PROJECT AUDION 45 - Pat Novak for Hire

Moonlight Audio Theatre

The short-lived noirish radio detective series "Pat Novak for Hire" is probably better loved now than it was in the late 1940s, thanks to its darkly-comic quips and the dry-as-dust performance of Jack Webb in the title role (just before his blockbuster turn on "Dragnet.") Novak - the man, like the show - was one of those "hard-boiled" types - he may bounce or crack, but he doesn't break easily. Novak shows are loved for their Raymond Chandler-esque plots and style, where the lead character never met a crook or a lady he couldn't describe with a delirious simile. Project Audion offers up a brand-new episode penned for Project Audion by long-time network television writer Casey Keller. Mr. Keller's script matches the late-1940s originals blow for blow, dame for dame, gunshot for gunshot, metaphor for metaphor. Step into the perpetual foggy night of the San Francisco waterfront to meet "Pat Novak, For Hire" in our transcribed-live adventure.

Pat Novak: PETE FERNBAUGH (WV)

Jocko Madigan: TOM KONKLE (CA)

Inspector Helleman: TEE QUILLAN (TN)

Hannah Gordon: JOANNE KURMAN (CA)

Stripper 1: DONNA PATTON (TN))

Stripper 2: JULIE HOVERSON (WA)

Jack Silver: KIM TITUS (TX)

Announcer/Goon: LOTHAR TUPPAN (CA)

Goon: BOB MILLS (CA)

Coroner: CASEY KELLER (CA)

Written by Casey Keller

Sound, Direction, and Production by Larry Groebe