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Pat Novak for Hire

24 episodes · 1946–1949 · Armed Forces Radio Service, ABC, ABC Pacific · Detective

Play Pat Novak for Hire on Radio Days

"Sure, I'm Pat Novak, for hire." Jack Webb played Novak, who rented boats on San Francisco's Pier 19 and took any job going, which always ended in murder. It began on KGO in San Francisco in 1946-47, and Webb brought it back on ABC in 1949. Raymond Burr was Inspector Hellman, who always suspected Novak, and Tudor Owen was Jocko Madigan, his drunken ex-doctor friend. Richard L. Breen's scripts were famous for their hard-boiled wisecracks and similes.

Sources: Pat Novak, for Hire, Wikipedia

Episodes

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1946

• John St. John October 13, 1946 · 29 min
• Dixie Gillian November 24, 1946 · ABC Pacific · 30 min
  From the original San Francisco run. A beautiful woman hires Novak to scare a man with an empty gun, and it ends in murder.

1947

• Johnny Brown Gambling Ring August 3, 1947 · ABC · 29 min
  A weasel hires Pat as his bodyguard on a drive to San Francisco, then vanishes, and a woman turns up in the trunk.
• Mysterious Set of Books August 10, 1947 · ABC · 29 min
  A dead man's neighbor offers Pat $1,000 to bring him an envelope from the dead man's safe.
• The Lydia Reynolds Case November 23, 1947 · ABC · 30 min
  A rich, unbalanced young woman hires Pat as her bodyguard.
• Death in Herald Square November 30, 1947 · ABC · 31 min
  Pat takes a job watching an apartment and smells a $10,000 reward.

1949

• Jack of Clubs February 20, 1949 · ABC · 30 min
  A thousand dollars turns up in Pat's bank account, a corpse in his closet, and a lovely lady with smuggled microfilm in his life.
• Don't Tell Hilda (aka-Marcia Halpern) February 27, 1949 · 29 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists this date as “Marcia Halpern.”
• Fleet Lady March 6, 1949 · Armed Forces Radio Service · 32 min
  A dead racehorse leads to a dead jockey and a hot tip on murder.
• Rubin Callaway's Pictures March 13, 1949 · Armed Forces Radio Service · 30 min
  A dying man in the harbor, photos in a locker, and trouble for Pat.
• Rory Malone March 20, 1949 · ABC · 29 min
  A prizefight fixed twice over, and all the wrong answers.
• Joe Candono: Blackmail Pictures March 27, 1949 · Armed Forces Radio Service · 32 min
  Blackmail pictures, a beautiful girl and the inevitable knock on the head.
• Father Leahy: Joe Feldman April 2, 1949 · Armed Forces Radio Service · 30 min
  A priest puts Pat on the trail of an escaped convict, which leads to a slit throat, a dead cop and a frame.
• Sam Tolliver April 9, 1949 · Armed Forces Radio Service · 30 min
  The wrong shirt leads Pat to murder.
• Go Away, Dixie Gillian April 16, 1949 · Armed Forces Radio Service · 30 min
  Pat is hired to scare a woman with an empty gun, which turns out not to be empty.
• Rita Malloy April 23, 1949 · Armed Forces Radio Service · 31 min
  An errand for a friend gets Pat a beating, a package and a corpse or three.
• Wendy Morris April 30, 1949 · 29 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Shirt Mix-Up at the Laundry May 7, 1949 · 27 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Geranium Plant May 14, 1949 · 30 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Give Envelope to John St John May 21, 1949 · 31 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Agnes Bolton June 4, 1949 · 29 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Georgie Lampson June 11, 1949 · 30 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• The Only Way to Make Friends Is to Die June 18, 1949 · 30 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Little Jake Siegel June 25, 1949 · 28 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.