What happens
Fred Allen hosts his radio variety show with guests Gracie Fields, Portland Hoffa, Minerva Pious, Kenny Delmar and others. Allen and Kenny Delmar trade jokes about Look Magazine, Portland's mother's search for work, and a rumor about whale meat in England. The show then turns to a question posed to listeners: whether mystery stories are running out of steam. Allen's guests give a string of rambling answers, including a senator who describes a ghostly gunman and a farmer who says he seldom reads. The program is built around a comedic exchange of quips and sketches, with the topic of mystery fiction serving as the hook for each segment.
A radio variety show broadcast from a studio, with a live audience, opening with a comedy segment and moving into interviews on the question of mystery stories.
Characters: Fred Allen, Kenny Delmar, Portland Hoffa, Minerva Pious, Senator, Mr. Moody
Listen for: Listen for Fred Allen's exchanges with Kenny Delmar and Portland Hoffa, and the rambling answers from the senator and Mr. Moody to the mystery-stories question.
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.