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On the lighter side of radio drama was The Lone Ranger.  The introduction (Windows Media RealPlayer) used the rousing Gioacchino Rossini's William Tell Overture.  The origin of the Lone Ranger was not explained in the first episode. In the 20th anniversary episode, the origin of the Lone Ranger is explained this way:  The Lone Ranger was part of  a Texas Rangers posse that was tracking the Butch Cavandish gang. The gang ambushed the Rangers and only one Ranger survived; his name was John Reid. Reid was found by an American Indian, named Tonto, whom Reid had saved during his childhood. Reid and his older brother Dan, who was the leader of the posse, co-owed a silver mine.  The mine was the source of income and the ore source for the Lone Ranger's signature silver bullets.

The show premiered on an independent Detroit radio station, WXYZ, and seven other stations on the Michigan Radio Network on January 31, 1933 and aired three times a week. The program was created at WXYZ which needed programming since the station's owner, George W. Trendle, had decided not to renew its C.B.S. network affiliation.  As the the number of stations airing the program grew, this network of stations became the Mutual Broadcasting System.

The Lone Ranger creed, written by Fran Striker in 1933:   "I believe... that to have friend, a man must be one.  that all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. that God put the firewood there but that every man must gather and light it himself.  in being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. that a man should make the most of what equipment he has. that 'This government, of the people, by the people and for the people' shall live always. that men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number. that sooner or later, somewhere, somehow, we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken. that all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever. in my Creator, my country, my fellow man."

Brace Beemer, who played The Lone Ranger for 13 years until the show ended in 1954, was not the only Lone Ranger but is the most notable. John Todd (the stage name for Fred McCarthy) was Tonto, the Ranger's "faithful Indian companion".

In the early 1970's, Murray Hill Records released a four record box set featuring episodes and some shorts, including the origin of the Lone Ranger. The reverse of the album cover provided this history of the Lone Ranger.

The Lone Ranger made his television debut on ABC September 15, 1949 and starred Clayton Moore, as the Lone Ranger, and Jay Silverheels, as Tonto.  The TV show would air through September 1957 with a total of 221 episodes produced.  Between 1951 and 1953, John Hart was the masked man in 26 episodes.