The Big Broadcast: Seven Classic Episodes on November 8, 2026

By Grace Kim

The Big Broadcast opens at 7:00 p.m. on November 8, 2026, with “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar,” and continues through nine scheduled entries. Seven episodes carry original broadcast dates from January 9, 1940, to May 22, 1960, across CBS, NBC and ABC.

What changes for listeners on November 8?

The practical change for listeners is the consolidation: seven full episodes and two retrospectives now share one November 8 schedule. The listing supplies each episode’s original air date, network and approximate running time, but gives no such metadata for the retrospectives. Together, the entries form a compact map of the range of American network radio.

• 7:00 p.m. — “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar”: “The Hapless Ham Matter.” Bob Bailey plays Johnny Dollar. The listing gives the premise directly: “Johnny gets a call from a desperate man who claims his life is in danger, turns out he was telling the truth…” CBS first aired the episode on January 3, 1960; its approximate running time is 22:35.

• 7:25 p.m. — “Radio Retrospective: Route 66, Nat King Cole.” The program pauses the scripted run for this first retrospective. The listing gives no network, original date or running time for the segment.

• 7:30 p.m. — “Fibber McGee and Molly.” The premise asks who gave the McGees two free tickets to the opening of “Gone With The Wind.” NBC first aired the episode on January 9, 1940; its approximate running time is 21:09.

8:00 p.m. — “Gunsmoke”: “Marryin’ Bertha.” The listing says Chester has pledged his heart and hand to a woman he does not know, and she may be more dangerous than he realizes. CBS first aired the episode on May 22, 1960; its approximate running time is 19:01.

8:20 p.m. — “Radio Retrospective: The story of how Martha Gellhorn smuggled herself to the D-Day Landings in June 1944.” The segment recounts that journey. The listing gives no network, original broadcast date or running time.

8:30 p.m. — “Dragnet”: “The Big Bible.” The listing calls it a locked-door mystery in real life, meaning a mystery organized around a door that cannot be opened. NBC first aired the episode on September 28, 1954; its approximate running time is 25:46.

9:00 p.m. — “The Bing Crosby Show.” Patti Page joins Crosby for a selection of her best tunes. The episode first aired on CBS on February 20, 1952; its approximate running time is 26:24.

9:30 p.m. — “Suspense”: “Stand-In.” The listing says: “June Havoc stars as the stand-in for a movie star, who plots with the starlet’s husband to commit murder.” A stand-in is the performer who assumes another actor’s role. CBS first aired the episode on June 12, 1947; its approximate running time is 26:15.

10:00 p.m. — “The Theatre Guild On The Air”: “They Knew What They Wanted.” A California vintner, or wine merchant, sends for a mail-order bride, using his foreman’s photograph as bait, in what the schedule calls a warm, emotional story. Its script later formed the basis for “The Most Happy Fella.” ABC first aired the episode on May 19, 1946; its approximate running time is 57:06.

The listed formats create the evening’s progression. Two retrospectives interrupt the run of scripted episodes, while the plots move from danger and a ticket-giveaway to romance, a locked-door mystery, music and murder. The structure makes the medium’s range visible without losing each episode’s archival frame.

“Marryin’ Bertha” is the shortest full episode at 19:01; “They Knew What They Wanted” is the longest at 57:06. The schedule cautions that all running times are approximate.

For anyone choosing one episode, “The Hapless Ham Matter” offers the clearest introduction to the night’s method: a compact mystery anchored by a date, network and runtime. Saving “They Knew What They Wanted” gives the evening a feature-length close and its clearest link to “The Most Happy Fella.”