Abbott and Costello: Volume 1

By: John Grant, Bud Abbott

Narrated by: full cast

Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work on radio and in film and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and early 1950s. The show mixed comedy with musical interludes and special guests. This volume contains episodes of Abbott and Costello from 1940 through 1944 and showcases some of their most comedic shows such as "Dance Lessons", "Nylon Stockings", and "A Psychiatrist for Costello".

Public Domain (P)2019 TCA Television Corp., Diana Abbott-Colton, Hi Neighbor

Much Better Than Expected

As a collector of old time radio, I was cautious about purchasing this program, especially with the review that said the sound quality was poor. I am quite pleased with this purchase. The sound quality is much better than expected with most programs being transcribed from discs (there is surface noise present and a couple have skips). These sound much better than the overly compressed mp3 files that you find on the internet or even in some Audible purchases. The downside is that the shows are not listed. The chapters are as follows:
1 3/23/1944 With Linda Darnell
2 3/16/1944 With Sally, Eilers, Alan Hale
3 10/15/1944 With Marlene Dietrich
4 5/9/1946 Lou Joins the Circus
5 7/31/1940 Lou Goes to Dance School (rare program)
6 5/4/1944 With John Garfield
7 12/9/1943 With Arthur Treacher
8 3/16/1944 With Sally, Eilers, Alan Hale (same as chapter 2)
9 4/6/1944 With Cary Grant
10 1/20/1944 With Harold Peary
11 10/12/1944 Lou Buys a Gold Mine
12 1/14/1943 With Clare Trevor
13 2/7/1946 Lou Returns from His Uncle Artie Stebbins' Farm
14 5/11/1944 With Clare Trevor
15 11/19/1942 With Merle Oberon
16 Who's on First (live skit - poor sound); 12/5/1946 Mountain Lion Hunting (partial show)
17 11/9/1944 Lou's Horse Peanut Butter
18 10/19/1944 Lou's Math Abilities
19 1/13/1944 With Peter Lorre
20 1/6/1944 With Judy Canova
21 2/17/1944 With Dorothy Lamour
22 10/26/1944 Opening a Matrimonial Agency
23 3/9/1944 With Blondie and Dagwood
24 11/2/1944 Lou's Dog Hector
25 11/18/1943 Lucille Ball's Nylon Stockings
26 1/27/1944 With Janet Blair
27 3/30/1944 With Alan Ladd
28 11/16/1944 Lou Visits His Grade School
29 2/10/1944 With Charles Laughton
30 3/2/1944 With Hedda Hopper
31 4/17/1947 Lou Replaces Joe DiMaggio (poor sound quality at beginning) - Best Version of 'Who's on First' Routine available
32 11/25/1943 With Jane Wyman
33 12/30/1943 With Bert Gordon, the Mad Russian
34 12/16/1943 With Lynn Bari
35 12/2/1943 With Veronica Lake
36 12/7/1944 Lou's Vocal Coach

The 1943-1944 Abbott and Costello shows were far funnier than later shows in the series where the show was broadcast Saturday mornings aimed mostly at the juvenile market. There are truly some funny moments in this package and the sound is good enough that I will be purchasing the second set.

Better sounding files can be found elsewhere

Just a pile of public domain recordings, thrown together without any notations... no titles and no broadcast dates...with some shows (chapters) actually repeated... did anyone even bother to check these files before posting them for sale? For the most part, sound quality is acceptable, but other providers offer many of these shows with restored sound and will provide titles complete with the dates of the broadcasts. Even the simple addition of a pdf file could have made a difference here.