"New" RB Show Information

I have been incorrectly reporting on information concerning the beginning of the 30-minute Ranger Bill episodes. I apologize because the correct information was right under my nose and I missed it. I would like to thank fellow Ranger Bill fan Wayne for asking some questions that helped me find my mistake.
I had been reporting that RB179 "VIPs Visit Knotty Pine" was probably the very first 30-minute Ranger Bill episode because it had the earliest broadcast date of all the RB shows Moody uses in its two-year cycle for Bill. I am nearly positive that another script Moody Audio has shared with us is the first 30-minute show.
Moody Audio shared some scripts with the Ranger Bill Fan Club that we have posted on our Zoomshare pages. There are the three scripts for the very first Ranger Bill story, "The Pendleton Valley Fire," first aired in October of 1950. We also have the scripts for the two-part half-hour story "The Spirit and the Spirits." We also have one more script, for a story I titled "Escape of the African Animals." This story is about a train wreck in Wildcat Valley in which several wild African animals bound for the Knotty Pine Zoo escape into the wilderness around Knotty Pine. That script is labeled "Script #104" and aired Saturday, Oct. 3, 1952. It appears that this show was the 1952 season opener for Ranger Bill.
If my guess is right, then Moody aired 15-minute Ranger Bills every Monday afternoon for just short of two full years, 103 shows in total. Then beginning in the fall of 1952 Moody went with 30-minute Ranger Bill shows that aired on Saturdays at lunch-time. It also looks as though they produced 32 to 35 Ranger Bill episodes per year from 1952 until the close of production. RB006 "The Fire Bug" pretty much verifies my guess because it is script #168 and aired in mid-August of 1954.
If you will allow me one more assumption, I believe that Moody decided to continue to air Bill in a 4-year cycle and took the most recent 200 shows for that cycle. They then dropped the 65 earliest 30-minute shows along with all of the 15-minute shows. I would say that they had enough material for a 5- or 6-year cycle, if they had so chosen. This is no criticism of Moody. They had to make some decision on what to use and what not to use.
So please, stop by our Zoomshare pages and take a look at "Escape of the African Animals." It is certainly a key story in the Ranger Bill saga!

How's Your Ranger Bill Memory?

John from Florida wrote to ask:

"In all the years I have listened to Ranger Bill, I do not recall the last three episodes, including this week. [The Crusher, The Old Diehard, and The Road Ghost] Has Moody been issuing programs which had been set aside for a few years?"

I don't know if I can answer John's question definitively. I think that these shows have been part of the regular list of RANGER BILL shows for some time, but I'm not absolutely sure. How about you? Do you know if these three episodes have always been part of the regular rotation of Ranger Bill programs? Or have these and/or possibly other episodes been taken out of the rotation for a time and are still out or have been added again?
If you know or have a good idea what the answer to John's query is, please email me at rangerbillclub@aol.com and I will post your answers here. We'll try this one on our Ranger Bill group on Facebook as well.
Thanks in advance for your help. And good head scratching!

Little-known RB facts

Joel, one of our Facebook friends, mentioned two items that you may not remember or be aware of.
First, did you know that Stumpy has a long, white beard? Stumpy mentions that in RB183 Mystery Island, Mystery Man. Bill and Stumpy take a long-needed vacation cruise in the Caribbean in that show. This is the show where the ship's captain takes passengers on a tour of an island that he says mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.
Joel also mentioned that he found something in RB177 He Broke through the Ice that was new to him. In that show, Henry prayed to be able to forgive the boys that caused Bill and his car to plunge under the ice on the Shady River and drown Bill. Joel mentioned that he just realized that immediately after that prayer, a man arrives who is caring for Bill who managed to barely escape being trapped under the ice and is suffering badly from the effects of that.
Can you think of a little Ranger Bill fact that most people may have overlooked? Have you ever had one of those "Ah-Ha" moments while listening to a show? Why don't you share that with us? Email me at rangerbillclub@aol.com or leave a note on our Ranger Bill Facebook page. I'd love to include your note here and on Facebook. Who knows what we might learn about our favorite forest rangers!

Title Correction

I got an email from Ranger Bill fan Jeremy asking me about the correct title for RB039 "Mrs. Kane." I mistakenly wrote the title as "Mrs. Kane Wins THE War." The correct title according to Moody and in the show's opening is "Mrs. Kane Wins A War." As I told Jeremy, I have been making that mistake for years and have always failed to fix my notes when someone catches that.
So thanks Jeremy for that email. My notes are now correct! ;)

Blessings to all,
Dave

How Many Ranger Bill Episodes?

Phil Shappard of Moody Audio tells the Ranger Bill Fan Club that he now has roughly 370 Ranger Bill scripts that have been rescued from the dark recesses of a closet at Moody Bible Institute. Phil hopes to scan all these scripts as time permits. But this may take some time because he has many other duties with Moody Audio that must come first.
Moody Audio also now boasts 206 half-hour episodes of the show for sale on their web site. We here at the club have 220 half-hour episodes. We call the additional 14 shows that we have the "missing episodes." These are shows that have probably been lost or damaged beyond usability. And from the script numbering that we have seen so far, it appears that there are 162 of the 15-minute episodes broadcast from October 2, 1950 until approximately February of 1954 when the half-hour shows began. These numbers suggest that WMBI aired a new 15-minute Ranger Bill every week for about three and a quarter years with few if any interruptions! Compare that with today's TV broadcasts where rough;y 25 new shows are aired each season.
If the club's numbering is correct then there are 162 15-minute shows and 220 half-hour shows for a grand total of 382 Ranger Bill episodes!
We don't know how many complete stories there are in the 15-minute shows at this time. We were guessing that one story covered two 15-minute shows. Now it looks as if the stories may include three or more episodes and that stories' lengths may vary.