Television of the Mind
I love, LOVE scripted radio programming: book adaptations, dramas, mysteries, comedies, sci-fi, quiz shows, political humor. It's television for the mind and it's utterly brilliant. I have a vivid imagination and a odd affinity for diction and vocal tone quality. The voices and sound effects in the truly good programs paint a high-definition, technicolor image in my brain that rivals anything that modern television and film can produce.
To my sorrow, the United States has very little contemporary scripted radio programming. Yes, we have Garrison Keillor's marvelous "A Prarie Home Companion" on National Public Radio, (which I got to see live at the Minnesota State Fair last September) but not much else. The next closest thing we have are podcasts, but in my experience those contain very little in the way of audio-play type content however scripted they might be. (If anyone knows differently, tell me. I would rejoice to stand corrected on the matter.)
Consequently, "Old Time Radio", the kind of radio programming that existed before the advent of television, is the best we've got of the genre. These are the programs America rallied around before television sets proliferated the country. The shows are as clever, fresh and entertaining now as they were 70-some years ago. They are even better if you are a passionate history buff like myself. The Internet Archive web-site, houses a huge Old Time Radio (OTR) archive, free and devoid of swear words. You can stream episodes from the site or legally download zipped files containing as many episodes as the OTR Researchers Group has found and digitized. LH and I enjoy The Adventures of Philip Marlow, Boston Blackie, Fibber McGee and Molly, Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, and many, many others.
My only and most beloved source of contemporary radio programming is the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). It just kills me that the United Kingdom still produces a complex and diverse selection of radio dramas, comedies and game shows, and the US doesn't. Even A-list UK television and film actors frequently appear in BBC radio programs. Radio programs (or programmes in britspeak), just one of two things the US used to have and the UK didn't abandon in the 60s (the other is a killer passenger railway system). Talk radio and rail-trails are all well and good (well, not talk radio), but they're nothing compared to vibrant radio programming and affordable country-wide passenger rail.
The BBC iPlayer carries a week's worth of archived radio programming, FREE. Oh, how I love 'free'. My favorite two stations are BBC Radio 7 and Radio 4. Not an hour of pop music or talk radio among them. Radio 7 features a mix of modern and classic BBC programs. Radio 4 has brand new content. I record programs (with Audacity) just like we used to record things with tape players and VCRs, and play them while we're driving, working around the house or trying to get to sleep.
The five Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series are our all-time favorites. Even the children have them memorized. ("Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it!") And, the voices of both Holmes and Watson on Radio 7's set of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes are so melodic and soothing that if I'm not paying attention to the fascinating storyline, they can lull me to sleep. On the other hand, I cannot possibly fall asleep to Marcus Brigstocke's Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off, I've tried. The main character (played by the writer) is snortingly funny, and it's most difficult to sleep when one is crying with laughter. Makes it difficult for LH to sleep, too. I shake when I laugh that hard, which wakes him up even if I'm trying to be quiet. We also enjoy Old Harry's Game, The Now Show, The Museum of Everything and a marvelous quantity of Agatha Christie adaptations.
So, dive into the BBC Radio sites and the Old Time Radio archive and find brilliant alternatives to watching repeats of mind-numbing television programs. And, if you know anyone who owns a US Radio Station. Talk them into producing content like they have in the UK.