Candy Matson, Yukon 28209

CANDY MATSON was the private eye star of Candy Matson, YUKON 2-8208, an NBC West Coast 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 PI. 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 PI 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. 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 for 84 episodes until May 1951, it never attracted a permanent sponsor (although the first season's final episode ended with the announcement that "Candy Matson Is San Francisco's Most Popular Program").

All 14 available radio shows (in MP3 format) all on 1 data CD!



Numbers refer to production or broadcast dates (yymmdd) and series number when known:

490404 (01) Donna Dunham (audition)
490707 (02) The Cable Car Case
491110 (20) Devil In The Deep Freeze
491219 (24) Jack Frost
491227 (25) Valley of the Moon
500102 (26) NC9-8012
500113 (27) Eric Spaulding Concert
500620 (49) Symphony of Death
500911 (50) The Movie Company
501009 (54) The Fort Ord Story
501023 (56) The Egyptian Armulet
501218 (64) San Juan Batista
510521 (84) Candy's Last Case
520921 The Fortune Teller (an audition for a new version of the series which did not air)