The Life of Riley
Broadcast · 1944 · Twice weekly
NBC
NBC · 1944–1951
Broadcasts
250
Cadence
Twice weekly
Rated
PG
Since
1944
The run
- Network
- NBC
- Years active
- 1944–1951
- Surviving broadcasts
- 250
- Genre
- comedy
The Life of Riley ran on network radio from 1944 to 1951, with William Bendix as Brooklyn-born aircraft riveter Chester A. Riley, transplanted to California with wife Peg and the children Babs and Junior. John Brown appeared as the undertaker Digby "Digger" O'Dell. These recordings stream from the Internet Archive.
Source collection
Internet Archive audio collections
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
48 dated broadcasts across 8 years on the air, with 2 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1946, in original transmission order.
- 1. Riley's Tonsillectomy · 26 Jan 1946
- 2. Riley Buys an Insurance Policy · 16 Mar 1946
- 3. The Giant Easter Bunny · 20 Apr 1946
- 01
Riley's Tonsillectomy
26 Jan 1946 · 24 min
- 02
Riley Buys an Insurance Policy
16 Mar 1946 · 25 min
- 03
The Giant Easter Bunny
20 Apr 1946 · 27 min
- 04
Junior Forgets Mother's Day
11 May 1946 · 27 min
- 05
The Bread Shortage and the Black Market
8 Jun 1946 · 28 min
- 06
Paper Route Subscription Contest to Go to Camp
29 Jun 1946 · 29 min
- 07
Riley Hides on Boat to Catch Babs and Her Boyfriend Simon
21 Sep 1946 · 29 min
- 08
Riley Sues the Bus Company
19 Oct 1946 · 23 min
Also on NBC
NBC in 1944–1951
Other series the network carried while The Life of Riley was on the air.
Same seasons
comedy on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
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