Line #44 Radio/RidersRadioTheater


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/riders_radio_theater.jpg]]
2
3	-->''Is this the end of Riders in the Sky?!''\
4	--'''Too Slim,''' on too many occasions to number
5
6	''Riders Radio Theater'', was a {{Radio Drama}} (well, comedy/drama) performed by Music/RidersInTheSky that aired on National Public Radio regularly from 1988 to 1995. Set as an anachronistic western melodrama, the stories follow Ranger Doug, Woody Paul, Too Slim and their compatriots as they fumble, yodel, and hero their way through misadventures and regular adventures - usually opposite the villainous A. Swinburne Slocum and his henchman Charlie.
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8	As the show is a satirical take on actual radio melodramas, it is rather {{Troperiffic}} and the {{Fourth Wall}} takes a heavy, heavy beating. The characters all alternate between varying degrees of {{Genre Savvy}} and {{Genre Blindness}} from moment to moment depending on what best entertains, and the writing is definitely not above invoking MetaHumor.
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10	Recorded live at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, Tennessee and Emory Theater in Cincinnati, Ohio (The Queen City of the West), the show not only had story exposition but also featured musical guests and short comedy skits. The weekly show began in 1988 and ended in 1995, but returned in 1998 to the early 2000s as occasional specials.
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12	----
13	!!Riders Radio Theater provides examples of:
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15	* ActorAllusion: In one episode, Too Slim is introduced as "the man credited as starting the 'Paul Is Dead' rumor". Fred [=LaBour=], who plays Too Slim, is often falsely credited as the man who started the rumor. If asked about it, he will go out of his way to specify that, although he did make-up most of the "clues" that conclude Paul [=McCartney=] is dead, he did not create the rumor itself.
16	* AnachronismStew: Set in an anachronistic period where ranching, rustling and riding is still a thing but seems to sometimes cross over into modern day times as well, as if there's a special force that keeps Tumbleweed Valley rooted in the late 19th century while the rest of the world moves on, but moving between the two is seamless and doesn't seem odd to anyone. Just as an example, one story involved Slocum building a clandestine nuclear reactor in an abandoned mine.
17	* AuthorCatchphrase: Several, but the most obvious is Ranger Doug's "That would be the easy way, but it wouldn't be... [[AudienceParticipation the Cowboy Way.]]"
18	* BrainsAndBrawn: Slocum and Charlie.
19	* BreakingTheFourthWall: "What do you say to that, soldier?" "I say POO, sir!" "You say POO?" "I SAY POO!" "POO?" "POO! I.. I said it.. I said it three times now." "That's about two times more than you.." "I HAVE A COPY OF THE SCRIPT, TOO, SIR."
20	* CampfireCharacterExploration: Episodes 7 & 8 of ''Meltdown on The Mesa'' involves Ranger Doug sitting around a campfire telling the story of how he became a Ranger.
21	* CardCarryingVillain: A. Swinburne Slocum. Because, in his own words, "The Plot demands an evil man. It's a dirty job, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfwFanO6rkQ someone's got to do it]]."
22	* CelebrityCameo: The week's musical guest usually gets a small speaking part in the episode as well.
23	* CliffHanger: Every episode ends this way (well, except for the final episode of each arc, of course).
24	* {{Cowboy}}: Just about every single character, given the western setting.
25	* DeadAir: Parodied with the commercial for "[[https://soundcloud.com/ridersinthesky/105-meltdown-on-the-mesa#t=8:06 Dead Air: The Best of Riders Radio Theater]]".
26	* DeadpanSnarker: A great many of Woody Paul's lines, despite an earnest delivery, seem to absolutely drip with irony.
27	* TheDragon: Charlie is this to Slocum. He's much larger, stronger, and more intimidating, but dumb as a post and needs "the Boss" to tell him what to do.
28	* EndingTheme: "So Long, Saddle Pals".
29	* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Ranger Doug, provided he hasn't [[TraumaInducedAmnesia hit his head recently]].
30	* LargeHam: In keeping with the radio melodrama theme, all the main characters.
31	* LethalChef: Sidemeat's biscuits are [[CatchPhrase the hardest substance known to man]].
32	* MediumAwareness: All the characters at one point or another seem to be aware of the audience, the narrator, the existence of the show's script, sometimes even interacting with them. Ranger Doug and Slocum both have explicitly taken actions because of [[InteractiveNarrator something they heard the narrator just say]].
33	* PowerTrio: Perhaps of the KnightKnaveAndSquire variety - the trio being:
34	** Ranger Doug, the Idol of American Youth
35	** Woody Paul, the King of the Cowboy Fiddlers, and
36	** Too Slim, the Man of Many Hats.
37	** Add in [[TheVoiceless Joey "The Cow-Polka King"]] and [[TheAnnouncer "Texas" Bix Bender]] and you might, quite literally, have a FiveManBand.
38	* RecursiveCanon: In the "Ongoing Saga of The Cowboy Way" segments (a parody of B-Western serials), guest stars or characters making their first appearance tell Riders In The Sky that they love the radio show, implying Riders Radio Theater exists in the "Cowboy Way" universe.
39	* RecycledPremise: Riders Radio Theater is an audio version of Riders In The Sky's first television series: Tumbleweed Theater (minus the public domain films that played on the TV show). Many sketches that first appeared on the TV show were word-for-word brought over to Riders Radio.
40	* {{Schoolmarm}}: The local schoolmarm is named... wait for it... [[MisterDescriptor Miss Marm]].
41	* TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin: This show seems completely immune to DarkerAndEdgier.
42	* TheSheriff: Obviously, "High Sheriff" Drywall
43	* TheWestern: Self evident, and see above in Anachronism Stew.
44	* TraumaInducedAmnesia: The "Phantom of the Valley" arc involves Ranger Doug losing his memory and believing himself to be a Zorro {{Expy}} after awakening in said Expy's lair.
45	* WaxingLyrical: In "Curse of The Lost Goldscri Part 1":
46	->'''Bosco Bell:''' ...Not only that, but Warner Brothers is talking about starring Riders In The Sky in a remake of Literature/WutheringHeights. What do you think about all this, cowboy?\
47	'''Ranger Doug:''' Well Bosco, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/Rawhide we don't try to understand 'em, we just rope, tie, and brand 'em]].

Context Radio / RidersRadioTheater