Unfortunately, the decline in script quality of the series is rather evident in these waning months. The actors did their best! The effects crew did their best! There are a few scripts that stand out.
Four of the better 1962 Zirato episodes are listed below with links to the Internet Archive pages that include commentary about them:
- Date Night https://archive.org/details/TSP620225 (William N. Robson uses the an allegory of a worried father and his daughter's first date to make a statement about the Red Scare and his early 1950's exile from CBS. The story holds up even if you don't know that's the inspiration. Robson was already working at Voice of America, but was still sending scripts to the series.)
- Perchance to Dream https://archive.org/details/TSP620318 (A man with a guilty conscience about the death of a friend's wife in a car accident he had attempts to make amends in a wrong way.)
- Brother John https://archive.org/details/TSP620415 (Elspeth Eric's underappreciated and very creative script that bases much of its structure on the French lullaby Frere Jacques. There are many curious references in character names and other aspects of the story throughout. You'd never guess that a story about criminal impersonation, blackmail, and extortion could be built on a childhood song. It's worth reading the notes prior to listening).
- That Real Crazy Infinity https://archive.org/details/TSP620527 (A lighthearted story about two jazz musicians who have the opportunity to go back in time to the jazz era they love. It's one of the few times that sci-fi and fantasy and music work together so well, especially in this period of the series.)
Script misattributions
There are many situations in the New York era where scripts from other series were used. This is especially true of Robert Arthur and some Mysterious Traveler scripts. There are prior books and other sources about Suspense this period that mis-attribute some scripts as being re-used in other series. Those writers and researchers did not have the access to script covers that we have had these decades later for this project, newspaper archives, or so many recordings. The script titles might be similar, but the stories are not. The Internet Archive posts and the blogposts identify and document these situations. There were more Suspense-first scripts in this period than originally believed.
Where did Zirato go?
It was pretty clear that Suspense and other radio programs would be cancelled at some point in the future. Zirato was transferred by CBS management to the far more lucrative game show To Tell the Truth. He was associate producer and had as one of his tasks the screening of people to be "liars" and the training of the two "liars" and the real person. He had many other duties in the process, and followed that series into its 1970s syndication.
Fred Hendrickson replaces him for the final 18 broadcasts
Hendrickson is too often discounted as "just" a production engineer. He worked for CBS for 30 years, from the time he was 18. He was an electrical engineer, and was Arthur Godfrey's director or producer or other roles for Godfrey's radio and TV at various times, and other assignments. Fred was well-known at CBS and in his community of Mamaroneck (near White Plains and New Rochelle in the Westchester suburbs of New York City). He worked in local charitable events, sometimes arranging for CBS celebrities to appear. Unfortunately, he passed away at age 48 in 1965.
Hendrickson's first episode is Stand In for Murder broadcast on 1962-06-03. We have an early script, with no cast assignments identified, with Zirato identified as producer-director. Zirato was transferred and Hendrickson assigned between that paperwork and the broadcast. Hendrickson is announced in the closing credits of the episode. It's likely that Zirato had some "command presence" over the first few Hendrickson episodes, giving advice on casting and other matters. The first scripts of the Hendrickson run were likely selected by Zirato before he learned of his reassignment.
The issue of Variety that announced the ending of Suspense and YTJD is dated August 8, 1962. It is likely that Hendrickson knew all along he was a "lame duck" but wanted the experience of handling the two last dramas at CBS.
