The American Radio and Television Script Library's collection includes scripts from every decade beginning in the 1920's, most major programs from those decades, and every genre produced.
Below is a sample by decade of a few of the Library's favorite, most recognizable, or most significant holdings.
Amos 'n' Andy: 1929-1954, comedy, NBC/CBS Radio
The California Theater: 1924, musical, KNX Radio
Chicago Civic Opera: 1927-1929, opera, Balkite/NBC Radio
Breen and DeRose: 1928, musical, NBC/WJY Radio
Bradley BKO Fraternity Party: 1928-29, musical, WIBO Chicago Radio
Death Valley Days: 1930-1945, western, NBC/CBS Radio
The Ed Wynn Show (The Fire Chief): 1932-1935, variety, Texaco/NBC Radio
The Jack Benny Show: 1932-1958, comedy, CBS/NBC Radio
The Rudy Vallee Show: 1936-1947, variety, NBC Radio
Camel Caravan: 1933-1943, variety, CBS/NBC Radio
The Eddie Cantor Show: 1931-1936, comedy, NBC Radio
Rin Tin Tin: 1930-1934, adventure, NBC Blue/CBS Radio
The Bob Hope Show: 1938-1955, comedy, NBC Radio
The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show: 1948-1954, comedy, NBC Radio/Rexall Drugs
Jack Armstrong, All American Boy: 1933-1950, serial, CBS/NBC/Mutual/ABC Radio
You're in the Navy Now: 1942, variety, US Navy/WMCA Radio
Quiz Kids: 1940-1953, game-show, NBC/CBS/ABC Radio
The Fred Allen Show: 1940-1944, CBS Radio
The Sealtest Village Store: 1943-1948, NBC Radio
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: 1952-1966, sit-com, ABC Television
Cavalcade of Stars: 1949-1952, variety, DuMont Television
The Colgate Comedy Hour: 1950-1955, variety, NBC Television
The Texaco Star Theatre, (aka The Milton Berle Show): 1948-1953, variety, NBC Television
The Honeymooners: 1955-1956, sit-com, CBS Television
Your Show of Shows: 1950-1954, variety, NBC Television
Dragnet: 1951-1959, police-drama, Sherry/MarkVII
Gunsmoke: 1955-1975, western, CBS Television
Perry Mason: 1957-1966, drama, CBS-Paisano Productions
Leave It to Beaver: 1957-1963, sit-com, Gomalco/Revue Studios
Father Knows Best: 1954-1960, sit-com, Screen Gems
The Untouchables: 1959-1963, crime-drama, Desilu Productions
Make Room for Daddy: 1953-1964, sit-com, ABC/CBS Television
Playhouse 90: 1956-1960, anthology, Screen Gems
I Led Three Lives: 1953-1956, spy-drama, ZIV Television
I Love Lucy: 1951-1980, sit-com, CBS Television
Queen for a Day: 1956-1964, game-show, NBC-ABC Television
Truth or Consequences: 1956-1965, game-show, NBC Television
Sea Hunt: 1957-1961, adventure-drama, ZIV Television
The Dick van Dyke Show: 1961-1966, sit-com, CBS Television
Bonanza: 1959-1973, western, NBC Television
Bewitched: 1964-1972, sit-com, ABC Television
The Twilight Zone: 1959-1963, sci-fi anthology, CBS Television
The Beverly Hillbillies: 1962-1971, sit-com, Filmways Television
Gilligan's Island: 1964-1967, sit-com, CBS Television
Combat!: 1962-1967, war-drama, Selmur Productions
Hogan's Heroes: 1965-1971, sit-com, Bing Crosby Productions
Ben Casey: 1961-1966, medical-drama, Bing Crosby Productions
Let's Make a Deal: 1963-1991, game-show, Hatos-Hall Productions
The Fugitive: 1963-1967, drama, Quinn Martin Productions
Star Trek: 1966-1969, Sci-Fi, Desilu Productions
Julia: 1968-1971, sit-com, FOX Television
Mission Impossible: 1966-1973, drama, Paramount Television
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In: 1968-1973, variety, NBC Television
Sesame Street: 1969- , children's, PBS Television
M.A.S.H.: 1972-1983, sit-com, Fox Television
All in the Family: 1971-1979, sit-com, Charles/Burrows/Charles
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour: 1971-1994, variety, CBS Television
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: 1970-1977, sit-com, MTM Productions
The Bob Newhart Show: 1972-1978, sit-com, MTM Television
Hawaii 5-O: 1968-1980, crime-drama, Leonard Freeman/ABC Television
Kojak: 1973-1978, crime-drama, Universal Television
The Rockford Files: 1974-1980, crime-drama, Stephen J. Cannell
Roots: 1977, drama, mini-series, Wolper/Warner Bros
Happy Days: 1973-1984, sit-com, Paramount Television
The Love Boat: 1977-1986, sit-com, Aaron Spelling Television
Charlie's Angels: 1976-1981, detective-drama, FOX Television
The Norman Lear shows such as Good Times, Sanford and Son, Maude
Cheers: 1982-1993, sit-com, NBC Television
Hill Street Blues: 1981-1987, police-drama, MTM Productions
Dynasty: 1981-1989, drama, Aaron Spelling Productions
Dallas: 1978-1991, drama, Lorimar Productions
The Cosby Show: 1984-1992, sit-com, Carsey-Werner
Hart to Hart: 1979-1986, adventure, Rona II/Spelling/Goldberg
Moonlighting: 1985-1989, detective-drama, Picturemaker/Circle
Magnum PI: 1980-1988, detective-drama, Universal Television
Family Ties: 1982-1989, sit-com, Paramount Television
Dukes of Hazzard: 1979-1985, adventure-drama, Warner Bros. Television
Matlock: 1987-1995, detective-drama, Viacom Productions
Murphy Brown: 1988-1998, sit-com, Warner Bros. Television
Star Trek: The Next Generation: 1987-1994, sci-fi, Paramount Television
Seinfeld: 1989-1998, sit-com, Castle Rock Entertainment
X-Files: 1993-2002, drama, FOX Television
The Simpsons: 1989- , animated, FOX Television
ER: 1994-2009, medical-drama, Warner Brothers Television
Frasier: 1993-2004, sit-com, Paramount Television
Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman: 1993-1998, western, CBS Television
Beverly Hills 90210: 1990-2000, drama, FOX Television
Ellen: 1994-1998, sit-com, Touchstone Television
Law and Order: 1990- , crime-drama, Universal Television
Northern Exposure: 1990-1995, drama, Pipeline productions
NYPD Blue: 1993-2005, police-drama, Steven Bochco
Friends: 1994-2004, sit-com, Warner Bros. Television
My Wife and Kids: 2001-2005, sit-com, ABC Television
The West Wing: 1999-2006, drama, NBC Television
24: 2001-2010, drama, Imagine/Fox Television
CSI: 2000- , crime-drama, CBS Productions
Will and Grace: 1998-2006, comedy, NBC Television
Sex and the City: 1998-2004, sit-com, HBO Television
The Sopranos: 1999-2006, drama, HBO Television
Six Feet Under: 2000-2005, drama, HBO Television
That 70's Show: 1998-2006, sit-com, Carsey-Werner Company
The personal scripts of Johnny Carson from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, 1962-1992 as well as the personal scripts of Robert Keeshan from Captain Kangaroo, 1955-1984
From acquisition to cataloguing to conservation to presentation, the costs of maintaining the library and museum are monumental. Add that to design refinement for the final destination of these TV treasures and one does not have to be the Professor from Gilligan's Island to see that the situation is precarious!
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