What happens
Abbott and Costello perform their comedy routines on their radio show, with Costello trading jokes with Abbott and a series of comic skits. The program includes a bit about a laundry delivery, a musical lesson on bars and key signatures, and a voice lesson in which Costello tries to teach a student to project from the diaphragm. A recurring sketch, The Adventures of Sam Shovel, follows the detective Sam Shovel as he investigates a case involving Lieutenant Abbott and a series of mysterious events. The episode was broadcast in 1948 on NBC and ABC, and the lead actors are Bud Abbott, Joe Kirk, Elvia Allman and Connie Haines. The transcript ends before the story reaches its conclusion.
A radio studio and the detective office of Sam Shovel in an unnamed city.
Characters: Abbott, Costello, Sam Shovel, Lieutenant Abbott, Maddy Malman, Susan Miller, Connie Haines, Elvia Allman
Listen for: Costello's voice lesson with the cracker-in-mouth exercise, and the Sam Shovel detective sketch with Lieutenant Abbott.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.