Let George Do It
Let George Do It is one of the best places to hear Bob Bailey before Johnny Dollar. Bailey’s George Valentine begins as an all-purpose problem solver and gradually becomes a more conventional private investigator, giving the surviving run a noticeable change in tone from light comedy toward noir-flavored suspense.
Where to Start
Researched entry points from recordings already in the Golden Radio Hour archive.
Audition #3 The First Client (now George Valentine)
This is an early surviving broadcast in the GRH holdings, useful for hearing the series at a different point in its surviving run.
Episode details →Till Death Do Us Part
This is a middle-period broadcast in the GRH holdings, useful for hearing the series at a different point in its surviving run.
Episode details →Spring Session (HSG Syndication Original Broadcast 1951-05-07)
This is a later surviving broadcast in the GRH holdings, useful for hearing the series at a different point in its surviving run.
Episode details →Program History
Bob Bailey stars as George Valentine, a resourceful troubleshooter who answers requests for help and repeatedly finds ordinary jobs turning into mysteries, danger, and murder.
West Coast mystery/private-detective drama developed from a classified-ad troubleshooter premise. Early material is lighter and comic; the series evolves into a tougher crime drama.
The run breaks into several distinct periods: Development / auditions (1946-04 to May 14, 1946), Early light mystery/comedy phase (October 4, 1946 to December 31, 1948) on Mutual Broadcasting System, Mature Bob Bailey private-eye phase (January 1, 1949 to November 29, 1953) on Mutual Broadcasting System, and Olan Soule final phase (November 30, 1953 to September 27, 1954) on Mutual Broadcasting System.
Names that turn up again and again in the surviving run include Bob Bailey (performer), Bud Hiestand (announcer), Eddie Dunstedter (composer, conductor, and presenter), David Victor (writer), Don Clark (director), Virginia Gregg (performer), and Jackson Gillis (writer).
Across its run, the surviving broadcasts are tied to Mutual Broadcasting System, Don Lee Network, KFRC, and KHJ.
The stories often return to murder and homicide, private investigation, theft, robbery and stolen property, missing persons, travel and distant locations, and wartime service and veteran connections.
The show also sits in a wider radio history that includes Postwar veteran-to-private-investigator setting, West Coast regional network detective production, Standard Oil / Chevron sponsorship, and New York transcription distribution.
If you are following the same actors and creative circles, related programs worth opening next include Lux Radio Theatre, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, The Whistler, Screen Directors Playhouse, and Escape.
All Episodes & Recordings
Search this program or browse in its validated catalog order.
Audition #3 The First Client (now George Valentine)
An audition or sales-presentation recording associated with Let George Do It, identified in the archive as “Audition #3 The First Client (now George Valentine).”
Kleptomaniac
George is hired to protect a compulsive shoplifter, but the simple assignment turns into arrests and a string of comic misunderstandings.
The Picnic
A search for a picnic spot leads George to a boarded-up house and a message from a woman who says she is being held there.
Cousin Jeff and the Pigs
George tries to find a suitable wife for his pig-raising cousin, only to create a series of unexpected romantic complications.
The Brookdale Orphanage
A movie star's secret terror of horses complicates an orphanage benefit and leaves George improvising a solution.
The Robber
The death of an eccentric bookseller sends George looking for a concealed fortune and the person willing to betray others for it.
Snookums the Lap Dog
George's attempt to hide a prize Great Dane for a client creates jealous suspicions, police trouble and a frantic search for the dog.
Forty-Two on a Rope
A good deed draws George into a hunt for legendary pearls involving smugglers, a mysterious woman and a scientific surprise.
The Murder of a Mind
An old Army friend confined as a mental patient leads George to uncover a smuggling organization and the cover-up protecting it.
The Smugglers
An old Army friend confined as a mental patient leads George to uncover a smuggling organization and the cover-up protecting it.
Lost and Found
George's search for an estranged brother develops into a murder case involving impersonation, deception and a hidden identity.
Am I My Brothers Keeper
George's search for an estranged brother develops into a murder case involving impersonation, deception and a hidden identity.
The Penthouse Roof
A birdwatcher reports seeing a man pushed from a distant rooftop, sending George into a case involving insurance, a supposed suicide and deliberate murder.
The Wolf Pack
George tries to keep a troubled young man from pursuing revenge and uncovers a larger scheme behind the conflict.
The Eddie Prokosh Case
George tries to keep a troubled young man from pursuing revenge and uncovers a larger scheme behind the conflict.
Under the River
A series of dangerous accidents at a tunnel project leads George beneath the river and toward a deeply personal motive.
Tunnel Under the River
A series of dangerous accidents at a tunnel project leads George beneath the river and toward a deeply personal motive.
The Spirit World
A suspicious spiritualist and a seance pull George into an inheritance scheme involving fraud, manipulation and murder.
The Gilbert Dressler Case
A suspicious spiritualist and a seance pull George into an inheritance scheme involving fraud, manipulation and murder.
Friendship Clubs
The disappearance of a woman from a lakeside community leads George to a matrimonial agency and a pattern of suspicious deaths.
The Edith Wilder Case
The disappearance of a woman from a lakeside community leads George to a matrimonial agency and a pattern of suspicious deaths.
The Peter Mirch Case
A timid actor asks George for real-life excitement, only for an amusement-park outing to become a murder case tied to an old jewel robbery.
A Piece of Publicity
George is hired to protect a famous trapeze performer from an apparent threat and finds that the real danger is much closer than expected.
The Martha Devorak Case
George is hired to protect a famous trapeze performer from an apparent threat and finds that the real danger is much closer than expected.
Problem Child
A mother fighting for custody asks George to prove she was framed, forcing him to investigate the family members trying to discredit her.
The Barbara Eversall Case
A mother fighting for custody asks George to prove she was framed, forcing him to investigate the family members trying to discredit her.
Mr. Korawski – American
An immigrant's fear of a collection racket leads George to a broader blackmail operation preying on vulnerable newcomers.
The Racket
An immigrant's fear of a collection racket leads George to a broader blackmail operation preying on vulnerable newcomers.
Murder Me Twice
A harsh theater critic hires George and then turns up dead, leaving multiple suspects tied together by jealousy and betrayal.
Jonathan Thorpe Case
A harsh theater critic hires George and then turns up dead, leaving multiple suspects tied together by jealousy and betrayal.
A Close Call
A staged romance meant to break up another relationship turns dangerous as George discovers that someone is using the deception for a darker purpose.
Joyce Dunning Case
A staged romance meant to break up another relationship turns dangerous as George discovers that someone is using the deception for a darker purpose.
Cry Murder
After another detective is killed and blamed for a banker's murder, George works to clear the dead man's name and expose the blackmail behind both deaths.
Joe Logan Case
After another detective is killed and blamed for a banker's murder, George works to clear the dead man's name and expose the blackmail behind both deaths.
The Lie That Came True
A harmless lie about being robbed unexpectedly creates an alibi in a real murder case and leaves George sorting through false stories and hidden motives.
Miss Haffey Murdered Her
A fabricated robbery story unexpectedly overlaps a genuine killing, leaving George to separate the false alibi from the real murder.
The Money Maker
George goes undercover against a counterfeiting ring using stolen paper in a scheme with international financial consequences.
The Martin Kirsch Case
George goes undercover against a counterfeiting ring using stolen paper in a scheme with international financial consequences.
The Perfect Specimen
A doctor facing an apparent death threat hires George, who finds family secrets and blackmail behind a plan designed to resemble murder.
The Perfect Specimen
A doctor facing an apparent death threat hires George, who finds family secrets and blackmail behind a plan designed to resemble murder.
Cast, Crew & Contributors
Every relationship below is backed by the current Golden Radio Hour smart index. Open a profile, or use the broadcast count to see the exact recordings connecting that person to this program.
Bob Bailey
Bud Hiestand
Virginia Gregg
Lurene Tuttle
John Dehner
William Conrad
Howard McNear
Parley BaerMore Private Detectives Radio
Programs connected through the most specific listening path for this show.
