BIG JON AND SPARKY or BIG JOHN AND SPARKIE OLD TIME RADIO - 2 CD-ROM - 160 mp3 - Total Playtime: 29:00:02Jon Arthur was the professional name of Jon Arthur Goerss. As Big Jon Arthur he was the host of the Saturday morning children's radio series, Big Jon and Sparkie. Sparkie, "the little elf from the land of make-believe, who wants more than anything else in the world to be a real boy,” was actually the recorded voice of Jon Arthur played at a fast speed.From his home in Pittsburgh, Jon Arthur went to radio school and then began his broadcasting career at radio station WJLS (Beckley, West Virginia), signing on two weeks after the station went on the air in 1939. Arthur later left Beckley for Ogdensburg, New York and soon headed for the West Coast. Arthur died in California in 1982.At WSAI in Cincinnati, Arthur began the Big Jon and Sparkie show, carried daily on 181 ABC stations beginning in 1950. ABC also aired his two-hour Saturday show, No School Today, heard weekly by 12 million listeners on 275 stations. The show's theme song was "Teddy Bears' Picnic" as sung by Ann Stephens. Cincinnati's Don Kortekamp, who was an editor at WSAI, teamed up with Arthur to become the scriptwriter of Big Jon and Sparkie.Arthur originally created the character of Sparkie as a young scamp who would interrupt him while he was on the air. WSAI's station manager asked Kortekamp and Arthur to expand this into a radio program. Arthur voiced all of the various characters while Kortekamp provided the scripts for their adventures and a local businessman in the novelty business produced a Sparkie puppet. Kortekamp drew on his memories of his childhood in Cheviot, Ohio when creating new characters and the plots for the program. Mayor Plumpfront, the Krausers, Clyde Pillroller, and Eukey Butcha were all based on people he knew while growing up. However in 1951, the station did not renew its contract with Arthur and the program then moved to new Cincinnati studios to continue its ABC radio broadcasts.The Saturday morning No School Today usually featured Sparkie's recounting of the last serial episode of Captain Jupiter, which he and his friend Rabbit Ears McKester saw at the movies. Reference was often made to Captain Jupiter's arch enemies, Montmorency Clutchrider and Ivan Crusingspeed, who seemed to be featured in name only.While the program was not able to make a successful transition to television, it found a new life for 20 years (1962 to 1982) on the Family Radio Network. At one point, Kortekamp had plans to try remarketing the characters and their new adventures.The radio program was adapted into the comic book, Big Jon and Sparkie, published by Alden Getz for Ziff-Davis. Getz also published The Daily Weekly, a promotional newspaper giveaway based on the No School Today radio program. The comic book ran for four issues.The radio characters were also among the first media personalities satirized in Mad when Harvey Kurtzman wrote "Big John" and "Sparkie" into "Robin Hood!" in the fourth issue of the comic book.During the 1960s, Jon Arthur broadcast middays at WKRC in Cincinnati. Arthur's life story was featured on the radio show Unshackled.He should not be confused with the Pensacola talk radio host Jon Arthur.EPISODES LISTDisc 1Big Jon And Sparky 001 Over Falls In An AirplaneBig Jon And Sparky 002 Begining Of A Long Voyage HomeBig Jon And Sparky 003 Long Voyage HomeBig Jon And Sparky 004 AMysterious Speck On Far HorizonBig Jon And Sparky 005 A Surprise Awaits MayorBig Jon And Sparky 006 A Surprise Awaits MayorBig Jon And Sparky 007 Daffodil Dilly Strikes AgainBig Jon And Sparky 008 Prisoners Of LoveBig Jon And Sparky 009 Yukie Shows Us HowBig Jon And Sparky 010 Yukie Butcha To RescueBig Jon And Sparky 011 Sparky In ControlBig Jon And Sparky 012 Mayor Tells Of His Wedding PlansBig Jon And Sparky 013 Yukie Gets Ready For WeddingBig Jon And Sparky 014 Yukie Unvails An InventionBig Jon And Sparky 015 Mayor's Wedding DayBig Jon And Sparky 016 An Interruption In Mayor's WeddingBig Jon And Sparky 017 Miss Dilly Kidnapped From ChurchBig Jon And Sparky 018 Great Kidnap MysteryBig Jon And Sparky 019 A Telephone Mix UpBig Jon And Sparky 020 DetectivesBig Jon And Sparky 021 StakeoutBig Jon And Sparky 022 Detectives Sparky Yukie Go To WorkBig Jon And Sparky 023 Detective Sparky Gets An IdeaBig Jon And Sparky 024 Kidnappers Double Back Triple BackBig Jon And Sparky 025 Even Detectives Make MistakesBig Jon And Sparky 026 JailedBig Jon And Sparky 027 Kidnapping Case ContinuesBig Jon And Sparky 028 Kidnapping Case ContinuesBig Jon And Sparky 029 Who's WhoBig Jon And Sparky 030 Who's Who ContinuedBig Jon And Sparky 031 Kidnapped Car Is Sighted FragmentBig Jon And Sparky 032 Sparky Tracks Down AClueBig Jon And Sparky 033 Sparky's Private Detective AgencyBig Jon And Sparky 034 Back To Normal-IHopeBig Jon And Sparky 035 ASurprise For All ConcernedBig Jon And Sparky 036 Kidnappers Escape AgainBig Jon And Sparky 037 Where's Yukie NowBig Jon And Sparky 038 Al Old Cloths Is Good CluesBig Jon And Sparky 039 Am So Close To Forest To See TreesBig Jon And Sparky 040 Prodigal ReturnsBig Jon And Sparky 041 Return Of Yukie ButcherBig Jon And Sparky 042 Yukie Looks For ALawyerBig Jon And Sparky 043 Yukie Sues CityBig Jon And Sparky 044 Look Who's ALawyerBig Jon And Sparky 045 Yukie Takes StandBig Jon And Sparky 046 Peace And Quiet Again AlmostBig Jon And Sparky 047 Sparky Has Plans For YukieBig Jon And Sparky 048 ASudden Change In ClimateBig Jon And Sparky 049 Not Even ATeam Of HorsesBig Jon And Sparky 050 Goodbye My DillyBig Jon And Sparky 051 ALetter From YukieBig Jon And Sparky 052 AMystreious Man In ShackBig Jon And Sparky 053 AMystreious Man In ShackBig Jon And Sparky 054 AMystreious Man In Shack Part 2Big Jon And Sparky 055 Who's Fooling WhomBig Jon And Sparky 056 Trouble In RanksBig Jon And Sparky 057 Sparky's Telephone TroublesBig Jon And Sparky 058 AProposed Solution Serious ProblemBig Jon And Sparky 059 Twelve Down Two To GoBig Jon And Sparky 060 Not Much DoingBig Jon And Sparky 061 Pane In Mrs Two Hill's WindowBig Jon And Sparky 062 Tickets Tickets Who's Got TicketsBig Jon And Sparky 063 Opening Day 1953Big Jon And Sparky 064 Canine MutinyBig Jon And Sparky 065 What's Wrong With BunnyBig Jon And Sparky 066 Where Oh Where Have Little Dogs GoneBig Jon And Sparky 067 Dogs Get OrganizedBig Jon And Sparky 068 Dogs Get TogetherBig Jon And Sparky 069 Someone Make Up His MindBig Jon And Sparky 070 Want Ads Get ResultsBig Jon And Sparky 071 Mayor's Plan Begins To WorkBig Jon And Sparky 072 Almost CapturedBig Jon And Sparky 073 Dognappers Get CaughtBig Jon And Sparky 074 Mayor Shows m HowBig Jon And Sparky 075 Return Of Yukie ButchaBig Jon And Sparky 076 Yukie Makes ADecisionBig Jon And Sparky 077 Surprise In Barn On Yukie's FarmBig Jon And Sparky 078 Surprise In Yukie's BarnBig Jon And Sparky 079 Sparky Drives ARacing CarBig Jon And Sparky 080 More n One Way To Catch AFishBig Jon And Sparky 081 AQuiet Day On Yukie's FarmBig Jon And Sparky 082 Yukie Hits JackpotBig Jon And Sparky 083 Yukie's Radio StationBig Jon And Sparky 084 Big BroadcastBig Jon And Sparky 085 Ratings Are InBig Jon And Sparky 086 Sparky Finds ABugBig Jon And Sparky 087 Sparky's Mysterious ButterflyBig Jon And Sparky 088 Professor SpeaksBig Jon And Sparky 089 THe Day Butterfly FlewBig Jon And Sparky 090 Off To RacesBig Jon And Sparky 091 Yukie Tries Out His Racing MachineBig Jon And Sparky 092 Yukie Cracks UpBig Jon And Sparky 093 Big Little RaceBig Jon And Sparky 094 Big Jon Gets AScreen JobBig Jon And Sparky 095 Big Jon RecuperatesBig Jon And Sparky 096 Cheer Up Sick BoyBig Jon And Sparky 097 Big Jon Takes PlungeDisc 2Big Jon And Sparky 098 Big Jon Gets Company AgainBig Jon And Sparky 099 Sparkys Big DecisionBig Jon And Sparky 100 Sparkys Big Decision 2Big Jon And Sparky 101 Too Many Cooks Spoil the CakeBig Jon And Sparky 102 Sparky Changes His MindBig Jon And Sparky 103 Sparky Keeps His WordBig Jon And Sparky 104 Where Has Sparky GoneBig Jon And Sparky 105 Sparky Is Found-AlmostBig Jon And Sparky 106 Search for Sparky ContinuesBig Jon And Sparky 107 Search for Sparky Continues 2Big Jon And Sparky 108 Yukies Magic Travel MachineBig Jon And Sparky 109 Yukies Magic Travel Machine WorksBig Jon And Sparky 110 Tell It To the JudgeBig Jon And Sparky 111 Yukie Meets the BossBig Jon And Sparky 112 Yukie the ElfBig Jon And Sparky 113 Yukie the Elf 2Big Jon And Sparky 114 Yukies Supreme SacrificeBig Jon And Sparky 115 Yukie Throws Down the GauntletBig Jon And Sparky 116 Yukie and Big Jons RivalryBig Jon And Sparky 117 Yukie and Big Jons Rivalry 2Big Jon And Sparky 118 Rivalry Gets SeriousBig Jon And Sparky 119 Swords or Pistols at SunriseBig Jon And Sparky 120 Duel Is FoughtBig Jon And Sparky 121 End of the RomanceBig Jon And Sparky 122 Big Let-downBig Jon And Sparky 123 Big Jon DisappearsBig Jon And Sparky 124 Yukies Moment of TruthBig Jon And Sparky 125 Bachelor PartyBig Jon And Sparky 126 Out of the Frying Pan into the FireBig Jon And Sparky 127 Shock in Yukies Head 1Big Jon And Sparky 128 Shock in Yukies Head 2Big Jon And Sparky 129 Shock in Yukies Head 3Big Jon And Sparky 130 Yukies Long Lost MotherBig Jon And Sparky 131 A Number in the Mayors Blue BookBig Jon And Sparky 132 Whose Little Boy Are YouBig Jon And Sparky 133 Yukie Butcha Mystery ContinuesBig Jon And Sparky 134 Off to Lake MichiganBig Jon And Sparky 135 Adventure on Lake MichiganBig Jon And Sparky 136 Yukie Butcha Mystery ContinuesBig Jon And Sparky 137 John Paul Jones to the RescueBig Jon And Sparky 138 Rescued from the StormBig Jon And Sparky 139 Not So Welcome GuestsBig Jon And Sparky 140 Boy What a SandwichBig Jon And Sparky 141 Back Home Again in CincinnatiBig Jon And Sparky 142 Castle on Yorrick Hill RoadBig Jon And Sparky 143 Up a TreeBig Jon And Sparky 144 Alas Poor Yorrick I Knew HimBig Jon And Sparky 145 Much Ado about SomethingBig Jon And Sparky 146 Strange Goings OnBig Jon And Sparky 147 Big Jons Plan to Catch the GhostBig