Editing Terry and the Pirates (radio serial)

{{Short description|1937–1948 American radio serial}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Terry and the Pirates'' (radio serial)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

'''''Terry and the Pirates''''' is a radio serial adapted from the [[Terry and the Pirates (comic strip)|comic strip of the same name]] created in 1934 by [[Milton Caniff]]. With storylines of  action, high adventure and foreign intrigue, the popular radio series enthralled listeners from 1937 through 1948. With scripts by Albert Barker, [[George Lowther (writer)|George Lowther]] and others,<ref name= "Lowther">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/30/archives/george-lowther-tv-writer-dead-director-and-producer-62-started-as.html |title=George Lowther, TV Writer, Dead |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 30, 1975 |accessdate=January 26, 2019}}</ref> the program's directors included Cyril Armbrister, Wylie Adams, and Marty Andrews.

The central character, Terry Lee, was portrayed at various times by [[Jackie Kelk]], [[Cliff Carpenter]], Owen Jordan, and Bill Fein.<ref name="Reinehr & Swartz">{{cite book |last=Reinehr |first=Robert C.; Swartz, Jon D. |title=The A to Z of Old Time Radio |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] p. 254 |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4616-7207-4}}</ref> Some newspapers say that Jackie Kelk was the first actor to play Terry, when the series debuted on NBC in late October 1937.<ref>"Behind the Radio Dial," ''Weekly Kansas City Star'', March 7, 1951, p. 12.</ref> Terry's buddy Pat Ryan was played by [[Bud Collyer]], Warner Anderson, Bob Griffin, and Larry Alexander. Others in Terry's Far East entourage were Flip Corkin ([[Ted de Corsia]]), Elita (Gerta Rozan), Burma ([[Frances Chaney]]), Hotshot Charlie (Cameron Andrews) and Connie the coolie ([[Cliff Norton]], John Gibson, [[Peter Donald]]). Throughout the Orient, they encountered plenty of evildoers, including the [[Dragon Lady (Terry and the Pirates)|Dragon Lady]] ([[Agnes Moorehead]], Adelaide Klein, Marion Sweet, Mina Reaume), in such adventurous episodes as "Pirate Gold Detector Ring," "Deadly Current," "The Mechanical Eye" and "The Dragon Lady Strikes Back."

==History==
When the late afternoon series began, it was heard at 5:15pm, three times a week, sponsored by Dari-Rich, airing on [[NBC Red Network]] from November 1, 1937 to June 1, 1938. It switched to [[NBC Blue Network]] on September 26, 1938, continuing until March 22, 1939.<ref name= "radio">{{cite news |last=Willard |first=Jim |url= http://www.reporterherald.com/columnists/trivially-speaking/ci_31752081/terry-and-pirates-once-sailed-over-radio-waves |title='Terry and the Pirates' once sailed over the radio waves |work=[[Reporter-Herald]] |date=March 22, 2018 |accessdate=January 26, 2019}}</ref> Absent from the airwaves for over two years, it returned shortly before the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]], heard in the [[Midwestern United States]] on the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'''s [[WGN (AM)|WGN]]. That series, sponsored by [[Libby's]], aired five days a week from October 16, 1941 to May 29, 1942.

With increasing popularity during the [[World War II]] years, the show next took off at a fast pace on [[Blue Network]], airing daily for 15 minutes on weekday afternoons beginning February 1, 1943. The Quaker [[Puffed Wheat]] and [[Puffed Rice]] "shot from guns" commercials often had a patriotic pitch. Douglas Browning was the announcer during the mid-1940s.<ref name="Cox">{{cite book |last=Cox |first=Jim |title=Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory: The Programs and Personalities of Broadcasting's Most Prolific Producers |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] p. 92 |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7864-1631-8}}</ref> After 1945, with no wartime villains for Terry and his pals to fight, ratings began to drop in the post-World War II period until the final episode on June 30, 1948.

==See also==
*[[Terry and the Pirates (comic strip)]]
*[[Terry and the Pirates (TV series)]]
*[[Terry and the Pirates (serial)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.comic-art.com/bios-1/caniff01.htm Milton Caniff biography]
*Recorded shows:
**[http://www.otr.com/terry_pirate.shtml Jim Widner's ''Terry and the Pirates'' (episodes from 1942)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101013731/http://www.otr.com/terry_pirate.shtml |date=2005-11-01 }}
**[http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/terryandthepirates.htm Radio Lovers: ''Terry and the Pirates'' (five episodes)]{{dead link|date=October 2024}}

{{Terry and the Pirates}}

[[Category:American children's radio programs]]
[[Category:American radio dramas]]
[[Category:1937 radio programme debuts]]
[[Category:1948 radio programme endings]]
[[Category:Radio programs based on comic strips]]
[[Category:NBC radio programs]]
[[Category:NBC Blue Network radio programs]]
[[Category:ABC radio programs]]
[[Category:Terry and the Pirates]]
[[Category:Aviation radio series]]