The Midnight Sleuth (universe Radio show)
| Genre | Comedy-drama |
|---|---|
| Running time | 28 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Syndicates | WNWP 1340 |
| TV adaptations | The New Adventures of the Midnight Sleuth |
| Creator(s) |
Clarence Hadden Ernest Greene |
| Air dates | September 12, 1937 to October 31, 1947 |
| No. of series | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 120 (90 missing) |
| Sponsor(s) | Opul Brand Soap |
The Midnight Sleuth was a radio show that aired from 1937 until 1947, featuring an absent-minded detective solving mysteries with the aid of his newspaper reporter friend.
Contents
Origin of the Show
After the success of other detective radio shows in the 1930's, Clarence Hadden and Ernest Greene (both working in the mail room of a Los Angeles radio station) came up with a concept for a new show. During a pitch of their idea, a story about a mysterious detective solving crimes with the aid of his sidekick, the producers of the radio station called the show a copycat of the already popular "The Shadow" radio program. During the middle of their pitch, Hadden acted quickly and embellished on the story, changing the mysterious detective into a bumbling idiot who rarely solved the cases. With renewed interest in the pitch, Greene joined in and said the sidekick was the real brains behind the operation, stating that the idea was to give the helpless sidekick a chance to shine (an idea the opposite of what was common in most popular series of the time). The producers loved the new idea and hired the duo on the spot to create the show.
Main Characters
- The Midnight Sleuth ..... Samuel Perkins
- Linda Talbot ..... Dorothy Bell
- Detective Davis ..... Elmer Maynard
- The Daybreak Gumshoe ..... Ira Keller
- The Informant ..... Grace Hatfield
Reoccuring Supporting Characters
- Detective Howard ..... Lee Huffman
- Mysterio ..... Ernest Portman
- Mrs. Hildenberry ..... Sandra Bean
Episodes
Season 1
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Release Date | Episode Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Formula is to Blame-ula" | September 12, 1937 | When Midnight and Linda are called in to investigate the apparent suicide of a Doctor, they soon realize his death might have been forced by a known gangster and his goons all in an attempt to acquire a mysterious formula. |
| 2 | 2 | Unknown | October 10, 1937 | N/A |
| 3 | 3 | Unknown | November 7, 1937 | N/A |
| 4 | 4 | Unknown | December 5, 1937 | N/A |
| 5 | 5 | Unknown | January 9, 1938 | N/A |
| 6 | 6 | Unknown | February 6, 1938 | N/A |
| 7 | 7 | Unknown | March 6, 1938 | N/A |
| 8 | 8 | Unknown | April 3, 1938 | N/A |
| 9 | 9 | Unknown | May 1, 1938 | N/A |
| 10 | 10 | Unknown | May 29, 1938 | N/A |
| 11 | 11 | Unknown | June 26, 1938 | N/A |
| 12 | 12 | Unknown | July 24, 1938 | N/A |
Season 2
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Release Date | Episode Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1 | Unknown | August 21, 1938 | N/A |
| 14 | 2 | Unknown | September 18, 1938 | N/A |
| 15 | 3 | "Mrs. Hildenberry and Her Place of Residence" | October 16, 1938 | When Midnight and Linda are called in to investigate a haunting of a senile old lady, they find an underhanded plot to rob her of her home. |
| 16 | 4 | "What's Black & White and is a Newspaper?" | November 13, 1938 | When the daughter of the local newspaper’s Editor-In-Chief is kidnapped by a mysterious person, the kidnapper demands only Midnight and Linda can help, or else risk the death of the girl. |
| 17 | 5 | Unknown | December 11, 1938 | N/A |
| 18 | 6 | Unknown | February 12, 1939 | N/A |
| 19 | 7 | Unknown | March 12, 1939 | N/A |
| 20 | 8 | Unknown | April 9, 1939 | N/A |
| 21 | 9 | "So Many Jewels, So Little Time-onds" | May 7, 1939 | When a rare gem is almost impossibly stolen from a local museum, Midnight and Linda must find out where it went and who stole it, all while competing against Midnight’s long time competition, The Daybreak Gumshoe. |
| 22 | 10 | Unknown | June 4, 1939 | N/A |
| 23 | 11 | Unknown | July 2, 1939 | N/A |
| 24 | 12 | Unknown | July 30, 1939 | N/A |
Season 3
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Release Date | Episode Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | Unknown | August 27, 1939 | N/A |
| 26 | 2 | Unknown | September 24, 1939 | N/A |
| 27 | 3 | Unknown | October 22, 1939 | N/A |
| 28 | 4 | Unknown | November 19, 1939 | N/A |
| 29 | 5 | "The Midnight Sleuth Christmas Special" (Unconfirmed Episode) | December 17, 1939 | N/A |
| 30 | 6 | Unknown | March 17, 1940 | N/A |
| 31 | 7 | "The Bottle Bottle Bottle Bottle Bottle Episode" | April 21, 1940 | Midnight, Linda, and the Daybreak Gumshoe all mysteriously wake up in self-contained tubes in a dark room, with no knowledge of how they got there. Trying to find a way out, the three discuss about their pasts. |
| 32 | 8 | Unknown | May 19, 1940 | N/A |
| 33 | 9 | Unknown | June 2, 1940 | N/A |
| 34 | 10 | Unknown | June 16, 1940 | N/A |
| 35 | 11 | Unknown | July 14, 1940 | N/A |
| 36 | 12 | "Dr. Terrible’s Listen-At-Home-Radio-Show" | July 28, 1940 | When Midnight’s favorite radio show is suddenly canceled, he and Linda travel to the radio station only to find one of the stars has been murdered. Can they solve who done it before the whole cast is killed? |
Season 4
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Release Date | Episode Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "Homicide on the Steam Powered Locomotive" | August 25, 1940 | Midnight and Linda travel to New York for the reading of Det. Davis' when the man in the room next door is murdered in the middle of the night forcing them into the case. |
| 38 | 2 | Unknown | September 22, 1940 | N/A |
| 39 | 3 | Unknown | October 20, 1940 | N/A |
| 40 | 4 | Unknown | November 17, 1940 | N/A |
| 41 | 5 | Unknown | December 15, 1940 | N/A |
| 42 | 6 | Unknown | February 16, 1941 | N/A |
| 43 | 7 | Unknown | March 23, 1941 | N/A |
| 44 | 8 | Unknown | April 13, 1941 | N/A |
| 45 | 9 | Unknown | May 18, 1941 | N/A |
| 46 | 10 | Unknown | June 15, 1941 | N/A |
| 47 | 11 | Unknown | July 13, 1941 | N/A |
| 48 | 12 | Unknown | July 27, 1941 | N/A |
Lost Episodes
During the 1960's a fire destroyed the original masters of close to 90 episodes, leaving only 30 of the original show still available for the public. The episodes that were lost spanned all over the show's run, with most of the loss being during the first, third, eighth and ninth seasons. Slowly collectors of the program and network across the country are finding badly damaged copies of the missing episodes.
In Other Media
Other Radio Shows
In 1943, producers of the show attempted a Daybreak Gumshoe spin-off show titled The Secret Case Files of the Daybreak Gumshoe. The show lasted for 4 episodes and was cancelled.
In 1954, an attempt was made at bringing Midnight Sleuth back to the airwaves with all the original surviving cast members. However, after Samuel Perkins refused to revive his role as the titular character, other cast members started bowing out gracefully, ultimately ending the show's revival.
Movie Serials
From 1939 until 1950, Midnight Sleuth had a fairly successful run as a movie serial with a total of 119 15-minute shorts produced. Samuel Perkins was brought in as Midnight for the first part however was replaced with a new actor for all subsequent episodes, as the studio felt he didn't have the visual appeal necessary for the character. After this, none of the original voice actors portrayed the characters during the rest of it's run and most of the serials have been lost due to improper care of the negatives and reels.
Video Games
In 1989, a video game developer purchased the rights to the property and developed a point and click computer game based around the player trying to solve a case. The game itself met mild success but was overshadowed by other similar games like “The Secret of Monkey Island”.
Novels/Comics
TV Shows
In 2017, Michael J. Bayheimer helped reinvented the series as a television show called The New Adventures of the Midnight Sleuth. The new series aired to mostly positive reviews and saw a modern telling of the 1930s detective being a partially amnesiac phony, masquerading as a detective with the help of his nightly talk show host friend, it quickly found its audience but not before the studio canceled it. After much fan outcry, online funding campaigns, and protests, the show found a new home through the online streaming service Streamer and was renewed for a new season. The show became the online streaming service's highest-rated program and was quickly renewed for an additional four seasons. It ran until 2023 when the producers decided to end the show before it started to lose steam.
