Candy Matson

{{Short description|Radio program}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{italic title}}

{{Infobox radio show

| show_name = Candy Matson

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| other_names = Candy Matson, YUkon 2-8209

| format = Detective drama

| runtime = 30 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| home_station = KNBC

| syndicates = NBC West Coast

| television =

| presenter =

| starring = Natalie Masters

| announcer = Dudley Manlove

| creator =

| writer = Monty Masters

| director = Monty Masters

| senior_editor =

| editor =

| producer = Monty Masters

| exec_producer =

| narrated =

| rec_location =

| rem_location =

| oth_location =

| first_aired = June 29, 1949

| last_aired = May 20, 1951

| num_series =

| num_episodes =

| audio_format =

| opentheme = Candy

| othertheme =

| endtheme =

| sponsor =

| website =

| podcast =

}}

Candy Matson was a radio program on NBC West Coast that aired from June 29, 1949, to May 20, 1951.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22Candy+Matson,+detective+drama%22&pg=PA136 |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=136 |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-10-18}} It centered on Candy Matson, a female private investigatorTerrace, Vincent (1981), Radio's Golden Years: The Encyclopedia of Radio Programs 1930–1960. A.S. Barnes & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|0-498-02393-1}}. p. 46. with a wry sense of humor and a penthouse on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. The program was notable for having a striking female character "without a trace of squeamishness"Dunning, John. (1976). Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976. Prentice-Hall, Inc. {{ISBN|0-13-932616-2}}. pp. 112–13. as well as a veiled gay character in Candy's best friend Rembrandt Watson, voiced by Jack Thomas. Candy's love interest was police detective Ray Mallard, voiced by Henry Leff. The announcer was Dudley Manlove. Actors frequently heard in minor roles were Helen Kleeb, John Grober, Mary Milford and Hal Burdick. In addition to the show being set in San Francisco, it was produced at San Francisco Radio City.{{cite web|last1=French|first1=Jack|title=San Francisco's Finest: 'Candy Matson: YUkon 2-8209'|url=http://www.otrr.org/FILES/Articles/Jack_French_Articles/Candy_Matson_YUkon_2_8209.htm|website=Old Time Radio Researchers Group|accessdate=9 August 2014}}

The series concluded with a twist ending when Ray finally proposed to Candy, who accepted and retired from the detective business.

It was created by Monty Masters and starred his wife Natalie Parks as Candy Matson. When Monty Masters created the show, he planned to star in it himself, as a male private detective. His mother-in-law convinced him to change the lead to a female, which led to his wife being the star.

In 1950, Candy Matson was recognized with the San Francisco Examiner's Favorite Program Award.{{cite news|title=Dwight Newton|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/50-OCR/1950-07-24-BC-OCR-Page-0024.pdf#search=Dwight+Newton+Candy+Matson|accessdate=9 August 2014|agency=Broadcasting|date=July 24, 1950}} The award was presented as part of the broadcast of the episode "Symphony of Death".

The aftermath of a 1950 episode illustrated the program's popularity. A newspaper story related: "It seems that during the closing moments of the last Monday's sequence, Candy is in an aircraft repeating the 'Twenty-third Psalm' as the plane crashes into a lake. At that point the show ends. And at that point the switchboard at Radio City started lighting up like a Christmas tree. More than 800 calls were received shortly after the program signed off. All of them wondering what happened to their heroine."{{cite news|last1=Foster|first1=Bob|title=Sid Caeser Makes Hit on Return to Local Television|newspaper=The Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1942122/candys_okeh/|agency=The Times |location=San Mateo, CA|date=May 19, 1950|page=15|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = March 7, 2015}} {{Open access}}

Only 14 of the 92 episodes survive, along with the April 1949 audition show and the September 1952 series revival audition show.{{Citation needed |date=January 2024}}