Radio Series Premiere
Arch Oboler ? s Plays Premiered March 25,1939
Listen
To a Arch Obler ' s Play Called Mirage
Arch Oboler ? s Plays was Oboler ? s breakout dramatic showcase over Radio . Everyman ? s Theater further established Oboler ? s versatility and range , while underscoring Oboler ? s growing appeal to a far wider audience than he ? d already established with Lights Out !. Though eight years his senior , the diminutive Oboler , while never as widely popular as Orson Welles , invites comparison to the other great young playwright-actor-director . Their skills were clearly each other ? s equal , their versatility had already been amply demonstrated by 1940 , and their genius was indisputable . It ? s also clear that both Wyllis Cooper and Norman Corwin served to influence and inform Oboler ? s growing , wider appeal . The Arch Oboler ? s Plays franchise aired in one form or another over a period of almost thirty-three years , counting the original canon of fifty-three new radioplays , the subsequent special canon of twenty-six radioplays for the Mutual Broadcasting System ( 1945 ), then a 1964 revival , and finally a 1971 revival . The original canon of scripts encompassed some ninety-plus original stories . And , as dyed in the wool Lights Out ! fans will surely point out , a good number of Lights Out ! stories were reprised among the Arch Oboler ? s Plays canon over the years as well . The Arch Oboler Plays canon in its various refinements over the years , represents some of the most innovative , experimental and cutting edge script and production effects work--from one man--ever seen during The Golden Age of Radio .