 Orson Welles (July 1938) | |
| Genre | Anthology drama |
|---|---|
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | CBS |
| Hosted by | Orson Welles |
| Starring |
|
| Created by | Orson Welles |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Executive producer(s) | Davidson Taylor (for CBS) |
| Narrated by | Orson Welles |
| Original release | July 11 – December 4, 1938 |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 22 |
| Opening theme | Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor by Tchaikovsky |
The Mercury Theatre on the Air is a radio series of live radio dramas created and hosted by Orson Welles. The weekly hour-long show presented classic literary works performed by Welles's celebrated Mercury Theatre repertory company, with music composed or arranged by Bernard Herrmann.[a] The series began July 11, 1938, as a sustaining program on the CBS Radio network, airing Mondays at 9 pm ET. On September 11, the show moved to Sundays at 8 pm.
The show made headlines with its "The War of the Worlds" broadcast on October 30, one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio due to the panic it allegedly caused, after which the Campbell Soup Company signed on as sponsor. The Mercury Theatre on the Air made its last broadcast on December 4 of that year, and The Campbell Playhouse began five days later, on December 9.[2]
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
TIOWwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 448–455. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).