On This Day, August 24: I Love a Mystery (4 Eras) and Call the Police
Also featured: AFRS.
August 24 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 24 across American network and AFRS military broadcasting history (1943–1951):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Murder Is the Word for It (Chapter 12 — Ivory Soap)" | CBS (WABC) 1943-08-24 7:00 PM EWT |
Procter & Gamble Ivory Soap & Oxydol |
Michael Raffetto (Jack), Barton Yarborough (Doc) | Carlton E. Morse (Author/Director), Frank Martin | ["Adventure", "Mystery", "Detective", "Hardboiled", "Action"] |
In chapter twelve of Murder Is the Word for It, Jack Packard and Doc Long discover the decapitated body of an heiress hidden behind a sliding bookshelf in an isolated mountain mansion, realizing the murderer is trapped in the house with them. |
| "The Temple of Vampires (Chapter 3 — Ivory Soap)" | CBS (WABC) 1944-08-24 7:00 PM EWT |
Procter & Gamble Ivory Soap & Oxydol |
Michael Raffetto (Jack), Barton Yarborough, Mercedes McCambridge | Carlton E. Morse (Author/Director), Frank Martin | ["Adventure", "Mystery", "Detective", "Hardboiled", "Action"] |
In chapter three of The Temple of Vampires, Jack, Doc, and Reggie navigate a treacherous subterranean tunnel beneath a ruined Mayan temple in Nicaragua, finding themselves encircled by blood-drinking bats and hooded cultists. |
| "Murder in Turquoise Pass (Chapter 4 — Starring Russell Thorson & Tony Randall)" | Mutual (WOR) 1950-08-24 7:45 PM EDT |
Sustaining Mutual Mystery Presentation |
Russell Thorson (Jack), Jim Boles (Doc), Tony Randall (Reggie) | Carlton E. Morse (Author/Director), Ed Michael | ["Adventure", "Mystery", "Detective", "Hardboiled", "Action"] |
In chapter four of Murder in Turquoise Pass, the A-1 Detective Agency trio track an armed gang of gold hijackers through an abandoned Arizona copper mine, dodging dynamite booby-traps rigged along the mine tracks. |
| "Murder Hollywood Style (Chapter 10 — Starring Russell Thorson & Tony Randall)" | Mutual (WOR) 1951-08-24 7:45 PM EDT |
Sustaining Mutual Mystery Presentation |
Russell Thorson (Jack), Jim Boles (Doc), Tony Randall (Reggie) | Carlton E. Morse (Author/Director), Ed Michael | ["Adventure", "Mystery", "Detective", "Hardboiled", "Action"] |
In chapter ten of Murder Hollywood Style, Jack and Doc confront a blackmailing movie studio publicist on a dark soundstage catwalk, narrowly escaping a lethal fall when a high-voltage studio spotlight is hurled at them. |
| "The Case of the Perfumed Grand (Starring Joseph Julian as Commissioner Grant — Rinso)" | NBC (WNBC) 1948-08-24 9:00 PM EDT |
Lever Brothers Rinso Soap Powder & Lifebuoy |
Joseph Julian (Bill Grant), Amzie Strickland, Robert Dryden | Peter Barry (Writer), Carlo De Angelo, Jay Jostyn | ["Detective", "Police", "Procedural", "Crime", "Mystery"] |
Police Commissioner Bill Grant investigates the murder of a high-stakes illegal racetrack gambler whose pockets were stuffed with scented thousand-dollar banknotes, tracing the distinctive floral perfume to an exclusive Park Avenue salon. |
| "To the Rear, March! Post-War Veterans Special (Burgess Meredith & Mel Blanc)" | AFRS Unit 1946-08-24 (Demobilization Series) |
U.S. War Dept Armed Forces Radio Service |
Burgess Meredith (Host), Mel Blanc, Alan Reed, Frank Nelson | Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee, Hy Averback | ["Comedy", "Docudrama", "Military", "Historical", "Morale"] |
Actor Burgess Meredith hosts an entertaining post-war military broadcast providing crucial demobilization, G.I. Bill education rights, and civilian readjustment advice to returning WWII servicemen through humorous sketches featuring Mel Blanc. |