It happened 76 years ago today.............

If you are a fan of Old Time Radio like I am you might be interested to know today is an anniversary. It was on January 31st, 1936 that The Green Hornet was first heard on radio. It originated from the studios of WXYZ in Detroit and stayed on the air for 16 years. (Beginning in 1938 WXYZ supplied the program to the Mutual Broadcasting System then NBC Blue, the Blue Network, and finally ABC.)

This, incidentally, was the same studio where The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon (later renamed Sgt Preston of the Yukon) originated. The creators of all three series were George Trendle and Fran Striker. The title character of The Green Hornet was actually named Britt Reid. He was supposed to be the great nephew of John Reid, The Lone Ranger!

Britt Reid was the publisher of The Daily Sentinel by day, who donned his mask and by night was vigilante crime fighter The Green Hornet. Accompanying him on his rounds was trusty sidekick, Kato, driver of the super car The Black Beauty. 


The Green Hornet was played on radio originally by Al Hodge. Other actors in the radio version were Donovan Faust, Robert Hall, and Jack McCarthy. Kato, meanwhile, was played by Raymond Hayashi, followed by Roland Parker and later Mickey Tolan.



The Green Hornet was adapted into movie serials, comic books, a full length feature film, as well as a 60s television series that lasted only one season.


The theme music for The Green Hornet was The Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.