Probably one of radio’s best known adventure shows of it’s time, The Green Hornet ran on WXYZ (Detroit), the Mutual Network and the ABC Blue Network from January 31, 1936 to December 5, 1952. One of three hit radio serials created by WXYZ's George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, who also created The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon series initially starred Al Hodge in the title role, followed by Donovan Faust (1943), Bob Hall (1944-51) and Jack McCarthy (1951-52). The radio show used Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" as its theme song, blended with a hornet buzz created on a Theremin.

The series detailed the adventures of Britt Reid, debonair newspaper publisher by day, crime-fighting masked hero at night. Like Batman, Reid’s true identity was known only to Kato, his trusty sidekick, valet, and the driver of Hornet’s amazing car, Black Beauty. Interestingly enough, with the outbreak of World War II, Kato’s Japanese heritage was almost completely dropped, leading to the common misperception that the character's nationality had been switched by the show's writers. (When the characters were used in a pair of movie serials Kato's nationality was inexplicably given as Korean.)

Another little-known tidbit about the show is that Britt Reid is actually a close relative of the Lone Ranger. The character of Dan Reid, who appeared on The Lone Ranger program as the Masked Man's nephew, was also featured on The Green Hornet as Britt's father, making the Lone Ranger Britt's great-uncle. The Lone Ranger's name is often incorrectly stated to have been John Reid, an error first made in a volume called The Big Broadcast in the 1970s. In fact, writers for WXYZ never provided a first name for the character.

In the original introduction of the radio show announcer Mike Wallace of CBS’s 60 Minutes fame proclaimed that the Green Hornet went after criminals that "even the G-Men couldn't reach". The show's producers were called by FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover who prompted them to remove the line implying that some crime fighting was beyond the abilities of the FBI. The show became so popular and widely known that even during World War II, the radio show's title was used as a codename for SIGSALY, secret encryption equipment used in the war.

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FIRST BROADCAST: January 31st 1936

LAST BROADCAST: December 5th 1952

SPONSORS: United Shirt Shops, Detroit Creamery, General Mills, Orange Crush

CAST: Al Hodge, Donovan Faust, Bob Hall, Jack McCarthy, Raymond Hayashi, Rollon Parker, Mickey Tolan, Lee Allman, Jim Irwin, Gil Shea, Jack Petruzzi, Paul Hughes, John Todd

ANNOUNCERS: Charles Woods, Mike Wallace, Fielden Farrington, Bob Hite, Hal Neal

CREATORS: Fran Striker, George W Trendle

PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: James Jewell, Charles Livingstone

WRITERS: Fran Striker

SOUND EFFECTS: Tony Caminito, Dewey Cole, Jimmy Fletcher, Fred Flowerday, Fred Fry, Bill Hengsterbeck, Ken Robertson

THEME: ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ by Rimsky-Korsakov

The Green Hornet – 1938-1952