Premier Collections:
Jeff Regan, Investigator
Liner notes written by Ivan Shreve, Jr.

Click to listen to a Microsoft WMA audio clip
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"My name is Jeff Regan. I get ten a day and expenses from a detective bureau run by a guy named Lyon -- Anthony J. Lyon. They call me the Lyon's Eye..."

So intoned actor Jack Webb every week in his role as "Jeff Regan, Investigator," a half-hour crime drama which debuted on the CBS West Coast radio network on July 10, 1948. Regan was an operative for the International Detective Bureau, a Los Angeles-based agency supervised by the wily and parsimonious Anthony J. Lyon (played by Wilms Herbert and Herb Butterfield) whose money-grubbing predilections inspired both admirers and critics to dub his firm "The Lyon's Den." Regan himself earned from his clients the nickname of "The Lyon's Eye," as he was the boss' number-one gumshoe, capable of handling the trickiest of assignments. (It would have made more sense to call him "The Lyon's Main," but the federal pun statutes were enforced a little more strictly back then.)

Why Regan remained with International was never really answered satisfactorily on the series - he didn't seem to be too thrilled with his choice of vocation and rarely masked his contempt for the miserly Lyon ("He's in it for the money. And me? I don't know...I don't know..."). But it was a perfect showcase for the up-and-coming Webb, whose nihilistic portrayal of Regan was aided immeasurably by the hard-boiled qualities of the scripts by series scribe E. Jack Neuman. "Jeff Regan, Investigator," however, would serve only as a halfway house in Webb's career -- a transition between his cult detective classic "Pat Novak For Hire" and the seminal police procedural "Dragnet." (Shortly after the cancellation of "Regan" in December 1948, Webb offhandedly remarked to a Radio Life reporter that his next character "might be called Joe Friday.")

Producer Sterling Tracy reorganized the series in October 1949, replacing the departed Webb with actor-announcer Frank Graham in the role of Regan. The main character was retooled to accommodate the change in actors, softening Regan's chip-on-the-shoulder persona to a more empathetic, "fight-for-the-little-guy" personality. Boss Anthony J. Lyon underwent an "extreme makeover" as well; his despotic qualities vanished and he became more of a clownish, comedy-relief buffoon affectionately referred to by Regan as "Fatso" and played to perfection by Jack Benny's nemesis Frank Nelson. Writers William Froug, William Fifield and Gilbert Thomas continued E. Jack Neuman's hard-boiled tradition, though their efforts had a considerably lighter tongue-in-cheek approach. ("It All Comes Back to Me Now" contains an amusing in-joke reference to the protagonist of CBS' medical drama "The Private Practice of Dr. Dana," another series with producer Tracy at the helm.)

With outstanding music scoring courtesy of Richard Aurandt and top-notch support from radio stalwarts like Paul Frees, Betty Lou Gerson, Arthur Q. Bryan, Herb Vigran and Paul Dubov (who even filled in as Regan on occasion), "Jeff Regan, Investigator" invited radio listeners to "stand by for mystery, suspense and adventure!" - and continues to do so today in this new Premiere Collection: four audio compact discs containing eight original CBS network broadcasts, all taken from first generation master recordings and fully restored for excellent sound quality.

Here's the complete content:

Some Enchanted Carhop
In this holiday-themed entry, Ward Hamilton hires Jeff to probe into why man-hating Mary Winter is receiving packages from a stranger.
Wednesday, December 21, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

It All Comes Back To Me Now
A woman with amnesia walks into the Lyon Detective Bureau with no clues to her identity, save a .32 Smith & Wesson with two bullets missing and a cab fare receipt totaling $3.70. (Paul Dubov plays Regan in this episode.)
Wednesday, April 26, 1950 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

They've Got More Than Coffee in Brazil
When her sister Carmen fails to meet her upon her arrival in Los Angeles, Irene Santino enlists Regan's help in locating her.
Sunday, June 18, 1950 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

No Sad Clowns For Me
A circus owner wants to hire Jeff to investigate why the big top's main backer has stopped investing -- but another client has paid the agency a fee not to take the case!
Sunday, June 25, 1950 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

She's Lovely, She's Engaged, She Eats Soy Beans
Steve Albright employs Regan to be a bodyguard to bathing beauty Jeri Sholder -- specifically, to keep her away from a racketeer named Bannion.
Sunday, July 9, 1950 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

A Fire For Romano
Jeff investigates a case of arson at a grocery store owned by an Italian couple who have become the target of a neighbor's bigotry and hate.
Sunday, July 30, 1950 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
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There's Nothing Like a Pork Chop When Supper Rolls Around
Poet Buddy Huckle - "the bard laureate" - is killed after being pushed out of a window during one of his radio broadcasts -- but Jeff Regan is on the case!
Sunday, August 6, 1950 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

Gentlemen Prefer Horses
When his lucrative business selling horse race tips dries up, ex-jockey "Boots" Crenshaw hires Regan to investigate the disappearance of his best customer.
Sunday, August 27, 1950 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

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