What is great on a long road trip

Well,

Tomorrow morning me and the Mrs head down to Bairsville, Georgia to spend Easter with good ole Uncle Charlie.

We leave a 4am and it will take 14 hours to get there.

We have Serius radio in the car and discovered the "Classic Radio" channel. This channel runs those old time radio programs (dramas, sitcoms, Etc) and is such a great alternative to just news or music.

I was amazed at just how entertaining radio was back in the day. We got into it so much that we drove right past our usual lunch spot because we were in the middle of a Jack Benny show and wanted to hear the end.

JohnT, your posting really brought back memories of the "radio days." I can still remember being around the radio listening to "The Lone Ranger," "Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders," "The Shadow," "Blondie," "Amos 'n Andy," etc. There used to be a kids morning show (I can't remeber the name) and we used to sit in front of our "Zenith" console radio and listen. At various points, the MC would saysomething like, "Did all of you wash your hands today? Hold them up and let me see." We would hold out our hands toward the radio and he would say, "Ah, very good, Kids. Oh, Billy and Johnny, I think you had better go back and wash them again." Back then we used to imagine it was one of our friends (Billy or Johnny) whom he was addressing and we would feel very smug that he did not chastise us." Now, I can just imagine all the little Billy's and Johnny's running to the bathroom to wash their hands!

I think radio was so great and so important because one had to use his or her imagination and actively listen to the broadcast. With television, one just sits there and has the show "poured over" him or her.

Rocky,

Here is a list of the programs that we like the most..

Father Knows Best,
The Shadow,
Johnny Dollar,
Jack Benny,
The Life of Riley,
The Great Gildersleeve,
Dragnet,
Gunsmoke,

There are more that air, but the above are the ones that I seem to enjoy the best. I am surprised on just how many of these programs were adapted for TV, but find that I actually like the radio versions best.

They also run old time comercials. Ovaltine, Alka-seltzer, Colgate tooth past, Lava Soap, ect. They do a good job on making you feel like you are back in the old days.

I just wonder if these old radio programs are aired in 1080p (LOL)

JohnT & Rocky,

I don't remember the old radio shows, but I can always remember my mom referring to someone as "living the life of Riley." I never asked, but just assumed that these people lived an easy, rich life without any worries. Can you tell me what the Life of Riley was about? I grew up in the early days of black and white TV. A woman who lived just a few houses from us was the first in town to get a color TV....it was a small town. Gosh, I don't remember how old I was...probably in grade school, but I can remember my mom getting all excited because we were invited over to watch either the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, or the Rose Bowl Parade. Of course our next excitement was getting a window air conditioner. Ahh the good ol' days! I'd go back in minute.

Think of th life of riley as the honeymooners with kids.

Very good description of "The Life of Riley", John. The story was about a guy named Chester A. Riley, his wife Peg and two children, Junior and Babs and best friend, Gillis. He was one of those guys that could always find a problem. He would get deeper and deeper into it the more he tried to extract himself, kind of like Larry David on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" if you are familiar with that program. His famous tag line was, ""What a revoltin' development this is!" On the radio and TV show, Riley was played by William Bendix for most of the run of the series although Jackie Gleason was the original TV "Riley."

I sure wish that was around when I was traveling everyday and had XM. I would have loved it. PBS has some interesting shows on the weekend i listen to while working in the cellar. Of course the best of all is "Car Talk".