rights to suspense novels, including Tony Hillerman's ''

The Blessing Way ''The Blessing Way'' is the first crime fiction novel in the Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series by Tony Hillerman. First published in 1970, it introduces the character of officer Joe Leaphorn. Two anthropology professors from N ...

'', for radio adaptations. In some cases, the titles were changed. For example, the five-part "Desperate Witness" was an adaptation of ''

The Big Clock ''The Big Clock'' is a 1946 novel by Kenneth Fearing. Published by Harcourt Brace, the thriller was Fearing's fourth novel, following three for Random House (''The Hospital'', ''Dagger of the Mind'', ''Clark Gifford's Body'') and five collections ...

'' by Kenneth Fearing. To create a strong package, Kholos followed through by lining up top actors, including John Astin,

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Ch ...

, Joseph Campanella,

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as ''The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', ''Body Heat'', the first three ' ...

, John Dehner,

Howard Duff Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in mos ...

, Richard Deacon, Patty Duke, Nina Foch, George Maharis,

Susan Oliver Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

, Brock Peters and

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile a ...

. The opening theme music was by Ferrante & Teicher. Don Hills produced the series for StudioHouse, which also produced the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

's ''Heartbeat Theatre''. Counting each five-part show as five episodes, there were a total of 130 episodes. Failing to find a large audience due to the initial weekly serial format and lack of promotion, Mutual canceled the program, and the final episode was broadcast on July 26 1974, though many Mutual affiliates continued broadcasting repeats for several months afterwards. According to director

Elliott Lewis Eliot or Elliott Lewis may refer to: *Elliott Lewis (politician) (1858–1935), Australian premier of Tasmania *Elliott Lewis (actor) (1917–1990), American actor, writer and director *Eliot Lewis Eliot Lewis (born March 10, 1962) is an America ...

, "They wanted as much name value as possible to help with sales. They forgot they had to sell it. Everybody sat in the office and waited for someone to call them up and buy the show."

Highbridge Audio Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an ...

has released some of the five-part stories on audiocassettes.

Episodes – Series One

Episodes – Series Two

References

External links

Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: ''The Zero Hour''Rod Serling's ZERO HOUR PROMO PODCAST
- Original audio promo for the series from 1973. hen accessed on February 22, 2017, this link was no longer active/small>
Libsyn podcasts
First 6 programs; subsequent episodes appear by scrolling down on page.
Glenhall Taylor: Before Television
Opening description on this page above appears to come from this site.
Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety, and Comedy
Gus Bayes, sound man. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zero Hour, The American radio dramas 1970s American radio programs Mutual Broadcasting System programs 1974 radio dramas Anthology radio series