Candy Matson

I only recently discovered this little gem of an old time radio show -- Candy Matson YUkon 2-8209. There seem to be only 14 (or 15, if you count a remake) surviving episodes of this great lady detective radio series.

Set, and originally produced in San Francisco, Candy Matson is good-looking (so they say), wise-cracking female detective whose best friend is an artisitc photographer by the name of Rembrandt Watson. Her beau (in the later episodes) is city police detective Ray Mallard. The show premiered in in 1949 and ran through 1951.

I was very impressed with the writing in this show. I often laughed and wondered how they could get away with some of their double-entendres back in that era. And while it was never said outright, the character of "Rembrandt Watson" was likely the first "gay" character on the radio. You only have to listen to how the character is written and performed to get that impression -- and of course he is an artist in San Francisco!

Ifthere are any down sides to the program it would be first the organ music which is played as mood music but which I found invasive. i suspect in '49 it was a bit more common to hear an organ during a radio program.

The other negative would be that Candy seemed to be "saved" a few times by the sheer luck of Lt. Mallard being near by with gun in hand.

Since I first listened to this, I've discovered that Candy Matson is generally considered to be the finest of the lady P.I. programs, and though I haven't listened to many, I would agree based on how much I've enjoyed this. I hope that someone uncovers the missing 70+ episodes.