Lights Out

Lights Out

Ended First aired 19/Jul/1949 United States English 5 season(s) 218 episode(s)
Lights Out was an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. Versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television.

In 1946, NBC Television brought Lights Out to TV in a series of four specials, broadcast live and produced by Fred Coe, who also contributed three of the scripts. NBC asked Cooper to write the script for the premiere, "First Person Singular", which is told entirely from the point of view of an unseen murderer who kills his obnoxious wife and winds up being executed. Variety gave this first episode a rave review ("undoubtedly one of the best dramatic shows yet seen on a television screen"), but Lights Out did not become a regular NBC-TV series until 1949.

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TimeScore 33% Skip It
Binge Meter 48% Slow Burn
Episode Pulse Quiet 40% activity score
Drop Rate 0% Very Low

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Seasons & Episodes

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Season 4 · Season 4
57 episode(s) · Air date: 27/Aug/1951
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Season 3 · Season 3
57 episode(s) · Air date: 27/Aug/1951
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Season Overview

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S3E31
Another Country
Air date: 24/Mar/1952 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

A mysterious stranger enters a home uninvited, drawn from the street by the haunting music of Beethoven's "Geister (Ghost) Trio" that three musicians are performing. The pianist is immediately smitten with the woman of obvious wealth and status, soon proposing they marry. She says it is impossible, as the man would be forced to choose between her or his music.

Summary

A mysterious stranger enters a home uninvited, drawn from the street by the haunting music of Beethoven's "Geister (Ghost) Trio" that three musicians are performing. The pianist is immediately smitten with the woman of obvious wealth and status, soon proposing they marry. She says it is impossible, as the man would be forced to choose between her or his music.

S3E29
The Upstairs Floor
Air date: 10/Mar/1952 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

A husband rents the same upstairs apartment where he and his late wife once lived. Despite his claims of being married, the elderly landlady feels that something is not quite right. After weeks, she's yet to meet the woman. In fact, she's never heard so much as a sound coming from upstairs floor.

Summary

A husband rents the same upstairs apartment where he and his late wife once lived. Despite his claims of being married, the elderly landlady feels that something is not quite right. After weeks, she's yet to meet the woman. In fact, she's never heard so much as a sound coming from upstairs floor.

S3E17
Perchance to Dream
Air date: 17/Dec/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Jeff Morgan reads a story in a pulp fiction magazine exactly like one he'd written and filed away years earlier. His meeting with the author, Frank Joyce, is eerie; he already knows everything about the man without having met him before. Convinced Frank is his doppelganger, Jeff panics when he dreams Frank steps onto an elevator that malfunctions and plunges fifteen stories. Frank just scoffs at his frantic warning.

Summary

Jeff Morgan reads a story in a pulp fiction magazine exactly like one he'd written and filed away years earlier. His meeting with the author, Frank Joyce, is eerie; he already knows everything about the man without having met him before. Convinced Frank is his doppelganger, Jeff panics when he dreams Frank steps onto an elevator that malfunctions and plunges fifteen stories. Frank just scoffs at his frantic warning.

S3E16
The Angry Birds
Air date: 10/Dec/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Bird lover Waldo Bryan leaves behind his big city art career to live in the country. His wife, Adele, has turned hateful, angry that he made her give up the city life. To get even, she lets Waldo's beloved parakeet out of it's cage to be killed by her cat. The birds outside seem to know of Adele's evil deed and turn on her, turning her into the caged one.

Summary

Bird lover Waldo Bryan leaves behind his big city art career to live in the country. His wife, Adele, has turned hateful, angry that he made her give up the city life. To get even, she lets Waldo's beloved parakeet out of it's cage to be killed by her cat. The birds outside seem to know of Adele's evil deed and turn on her, turning her into the caged one.

S3E15
The Silent Supper
Air date: 03/Dec/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Dede attends the silent supper, a ritual the single Bayou women conduct to foresee their future husbands. Old voodoo woman Miss Watkins had told Dede that she'd meet her husband at the supper that night. Miss Watkins has the misfortune of meeting up with troublemaker Jean Duval, who stabs her and steals her silver. Then, uninvited, he crashes the silent supper.

Summary

Dede attends the silent supper, a ritual the single Bayou women conduct to foresee their future husbands. Old voodoo woman Miss Watkins had told Dede that she'd meet her husband at the supper that night. Miss Watkins has the misfortune of meeting up with troublemaker Jean Duval, who stabs her and steals her silver. Then, uninvited, he crashes the silent supper.

S3E10
The Veil
Air date: 29/Oct/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Ambitious defense attorney David Stevenson has high political aspirations and believes his romance with a nobody like Sylvia Willis will only hold him back. Calling in a favor from a murderer he once saved from conviction, he has his bride-to-be shot. Sylvia, however, is not so easily silenced. She demands justice and forces the great attorney to defend himself before a jury of the dead.

Summary

Ambitious defense attorney David Stevenson has high political aspirations and believes his romance with a nobody like Sylvia Willis will only hold him back. Calling in a favor from a murderer he once saved from conviction, he has his bride-to-be shot. Sylvia, however, is not so easily silenced. She demands justice and forces the great attorney to defend himself before a jury of the dead.

S3E8
I SPY
Air date: 15/Oct/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

A survey taker makes a startling discovery when she visits the home of two very paranoid, eccentric, elderly collectors of odds and ends.

Summary

A survey taker makes a startling discovery when she visits the home of two very paranoid, eccentric, elderly collectors of odds and ends.

S3E7
Dark Image
Air date: 08/Oct/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

On their honeymoon, a new husband brings his bride to the ranch he grew up on. The wife is soon traumatized by the antique bedroom mirror once owned by the husband's deceased former love. The dead girlfriend appears in the reflection, wanting to trade places with the newly-married woman.

Summary

On their honeymoon, a new husband brings his bride to the ranch he grew up on. The wife is soon traumatized by the antique bedroom mirror once owned by the husband's deceased former love. The dead girlfriend appears in the reflection, wanting to trade places with the newly-married woman.

S3E1
Mrs. Manifold
Air date: 27/Aug/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

In 1890s London, Mrs. Manifold runs a boarding house for sailors on the waterfront. New hire John hears from a customer that her wine-guzzling husband, Ambrose, long ago disappeared and that some say she killed him. The old lady gets jumpy when a strange man reeking of wine signs the register "Ambrose Manifold.

Summary

In 1890s London, Mrs. Manifold runs a boarding house for sailors on the waterfront. New hire John hears from a customer that her wine-guzzling husband, Ambrose, long ago disappeared and that some say she killed him. The old lady gets jumpy when a strange man reeking of wine signs the register "Ambrose Manifold.

Season 2 · Season 2
52 episode(s) · Air date: 28/Aug/1950
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Season Overview

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S2E51
The Man With the Watch
Air date: 13/Aug/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

A New York City detective is investigating the disappearance of over 200 people. Before vanishing into thin air, each person has reported a dream involving a fat man with a bizarre watch who convinces them to join him on his planet of Aleria.

Summary

A New York City detective is investigating the disappearance of over 200 people. Before vanishing into thin air, each person has reported a dream involving a fat man with a bizarre watch who convinces them to join him on his planet of Aleria.

S2E50
The Faceless Man
Air date: 06/Aug/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Francis Carvel visits a plastic surgeon to erase a lifetime of ugliness from his face. Now handsome, he returns to the French inn where, a year earlier, an lovely woman had spurned his affection. Complicating Carvel's plans is a new traveling companion, a disfigured man in bandages who knows everything about him.

Summary

Francis Carvel visits a plastic surgeon to erase a lifetime of ugliness from his face. Now handsome, he returns to the French inn where, a year earlier, an lovely woman had spurned his affection. Complicating Carvel's plans is a new traveling companion, a disfigured man in bandages who knows everything about him.

S2E47
THE DEVIL IN GLENCAIRE
Air date: 16/Jul/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Steenie, the best piper in all of Scotland, is about to be evicted if he doesn't pay his owed rent. After selling his pipes to raise the money, a mysterious stranger appears, ready with a deal: it involves Steenie's money, bagpipes--and his immortal soul.

Summary

Steenie, the best piper in all of Scotland, is about to be evicted if he doesn't pay his owed rent. After selling his pipes to raise the money, a mysterious stranger appears, ready with a deal: it involves Steenie's money, bagpipes--and his immortal soul.

S2E46
The Meddlers
Air date: 09/Jul/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Cecil Crofton shows up at the backwoods, hillbilly shack of Purdy with a wild proposition on how the two can split a million dollars. Crofton as figured out that a ton gold that once belonged to the Confederacy is buried locally, in the cellar of a house that had burned down and was rebuilt. Purdy figures rightly that it's the old Larro place, but the abandoned house is cursed by the ghosts of Larro ancestors from the Civil War.

Summary

Cecil Crofton shows up at the backwoods, hillbilly shack of Purdy with a wild proposition on how the two can split a million dollars. Crofton as figured out that a ton gold that once belonged to the Confederacy is buried locally, in the cellar of a house that had burned down and was rebuilt. Purdy figures rightly that it's the old Larro place, but the abandoned house is cursed by the ghosts of Larro ancestors from the Civil War.

S2E45
THE ADAM BEGOT
Air date: 02/Jul/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

The car carrying cultured Geoffrey, brutish Claude and eligible Kay swerves off a cliff and into a mysterious valley. Surprised by the weird vegetation and climate, they come to believe they've traveled back in time 50,000 years. An encounter with an unfriendly caveman results in all three being held captive in the wild man's cave.

Summary

The car carrying cultured Geoffrey, brutish Claude and eligible Kay swerves off a cliff and into a mysterious valley. Surprised by the weird vegetation and climate, they come to believe they've traveled back in time 50,000 years. An encounter with an unfriendly caveman results in all three being held captive in the wild man's cave.

S2E44
The Passage Beyond
Air date: 25/Jun/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

The ghost of Lady Anne continues to walk down the stairs, knife in hand, and into the secret passage where she murdered her domineering husband. She vividly demonstrates her disapproval of Rodney's attempt to conduct an affair with a visiting friend of his wife.

Summary

The ghost of Lady Anne continues to walk down the stairs, knife in hand, and into the secret passage where she murdered her domineering husband. She vividly demonstrates her disapproval of Rodney's attempt to conduct an affair with a visiting friend of his wife.

S2E40
The Pattern
Air date: 28/May/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Al March is tortured by his failure to have stopped the bombing of an Army barracks in 1945 Germany. Awaiting surgery, he tells his sister that the two men and a woman he killed the night before were the same ones who had planted the explosives. Even though they had died in the blast, they had been chasing him for the past six years because he lived and they didn't.

Summary

Al March is tortured by his failure to have stopped the bombing of an Army barracks in 1945 Germany. Awaiting surgery, he tells his sister that the two men and a woman he killed the night before were the same ones who had planted the explosives. Even though they had died in the blast, they had been chasing him for the past six years because he lived and they didn't.

S2E39
Cat's Cradle
Air date: 21/May/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Former hometown football star George Logan pays an unexpected late night visit on Phyllis and Bob at their country home. Down on his luck, he's obsessed with having never fit in, and holds a grudge against the world. His one talent is weaving a string into a cat's cradle and, he claims, using it to cast spells and murder people who get in his way. A skeptical Bob call it nonsense so an irate George is determined to prove him wrong.

Summary

Former hometown football star George Logan pays an unexpected late night visit on Phyllis and Bob at their country home. Down on his luck, he's obsessed with having never fit in, and holds a grudge against the world. His one talent is weaving a string into a cat's cradle and, he claims, using it to cast spells and murder people who get in his way. A skeptical Bob call it nonsense so an irate George is determined to prove him wrong.

S2E38
Dead Man's Coat
Air date: 14/May/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

By opening the grave of a recently deceased man and putting on his coat, a person will supposedly be granted invisibility. A bitter man with scores to settle decides to put the superstition to the test. He forces his reluctant butler to join him in his scheme of grave-robbing and murder.

Summary

By opening the grave of a recently deceased man and putting on his coat, a person will supposedly be granted invisibility. A bitter man with scores to settle decides to put the superstition to the test. He forces his reluctant butler to join him in his scheme of grave-robbing and murder.

S2E37
The Lost Will of Dr. Rant
Air date: 07/May/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

A Boston librarian is drawn into a ghostly web of deceit as he helps a beautiful heiress recover her stolen fortune by finding a missing will written in a rare version of the Talmud.

Summary

A Boston librarian is drawn into a ghostly web of deceit as he helps a beautiful heiress recover her stolen fortune by finding a missing will written in a rare version of the Talmud.

S2E36
Grey Reminder
Air date: 30/Apr/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Charlotte is distressed by the letters addressed tor her new husband that mysteriously appear at their door. Kenneth refuses to discuss their contents, but they clearly disturb him. Fearing he's seeing another woman, Charlotte demands to know who's writing them. She's shocked to find they're from his domineering first wife who seems intent on controlling him even in death.

Summary

Charlotte is distressed by the letters addressed tor her new husband that mysteriously appear at their door. Kenneth refuses to discuss their contents, but they clearly disturb him. Fearing he's seeing another woman, Charlotte demands to know who's writing them. She's shocked to find they're from his domineering first wife who seems intent on controlling him even in death.

S2E35
THE FONCECILLE CURSE
Air date: 23/Apr/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

The heir of the old aristocratic Fonceville family takes his bride to the ancestral castle, where a hereditary madness takes over his dreams, one that tries to induce the murder of his new wife.

Summary

The heir of the old aristocratic Fonceville family takes his bride to the ancestral castle, where a hereditary madness takes over his dreams, one that tries to induce the murder of his new wife.

S2E32
The Mad Dullaghan
Air date: 02/Apr/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

A man finds his missing fiancé in a mental hospital. She believes she's possessed a Dullaghan, a spirit of Irish folklore that jumped to her from her late father when she kissed him farewell at his funeral. The finance investigates and learns that her parent had been a famous ventriloquist and his dummy was named Mr. Dullagham.

Summary

A man finds his missing fiancé in a mental hospital. She believes she's possessed a Dullaghan, a spirit of Irish folklore that jumped to her from her late father when she kissed him farewell at his funeral. The finance investigates and learns that her parent had been a famous ventriloquist and his dummy was named Mr. Dullagham.

S2E26
Strange Legacy
Air date: 19/Feb/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

After suffering a concussion in a car accident on the Oregon coast, Stephen Elliott is carried to the home of an old man and his beautiful daughter-in-law to recover. The young woman tells Stephen that her husband, a World War II pilot, had died the year before and left an uncompleted musical composition, a model airplane and a piece of sculpture, as well as a strange will.

Summary

After suffering a concussion in a car accident on the Oregon coast, Stephen Elliott is carried to the home of an old man and his beautiful daughter-in-law to recover. The young woman tells Stephen that her husband, a World War II pilot, had died the year before and left an uncompleted musical composition, a model airplane and a piece of sculpture, as well as a strange will.

S2E25
Curtain Call
Air date: 12/Feb/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Off-his-rocker Kruger, a famous actor coming out of retirement for a new play with his daughter (Randel), suddenly is tormented by the ghost of his late, thought-to-be-a-suicide wife. His daughter is a triumph in her first big stage role, but ... can Kruger take the adulation she receives ...

Summary

Off-his-rocker Kruger, a famous actor coming out of retirement for a new play with his daughter (Randel), suddenly is tormented by the ghost of his late, thought-to-be-a-suicide wife. His daughter is a triumph in her first big stage role, but ... can Kruger take the adulation she receives ...

S2E22
For Release Today
Air date: 22/Jan/1951 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Maggie, the press agent for actor Henry Crawford, is horrified by his lifeless performances during dress rehearsals for his new play. She comments that he seems dead, to which his wife, Elaine, declares that he is. A year earlier, Elaine's ex-fiancé Balsamo had cursed Henry when he stole her away, promising Henry that he'd be through in one year.

Summary

Maggie, the press agent for actor Henry Crawford, is horrified by his lifeless performances during dress rehearsals for his new play. She comments that he seems dead, to which his wife, Elaine, declares that he is. A year earlier, Elaine's ex-fiancé Balsamo had cursed Henry when he stole her away, promising Henry that he'd be through in one year.

S2E18
Jasper
Air date: 25/Dec/1950 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

Songwriter Charlie has suffered with writer's block" since he and his wife moved to the country. Betty wants them to sell the house to pay the bills, but Charlie doesn't want to part with the family estate. His late ancestor, Jasper, isn't thrilled with the idea either.

Summary

Songwriter Charlie has suffered with writer's block" since he and his wife moved to the country. Betty wants them to sell the house to pay the bills, but Charlie doesn't want to part with the family estate. His late ancestor, Jasper, isn't thrilled with the idea either.

S2E15
Beware This Woman
Air date: 04/Dec/1950 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

A woman experiencing poltergeist activity in her home secures the services of a reluctant, non-believer in the supernatural, scientist to resolve her problem.

Summary

A woman experiencing poltergeist activity in her home secures the services of a reluctant, non-believer in the supernatural, scientist to resolve her problem.

S2E10
The Martian Eyes
Air date: 30/Oct/1950 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

An odd professor claims he can spot Martians, who masquerade as humans, using a pair of infrared glasses he wears. Only then can you see the third eyeball in the middle of their forehead. He relates his wild theory to a photographer sitting by him in a bar--and the man believes him. While playing around with infrared film, the photographer says he's snapped a shot of a man with three eyes. The two team up to convince authorities of their find.

Summary

An odd professor claims he can spot Martians, who masquerade as humans, using a pair of infrared glasses he wears. Only then can you see the third eyeball in the middle of their forehead. He relates his wild theory to a photographer sitting by him in a bar--and the man believes him. While playing around with infrared film, the photographer says he's snapped a shot of a man with three eyes. The two team up to convince authorities of their find.

Season 1 · Season 1
48 episode(s) · Air date: 19/Jul/1949
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S1E9
Conqueror's Isle
Air date: 07/Nov/1949 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

The training regimen Ed Romeo (Eamonn Walker) is imposing on Lights splits the Leary family: Theresa and the girls don't like its late-night hours, but they do like Ed. Johnny doesn't, and he's upset that Ed won't let Lights promote the Reynolds fight. For his part, Ed thinks that Lights' brother is "bleeding him dry."

Summary

The training regimen Ed Romeo (Eamonn Walker) is imposing on Lights splits the Leary family: Theresa and the girls don't like its late-night hours, but they do like Ed. Johnny doesn't, and he's upset that Ed won't let Lights promote the Reynolds fight. For his part, Ed thinks that Lights' brother is "bleeding him dry."

S1E8
The Whisper
Air date: 23/Sep/1949 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

After defeating Morales, Lights hires trainer Ed Romeo (Eamonn Walker), who once trained Death Row Reynolds. Romeo is part boxing guru and part psychologist, and his approach is very different from Pops'. Meanwhile, Theresa worries about Ava's attitude about life.

Summary

After defeating Morales, Lights hires trainer Ed Romeo (Eamonn Walker), who once trained Death Row Reynolds. Romeo is part boxing guru and part psychologist, and his approach is very different from Pops'. Meanwhile, Theresa worries about Ava's attitude about life.

Season 0 · Specials
4 episode(s) · Air date: 30/Jun/1946
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S0E1
First Person Singular
Air date: 30/Jun/1946 · Time: 21:00 · Runtime: 30 min
Summary

A man, driven crazy by his wife's constant nagging and the oppressive summer heat, decides to strangle the woman. The murderers dream of a nice, cool place ends with a date with the hangman.

Summary

A man, driven crazy by his wife's constant nagging and the oppressive summer heat, decides to strangle the woman. The murderers dream of a nice, cool place ends with a date with the hangman.

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