Free Entertainment

We do not have satellite or cable television at our house. We watch mostly old tv shows on dvd anyways (Hogan's Heroes, Gomer Pyle, Odd Couple, Andy Griffith, Bless me Father, Quincy, Perry Mason).
I have discovered a wonderful, free and cheap entertainment! If you have an mp3 player, you need to download a software to load it (Itunes kept crashing so I use Winamp). You do not have to use Itunes if you have an ipod!
Then, you start looking for podcasts. These are basically free radio programs that are available on any subject. some are just people rambling on, but some are professionally produced. I listen to a lot of the BBC djs and their podcats, mainly Scott Mills and Jonathan Ross. They are hilarious.
But the real treat is to find old radio shows from the 1930's, 40's, 50's. These are called Old Time Radio and they are wonderful. My favourite series of all is Our Miss Brooks, like a aural sitcom of a school teacher and the people she encounters. They are so well written, you will forget that you can't see them and will be able to visualize it in your mind.
I also love all the Sherlock Holmes ones, especially with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. My other favourite is wise cracking Boston blackie, an ex-safecracker who helps people in need (usually they are unfairly treated by the police). "A friend to those who make him their friend, an enemy to those who don't".
The best however is the Lux Theatre shows. These were radio versions of famous movies presented by Cecil B DeMille, and often included the original actors. Movies like All about Eve (my favourite), It Happened One Night, The Thin Man (another favourite), The Awful Truth, Madame X,His Girl Friday...they are all there, acted out for radio. And it's free!
Who needs tv?!!!