In the 1930s, there was no television!  It's hard to conceive, but true!

The primary source of home entertainment was...radio!  Just as the family now gathers around the plasma or lcd screen, in those bygone days they would surround a huge radio set (as big as tvs are today) to listen to news, sports...and entertainment!

Every genre was covered; drama, comedy, soap operas, variety shows, kids' shows, etc., usually broadcast live!  With no visual cues audio (Voices, music, and sound effects) was used to create everything listeners would "visualize" in their minds, from a Martian invasion to lovers arguing in a restaurant to the trial of Benedict Arnold!  It was "Theatre of the Imagination"!

One of the most popular radio shows was The Lone Ranger.  The adventures of the Masked Man and his friend in the Old West were continously among the top-rated series on the air and had rapidly become a part of American popular culture.  Naturally, creator George Trendle started thinking of a spin-off called The Hornet.

He and writer Fran Striker updated the concept of the masked vigilante from the 1800s West to the present, keeping certain aspects like unique transportation (The Black Beauty instead of Silver) and an ethnic sidekick (Kato instead of Tonto), but adding one major difference...unlike The Ranger, The Hornet would be considered by the public and police to be a villain! This would enable him to infiltrate criminal operations, get info, then turn the data (and fiends) over to the authorities!

The character was the publisher of The Daily Sentinel newspaper, so that he'd have both the financial resources and access to information to enable him to fight crime. In a clever tie-in to The Lone Ranger, he was the son of Dan Reid, nephew of The Masked Man! A large supporting cast aided Reid (and, indirectly, The Hornet) including Mike Axford (crime reporter who wanted to catch The Hornet), Reid's secretary Lenore "Casey" Case (who admired The Hornet and eventually learned her boss' secret identity), Police Comissioner Higgins (who knew Reid was The Hornet, acted like he didn't, and fed Reid information) and Sentinel staffers including photographer Marjorie "Clicker" Binney, sarcastic reporter Ed Lowry, and exasperated editor Gunnigan.

Deciding that a buzzing sound effect could be a distinctive audio signature for the character, Trendle named him The Hornet.  But, Trendle discovered that he couldn't trademark the generic word "hornet", so, after considering other colors (blue, red, even pink!), the name "Green Hornet" was chosen.

Just as The Lone Ranger series used distinctive classical music (the "William Tell Overture") as it's theme, The Green Hornet utilized "Flight of the Bumblebee" with it's buzzing motif as it's title theme.

Deep-voiced Al Hodge was chosen to be Britt Reid/Green Hornet, while Kato was played by Tokutaro Hayashi.  When Hodge went into the Navy in 1943, he was followed in the role by Donovan Faust, Bob Hall, and finally, Jack McCarthy. Rollon Parker took over the role of Kato, and it's never been made clear why Hayashi left. Ironically, Kato was originally referred to as Japanese, then said to be FIllipino (but not right after Pearl Harbor, as is often believed).

Armed with a knockout gas gun and the supercharged car Black Beauty (both created by science whiz Kato), The Green Hornet debuted on January 31st, 1936, immediately shooting to the top of the ratings.
The show continued until December 5, 1952.

Some Fun Facts

• Al Hodge later played another superhero--Captain Video, in the 1950s!
• One of 60 Minutes host Mike Wallace's first jobs was as the announcer/narrator during The Green Hornet's final season!

Here's a kool link to FREE downloadble mp3s of the radio show!

Tomorrow: the FIRST movie Green Hornet!