The Laughing Matter - Ep 4: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (June 14, 1956)

“The Laughing Matter - Ep 4” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 14, 1956. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar is in Sonata, Mexico, protecting famous television star Charlie Burton from an unknown assailant. Burton has received threatening letters and has already been shot at, but refuses to cooperate fully with his own protection. As Dollar investigates, he discovers that Burton made an unwelcome advance toward Nacho Morales's young wife, a maid at the hotel, putting himself in mortal danger.

Sonata, Mexico; a hotel with a film production company shooting a comedy sequence on the grounds

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Charlie Burton, Frank, Al, Captain Peral, Nacho Morales

Listen for: The details of the slapstick comedy sequence Burton and Frank are filming involving a shipwrecked castaway; the tension between Burton and his co-star Al over screen time and fair treatment; Burton's defensive justifications for his behavior and his mistreatment of those around him.

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.