SOMEBODY KNOWS

OLD TIME RADIO - 1 CD - 8 mp3 - Total Playtime: 3:56:20

Virginia MacPherson Man Gambles $40,000 of Own Money on a New Radio Idea

There's a man in town willing to stake $40,000 of his own cash on a novel radio concept — and he's secretly hoping to come up short. That man is Jimmy Saphier, a seasoned radio producer, and he seems to be of sound mind. But he insists he'd be overjoyed to lose $5,000 every Thursday night throughout the summer. Before you dismiss him as eccentric, hear out his scheme: Saphier is launching a show tonight dubbed "Somebody Knows." It's a hybrid whodunit and giveaway, where listeners can cash in by providing evidence that nails a murderer. The inspiration came from the Chicago Sun-Times, which in turn was inspired by William Finstead, a dedicated sleuth for two decades. "Each week, we'll dramatize a juicy unsolved case," Saphier elucidated. "Then we'll appeal to our listeners to mail in clues. If any of those lead to the conviction of the culprit, we'll cough up $5,000." And who wouldn't leap at such a prospect? Saphier calculates that even solving just one crime via his show would catapult "somebody knows" onto every front page in the land. "We haven't secured a sponsor yet," he admits, "so I'm footing the $40,000 bill myself. I've got five other shows on air... there's usually a bit of cash lying around the house." Saphier is unabashed in targeting "a higher caliber of listener." He's banking on his audience being predominantly crooks, hoodlums, and mobsters — with a special emphasis on informants. "Those are the ones who usually crack these cases," he pointed out. The Sun-Times nabbed three suspects. One ended up behind bars. "I don't care if we only have one listener. As long as he's the guy who knows who did it — and is willing to squeal on his buddies." Winners will be assigned numbers rather than names, just in case someone's tempted to silence them for snitching. "They send us the intel," he explained. "We'll make copies and send them off to the chief of police who's been stumped by the case. "And we've received fantastic cooperation from virtually every city in the nation." Saphier believes he's onto a winner with this idea. After all, fresh murders are always cropping up. "New murders are always popping up," he remarked.

The promotional spiel above encapsulates Mr. Saphier's vision for Somebody Knows. CBS and its arch rival NBC found themselves locked in a battle of the airwaves with competing crime exposé series during the summer of 1950: CBS' Somebody Knows and NBC's Wanted. While Somebody Knows, arguably and quite deliberately, leaned toward the sensational, it focused on famous unsolved cases. NBC's Wanted, on the other hand, concentrated on notorious fugitives at large.

The venerable radio critic, John Crosby, delved into the similarities and differences between Somebody Knows and Wanted in the July 20, 1950 edition of the Oakland Tribune:

Real Crimes Basis for Two Programs By JOHN CROSBY CBS and NBC have both come up with almost identical programs aimed at solving crimes which are still open cases and at apprehending criminals still at large. Both these programs, NBC's "Wanted" (7 p.m. PDT Friday) and CBS's "Somebody Knows" (6 p.m. PDT Thursday), are, so far as I know, novel, though rather belated, experiments in radio journalism.

Both programs review actual unsolved crimes, providing listeners with as much information as possible about the suspects in the hope that some listener may come forth with tips leading to the capture and conviction of the criminals.

The networks would be performing a great public service if they land any criminals. So far, neither of them has. Even if they don't, these are both highly educational programs, furnishing the average laymen with sound information on the workings, both of the underworld and of the law enforcement agencies. Since the public's thirst for crime programs of some sort seems virtually unquenchable, it's nice to have a couple of programs that deal with authentic crimes as opposed to the ordinary run of derring-do on the radio.

REWARD OFFERED

"Somebody Knows," which offers a $5000 reward if you can put a finger on any of these criminals, recently took up the case of a psychopathic killer operating in St. Paul. It opened with the voice of a Dr. Hathaway, a professor of psychology, addressing a seminar on mental abnormalities and speaking specifically of the repetitive nature of criminal acts by various types of psychopaths.

This led into the review of the case of a girl named Geraldine. Geraldine was returning home from her job shortly after midnight on a rainy night. She was within two blocks of her home—a fact established by the bus driver who let her out there—when she was attacked and killed. Her body, the throat and wrists slashed, was found three miles away from the scene of the crime. The girl was neither raped nor robbed.

Dr. Hathaway, who was called into the case by the police, predicted that the killer would strike again if the same set of circumstances arose again. Sure enough, about a year later, a girl named Mary Agnes was returning to her home alone from an evening at the ballet about midnight. The circumstances were almost identical. She was within three blocks of her home—a fact verified by the streetcar conductor. It was a rainy night. The streets were deserted. Mary Agnes was killed in the same manner as Geraldine, throat and wrists slashed, and her body was discovered miles from the crime scene.

SHOWS LIST

Somebody Knows 50-07-06 Gladys Kern Murder
Somebody Knows 50-07-13 Mary Agnes Kabiska Murder
Somebody Knows 50-07-20 Unsolved Murder of Joseph P Bohanek
Somebody Knows 50-07-27 Frank J Christenson Murder
Somebody Knows 50-08-03 Paula Kohler Eubanks Murder
Somebody Knows 50-08-10 Samuel I Paris Murder
Somebody Knows 50-08-17 Jean Croyle Long Murder
Somebody Knows 50-08-24 The Black Dahlia

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