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 The widely held belief is Suspense was the best drama ever to grace the airwaves. The show was broadcast on C.B.S. for 22 years and during that time over 900 episodes were aired. An audition show was broadcast on July 22, 1940. The title of the program was Forecast and it was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He discusses the ending of the story with the cast at the close of the broadcast. The first episode to air under the program name Suspense ocurred on June 17, 1942 and was called "The Burning Court". Most episodes were 30 minute long but from January to May 1948 the shows were an hour long. The major stars of the time all sought to be the guest stars during the program's peak years.
Listen to the introduction (Windows Media RealPlayer) of an episode starring Jack Benny.
Unlike today, there were only two or three commercial breaks during a program. From December 1943 through November 1947, Suspense was sponsored by Roma Wines. Listen to several of the company's commercials:
- From the February 3, 1944 episode, The Sisters, this advertisement impresses upon the listener he will be a good host and will be in the company connoisseurs worldwide if he serves Roma Wine: Windows Media
- Another ad from the same show Roma Wines toasts the world with the tag line: Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world: Windows Media
- From the August 24, 1944 episode, Actor's Blood (which, by the way, is not one of the better episodes) asks you if you have discovered Roma Wines: Windows Media
- From the May 5, 1945 episode, Death at Live Oak, Roma describes how their wine is produced and why it "gives you more enjoyment for your money": Windows Media RealPlayer
- In some episodes, Roma's Cresta Blanca sherry (Windows Media RealPlayer) was promoted.
Suspense was sponsored by Auto-Lite (Windows Media RealPlayer) from July 1948 until June 1954. After the Auto-Lite sponsorship, the program was sustained by the network or other various advertisers. The final radio broadcast of Suspense occurred on September 30, 1962.
The popularity of the radio show led to Suspense on television. The TV show ran from 1949-1964 and Auto-Lite continued its sponsorship of the program. If you would like to watch video of the commercials aired by Auto-Lite, just click on the Windows Media or RealPlayer icon below.
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