Trouble Comes in Pairs: Tarzan (December 6, 1951)

“Trouble Comes in Pairs” is an episode of Tarzan, the old-time radio show, first broadcast December 6, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Tarzan shelters the young Janobo, who is fleeing the people of Bayucoland. Janobo's twin died at birth, and under the tribe's belief that a surviving twin must die with his brother, the villagers are determined to kill him. Tarzan tries to protect Janobo and to persuade the tribe that their superstition is wrong. Meanwhile, the Evans twins, a dancing act traveling aboard ship toward Africa, come to hear the same belief in the jungle, and their own relationship comes under strain. Tarzan pursues the matter through the Bayucoland village and the surrounding forest.

The coast of West Africa, the village of the Bayucos, and the surrounding jungle, with a passenger ship on its way to Monrovia

Characters: Tarzan, Janobo, Jackie Evans, Jill Evans, Bob Elliott, Joe

Listen for: The Bayucos' belief that a surviving twin must die with his dead brother, and Tarzan's argument against it

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.