''Bright Horizon'' is an
old-time radio
The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...
soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It was broadcast on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
from August 25, 1941 to July 6, 1945.
The program initially had an alternate title, ''The Story of Michael West''.
Format
''Bright Horizon'' was a
spinoff of the ''
Big Sister'' radio program. To help with the transition,
Alice Frost, who played Ruth Wayne in the original series, was heard in the first episodes of the spinoff.
[Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 52.] Michael West, the main character in the new program, was a singer on ''Big Sister''. With the switch to ''Bright Horizon'', the character continued singing but also used his law degree "and gradually became more involved in a law career, at one time considering a run for governor."
In 1942, a review of the program in
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
said, in part:
The quality is none too high on ''Bright Horizon'', ... but at least the 15 minutes on the shot caught had enough action to sustain a sort of infantile interest, and the acting level was for the most part surprisingly high.
''Bright Horizon'' was sponsored by
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...
, advertising
Swan Soap.
[
]
Personnel
Characters in ''Bright Horizon'' and the actors and actresses who portrayed them are shown in the table below.
Source: ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows'',[ except as noted.
Others heard on the program were ]Skip Homeier
George Vincent Homeier (October 5, 1930 – June 25, 2017), known professionally as Skip Homeier, was an American actor who started his career at the age of eleven and became a child star.
Career Child actor
Homeier was born in Chicago, Illino ...
, Jackie Grimes, Santos Ortega
Santos Edward Ortega (June 30, 1899 – April 10, 1976) was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for playing Will Hughes in ''As the World Turns'', taking over from Will Lee, who had played the role from the first episode on April 2, ...
and Chester Stratton.
Announcers were John Harper, Roland Winters
Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz; November 22, 1904 – October 22, 1989)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 287. was an Ame ...
, Grace Russell,[ Paul Luther][ Day Tuttle was the producer. Henry Hull, Charles Powers, Day Tuttle, Ralph Butler][ and Walter Allison Tibbals][
]
Sequel
After ''Bright Horizons last broadcast, "the program was extended for a few months, with the name changed to ''A Woman's Life''."[
]
See also
*List of radio soap operas
Radio drama, Radio daytime drama serials were broadcast for decades, and some expanded to television. These dramas are often referred to as "soaps", a shortening from "soap opera". That term stems from the original dramatic Serial (radio and tele ...
References
{{US radio soaps
1941 radio programme debuts
1945 radio dramas
1945 radio programme endings
CBS Radio programs
American radio soap operas