Why is there such a big change in script quality as Suspense entered its final years?
Suspense had many good stories and productions throughout its 20 years. It cannot be denied, however, that there was something special about the Roma years and the Auto-Lite years that rose above other programming. Much of that success had to do with the original sources of the stories. Roughly (and I mean very roughly) 34% of Suspense episodes (including repeats) are adaptations of stories published elsewhere and needed to be adapted to radio. From the start of the series in Summer 1942 to the end of the Hollywood era in August 1959, 36% of the stories were adaptations. In the Roma Wines heyday (and including the few post-Roma shows of December 1947), however, it was 45%. That means almost half of the stories were published in magazines or as novels or even as stage plays prior to Suspense. It is fair to say that Molle Mystery Theater also had many adaptations. They certainly did, but Suspense had a grander production technique that relied on specially composed musical bridges that created a more robust broadcast.
Why do the adaptations make a difference?
Editors and publishers had already polished the works of the printed stories. In some cases, there was already some positive publicity buzz about them (such as a Woolrich story could generate). There is something else: Suspense editor Robert L. Richards and producer William Spier were actively checking mystery and popular magazines for material that could work on the show. They welcomed unsolicited manuscripts, but they also hunted for prime material that fit the Suspense format. The effort was not as intense under Lewis, Ellis, Macdonnell. and Robson, but there was still a desire was to find the best published stories and bring them to Suspense. Richards for Spier and Antony Ellis for Lewis, and Leader had Ken Crossen. But after Lewis left the series, Antony Ellis, Norman Macdonnell, William N. Robson were essentially on their own with their personal ad hoc editorial process to ensure the stories fit the format and the flow that were hallmarks of the series.
What happened in New York?
From August 1959, under Paul Roberts, Bruno Zirato, Jr., and Fred Hendrickson, the share of adapted scripts was 16%. That means that the Roma period had almost as much as 3x the number of adapted stories as their scripts. Roberts attempted to continue Suspense tradition when he could. Under Zirato and Hendrickson, the figure was only 10%! They did not have the staff to seek material or the editorial talent on board to adapt stories into scripts in the way the series did before. They had to let the stories come to them. That meant stories did not have the polish of an editorial eye that magazine and book publishers had as integral to their processes. This also meant they had to rely on established radio writers who had their own styles and formulas and favorite characterizations, which narrowed the range of possibilities for story content. Luckily, they had some good ones, but the story content became tired and less engaging as the months and weeks toward September 30, 1962 came nearer.
Some of the scriptwriters revised scripts that they had used a decade or more earlier. Robert Arthur reworked some of his Mysterious Traveler scripts. Jack Johnstone, using the name "Jonathan Bundy," revised scripts from his short-lived 1940-1941 Mutual series, Who Knows?
Then what?
What happened was well known in the business, with writers aiming toward television and not pursuing radio, starting in the mid-1950s. It is interesting that when ABC started Theatre 5, one of the goals was to cultivate and encourage new writing talent and use Theatre 5 as a training ground for television writing. They knew it was necessary for the radio series and for television in the long run. They could not get as many scripts as they needed for the frenetic pace of Theatre 5's broadcast schedule, and ended up using many of radio's 1950s writers. They needed experienced talent to meet their demanding 5x/week schedule. But there were some new writers that showed some possibilities. The show had radio veteran script editor, Jack C. Wilson, guide the process. Unfortunately, the failing economics of Theatre 5 to command an audience and ABC affiliates ended that effort. Some of those new writers had only one script hit the airwaves.
- Many thanks to Keith Scott, Karl Schadow, and Don Ramlow for their help and affirmation of this information.
