History Radio / TheMercuryTheatreOnTheAir

''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'', created and hosted by Creator/OrsonWelles, is one of the most famous programs of the Golden Age of RadioDrama.

The show might be largely forgotten today if not for the most famous broadcast in the history of American radio: ''Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', aired on October 30, 1938. Welles chose to present his adaptation of [[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds the novel]] by Creator/HGWells as a PhonyNewscast describing a Martian invasion. The next day the nation's newspapers were full of stories of mass panic caused when listeners tuned in and missed the opening announcement of the fictional program. These stories were almost certainly fabricated by newspapers [[NewMediaAreEvil wishing to discredit radio]], but they still made Orson Welles famous.

They also resulted in a ReTool and re-name of the program. ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' had run without corporate sponsorship, but after the publicity, Campbell Soup picked up the show and it became ''The Campbell Playhouse''. The new show, debuting on December 11, 1938, also featured a SpecialGuest star every week, typically a Hollywood actress starring opposite Welles, and veered more towards adaptations of popular movies. The trope list below is based on the original July-December 1938 run of ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air''.

''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'', created and hosted by Creator/OrsonWelles, is one of the most famous programs from the Golden Age of RadioDrama.

In 1938, Creator/{{CBS}} hired Welles, already a veteran of radio acting, to perform in a summer series filling the time slot of ''Radio/LuxRadioTheatre''. Welles insisted that he be allowed to take his entire Mercury Theatre troupe with him, and CBS agreed. The series (originally titled ''First Person Singular'' but renamed ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' a few months later) debuted on July 11, 1938, with an adaptation of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. In addition to hosting the program, Welles wrote, directed, and played the lead in each episode. His Mercury Theatre cast included several people who would become famous when Welles brought them to Hollywood for ''Film/CitizenKane'', including Ray Collins, Creator/AgnesMoorehead, and Creator/JosephCotten, as well as musical director and composer Music/BernardHerrmann.

# ''Theatre/AbrahamLincoln'' (August 15)

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: "The Affairs of Anatol" aired on Aug. 22, 1938, just five months after the Nazi takeover of Austria. In his opening narration Welles muses about how there once was a charming, cosmopolitan city called Vienna, where the story is set.

** The staging of ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'' used radio commentator H.V. Kaltenborn as a narrator to fill in the action.

* TheRemake: One of the shows that had made Welles and the Mercury famous in New York theater was their staging of ''Julius Caesar'', in modern dress, UsefulNotes/FascistItaly-style. For the radio series the Mercury reprised ''Julius Caesar'', getting the same fascism vibe across over the radio with the sound of marching boots and military music.

* EvilSoundDeep: Welles adapts appropriately low, rumbling voices to play both Dracula and Edmond Dantes in ''The Count of Monte Cristo''.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

# ''Dracula'' (July 11, 1938)

# ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' (August 1)

[[caption-width-right:350:Welles directs his cast.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Welles directs his cast]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The broadcast of ''Seventeen'' (Oct. 16, 1938) features little Jane using "word" to substitute for what is clearly supposed to be "goddamn". She quotes a neighbor as describing her brother as "the wordest fool he ever word saw".

In 1938 Creator/{{CBS}} hired Welles, already a veteran of radio acting, to perform in a summer series filling the time slot of ''Radio/LuxRadioTheatre''. Welles insisted that he be allowed to take his entire Mercury Theatre troupe with him, and CBS agreed. The series (originally titled ''First Person Singular'' but renamed ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' a few months later) debuted on July 11, 1938, with an adaptation of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. In addition to hosting the program, Welles wrote, directed, and played the lead in each episode. His Mercury Theatre cast included several people who would become famous when Welles brought them to Hollywood for ''Film/CitizenKane'', including Ray Collins, Creator/AgnesMoorehead, and Creator/JosephCotten, as well as musical director and composer Music/BernardHerrmann.

# ''Literature/JaneEyre'' (September 18)([[invoked]]MissingEpisode)

# ''Literature/OliverTwist'' (October 2)([[invoked]]MissingEpisode)

# ''Clarence'' (November 27)([[invoked]]MissingEpisode)
# ''Literature/TheBridgeOfSanLuisRey'' (December 4)([[invoked]]MissingEpisode)

# ''Literature/JaneEyre'' (September 18)(MissingEpisode)

# ''Literature/OliverTwist'' (October 2)(MissingEpisode)

# ''Clarence'' (November 27)(MissingEpisode)
# ''Literature/TheBridgeOfSanLuisRey'' (December 4)(MissingEpisode)

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In 1938 Creator/{{CBS}} hired Welles, already a veteran of radio acting, to perform in a summer series filling the time slot of ''Radio/LuxRadioTheatre''. Welles insisted that he be allowed to take his entire Mercury Theatre troupe with him, and CBS agreed. The series (originally titled ''First Person Singular'' but renamed ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' a few months later) debuted on July 11, 1938, with an adaptation of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. In addition to hosting the program, Welles wrote, directed, and played the lead in each episode. His Mercury Theatre cast included several people who would become famous when Welles brought them to Hollywood for ''Film/CitizenKane'', including Ray Collins, Creator/AgnesMoorehead, and Joseph Cotten, as well as musical director and composer Music/BernardHerrmann.

In 1938 Creator/{{CBS}} hired Welles, already a veteran of radio acting, to perform in a summer series filling the time slot of ''Radio/LuxRadioTheatre''. Welles insisted that he be allowed to take his entire Mercury Theatre troupe with him, and CBS agreed. The series (originally titled ''First Person Singular'' but renamed ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' a few months later) debuted on July 11, 1938, with an adaptation of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. In addition to hosting the program, Welles wrote, directed, and played the lead in each episode. His Mercury Theatre cast included several people who would become famous when Welles brought them to Hollywood for ''Film/CitizenKane'', including Ray Collins, Agnes Moorehead, and Joseph Cotten, as well as musical director and composer Music/BernardHerrmann.