Created by Monty Masters
CANDY MATSON was the private eye star of Candy Matson, YUKON 2-8208, an NBC West Coast radio show which first aired in March 1949 and was created by Monty Masters. He cast his wife, Natalie Parks, in the title role of this sassy, sexy former model turned private eye. Her understated love interest, Lt. Ray Mallard, was played by Henry Leff while her assistant and high-falutin’ best pal, aptly named Rembrandt Watson, was the voice of Jack Thomas.
Every show opened with a ringing telephone and our lady shamus answering it with “Candy Matson, YU 2-8209” and then the organ swung into the theme song, “Candy.” Each job took Candy from her apartment on Telegraph Hill into some actual location in San Francisco. The writers, overseen by Monty, worked plenty of real Bay Area locations into every plot.
Candy was bright, tough, and fearless. She used her pistol infrequently, but was unintimidated by bad guys, regardless of circumstances. Threats, assaults, and even bullets would usually produce a caustic, but clever, response for this blonde sleuth who was more than willing to use people’s assumptions to her advantage. She and Mallard were frequently working the same case, but she usually solved it first.
OTR experts generally agree that this show was the finest of all the female PIs. Although the show ran until May 1951, it never attracted a permanent sponsor (the first season’s final episode even ended with the announcement that “Candy Matson Is San Francisco’s Most Popular Program”), nor did it gain the national audience it deserved–it remained strictly a West Coast program.
RADIO
- CANDY MATSON, YUKON 2-8208
(1949-51, NBC)
84 30-minute episodes
2 “auditions” (pilots)
A NBC-KGO San Francisco Production
Producer/Director: Marty Masters
Starring Natalie Parks-Masters as CANDY MATSON
Also starring Henry Leff, Jack Thomas- PILOT
- “The Donna Dunham Case” (April 4, 1949; audition show, uses “Exbrook 2-9994” instead of “Yukon 28209”
- SEASON ONE
- “The Donna Dunham Case” (June 30, 1949)
- “The Cable Car Case” (July 7, 1949)
- “The Adrianne Larue Case” (July 14, 1949)
- “The Olive Frentrupp Case” (July 21, 1949)
- “On Top of Mount Shasta” (July 28, 1949)
- “Half Moon Bay Merry-Go-Round” (August 4, 1949)
- “Berkeley Switch Board” (August 18, 1949)
- “The Rusty Dale Case” (August 22, 1949)
- “The Cooper Case” (September 5, 1949)
- “Long Drive To Carmel” (September 12, 1949)
- “The Luther Bradley Case” (September 19, 1949)
- “The Ralph Osborne Case” (September 23, 1949)
- “The Body On The Trail” (September 26, 1949)
- “The Fort Ord Story” (October 3, 1949)
- “The Devil In The Deep Freeze” (October 10, 1949)
- “Photo Shoot Murders” (October 17, 1949)
- “The Nelda Mchaven Case” (October 24, 1949)
- “The Alex Warburton Case” (October 31, 1949)
- “The Devil In The Deep Freeze” (November 07, 1949)
- “The Ben Murdock Case” (November 14, 1949)
- “The Roof Fire” (November 21, 1949)
- “The Allison Gray Case” (November 28, 1949; AKA “The Fortune Teller”)
- “Flashback To ’39” (December 5, 1949; origin story, relating how Candy met Mallard and Watson)
- “The Missing Jewels Case” (December 12, 1949)
- “Jack Frost” (December 19, 1949; Christmas program)
- “Valley Of The Moon” (December 26, 1949)
- “Nc9-8012” (January 2, 1950)
- “The Pat Ennis Case” (January 9, 1950)
- “The Harvey Forester Case” (January 16, 1950)
- “The Nel Berquist Case” (January 23, 1950)
- “The Ernst Mittnacht Case” (January 30, 1950)
- “The Flora Kirkland Case” (February 06, 1950)
- “Eric Spaulding Concert” (February 13, 1950)
- “Pictures At An Exhibition” (February 27, 1950)
- “Kilkenny Playland” (March 3, 1950)
- “Wheels For Watson” (March 6, 1950)
- “High Sea Smugglers” (March 13, 1950)
- “The Mona Bryant Case” (March 20, 1950)
- “The Tony Rafiello Case” (March 27, 1950)
- “The Sharp Point Mystery” (April 10, 1950)
- “Killer On Flight 14” (April 17, 1950)
- “Weekend Cruise” (April 24, 1950)
- “The Grass Valley Case” (May 1, 1950)
- “Circus Cherry Pie” (May 8, 1950)
- “Telegram From A Friend (Part 1)” (May 15, 1950)
- “Telegram From A Friend (Part 2)” (May 22, 1950)
- “Introductions Anonymous” (May 29, 1950)
- “A Black Cat” (June 5, 1950)
- “The Curtis Colfax Case” (June 12, 1950)
- “Symphony Of Death” (June 19, 1950)
- SEASON TWO
- “The Olive Becker Case” (July 3, 1950)
- “Fugitive On Television” (July 10, 1950)
- “Candy Behind Bars” (July 24, 1950)
- “The Fatal Fall” (July 31, 1950)
- “The Lo Jung Case” (August 07, 1950)
- “Society Matron Murder” (August 14, 1950)
- “Murder At The Network” (August 21, 1950)
- “The Burning House” (August 28, 1950)
- “Death In Sacramento” (September 4, 1950)
- “The Movie Company” (September 11, 1950)
- “The Big Frame” (September 18, 1950)
- “The Egyptian Armulet” (October 23, 1950)
- “Death In The Ring” (October 30, 1950)
- “Mystery On The Fairway” (November 6, 1950)
- “Stadium Murder” (November 13, 1950)
- “Candy’s Birthday Surprise” (November 20, 1950)
- “Norvello The Great” (November 27, 1950)
- “Paul Drake’s Curtain Call” (December 4, 1950)
- “Death In The Alley” (December 11, 1950)
- “San Juan Batista” (December 18, 1950)
- “What In The Dlckens?” (December 25, 1950)
- “Palm Springs Vacation” (January 1, 1951)
- “Homicide On Ice” (January 8, 1951)
- “Crime On The Waterfront” (January 15, 1951)
- “Moon Of Madness” (January 22, 1951)
- “Sea Cliff Mystery” (January 29, 1951)
- “Death At The Drive-In” (February 5, 1951)
- “Rusty Dale” (February 12, 1951; repeat of August 22, 1948 episode)
- “Death Drives Dangerously” (February 18, 1951)
- “The Case Of The Missing Brother” (February 26, 1951)
- “Mystery at The Morgue” (March 5, 1951)
- “Money in The Mattress” (March 12, 1951)
- “The Ghost of Grogan’s Gulch” (March 19, 1951)
- “Murder at 10,000 Feet” (March 26, 1951)
- “The Stinson Beach Mystery” (April 02, 1951)
- “Jolly Jailbirds” (April 09, 1951)
- “The Roller Coaster Mystery” (April 16, 1951)
- “A Novel Approach to Burglary” (April 23, 1951)
- “Murder on The Mound” (April 30, 1951)
- “Voltaire is Where?” (May 7, 1951)
- “The Gang’s All Here” (May 14, 1951)
- “Candy’s Last Case” (May 21, 1951; AKA “Cape Hatteras Diamond”)
- FAILED PILOT FOR NEW SERIES
- “The Fortune Teller” (September 21, 1952; phone number was changed to Yukon 38309…go figure!)
SHORT STORIES
- “The Japanese Sandman” (2002; It’s That Time Again; by Jack French)
Contributed by Jack French. Episode listings partially adapted from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs.
