Tune in to KELY 1230AM/98.5AM on Christmas Eve

KELY will be broadcasting these Christmas Specials from noon until 10:00pm on Christmas eve. Tune in and enjoy a trip back in time.

1- Lux Radio Theater – It’s a Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, originally broadcast December 29, 1947, 77 years ago. Tired of his life on Earth, a man finds out what it’s like never to have been born.

2 – The Campbell Playhouse -A Christmas Carol starring Lionel Barrymore, originally broadcast December 24, 1939, 85 years ago. The definitive version of the classic story. Barrymore never was better.

3 – The Jack Benny Christmas Special, originally broadcast December 2, 1956, 68 years ago. A special, believed to have been sponsored by 3M on CBS Radio. A typical Jack Benny Christmas Shopping episode that doesn’t torture Mel Blanc. Frances Bergen and June Allyson are guests.

4 – Dragnet starring Jack Webb, originally broadcast December 22, 1949, 75 years ago – a .22 Rifle for Christmas. A young boy named Stanley Johnstone is missing, and so is the .22 caliber rifle he was going to get for Christmas. Plus Our Miss Brooks starring Eve Arden, originally broadcast December 22, 1949, The Magic Christmas Tree. A party at Miss Brooks’, with a magic Christmas tree, or was it all a dream?

5 – Abbott and Costello, originally broadcast December 23, 1948, 76 years ago, A Sam Shovel Christmas. Bud needs $10,000 in a hurry; Christmas is coming, so Bud and Lou go Christmas shopping. The show features a Sam Shovel drama, “The Case Of Clarence, The Dress Designer Who Gave Himself Up To The Police,” or “I’m All Yours In Buttons and Bows.” Then Hopalong Cassidy starring Bill Boyd, originally broadcast December 7, 1950, 74 years ago, Santa Claus Rustlers. Hoppy and California solve a Christmas cattle theft.

6 – George Burns and Gracie Allen, originally broadcast December 26, 1946, 78 years ago, Christmas Presents. George has received a $110 smoking jacket from guest Eddie Cantor. George also got an Erector Set meant for the kid next door. Then The CBS Radio Workshop, originally broadcast December 23, 1956, 68 years ago, All is Bright. The story of how “Silent Night” came to be written and became world famous.

7 – Suspense, originally broadcast December 21, 1958, 66 years ago, Out for Christmas starring Raymond Burr. Santa Claus has a gun and is out for revenge. He’s really an ex-con out to get the rat who testified against him, and his girl who ran off with the rat! Then Screen Director’s Playhouse, originally broadcast December 23, 1949, 75 years ago, Miracle on 34th Street starring Edmund Gwinn. The Christmas classic about the department store Santa Claus who thought he was real thing…and proved it!

8 – Suspense, originally broadcast December 22, 1957, 67 years ago, Dog Star starring 8 year old Evelyn Rudie. All that a little girl wants for Christmas is a little puppy. She finally gets one…from outer space! Little Chipka falls to Earth from a Russian satellite. Then Grand Central Station, originally broadcast December 22, 1945, 79 years ago, Miracle for Christmas starring Mason Adams. The shows traditional program about a doctor and his ambulance driver…and the unusual Christmas Eve they spend together.

9 – The Greatest Story Ever Told, originally broadcast December 21, 1947, 77 years ago, No Room at the Inn. A very well-done story of the Nativity. The fourth of a series of five Christmas dramas. Then Blondie starring Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton, originally broadcast December 25, 1939, 85 years ago. “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens, as through the eyes of Dag Cratchit. Mr. Dithers is Ebenezer Scrooge, of course.

10 – The Mel Blanc Show, originally broadcast December 24, 1946, 78 years ago, Mel Plays Santa Claus. Mel’s girlfriend Betty thinks that he’s taking out another girl, but he’s really playing Santa Claus for the widow Bradley. Then Lady Esther presents Orson Welles, originally broadcast December 22, 1941, 83 years ago, The Happy Prince. A Christmas show as only Orson Welles could do it, just two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.